Chicago's Ax and the Hatchetmen share, 'Stick & Poke', the title track from their new EP, released last month via Arista Records.
Commenting on the title track, Ax and the Hatchetmen’s frontman Axel Ellis shared, “‘Stick & Poke’ takes me back to a sunny trip to Minnesota with my friends from high school, staying up late with too much beer and a stick and poke kit, giving each other tattoos. To me, a tattoo preserves a moment forever, even when the love and people attached to it have moved on. Everybody eventually goes their separate ways, but the ink on my body takes me right back to that garage, to being young and in love.”
Produced by longtime collaborator Jake Sinclair, Stick & Poke captures the highs, lows, and lingering memories of young love through a series of vivid, deeply personal vignettes. From the pure joy of late-night tattoos and teenage romance to heartbreak, missed connections, and relationships that were never meant to last. The EP turns those fleeting experiences into anthems of self-discovery, nostalgia, and the universal search to make sense of where we’ve been, and who we’re becoming.
Listen to ‘Stick & Poke’ on the Premier League playlist.
Since forming in 2018, Chicago’s Ax and the Hatchetmen have gone from a tight-knit group of music school friends to one of the most electrifying young bands in modern rock. Led by guitarist and singer Axel Ellis alongside Sal Defilippis on guitar, Hunter Olshefke on bass, Chaandmon Crofton on drums, Phil Pistone on trumpet, and Quinn Dolan on saxophone, the six-piece first came together while studying jazz at Chicago’s Columbia College. But while their musical foundation may be formal, the band’s sound is anything but. A freewheeling collision of rock, soul, funk, and pop that channels the timeless energy of their wide-ranging influences into something distinctly their own.
That chemistry has carried Ax and the Hatchetmen from packed hometown rooms to sold-out headline tours and the stages of Lollapalooza, the Chicago institution they once looked at with stars in their eyes. Along the way, they released a live album, signed with Arista Records, and built an impressive catalog of releases culminating in the band’s debut album So Much To Tell You. Released in 2025 and produced by Jake Sinclair (Panic! At The Disco, Weezer, Avril Lavigne), the project features the breakout smash ‘Hotel Room’ and ‘Blurry Lights’ featuring The Strokes Albert Hammond Jr.
