Delaware rockers Community Chapstick thrive on solidarity, self-expression

North Delaware rock band Community Chapstick had instructed the audience at The Queen in Wilmington to dance like Beyblades. Much like the toy tops, rag doll bodies in the crowd dizzily spun around, bouncing off of each other to the beat.

A teen in a fur trapper hat kept running back and forth, leaping into the air like a bird learning to fly. A pair of friends played Ring Around the Rosie until one of them wiped out, becoming a human mop. Some concertgoers stayed on the sidelines, bobbing their heads with drinks in hand, but for the most part, it was chaos.

At the eye of the storm were the MTV stars from another planet: Community Chapstick.

The most low-key of the trio was drummer “Ebbi,” who kept the beat with machinelike precision in jeans and a T-shirt.

Meanwhile, vocalist and rapper Donavan Burt worked the crowd in “Baby Girl” sweatpants and a denim jacket that only had sleeves and a collar, exposing their bare chest. 

“Prince is a real big inspiration,” they said. “Clothes don’t have a gender.”

Vocalist “Disko” wore thigh-high platform boots plastered with buckles. Their magenta-dyed hair matched Burt’s. Burt gripped a V-shaped guitar; Disko, a heart-shaped bass.

“I just want to look like a Bratz rock angel at all times,” Disko said. “You ever see a play or a movie, and you’re like, ‘Damn, that (outfit) looks amazing!’ I want to mimic that in everyday life. I want to feel like I’m a character.”

While the members of Community Chapstick certainly embody characters onstage, their performances are rooted in authenticity. 

“When we get on stage, it’s not that it’s a persona; it’s that I’m actually being myself now,” Burt said. “The songs we write are important to us. So, the expression just comes out. It’s not even really planned.”

Better than Earl Sweatshirt

Disko likes to refer to Community Chapstick as a “rock diary.” The band experiments with various genres and instruments like violin, kalimba and Stylophone, but rock is at the heart of everything they make.

Community Chapstick’s latest EP, “KEEP ON SPINNING,” which was released in August, demonstrates that ethos.

It begins with a raunchy rap track, “BUSH!” Burt’s in-your-face delivery contrasts with Disko’s soaring, ethereal, cadence on later tracks like “Vagabond,” an ode to new beginnings that was named after actor Tim Curry’s memoir.

Burt and Disko’s contrasting styles reflect their backgrounds. Disko grew up singing in church choir, while Burt began rapping at 16 with one goal: to surpass Earl Sweatshirt. 

Did Burt accomplish their goal?

“No,” they said with a laugh. “But it built my confidence up. So, do I think I’m the best rapper now? Yes.”

Bearded dragon in a stroller

Burt and Disko were both solo musicians in the Delaware music scene when they decided to form Community Chapstick a little over a year ago. Ebbi, who is a producer, joined the band after hosting a jam session for the duo. 

Finding bandmates and collaborators locally isn’t difficult, Disko said.

“Delaware is so small, but it has such a great lust for music,” they said. “If you tell someone, ‘I want to throw a show,’ they’ll be like, ‘I’ll offer up my house.’”

Burt added that many people still need to “learn how to have fun again” after the COVID pandemic and aren’t aware that the Delaware music scene exists. 

That’s obvious whenever band members hand out concert flyers on the street. Usually, they’re met with reactions of fear or annoyance when they try to spark conversations. But people tend to open up once they realize they’re talking to a musician.

Disko often brings their pet bearded dragon, Barbie, in a stroller to act as an icebreaker.

“They’re like, ‘Oh my God! Your lizard! Can I pet her?’ And I’m like, ‘She wants to give you something. It’s a flyer for a show,’” Disko said. “Some people don’t know what they’re missing out on until you show them.”

‘Spanish For Dummies’

The Community Chapstick name is inspired by Disko’s discovery that their co-workers kept a shared stick of lip balm. But it’s also a promise to build an atmosphere of acceptance and solidarity in their fanbase.

That’s why the band has played benefit shows for families affected by the actions of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

Disko and Burt have started writing songs in Spanish in the wake of ICE’s mass detention of both documented and undocumented Hispanic people. Disko and Burt have Dominican and Panaminian heritage, respectively, and are self-described “no sabo kids” — as referenced in the “No Sabo” EP cover, which shows Disko reading “Spanish For Dummies.”

“People are even scared to speak Spanish, which sucks. I’m like, ‘No. We should speak it more.’ Let’s all learn it together,” Disko said.

The members of Community Chapstick hope their shows are a welcoming environment where audience members can find a sense of belonging and be their authentic selves.

“We had a little girl come up to us, and she said we were the first Spanish rock band she’s ever seen,” Disko said. “It was really cool to have someone say that and open up the window, like, ‘Someone who looks like you and me could do this.’”