CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Q&A With Sons of Ra (Performing at CHIRP Night at the Whistler on 10/3)

[photos by Andrew Rothmund]

Chicago group Sons of Ra is performing at CHIRP Night at the Whistler on Tuesday, October 3rd with Levi Stress. We caught up with the band (Erik Oldman on Guitar, Keith Wakefield on Bass and Tenor Saxophone, Michael Rataj on Drums) to ask them a few questions about themselves and their music…

So...What’s going on? Tell us about your current releases and/or upcoming shows (such as CHIRP Night at the Whistler!).

Erik: we’ve just wrapped up tracking and are mixing our full-length album Standard Deviation which will be out in March 2024.

We’ve collaborated with Levi Stress live in the past for a number of our shows. He invited us on the bill to back him for this show and we’re pretty enthused to work on translating some of his tracks into a live band hip-hop set him at the Whistler on Tuesday.

Later in October  we are heading out on the road for a few dates around the upper Midwest. We will also be back in Chicago on Sunday October 22 at Livewire Lounge.

Mike: We’ve also started a side band with the 3 of us called KW3 and you can expect to find a more chilled, soul jazz trio mixed with funk and R&B influences. It allows us to explore a different side of influences and sounds than what we typically write and perform as Sons of Ra at those shows. 

How do you go about turning your thoughts, ideas, and feelings into sounds?

Erik: For me there’s always music going on in my head, but if it’s associated with an experience that creates an emotional reaction it tends to stick around and eventually makes it to voice memo or some sort of notation. Sometimes it’s an idea… melody or a motif I bring to the guys and we jam on it and start working on developing and arranging. Sometimes it’s a fully-formed piece and we work through fitting it into the group setting and giving it some life.

Mike: Same, being a drummer it’s now impossible not to try to find rhythm and cycles in almost every repetitive sound I hear, so then it’s hearing how the rain drops and picking a smooth rhythm out of it.  Although I’m also a big fan of nature and unplugging and I think that’s a great way to let the most important things percolate to the top of your mind.

Keith: What I love about this band is we are all pretty open to just about anything.  We bring a bunch of influences and weirdness, yet we are able to experiment and adjust in a mostly judgment-free zone until we have something that is ready for Prime Time.

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CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Q&A With Levi Stress (Performing at CHIRP Night at the Whistler on 10/3)

Chicago artist Levi Stress [bandcamp] is performing at CHIRP Night at the Whistler on Tuesday, October 3rd with Sons of Ra. We caught up with Levi recently to ask him a few questions about himself and his music…

So...What’s going on? Tell us about your current releases and/or upcoming shows (such as CHIRP Night at the Whistler!).

My current release is Center of the Apex. My group Sands of the Hour is working on our Debut release called Specks in the Sands and next year where dropping a EP called KC Masterpeace, and new solo album for next year also 

How do you go about turning your thoughts, ideas, and feelings into sounds?

I contemplate every idea I have and manifest it into the universe and breathe it into existence

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CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Q&A With CHNNLL (Performing at CHIRP Night at the Whistler on 10/3)

Chicago artist Chris Davidson, a.k.a CHNNLL, is performing at CHIRP Night at the Whistler on Tuesday, October 3rd. We caught up with Chris recently to ask him a few questions about himself and his music…

So...What’s going on? Tell us about your current releases and/or upcoming shows (such as CHIRP Night at the Whistler!).

We just completed a short mid-west run of shows and are excited to play CHIRP night at The Whistler on 10/3!

I have two EP’s worth of music that I will be releasing through the course of the next year and the first song "Kick It" is coming out on Thursday, September 28^th. Our performance at The Whistler will be special because, aside from "Kick It," we will be playing only unreleased music. Some of it won’t be out for close to a year, so this is a great opportunity for you to check it out!  

I’m also very excited about this new music because I recorded it at Steve Albini’s studio with engineer Drew Brown [Radiohead, Atoms for Peace, Beck] and creative input from The Joey Waronker on drums [Atoms For Peace, Beck, R.E.M.], Zac Rae [Death Cab For Cutie, Alanis Morissette, Stevie Nicks] on guitar, piano, and synthesizers and Gabe Noel [Kendrick Lamar, Harry Styles, Father John Misty] on bass and strings.

How do you go about turning your thoughts, ideas, and feelings into sounds?

There’s an interesting thing Johnny Cash said in an interview that was… “I have to get filled up in order to pour out.” And I think it’s such a great way to explain songwriting. You have to live life and fill up on experiences and emotions before things start coming out. I call this phase my “discovery mode” where I live my life, but also practice my instruments, check out new music and analyze some of my favorite songs for inspiration.

Throughout this process I take notes and record little bits of lyrics, melodies, drum beats, etc… and then during the writing process I Frankenstein them all together where I think they make sense.

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