All Entries in the "Features" Category
Cover Story: Experience Hendrix
Standing Next To The Mountain
What can possibly be revealed about James Marshall Hendrix that hasn’t already been articulated? Electrified innovator. Arguably the greatest axe slinger of all time. A guitar god gone too soon. An indelible legacy that will live forever. But even the most exalted of rock icons needs a fresh coat of paint, [...]
The Avett Brothers interview
Me, Myself, & I
Bob Crawford thinks he holds the best job in the world — even if it means driving four hours through a sleet storm just to get home from band practice. “It’s been just phenomenal for me. I get to collaborate with two of the greatest songwriters I know,” he says over the [...]
H.I.M. interview
Life In Theory And Practive
“This particular record is a funny one for me, because when I started working on the first songs, I kind of had lost hope in relationships altogether. I’m a bad boyfriend, let’s put it that way. But then, I kind of fell head over heels for somebody during the process, and [...]
Studios 2010: Lining Up Your Cue
An IE Panel On How To Survive
A Recording Session
Hoosiers is one of the greatest psyche-up movies of all time. It’s interesting for this story not because of March Madness, but for how it compares to having a professional recording made. In a crucial scene, Gene Hackman’s character gives his green team a tour of the [...]
Cover Story: Billy Corgan
It’s Only Just Begun
If the adage holds true – that “rich is the examined life” – then it’s about time for society, as a whole, to grab its pipe and slippers, curl up in its comfiest recliner, and have a long, hard thoughtful stare into the ice-cold mirror. Chances are, Snow White’s unforgiving Maleficent might [...]
Joe Pug interview
Messenger Service
Joe Pug doesn’t want you to poach his music from illicit Web sites; rather he wants to give it to you . . . for free. And he hopes you’ll share it with others. Simply e-mail the Chicago-based singer/songwriter or sign up for his mailing list to receive sampler CDs meant for your personal [...]
Four Tet interview
In The Moment
Talking with Kieran Hebden in the dawn of 2010, it’s evident that the electronic producer known as Four Tet is doing exactly what he wants to with his music and life. Throughout our conversation, this Londoner sounds genuinely enthusiastic about his work and doesn’t talk about “what if” scenarios or dwell on what [...]
Justin Townes Earle interview
Mainlining Chicago
Coming off a meteoric two years – starting with 2008’s stellar, honky-tonkin’ debut, The Good Life (Bloodshot), followed quickly in 2009 by the much more urban-indie Midnight At The Movies and earning both a new/emerging artist Americana Music Award and GQ fashion spread in the process – Justin Townes Earle is at home in [...]
Cover Story: If We Could Turn Back Time
What does it mean to “make it”? Reality TV and the Internet have mangled the notion of fame, with everyone allowed at least 15 megabytes of it. In music it’s as difficult, maybe even much harder to define. How do you quantify success? Some artists call it Top 10 singles and headlining tours. In the [...]
10 For ‘10
Yourself And The Air
IE takes a look at 10 local artists who’ll look to have their biggest year ever.
OK Go interview
Testify
Internet neutrality. It’s a thorny, hotly contested issue that’s divided into roughly two opposing camps: those who believe that broadband speed shouldn’t be altered depending on its content or sender/recipient, and those who insist that it should. Naturally, the average recording artist — who views it as a freedom of speech issue — is firmly [...]
The Fold interview
Future Ready
Mention Chicago group The Fold in certain circles, and the band might be known for its ties to hometown ’90s punk group Showoff (Fold frontman Dan Castady was the drummer), or recognized for its underground efforts on indie label Tooth And Nail from earlier this decade. Yet it’s The Fold’s latest move no one [...]
Cover story: Ray Davies
And Then The Chorus Hits
He might have been a fit for Monty Python. When we met him in the ’60s, Kinks frontman Ray Davies was one of many shaggy-haired Brits ripping back the fabric of traditional mores. “You Really Got Me” and “All Day And All Of The Night” remain two of the most explosive [...]
Arctic Monkeys interview
The Reality Of The Situation
Nick O’Malley says “I suppose” a lot. It’s so integral to his speech you wonder if it’s the Sheffield equivalent of the Chicagoese “I says” or the valley girl “like.” It has the effect of perpetual contemplation and complete detachment from his current emotional condition, as if you could insult his [...]
