For episode 50 of B-Side Breakdown, Shi from Scarboro breaks down “Chaser,” a song rooted in political exhaustion, fake empathy, and the disconnect between what people say they believe and what they’re willing to act on.

Shi talks openly about working in politics and nonprofit advocacy, running for Congress from the left, and eventually walking away after years of watching corporate influence hollow out meaningful change. The conversation moves beyond the song itself into hot-take culture, online outrage, and the frustration of seeing powerful words rarely materialize into pressure where it could actually create change. But underneath all of it is something more personal — exhaustion, apathy, recovery, and trying to rebuild a sense of purpose after hitting a breaking point.

The episode also digs into the making of Scarboro’s new record Hate Season, written after Shi left the New York State Senate and began working through a difficult period of mental health struggles and healing. What came out of that time became one of the band’s most collaborative and emotionally direct records yet.

Follow Scarboro:
scarboro.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/scarboropunx

Sell The Heart Records:
https://www.selltheheartrecords.com/

WTF Records:
https://wtfrecords.eu/

Thanks for supporting B-Side Breakdown — where the song is just the start of the story.

Brett Johnson
Host, B-Side Breakdown
https://www.bsidebreakdown.com

#Scarboro #Chaser #HardcorePunk #PunkRock #NYCHardcore #SellTheHeartRecords #DIYpunk #PunkPodcast #BSideBreakdown #MelodicHardcore #IndependentMusic #MusicPodcast #PunkCommunity #NewMusic