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Entries categorized as “Interviews” 93 results
Layne Lindroth writesConcert Review: The Revivalists at Concord Music Hall (3/18/17)
Words and Pictures by Layne Lindroth
Despite the chilly Chicago air, fans assembled along the Milwaukee Avenue sidewalk long before doors-open in hopes of snagging a front row spot for The Revivalists. The band’s most dedicated fans—also known as “Revheads”—swapped stories of their favorite encounters with the band and their hopes for the setlist to come. One fan casually mentioned to some first-timers that he’d seen the band over sixty times and still thought each performance was the greatest. A band warranting sixty plus ticket purchases had to be incredible; only a couple hours before we newcomers would find out.
Finally the band—minus one—settled into their positions onstage and played the uptempo opening notes of “Bulletproof”, signaling lead singer David Shaw to center stage. From the second his wireless microphone left its stand Shaw was in perpetual motion: walking through the photography pit, stepping on gear boxes to get closer to fans, and every once in a while, launching his 6’5”-ish self high into the air. The neo-funk rock band makes the Energizer bunny look apathetic. The third song of the set, “Keep Going”, had even the most stoic of concertgoers pumping a fist and shouting the battle cry chorus, “We’ve gotta keep going, keep going, don’t care what anybody say, let the law take us away.”
Shaw continued to weave his way around the stage, riling up the crowd with his bouncing arms and strained, soulful vocals. The funky-groovy arrangement of “Stand Up” successfully institutes timewarp technology, making those not dressed in flare jeans and tie-dye feel out of place at the modern Concord Music Hall. The breezy saxophone, jumpy keys, and of course the lyrics, channel the blue-collar New Orleans roots of The Revivalists.
Amelia writesInterview: The Angela James Residency at The Hideout
[photo by Jordan Martins]
Local artist Angela James has accomplished a lot in the past few years. In 2014, she released her first full-length album, Way Down Deep, with the support of the Comfort Station and the Illinois Arts Council. Just over a year later, she released her second record, Time Will Tell, and at the end of 2016 she had her first child.
This month she is returning to performing with a month-long residency sponsored by Middle Brow Brewing at The Hideout. Every Tuesday night in March, James will lead ensembles of local artists, highlighting different concepts and collaborates in week.
CHIRP DJ and Features Co-Director Amelia Hruby recently spoke with Angela about the residency.
AH: When or how did you start planning this residency?
AJ: I started talking to Sully at The Hideout before I gave birth to my daughter. I think I had this fear that I wouldn't have the time or the focus or ability to maintain my creative practice in the way I wanted to after having a child. And in some ways that is definitely the case; for example my ambition is very different now. But in other ways, I find that I am much more focused and creative. So when I reached out to Sully last year, I think it was from a place of anxiety. But I began planning a lot of these ideas a while ago, and now I feel like everything is just a little bit out of my reach. Which for me just means that I'm working really hard on this material, and it feels great to get back to that place.
Amelia writesOur Music My Body Promotes Safe Spaces & Consensual Interactions at Local Venues and Festivals
Have you seen a consent button-making table at a concert recently? Did you read Riot Fest's or Kickstand Production's anti-harassment statement? If you answered yes on either account, you might have run into Our Music My Body.
Our Music My Body is a campaign by local non-profit organizations Between Friends and Rape Victim Advocates that promotes fun and consensual music experiences for all music lovers and concert- and festival-goers in Chicagoland and beyond.
CHIRP volunteer and DJ Amelia Hruby recently met up with Our Music My Body organizaer Matt Walsh to chat about the campaign.
AH: For people who aren't familiar, what is Our Music My Body?
MW: Our Music My Body is a collaborative campaign between Rape Victim Advocates (RVA) and Between Friends. Rape Victim Advocates is a rape crisis center that advocates for survivors of sexual assault in hospitals and court systems and also does education work. Between Friends is a domestic violence agency in Rogers Park that does court advocacy counseling as well as prevention education in middle and high schools.
AH: How did it get started?
MW: So in 2011, when Odd Future played at Pitchfork, Between Friends and RVA came together to protest the group's hateful lyrics. They caused a big storm, and they were given a booth at the festival. And this was the moment when people realized that these things need to be talked about in the non-profit world.
Then a few years passed, and I came onto the Between Friends team and did a small campaign about Riot Fest in 2014 (#GetConsentAtRiotFest). I reached out to RVA and said that I wanted to do this a lot bigger in 2016. I got put in touch with Kat Stuehrk and we started working collaboratively on a campaign that included a Huffington Post article, booths at Pitchfork and Riot Fest, and a panel on safety, sexism, and harassment in the music industry that included Corin Tucker (of Sleater Kinney), Britt Julious, Jes Skolnik, and Monica Trinidad.
Mike Nikolich writesThe Present Elders Heal and Inspire Through Live Pop-up Performances
[from the Present Elders Facebook page]
The Present Elders is an electronic music duo with a hip hop foundation that specializes in unforgettable live performances where all of the music is composed and manipulated through synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, drum machines and FX. Featuring Brother El and Radius, two veterans of Chicago’s electronic and hip hop scenes, the duo has been playing pop-up street shows throughout Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and now in Portland, Oregon.
Formally trained as an audio engineer and graphic designer, Brother El runs The Beat Bank, an independent record label. His unique style has been described as “Chicago’s pulse, the breath of hip-hop, and the clashing fusion of South Side meeting ancestral roots.”
Radius started crafting beats in 2001 with a focus on multi-dimensional “post-genre” based compositions. After producing tracks for local rappers, he began to hone his skills as a producer/live performance artist by winning Chicago area beat battles and later performing in various hip hop and electronic showcases with Moment Sound Crew (Garo, Lokua & Slava). Radius runs ETC Records, a forward-thinking, progressive label for Chicago artists.
The two artists became a duo after Radius was inspired by one of Brother El’s performances at Chicago’s Oakwood Beach to coin the name. He felt like Brother El was a present elder unlocking jewels of the universe with the wisdom of the ancestors and representing progressive cultural movements now. As The Present Elders, the duo’s goal is to heal and inspire by tapping into the frequencies of their audiences.
Lady Amelia writesA Conversation With BESTMAN
BESTMAN is the synthpop project of local artist Brian Clouthier. CHIRP volunteer Amelia Hruby caught up with Brian after the release of his new EP BIG SKY.
Amelia: Tell me how you started BESTMAN.
Brian: I started about three years ago. I had been playing in bands in Chicago and met a lot of really cool people, but I felt that I still needed a creative outlet of my own.
Around that time my best friend moved to California with his fiancé who was another one of my really close friends, and I was kind of bummed about it, because we had been close for a long time. So when he asked me to be the best man in his wedding, I took a trip out there. I had only been to California one time before, and I stayed in the Valley the entire time and just thought it was miserable. It totally validated my “I’m a Chicago guy” kind of thing, and I really didn’t understand the romance of the West Coast. But when I went out there to throw his bachelor party, we went to Malibu and Venice and down the coast, hiking in the canyons, and I finally got it.
I came home really inspired to make music that would melt the blue-collar aspect of the Midwest and Chicago and the rock music I had been playing for a long time with this new Cali-electro sound that had started to draw me in.