Editor’s Note: Last year, SWT had the privilege of introducing you to Asbury Park, New Jersey-based rockers Yawn Mower and their latest album, I Just Can’t Wait To Die, via a Singles Spotlight feature. Today, band member Mike Chick is back with a solo album of his own, releasing his third album Congarts via Mint 400 Records. Yes, that is spelled as Chick wishes.
He previewed the release with two great singles, “Atom Bomb” and “Tomorrow Is All A Blur”. You can watch the videos for both songs below:
According to a press release, “The new LP follows Chick’s 2023 solo LP More Thrills, Less Hills and flows in a similar way, kind of like a mixtape or playlist you would make for a friend. Congarts draws from a diverse palette of sounds, from drum machine and combo organ fueled tracks, to a rock song about spiders, acoustic songs and an intermission featuring crickets recorded in Chick’s backyard…Congarts you say? Are you sure he didn’t mean to write Congrats? No, it’s Congarts, and we don’t think whoever accidentally wrote ‘Congarts’ on a cake that was given to Mike Chick a few years ago meant to write it that way either, but they did, and on that day he knew what his next LP was going to be called.”
Regarding “Atom Bomb”, Chick says via press release, “It was one of the first songs recorded, along with ‘Tomorrow Is All A Blur.’ These were supposed to be released as a single and a B-side, but I liked how they both came out so much, I figured I would keep writing and recording and see where it goes. Some time later we have Congarts, my third LP.”
Congarts was mixed by Rudy Meier (Bristler, Yawn Mower) and recorded mostly by Chick at Waving Cat from summer 2024 to fall 2025 during his free time between working on the latest Yawn Mower album and other projects.
“I just came to the point where I wanted to be working on music all the time,” says Chick via press release. “I don’t want to take any breaks from it. If I’m not writing or recording with Yawn Mower, I want to be working on at least demos of my solo songs. I’ve learned a lot in regards to the process of recording over the last few years and am grateful to have a setup that allows me to record whenever I find the time. I consistently chipped away at Congarts for a few hours here and there, and before you knew it the thing was almost done.”
Congarts also features Bob Paulos (Neon Rayon, Shut Up) on drums/engineering on “There’s a Spider” and guitar/synth on a cover of Guided By Voices’ “Teenage FBI”, the b-side of “Atom Bomb”.
Below, Chick shares an exclusive Artist Essay he wrote about his unique journey obtaining an electric piano.
The first time I remember hearing an electric piano was the intro to The Zombies’ “She’s Not There”. I didn’t know what an electric piano was at that point, but the sound of that Hohner Pianet left an impression. Fast forward to 1999, and The Roots release Things Fall Apart. The electric piano, which I learned was a Fender Rhodes, was a central part to that album. It sounds warm and inviting, but the best is when it breaks up a little bit. When the hammer hits the reed the right way, and it distorts. There is a magic to that sound.
In the hopes to secure one of these mythical beasts, I call my local music store and ask if they have a Fender Rhodes for sale. The guy chuckles and says, “Rhodes has been out of production for years, who is this?”. I ask him if the store ever gets them in on consignment, and he claps back with, “We have plenty of digital keyboards that emulate that sound. You can come try those out. You don’t want a Rhodes. I played one for years in a touring band, and it tore up my fingers every night”. Thanks for the info, but I was suspect that a digital piano was going to produce the same sounds that I heard on “The Next Movement” and “Double Trouble”.
Years went by, and I never saw a Rhodes or Wurlitzer in person, but the sound was still exciting when I heard it in a song. Then one day, I was recording at my friend Pat Noon’s studio and noticed there was a Rhodes in the corner. “Dude, you have one of those?” I plugged it in, and it didn’t work great, but you could hear that sound. Pat says, “It needs a tune-up, you can have it for $600. Get it out of here, I need the space”. At that point, the VSTs (virtual studio technologies) were getting good and it was a toss-up between convenience or spending money to keep old instruments like these up and running. That was a good deal at the time, but I unfortunately had nowhere to store it.
Fast forward again to late 2024. At this point, we have Marketplace and Reverb, so I’m always kinda looking for an electric piano. One day on the Marketplace, I see a red Wurlitzer 200 for sale. I’ve never seen a red one before, so I sent the guy a message. Turns out he is selling it for his uncle, who has no cell phone and no internet. We go back and forth, and I make him an offer, which is a little low for him. I tell him no problem, I’m here if you change your mind. Over the next couple of weeks, I’m checking in with the guy as it hasn’t sold. Eventually, I hit him with my final pitch:
“I am a lifelong musician with a small studio and have been looking for an electric piano for years. I’m not looking to flip your Wurlitzer. It will be played and cared for and will be an integral piece of the studio. If you are looking for someone that will take care of this thing until the end of time, I am your guy. Plus, it’s red. That’s my favorite color, so I think it’s a sign.”
After a few days, the nephew writes back and says his uncle liked my spiel and has agreed to the offer. Holy shit. This is happening. We decided to meet at the Jon Bon Jovi rest stop in South Amboy, NJ. I asked my friend Biff Swenson to take the ride with me so I have someone to call 911 in case this all goes wrong. I tell Biff I’ll buy him breakfast if everything goes smooth.
We get to the rest stop and meet the uncle and the nephew. The uncle is wearing coveralls and a pair of aviators like he just walked off a WWII airplane hangar. He had a name to match, but I don’t remember it, so we’ll stick to “the uncle”. I suggested that we plug the piano into the receptacle near the entrance by the Burger King, and he yells, “You don’t know how much juice that outlet is putting out, hold on!” and gets out his voltage meter. After a quick reading, he gives the go-ahead to plug in the Wurli, so I do, and when he fires the thing up… BAM! Sparks fly everywhere, and the uncle goes flying back, Marty McFly style, into the bushes to all of our amazement. The uncle gets up with the help of his nephew. “Can’t stop, won’t stop,” he says dryly as he brushes off dead leaves from his jacket. This, of course, would have made for a more interesting transaction, but what really happened was we simply plugged it in, the Wurli worked fine, and people walked by and watched curiously as we conducted our business, and they bought value meals and NJ memorabilia.
As I’m testing it out, the uncle leans in close and tells me how lucky I am to get this Wurlitzer. He doesn’t seem convinced yet of my dedication to the cause. The story is that the piano was his father’s, and it sat on top of his grand piano since he bought it. The uncle said, “Every Thanksgiving we would turn it on and play ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ by ELO and then turn it off and cover it with a blanket until the next Thanksgiving”. No touring, no gigs, no studio use. He let me know that this thing was a time capsule multiple times.
I looked at him and said, “Sir, I understand what this is, and can tell you from even these few minutes that I had with it, that my family will bury me with this thing.” He gave me a quick smile, and we made the sale. I drove my truck, thinking we would put the Wurli in the cargo bed, but instead I rode it home, Aladdin-style, air-surfing up and over the Parkway while Biff drove the truck back to Asbury Park.
Actually, that’s also not what happened.
The uncle was adamant about us not putting the piano in the cargo bed, so Biff and I awkwardly held the piano in the cab for about 45 minutes and then went to eat pancakes.
Upon further inspection, the keys felt spongy, and there was occasionally some amp noise, but it was still in tune, so I started recording with it right away. The Wurlitzer became a big part of the sound of my third LP, Congarts, which is out on 4/17/26 via Mint 400 Records. It’s funny to look back and see how this instrument has influenced me over the years. It’s even crazier to think that I might have played this Wurlitzer more in a year and a half than the fifty years it was with its previous owner. I’ll definitely catch up by the next LP. Shout out to the uncle, his voltage meter and his nephew for parting with their heirloom and cheers to Congarts and the future songs that will be written on this red Wurlitzer 200 electric piano.
You can follow and listen to Mick Chick in the author box links below
Mike Chick
Contributor
Mike is a singer-songwriter and musician from Asbury Park, NJ and member of the band Yawn Mower
