Features
Travis interview
Travis Spotless Mind It was something new, all right. Bravely, boldly, with no sound-system assistance, Healy began to strum and sing “Flowers In The Window,” one of the optimistic Travis chestnuts featured on the recent Singles showcase. And there was silence in the hall — dead, hear-a-pin-drop silence. Fans watched reverently, almost awestruck as their […]
The Narrator interview
The Narrator Bob Dylan Gospel Hour The first thing one learns when doing research on local rock outfit The Narrator is not to believe everything you read, especially when it comes from the band themselves. According to the short bio on the back of the promo disc for their latest release, All That To The […]
Cover Story: The Police
The Police Red Light, Green Light It is just after 10:30 a.m. on Monday, February 12th, and a group of about 150 international entertainment journalists, music-industry insiders, and rock star celebs are ushered into Los Angeles’ famed Whiskey A-Go-Go on Sunset Boulevard. Joining them is a small but fiery group of hardcore fans who won […]
Bebel Gilberto interview
Bebel Gilberto The Parent Trap Bebel Gilberto speaks with the same soft, sensual cadences she uses when she sings — that graceful blend of sun, urbanity, and rhythm that turns the familiar into something exotic and the exotic into something intimate. Given Gilberto’s singing style, this is probably to be expected (or, if you’re male, […]
JJ Grey & Mofro interview
JJ Grey & Mofro Ain’t No Place Like Home When speaking with JJ Grey, you’re not likely to hear this proud Floridian call himself an activist. But since dropping the Blackwater album in 2001 with his band Mofro, this singer-songwriter has stood up for the oft-forgotten residents who dwell in the swampy outskirts of his […]
Megadeth interview
Megadeth Angry Again No Metallica. No Ellefson. No religion. These were the ground rules laid down for the Illinois Entertainer prior to our interview with Megadeth founder/frontman/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Appearing: May 5th at Allstate Arena in Rosemont.
Nachtmystium interview
Nachtmystium Cosmic American Black Metal In determined, jagged strikes, the young girl slashed her own skin with a razor blade she had smuggled into the all-ages show. As blood and consciousness escaped her, she collapsed onto a floor of broken glass. Her salvation came not from the band she showed up to worship, but from […]
Shadows Fall interview
Shadows Fall Full Speed Ahead “Loud. Loud and sloppy, but it’s all good” This is Shadows Fall bassist Paul Romanko’s account of the group’s just-completed sound check at Myth Nightclub in St. Paul, Minnesota on March 23rd, the first day of the Stone Sour-headlined Jägermeister Music Tour. Shadows Fall, along with Lacuna Coil, serve as […]
Indie Label Month: Inside Delmark
A Day In The Life Of Delmark Records The name Delmark Records isn’t just synonymous with Chicago jazz and blues, but has steadily become an American institution as the second oldest independent record label in music history. Since 1953, the company’s wide ranging roster has included such royalty as Junior Wells, Magic Sam, Otis Rush, […]
Cover Story: Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy Little White Castles For You And Me The “underdog” card is a favorite of Midwesterners. Ozzie Guillen, though Venezuelan by birth, famously played it during the White Sox’s run to the World Series in 2005, giving wide berth for Lovie Smith to do the same as the Bears approached the Super Bowl […]
CocoRosie interview
CocoRosie Fairies And Elves And French Graveyards, Oh My! “I feel bad sometimes for journalists, because it is hard for us to relate to other music,” explains Sierra Casady of CocoRosie, when asked to help describe the recordings she makes with her sister Bianca. “Putting what we do into different categories is challenging for us […]
Jon Rauhouse interview
Jon Rauhouse Stents And Sensibility Similar to a scene in a movie where the young ingénue approaches the aging rock star seeking an autograph for an older relative, folks come up to Jon Rauhouse all the time. “Everybody tells me their mom loves my record or their grandma loves my record or they clean their […]
Static-X Interview
Static-X Nu World Order The voice on the phone reminisces about living in Chicago, partying at Medusa’s, befriending the keyboardist of Ministry, and selling 1 million copies of an industrial-influenced metal album released in the 1990s. But it’s not Al Jourgensen talking. It’s Wayne Static, the frontman of Static-X. Appearing: May 23rd at House Of […]
Superchrist interview
Superchrist To Hell And Black Chris Black sits at a table in a Lakeview bar, slowly stubs out the orange glow of a Marlboro Red, takes a drink of beer, and prepares to tell the story behind his band Superchrist’s new record. It might not be as dramatic a tale as Smile or Chinese Democracy, […]
Ted Leo Interview
Ted Leo And The Pharmacists Pound The Pavement Considering Ted Leo And The Pharmacists toured at least four, maybe five times (the frontman can’t exactly remember) behind 2004’s Shake The Sheets (Lookout!), the guys are understandably exhausted. And that’s not to mention the outings behind three prior records, or Leo’s time in the East Coast […]
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