Choking Victim

New York City ska-punks Choking Victim took shape when singer/guitarist Scott Stergin (aka Stza or Sturgeon), bassist Alec, and drummer Skwert began sharing squats across Manhattan’s Lower East Side; additional contributors at various points included guitarist Ezra along with bassists Sascha Scatter and Shayne and drummer John Dolan. Stza and Alec had first launched the project under the name No Commercial Value in the early ’90s before the group evolved into Choking Victim. Mid-decade 7-inch releases such as the Crack Rock Steady EP and the single “Squatta’s Paradise” introduced the band’s focus on vagrant living and atheist themes, after which the core trio joined the Epitaph subsidiary Hellcat and issued the album No Gods, No Managers in 1999. Although the band split on the opening day of those sessions, sufficient material had already been captured to complete the record. A year later Tent City put out Crack Rock Steady Demo, followed by a compilation that gathered the earlier singles and EP. Stza and Ezra subsequently formed Leftover Crack, while Ezra joined Skwert in INDK.