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CHIRP Podcasts
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 PINKSQUEEZE Interview
This week, Features contributor Alyssa Edes speaks with Ava and Logan of PINKSQUEEZE, a Chicago-based queer femme indie rock four piece. They discuss how their sapphic cover of "Stacy's Mom" is really just a ploy to get moms' phone numbers, how Tinder helped finalize the band's member lineup, their upcoming album Be Gay Have Fun!, and the importance of healing your inner child and showing queer joy.
"Having a full rock band setup was always [co-founder] April and I's mission for the band. We felt like the music that we wanted to make in this project together was so centered on our queer experiences that we felt like the music that we were making needed to be told from perspective of people who shared identities or similar identities so it could be authentic and truthful." - Ava
PINKSQUEEZE will be celebrating the release of Be Gay Have Fun! at Cobra Lounge on Saturday, May 20th.
Produced by Alyssa Edes.
Photo Credit: Athena Merry
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First Time: First Family - Anna Lucero
Anna Lucero is a comedian, actor, and director in Chicago. She was a founding artist at The Lincoln Loft and produced The Gogo Show there for 10 years. She has performed standup at Zanies, The Laugh Factory Chicago, The NY Underground Comedy Festival, The Burbank Comedy Festival, and The Comedy Store.
The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Produced by Bobby Evers and Julie Mueller. Podcast produced by Andy Vasoyan and Jenn Rourke. Recorded by Tony Baker.
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Artist Interviews Poi Dog Pondering Interview
Frank Orrall is the creative head of long-running, and currently Chicago-based, alternative music collective Poi Dog Pondering, who self-released Keep On Loving Each Other earlier this year. CHIRP DJ and Features contributor Mike Nikolich caught up with Frank to talk about his band's latest album, their journey to Chicago from Hawaii, and how his diverse influences have impacted the band's sonic evolution over time.
"All of a sudden, there were people, from Europe mostly, but [elsewhere as well], they were adopting acoustic instruments but with a punk mentality, and that's really how we started. Early on, people would say, "Oh, [you're] kind of a Neofolk band." But we weren't looking at it that way." - Frank Orrall, on the origins of Poi Dog Pondering's sound.
Produced by Mike Nikolich
Photo Credit: Frank Orrall
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First Time: First Family - Josh Friedberg
Josh Friedberg is an author who is excited to be reading for his first First Time event. His writing has appeared in two books, including the 25th anniversary of Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, and he has done storytelling with You're Being Ridiculous and a TEDx talk on creativity and autism. You can read his Substack blog, Spectrum Sounds, at joshfrmusic.substack.com. He is also a proud DJ at CHIRP Radio, hosting the nerd-tastic eclectic show Music Historian's Corner on Wednesdays at 9am-12pm.
The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Produced by Bobby Evers and Julie Mueller. Podcast produced by Andy Vasoyan and Jenn Rourke. Recorded by Tony Baker.
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Artist Interviews CalicoLoco Interview
This week, Features contributor Matty G speaks with Dani Robles and Zeke Ramsey of Chicago-based jangly glitzy rock band CalicoLoco. They discuss their musical genre influences, writing love songs for yourself, the various friends and family members that create the charming artwork behind their singles, their love for the vast DIY Chicago scene, and why they have Taylor Swift covers on their Bandcamp.
"I say we sound like a bedazzled denim jacket. That's our genre. I don't think we really fit into a lot of genres [...], but we pull from so many, and every song we pull from different genres of what we're listening to at the time." - Zeke Ramsey
Produced by Ninja
Photo Credit: Vicki Holda
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