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Volume I highlighting the 4th Annual Wasted Plains Rock & Roll Revival.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: SUM Magazine

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Business in the FrontSponsors

the backdrop 106 Cass Street Woodstock, IL 815•338•3007

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At risk of a condescending first impression, I’m going to ex-plain what you’re holding. Yes, it’s a magazine, but like vir-

tually everything in life, SUM Magazine isn’t just what you see on the surface. It is many things at once, and always changing. This is a beginning. It is a first issue (hopefully the first of many to come). You are also holding a roadmap to the 4th Annual Wast-ed Plains Rock & Roll Revival, an indie-rock showcase born and raised in Woodstock, Illinois. But even more than that, Sum Magazine is the result of my decision to take action and tip the work-life scale back in my favor. My weekly commute to Chicago afforded me twenty chances to stop and smell the flowers along the Metra Union Pacific Northwest line—com-ing back, twenty more. This past winter made those stops even longer...there are no flowers in Chiberia. Worse than winter travel was watching my summer days

pass by through the hazy green windows of the Metra train. Working for the weekend. Splitting (I use the term loosely) my time between what I “had to do” and what I wanted to do just wasn’t adding up. Then one miserable inbound morning as I took the change for my large coffee, panic set in—I realized I had absolutely nothing to

do for the entire train ride from Woodstock to Chicago. I contemplated throwing my coffee in the trash, because at that point I’d rather nap than think. But instead I looked around the train station for something to read—and there was nothing. Then I asked myself, why is there nothing to read from the suburbs into Chicago? SUM Magazine is a reminder that it’s never too late to quit your job and do what makes you happy. It’s also something to read from the suburbs into Chicago.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

PUBLISHERBrandon Pacyna

EDITORMatt Carmichael

CONTRIBUTORSMatt Carmichael,

Thax Douglas,Brandon Pacyna, Ashleigh Long,Casey Meehan,

Scott Meyer

COVER DESIGNJeff Friedel & Gabriel Karagianis

an Indie Inn Publicationwww.indieinn.com

© 2014 Indie Inn Productions

ARTIST INTER-VIEWS

3 The Amen Brothers

Elephant Gun5

Jaime Rojo

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Mooner

SUM MAGAZINEISSUE NO. 1

Where are they now? White Mystery (2012)

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Mutts

ORIGINAL ARTWORKLyrical interpretations from Ashleigh Long and Scott Meyer

IN THIS ISSUE

Cousin Dud

Mannequin Men 9

1112

2POETRY

Rock & Roll Poet Laureate, Thax Douglas

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Business in the FrontSponsors

the backdrop 106 Cass Street Woodstock, IL 815•338•3007

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Mannequin Men #9by Thax Douglas

punches punch each other out until their bruises swell in to each other interlocking into some kind of kidney crawling into the forest waiting for the swelling to go down so they can fight again, in the meantime enduring fragile refugees trying to hoist the kidney into the air as a symbol of unity.

-9/24/09 Abbey Pub

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THE AMEN BROTHERS

Self-Described Sound: Dustbowl, Holy Roll, & Neo SoulHometown: Chicago, ILBand Members: Anthony Stamilio–guitar/vox, Ed Yana-sak-trombone, Alex Knapp-cello, T. Powell–upright bass, Nathan Staley- drums, Justin Rodig–banjo/bassLatest Release: The Amen Brothers (s/t, October, 2014)Website: www.theamenbrothers.bandcamp.com

Your lineup goes beyond the typical two guitar, bass, and drums arrangement. How did you settle on the instruments you have now, and was there a trial and error process getting there? The whole reason we started playing music was because of the en-

couragement of our good friend, Justin. He’s a sick guitar, banjo, bass, etc. player. Justin and Nathan had been playing music togeth-er throughout high school and college. I think they both felt like they would like to work with my songs, and so we started a band with Justin on banjo/bass, Anthony on guitar, Ed on trombone, and Nathan on drums. We only played together in that arrangement once before Justin moved on to fatherhood. After he left, there was really only one option: a multi-instrumentalist. Alex is the most multi-everythingist in Chicago–he’s currently performing magic with Chicago Shakespeare theatre–so we started playing together.You ran a Kickstarter campaign to pay for the recording and production of your debut album. You brought in almost dou-ble the amount you set out to raise. What do you think accounts for the added support and success of the fundraising effort?We had a thing we wanted to make and that we thought really deserved to be made, so asking people to support it was pretty easy. Also, we didn’t offer anything that I would call a “donation.” Everything was sold at a reasonable price, and I’m happy to say we were able to deliver. I don’t see anyone with the same last name or the name “Amen”. Any sto-ry behind the band name? The best names are meaningless or up to interpretation, like Steppenwolf or the Beatles.Getting five people to agree on anything is a feat in its own right, let alone to create original music with a unique sound. Are there any noteworthy clashing tastes in genres or favorite bands that stir the pot when you’re coming up with new material?Yep, half the band wants to just play fun music for people to dance to. The other half wants to be the voice of a generation, and that dichotomy keeps us from becoming assholes who take themselves too seriously.Your dream comes true; you’re asked to open for ____ next weekend in Chicago. Who is it? Patrick Watson. He’s an incredible Cana-dian bandleader who hasn’t really hit it big in the US yet, but we respect him a lot and we think our aesthetic would fit well with his. Without hyping side projects or your best friend’s band, are there any Chicago acts you’re especially into right now? Hood Smoke is making some really great music and Whysowhite puts on one of the best live shows in town. Colin Meloy of The Decemberists said in their early days they literally played to just the bartend-er (Chris Funk, who later joined the band). Be honest, what’s the least amount of people you’ve ever played a set for? In August we played the Union Park Night Market. There was no market because no vendors showed up, and there was no park because they were setting up for North Coast Music Festival. We ended up playing to an empty parking lot, but we felt like we put on a good show anyway. The “status of the music industry” discussion as it pertains to artists and their pay can often get heated. Do you weigh in on that topic or tend to focus on your music and let the chips fall where they may?Musicians have never been paid well except for a brief time when recording technology exploded and the clowns who run things hadn’t figured out how to ruin it. We are lost in the fog again, but at least we have the internet.Favorite song to cover? “Sh-Boom” by the Chords, “Use Me” by Bill Withers, and “I Want to Be Like You” from Jungle BookWhat’s one thing you want Wasted Plains attendees to take away from your set this November? A printed, pressed, signed and dressed CD.

Or digital download card. And a hangover.

Nathan Staley interviewed by Brandon Pacyna

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Expect the unexpected was my man-tra for August 25th, 2012, as I

awaited the convergence of 20 bands onto VFW Post 5040. It was the first Wasted Plains. I expected a day filled to the brim with rock & roll and all

of the head banging, beer chugging, and dancing that comes with it. But White Mystery lighting off Black Cat firecrackers to start their eleven o’clock set on the Sunflower Stage? Com-pletely unexpected…and bad-ass. It was right then and there that I learned to always expect bad-ass from White Mystery.

In true Midwestern fashion, Alex and Francis are achieving their musical dreams through hard work. “White Mystery is the single

priority,” declares the band. “It means no boyfriends or girlfriends. No haircuts. We’re dedicating ourselves to our band and rock & roll music.” The plan seems to be working. White Mystery has recently garnered praise from the likes of MTV, Pitchfork, Spin, and even landed a featured role in the Levi’s #Equipped campaign.

Since appearing at Wasted Plains in 2012, WM has released two full-

length albums, Telepathic (2013) and Dubble Dragon (2014), and gigged tirelessly around the world, including national coast-to-coast and European tours, along with slew of high profile SXSW showcases. The release of Dubble Dragon on April 20th of this year marked the sixth anniversary of the band. “We decided to release new music every year on that day, for ten years,” explains guitarist and singer Alex White. “This year marks the sixth year.” Here’s to hoping they remember to keep it up over the next four.

Speaking of burning up the road, The Soil & the Sun have ac-complished a lot since their Wasted Plains appearance, includ-

ing a successful $15,000 crowdsourcing campaign for their latest release, Meridian, a billing at Pygmalion Festival, 60,000+ views for their “Prolegomenon” music video, and two Daytrotter sessions.

Stephen Thompson, host of NPR Music’s All Songs Considered, said recently of the band: “In the process of listening to 1550

bands, if you can get through an 8-minute song without skipping to the next one, that band is doing some-thing right.” TS&tS have a knack for stand-ing out; on a playlist and in person. In 2012, the band pulled up to the VFW in “Scout,” a

retired Boy Scout bus. “We purchased [Scout] from an ex-scout-master and began transforming it into a tour bus,” explains Alex McGrath, singer, guitar player and founding member of the band. “It has been a long process, but it has slowly become a true home on wheels.” And the term “home on wheels” is accurate, given the number of miles the band has put on the odometer. “We’re

trying our best to learn how to take care of each other and maintain a healthy balance while living under a somewhat unusual set of circum-stances,” says McGrath of life on the road. Catch them on said road this fall with Count This Penny, man.

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CATCHING UP WITH NOTABLE A L U M S

by BrandonPacyna

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COUSIN DUDSelf-Described Sound: Rock Hometown: Chicago/Woodstock, ILBand Members: Josh Burns, guitar/vocals, Matt Carmichael-guitar/vocals, Cesar Cruz-drums/vocals, Pete Geraci-saxophone, Dan Schuld-bassLatest Release: The Faded (2014)Website: www.cousindud.com

You have a long history with Wasted Plains...Can you give us a quick synopsis of your involvement with the fest? We had

the idea to get a bunch of bands together for a one-day concert, a sort of alternative to the multi-day camping style festival. Origi-nally, I think we planned on throwing it in Chicago, but ultimately we decided to do it in Woodstock. There’s obviously no shortage of live music in Chicago, but that isn’t necessarily the case out in the suburbs. So in the end it made more sense to set up in Wood-stock and try and transplant some of that city music scene out here for the day. There are a lot of great bands playing in Chicago with strong ties to Woodstock, too…so we’ve been fortunate enough have a lot of those bands come out and join the party. What was the most unusual memory of a Wasted Plains performance?One year, I think maybe the first year, MC Roy Ivy gave a live demonstration of how baby panda’s are born...the kids loved it! Anything you are especially looking forward to in regards to this year’s fest? All of the bands are great, so I’m just looking forward to being there and taking in all of the sets...playing will be fun too.What has been going on with Cousin Dud in recent months? It was an interesting summer for us. Our long-time drummer, Ben, moved to Alaska in the spring, so we had to spend some time working out a new drummer. I got married in June, and then our saxophon-ist, Pete, was down in Mexico for some weeks. We’ve been playing out around Chicago and writing and working out new material. Any new recordings planned? Yeah. We’ve got a lot of new songs that we’re throwing into the next album. We’re just getting started with the recording of it. It’s sort of a follow up to our last album, The Faded—the same Midwestern bullshit that we love so much. Since a lot of folks are going back to school these days... Can you regale us with any stories of your experiences in school? Fond memories? Oh man, I spent a lot of time in school. That’s a whole nother in-terview. School’s great though. Who are you listening to these days? Any good records to watch out for? Sleaford Mods’ Divide and Exit...is pretty rad. Who is your favorite Chicago band? In addition to all of the great bands playing at WP this year, I’ve lately been digging Twin Peaks, Flesh Panthers and Chance the Rapper, among tons of others. What does the future hold for Cousin Dud? What’s the big

picture looking like?We’re working on the next album. Other than that, just play-ing shows and writ-ing new music. It would be great to add a keyboardist to the mix, that’s some-thing we’ve been trying to make hap-pen for a while now.

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Matt Carmichael interviewed by Casey Meehan

by BrandonPacyna

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ELEPHANT GUNSelf-Described Sound: Adventure MusicHometown: Chicago/McHenry CountyBand Members: Jared Olson-Vocals/Guitars, Jon Olson-Guitars/Marimba/Vocals, Ryan Wizniak-Drums, Katie Bendorf-Violin/Vocals, Jim Drake-Lead Guitar/Vocals, Justin Past-Saxophone/Percussion, Zach LaBomascus-Piano/Keyboards, Evan Porter- Trumpet/Percussion, Adam Engers-Bass.Latest Release: Castle Boots (2014)Website: www.elephantgun.bandcamp.com

How old were you when you played your first gig? Can you talk about some of your first bands/recordings? Oh man, my

buddies Joe Broman, Paul Chivari, Mat Toussaint, and I formed a strange little outfit called Ucerine (named after lotion) during our freshman year of high school. The first songs we learned were Green Onions by Booker T & the MGs and Soul Kitchen by The Doors. We also had some originals that we recorded onto our friend Dan’s reel-to-reel in his “space shed”. We were trying to sound like Beck and Sebadoh. Nobody really liked us. Rap metal was huge.How did Elephant Gun come to be? Jim Drake and I were playing in a psych-prog band of sorts. Lots of effects. I drummed in it. I guess I wanted to experiment with more natural textures and play more guitar. Elephant Gun was formed out of my love for artists such as Wilco and Beck, mixed with some good ole Americana, blue-grass, punk, and adventurous clas-sic rock artists like Big Star, The Beatles, Television, and Neil Young, to name a few. The band grew over time, we started out as a six piece, one mem-ber quit, and four more joined. It was freaky, it was fun, it still is.You’re involved in a few music projects right now (Post Child, DirtyBird, Pajama)...is there a method to balancing your cre-ative output? Does each project serve as a distinct outlet for a certain type of lyric/music, or are there sometimes tough de-cisions to be made as to which project gets a particular piece of music? Yeah, it keeps the juices flowing, and i feel it keeps me young. I really only write for Elephant Gun and Pajama, which is basically just a home-recording project to keep me from watch-ing to much television, or being a general slug. I’m lucky to work with writers that have an insane amount of output in Dirty-Bird and Post Child. I get to kind of sit back in those bands and help shape their songs, which is really enjoyable for me. I re-ally like their writing and joined those bands for that reason.As a man who appreciates a fine day spent outdoors, do you have any recommendations for a day/weekend getaway from Chicago? There are a few! Warren Dunes in Michigan is beau-

tiful, Kettle Moraine in Wisconsin, I also enjoy the Galena area. Most of those I would consider weekend trips...I usu-ally camp when I go. I also enjoy hiking in Cary when I vis-it my parents. Lots of great preserves in McHenry County.What’s it going to take to get the goddamn Cubs back to a pen-nant worthy squad? Some heavy witch craft? Maybe Ron San-

to rising from his grave? Who knows man. It’s gon-na be some hairy times, but I’m a believer.

As far as recordings go, y’all routinely choose to forgo the ‘professional’ studio, in-

stead favoring various ‘home studios’ around the area. Aside from the

obvious monetary difference, what are the advantages of a more DIY approach to re-cord making? I like recording at home. Studios usually feel sterile to me. I like making my own coffee, and my own rules. It can be a fun challenge, too.

Once, we secured this nice big house, and our engineer, Joe, only

found one room in the whole place that he felt had proper acoustics for a

good recording. We had cables running out of upstairs windows into separate control

rooms and had chill rooms and a smoking patio. Life was decadent to say the least. We couldn’t do it without Joe.Can you talk about some of the pros and cons of operating with a large ensemble? The pro is that when we get it all togeth-er, it is unmatched energy. The con is getting us all together. What are you listening to these days? I’ve been on a huge Stephen Malkmus kick, everything from early Pavement to The Jicks. I also really love The Besnard Lakes and The War On Drugs a lot. The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street has also been in heavy rotation.You’re wandering through the desert and find a magic genie’s lamp. The genie gives you three wishes, but they have to pertain to the acquisition of music gear. What do you ask for? I just sold my drum set, so maybe I miss it a little. One of those would be cool. I’ve always wanted an old piano, as well as a brightly lit practice room in my residence. Those three would be nice. I dream of magic genie.What’s next for E-Gun? We are gonna press our latest re-lease, Castle Boots on tape later this year and do a small tour next summer around some rural areas in the Midwest.

Jared Olson interviewed by Matt Carmichael

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JAIME ROJOSelf-Described Sound: Garage-Disco-Afrocuban-Dance-RockHometown: Chicago/Woodstock, ILBand Members: Jim drake-guitars/vocals, Nathan Karagianis-guitars/vocals, Neal Neumann- bass, Lilly Choi-Keyboards/vocals, Daniel Villarreal-Carrillo-DrumsLatest Release: the Hi May Row Hoe EPWebsite: www.jaimerojomusic.com

Can you talk a little bit about how long the band has been around, and how y’all came together? Jaime Rojo has been around since 2008 or 2009. It started as a side proj-

ect of Elephant Gun, sprouting from my need to play more of the songs I was demo-ing at the time. I had a lot of recordings I did at home and some of my close friends

encouraged me to find a way to let these songs see the light of day. One of these friends was Gabe Karagianis (brother of current Rojo member, Nathan). He expressed interest in helping get the songs out by playing bass. Eventually, we found drummer Dan-iel Villarreal-Carrillo. Daniel and I had many practice sessions in which we would listen to different “world music” late into the evening and started to incorporate that into our writing style. That connection was the foundation of what we still are today.For a good while Jaime Rojo was a one guitar band, how has the addition of a second guitarist affected the Rojo sound and song writing style? On one level, having Nate in the band gives us a fuller sound with more texture and doubling of bass lines, etc. On another, Nate offers a lot of atmosphere where I would just be playing basic dry parts. Nate is the more “psychedelic” element of the band. He and I come from a very similar school of guitar playing, too. We both have a Talking Heads-esque/70s Afro/dabbled-in-Jazz-at-Millikin sort of style. Thus, we can bounce off of each other a lot or play a singular solid thing. We can play completely dif-ferent things or even drop out while the other is playing to create more space. That’s why having five members is an ideal number for me. It’s as much or as little as you want in one rock band. As far as our writing style goes, Nate officially joined the band as we started recording our upcoming LP (due late Feb ‘15). These are all songs we wrote before he joined the band, but when the album comes out, you’ll hear him on every track as if he were there all along. That being said, his impact on our style may show more in the future with songs that we will have written after his joining, and it will... it will... What is the etymology of the name Jaime Rojo? Jaime Rojo, pronounced “Hi May Row Hoe”, is Spanish for “Red James”. I am James and I am red in the hair. This was originally a nickname given to me by an old friend of the band. When we got tired of our old band names, we changed it to Jaime Rojo. Ta da!How did you personally come to be involved in music? I wanted to play the guitar since I was 5 but it was not my first instrument. When 4th grade came around, I started playing the tuba in school band. That was my first official involvement. The next year my brother got an acoustic guitar for his birthday. Eventually, I started tinkering around with it and taught myself “The Star Span-gled Banner.” That summer I started taking lessons, and since I wasn’t crappy at it, I didn’t quit like I did so many activities before. Twenty years later: Wasted Plains 2014. Anything notable that you’ve been listening to lately? There’s a band out of Portland, Or-egon, called Marriage and Cancer. I saw them play at Wally World after my friend’s band, Post Child. They are like a hard-pump-ing dark trip of catchy minor rock that revels in the slightly atonal. You kind of have to listen to them just once a month be-cause their sound is so permeating, mood-wise. Swimming by French Kicks has been a staple for me in the last year or so. It’s very melodic but effortlessly so. Very consistent with minimalist recording techniques, like if Monet were a little more slacker.6 Volts by Fred Eaglesmith really hit me this year. It’s a great mix of sad country guy meets faux-camp, with a bright gravel delivery. They’re one-mic recordings that feature the most beautiful pedal steel guitar without miles and miles of reverb. Shields by Grizzly Bear, Moondog Swim by Caribou. I heard Deltron 3030 this for the first time this year. Despite being an alternative hip-hop album from ‘99/’00, it sounds fresh as ever to me. The whole thing is just pulsing with this energy that reflects it’s futuristic dystopian lyrical content.My brother and I revisited most of the Pink Floyd discography this summer while hanging out and drinking beers. While it’s definitely not new, it had been quite a long time since we listened to that stuff, so it was like falling in love all over again.Several members in the band work with other musical projects outside of Rojo, care to mention those projects?Traitors! Daniel and Neal both play in Brother George. Lilly fronts the band Chicken Happen. Daniel also plays with Ami Sarai-ya & the Outcome, as well as Mucca Pazza. I also play in Elephant Gun. What is your favorite Woodstock venue? Liquid Blues. If Jaime Rojo could work with any director to score a movie, who would you choose to work with, and what would the movie be about? If Requiem for a Dream were more of a romantic comedy and if it was set in space...or if Darren Aronofsky did a film ad-aptation of Tom Robbins’ Still Life With Woodpecker. Jaime Rojo has a quirkiness that is sometimes romantic, but also a bit sci-fi-rhythmic-trip-centered, which could be used well in the film. As a Wasted Plains alum, do you have any fond WP memories? I remember watching Smoker (then called Stephen Paul Smoker) and being like, “this freak show really floats my boat”. Seeing Mannequin Men the first year...they told good jokes about Billy Joel. Palling around with Roy Ivy, always a good time. Seeing people from a lot of different Chicago scenes at the fest in my lit-tle town of Woodstock has been great, time after time. Daniel’s after-party the first year? Total-ly excellent. What’s next for the band? We are nearing the finish line with our first LP. After that comes out we will definitely hit the road in some capacity, while promoting it on the internet. Aside from that, we will be doing a lot of group writing, “jamming” to find new feels.

Jim Drake interviewed by Matt Carmichael

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MANNEQUIN MENSelf-Described Sound: Post-Punk/Garage-Psych-Pop = Rock n’ RollHometown: Chicago, IllinoisBand Members: Kevin Kujawa–Guitar/Vocals, Ethan D’Ercole–Guitar/VocalsJesse Woghan–Bass/Vocals, Seth Bohn-Drums/VocalsLatest Release: Mannequin Men “s/t” LP on Addenda Records (2011)Website: facebook.com/mannequinmen

The last time I saw you guys play was Miles’ farewell show at the Empty Bottle in 2013.

At the time, there was talk of that being the final MM show, but instead you found a new bassist in Jesse, and here we are. Was the propensity to keep things moving forward always there, or was there really a moment when you thought, ok, maybe we’ve driven this car as far as it’s going to go? I think most of us really thought we were done. We’d been playing for the last 10 years straight, and was the perfect opportunity to at least take a break. Maybe it gave us a chance to realize that we actually wanted to keep playing together. But really I think we just got bored, one day in the dead of winter we decided to head back to the practice space and rock out some new songs. We’re all best friends and hanging together any-way. Might as well be productive. That’s where our new bassist Jesse came in. He’s a friend and we were fans of his old band the Narrator. He’s been fitting in perfectly. You guys have talked about the collaborative process, particularly as it relates to Manne-quin Men (album), and how the songwriting was becoming perhaps more of a ‘group effort’ than it had been on previous records. How has the departing of Miles and the arrival of Jesse informed the dynamic of the band’s creative process? It’s always been pretty col-laborative. Typically Kevin or I will bring the basic structure of a song to practice and the rest of us will hash it out together and come up with different parts. We’re still do-ing that. Jesse used to sing in the Narrator, and we love his style, so we’re letting him take lead vocal on some of the new songs. How would you describe the “new stuff ” com-pared to the “oldies”? Same old Mannequin Men. With some weird new guy singing on some of the songs now. You recently played the release party for Brian Costello’s book Losing in Gainesville...any bookworms in the group? What’s on the bookshelf? I just finished reading volumes 1-3 of the Image Comics SAGA series by Brian K. Vaughan

and Fiona Staples. I’m not much of comic book/ graphic novel reader, typically, but I’d highly recommend this to anyone. It’s about two interspecies lovers on the run from the galactic society that doesn’t accept them. Super smart and original. But also kind of like Star Wars. No, we’re not the biggest bookworms, but we all spent a good part of our youth reading the classics and being introspective young dudes. I’m a sci-fi guy. As Chicago sports fans, any thoughts/predictions on the upcoming seasons? Do the Hawks win the Cup? Do the Bears make the playoffs? Do D-Rose and the Bulls stay healthy? Ha. You almost got me there! You know I can’t jinx that! You’ve all made it to heaven (congrats, dudes!), but there’s a catch: God requires that MM become a cover band, and demands that you choose one band’s cat-alog to cover for eternity, lest the whole band be banished to hell. What band do you pick? We’ve done this a few times for Halloween shows over the years. One year we w e r e The Vel-v e t U n d e r -

ground. A n - o t h e r y e a r w e w e r e C C R . A n d just a c o u p l e y e a r s ago we w e r e T h e C u r e . That one ended up b e i n g p r e t t y funny b e c aus e we all dressed u p a s

Robert Smith. It’s not as fun dressing up as the other members of TheCure! I’m gon-na go with CCR on this one. Final answer, God! If we get bored we can just jam out on “Heard it Through the Grapevine” for hours. Which, funny enough is cover as well. Ha. A couple of your album covers are designed by the great Gary Panter. How did y’all come to be acquainted with him? We’d been fans of his for years. Notably his art directing work on Pee-Wee’s playhouse, and various other album art and publica-tions. At some point we’d found out that a friend of ours was working with him in New York and so we just shot him an email and a copy of our yet to be released record. He said he liked it and would do it. He said he’d had a dream the night before about a pack of wolves running rampant in the sewers. How about something like that? he said. And we were like… uh yeah, per-fect! Haha. Gary rules. Such a sweet dude. Kiss loved Pringles, Van Halen hated brown M&M’s, and Kanye demands that his dress-ing room be stocked with Neutrogena sham-poo and Arm & Hammer “Powder Fresh” deodorant. What’s listed in the ideal MM contract rider? A Big Buck Hunter arcade machine. Preferably the “Safari” addition. And some stuff to drink. Extra Terrestri-al’s have finally established contact with the people of Earth. They want to know what it means to be a “Midwestern idiot”…Tell them to come to Wasted Plains this year and find out. Ha. Not really sure what that means. Next question. What’s next? Any plans laid out for the next record? Any touring in the works? We’re currently finishing up writing and getting ready to record a full length al-bum this winter. After that comes out we’ll likely do some touring out East and West.

Seth Bohn interviewed by Matt Carmichael

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MOONERSelf-Described Sound: Rock/Power-PopHometown: Chicago, ILBand Members: Adam Bonich-Drums, Taylor Briggs -Bass, John Gargiulo-Guitar, Lee Ketch-Guitar/vocals, Steve Slagg -Keyboards/vocalsLatest Release: Making Americans (2013)Website: www.moonerband.com

Everybody has to start somewhere…do you remem-ber the first song you ever wrote and/or recorded?

The first song I wrote was written while I was recording it. It was the early 2000s and digital home recording wasn’t affordable quite yet, so when my dad found a bunch of consumer grade video

equipment, I just used that. I would put the lens cap on the camera, set it on the floor facing a guitar amp, record just the guitar and a click track onto a blank video tape, capture all the footage, delete the video, import the audio into free audio editing software and manually line up all the tracks until they were synced. I would do that for every part of the arrangement, so I’d start all over with piano, then drum ma-chine, then vocals. Looking back now, I can’t believe how much unnecessary work I went through to get the most rudimentary stuff. The song is called “Waiting Room.” It’s this awful, dirge-like, piano-driven song about a girl and her suicidal father. I wanted to appear deep.Can you explain the genesis of Mooner? I first released stuff as The Apartments, which was just me, but then I discovered the (excellent) Aus-tralian 70s rock group The Apartments and I lost enthusiasm for the name. Around 2010, my wife and I started trying to come up with a new one. We wanted a sort of made-up word that sounded American, specifically Midwestern. Mooner was one of the thousands of suggestions my wife gave me, and I liked that it has both a kind of romantic meaning and a dumb meaning (butts). The group has gone through a lot of lineup changes, but this current group has been together for a while now. I met Adam on Craigslist. Taylor was in a great band with Adam called Sissy Mena. I met John when I stumbled upon his other band (Canadian Pavers) and basically begged him to join mine. Steve and I went to college together and have collaborated on music for years. He is also an incredible songwriter; everybody should check out his project Youngest Son. Can you tell me about the Mooner songwriting process? Is there a primary songwriter or is it more of a group effort? How does a song go from idea to proper recording? I write a song, record a demo, bring it to the band, we work on the arrangement in the practice space, tweak the structure and lyrics, then do a number of full band demos, play it live a bunch, and if it’s any good, go record it at Kingsize Sound Labs in Humboldt Park. As it stands, our turnaround from conception to completion is about six months to a year which is probably too long. Who are your biggest artistic influences? Warren Zevon, Jeff Tweedy, Todd Rundgren, The Ramones, Brian Eno, Bill Callahan, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Television, Teenage Fanclub, Devo. How do the bills get paid? Does the band hold down day jobs? I work at a call center, Steve works at call center, John teaches people about healthcare, Adam works in video post-production and Taylor is a pro-grammer. You can bring in any one musician (or producer)–dead or alive--to round out the Mooner lineup. Who do you add to the fold, and why? I would love to have Bobby Conn produce a Mooner record. He is one of my favorite musicians. Steve and I are gonna go see him play David Bowie’s ‘Station to Station’ live at the MCA soon. Maybe we should approach him there with this hot new op-portunity. In your opinion, what makes the Chicago music scene great? I’ve never met a band that wasn’t kind, helpful and genuinely enthusiastic about playing shows together. I also think this is a town full of really good musicians. There might be a higher percentage of people who are really good at their instruments and take playing seriously than in other towns. Are there any local bands you are digging these days? Bobby Conn, Shiloh, The Holy Alimonies, Youngest Son, Mawrcrest, Dann Morr, Terriers, Arts and Letters, Cous-in Dud, and Secret Science. You guys send out a great little newsletter that includes some interesting music reviews (i.e. albums by Taylor Swift and Sixpence None the Richer) via the “Mooner Record Club”. How did that come to be, and how do you decide what records to review? Thanks! I started doing it because I wanted to send out the kind of newsletter that I would want to read. Everyone in the band likes reading music criticism and the newsletter is a great way for us to put out amateur writing and hopefully connect in a different way with people who like our music. I also really enjoy telling people what albums they should be listening to. Every month I ask which one of the guys wants to write the Record Review and if no one can do it, I’ll write something. I generally write about an album I’ve been listening to or an album that I think would be fun to revisit. I think this month I’m going to write about contempo-rary opera composer Robert Ashley. You can sign up at www.moonerband.com. What does the near future hold for Mooner? We’re recording our first album right now and hope to have it out by spring 2015. Keep up to date with us on Facebook or our mailing list.

Lee Ketch interviewed by Matt Carmichael

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MUTTSSelf-Described Sound: Ragtime GrungeHometown: Chicago, ILBand Members: Mike Maimone-keys & vocals, Bob Buckstaff-bass,Chris Pagnani - drumsLatest Release: Object Permanence (2013)Website: www.wearemutts.com

You guys are on the road 400 days a year it seems. Is that part of a strategy or phi-

losophy for furthering the band or do you just dig gigging? We just love playing, and the more we do it, the better it gets. Your en-ergetic sets make live shows key to building your fan base, but you’re also very active on-line as well. Is social media fun for you, or more so an unfortunate part of the job? At

first it seemed like just part of the job, but we’ve been finding new ways to make it fun, so hopefully it’s entertaining for other people, too. How do you describe your sound when people ask your genre or what you sound like? Ahhh... we say it’s like Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem meets Dethklok. Mel from Flight of the Conchords plays the perfect “super fan”. Is there a president of the Mutts fan club? There are several, they know who they are, and we love them dearly! You guys have opened for some notable bands – Everest, Maps & Atlases, Murder By Death – to name a few. Is there a dream gig you’d like to see come true? Those were all great experiences, any of them would be fantastic again. Also, I think we’d all be pretty much in heaven opening a bill with White Den- im & the Whigs, or if we went with the acoustic sound, Phox & Blessed Feathers. You’ve raised roughly $25,000 on Kick- starter to record 3 records. Your lat- est fundraiser came down to the wire but you pulled it off. What’s the Mutts crowdsourcing secret to success? I think we’re just really fortunate to have a great group of friends, fans and family who believe we’re doing something worth con-tinuing. And they know we’re working hard as well, so we’re not just gonna take the money and get back to them in a couple years. Tell us about your upcoming release and what’s to be expected on it. It’s the story of America’s Next Top ________ (something), and how the dream changes as you go. So it’s a concept record, flowing from one track to the next. Musically, we tried a lot of new things, while sort of blending the styles from the last two records. Chicago is home for Mutts. Where do each of you consider your home town? I grew up in Ashtabula, OH. Bob was in Arlington Heights, Chris in Palatine. I’m always trying to find new bands and new music to listen to, so I end up trolling the internet for hours on vari-ous sites. You meet bands nearly every day but do you still seek out new music, and if so, any methods or particularly helpful sites? Not really, because I have stacks of cds and download cards from so many great bands we’ve met. A Wast-ed Plains attendee wants to thank you for your 2014 performance. What should they buy each of you? A shot of whiskey, a burrito, and a book.

Mike Maimone interviewed by Brandon Pacyna

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