CHIRP's exclusive artist interviews, conducted on-location and produced entirely by CHIRP volunteers. Subscribe to the feed to receive new interviews with local and national acts every week.

Artist Interviews LLO LLO Inteview

This week on the podcast Johnny Cummings and Grant Goode of Chicago power pop group LLO LLO recently spoke with CHIRP DJ jdang. They discussed proper pronunciation of their name and how the band was formed plus their recent EP, recording the next one, and thinking about their musical future.

Catch them at Promontory October 23rd with Jockey, GMG, and Safety Society.

"When I think about the pandemic in Chicago there was kind of a clean slate for a lot of smaller bands to start forming their own scene and I think that has been the biggest influence within the past year.  " - Grant Goode 

Produced by Jessi D
Photo Credit: Ian McSheffrey
 

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Artist Interviews Naked Raygun Interview

This week, Features contributor Mike Nikolich speaks with guitarist Bill Stephens of Chicago punk legends Naked Raygun. They disuss Naked Raygun's most recent release, a tribute album of dedicated Naked Raygun covers by a collection of punk luminaries, Godspeed: A Tribute to Pierre Kezdy, sales of which benefits the family of bassist Pierre Kedzy.

"To me, Pierre embodies the spirit of Naked Raygun, which is unwavering honesty and a sense of humor. There will never be another Pierre." - Bill Stephens

Produced by Mike Nikolich

Photo Credit: DT Kindler

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Artist Interviews Slow Riser Interview

This week, Features Director Marjorie Alford speaks to Ian Young of Slow Riser about their recent release Midnight Talks. They discuss the birth and evolution of the project - including restructing from a trio to a duo and the pace change of creating through the pandemic - as well as the ins and outs of their live shows, and the truth in art of being a slow riser. 

"When Claire and I were talking about like overarching themes we landed on our own relationship to the night and how that changes over the years, how that changes depending on what time of year it was, how we feel mentally, all that stuff. So Midnight Talks is very much me trying to create a vignette of what it was to drive around small towns, growing up at night with my friends." - Ian Young

Produced by Jack Deubner.

Photo Credit: Slow Riser

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Artist Interviews Eel Romance Interview

This week, Features Director Jessi D speaks with Cameron Lee, who performs as Eel Romance, about his debut album, Funny Blue, his struggle with and commitment to creating his perfect first album, being inspired to finish his album by recording and distributing his own cassette tapes using a recorder from a 90s cereal promotion, and how his own audio diaries formed his sampling process.

"I was just going to share it with some friends, and mainly it was just a personal milestone where I wanted to finish something. [...] I've always had trouble saying that something is finished and committing it and saying this is what I wanted to do, I am proud of this. This represents a piece of me. But this one happened to work, and that took a lot of work to do. [...] This is great surprise, and it's very exciting for me. Because I've always wanted to talk about this, I've always wanted to do this." - Cameron Lee

Produced by Jessi D.

Photo Credit: Nat Werth

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Artist Interviews Caroline Lucius Interview

This week, Features contributor Matty G speaks with Chicago-based artist Caroline Lucius and her brother and producer Schaeffer Lucius. They discuss the creation process for her newest EP, Running Without Me, producing the entire album alone in the home the siblings share, using samples from family VHS tapes in the production of the album, and making sure to take time for rest.

"I feel like part of me is very anti-nostalgia and against sentimentality because it can hold you back in some ways, and it can make you stay in the past. And I feel like I sound harsh when I say that, because so many people will say, it's ironic - your music has a nostalgic vibe." - Caroline Lucius on sampling her family's VHS tapes in her music

Produced by Jessi D.

Photo Credit: Lori Allen

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