The Chicago Independent Radio Project is working to secure a broadcast license for a new community radio station in Chicago that is committed to local, independent programming, and generally furthering the causes of localism, diversity, and independence in broadcasting. We are working to convince Congress and the FCC to remove existing barriers to the granting of low power FM radio licenses in urban areas, including Chicago. We hope you'll join the fight.
Yea Big + Kid Static are the coolest, nicest guys in Chicago Hip Hop right now. With a debut album and constant gigging keeping them busy, Think Pink Radio caught up with them amidst the work work work.
Peter Andreadis is a multi-talented Chicago-area musician and person. He resides in the Lincoln Square area where he finds occasional inspiration for and distraction from his various musical and professional pursuits. As a member of the local hot-rock band, Baby Teeth (www.babyteethmusic.com), he drums like he means it. In his role as auteur of all things All City Affairs (his “solo” project), he writes songs, gathers talented musicians and produces a wide array of music, which is corralled at www.allcityaffairsmusic.com. He started a music blog a few months back at www.acawriteoff.wordpress.com where he treads in “covers” country. Having been a fan of many of these pursuits for a number of years, I was pleased to conduct the following “email interview” with him.
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Many friends sit around drinking and talking about starting a band, but never have the chutzpah to get the project off the ground. When the initial idea for the Blue Ribbon Glee Club was hatched, I recall someone hopefully suggesting that perhaps Pabst might sponsor the choir. Following their formation in 2007, they were part of a stellar Hideout Block Party lineup that included Art Brut–who enjoyed their set so much they showed up at the after party. Recently, their acapella covers of essential songs like “Spanish Bombs” and “California Uber Alles” forced even the crustiest of the vendors at the CHIRP record fair to look up and flash a knowing smile.
I caught up with 4 of the original members, a marginal fraction given that almost 30 people are in the group. Whitney Johnson and Joshua Dumas also comprise part of local band the Notes & Scratches, while Rob Kowalczyk and Katy Groves are the co-captains of the Glee Club these days.
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On March 21st, I went to see Collections of Colonies of Bees perform at the AV-Aerie. I’ve been a fan of the band for some time, though keeping track of their limited releases and off-shoot projects is no simple task – however, their entire discography has recently been made available digitally through drummer Jon Mueller’s DIY label Crouton Music. Behind Mueller and fellow co-founder Chris Rosenau, CoCoB was a Pele side-project that formed as an outlet for the ever-antsy musicians to explore the more experimental and quirky tangents of post-rock. This began the Milwuakee-based band on an interesting evolution that has morphed from exploring the possibilities of folk and bluegrass instrumentation mingling with digital post-production effects to the heavily tinkered, melodically stuttering sound of their 2004 release for Polyvinyl, Customer.
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Last week we introduced the spotlight section by highlighting one of our active members. Along with giving you an inside look at the people who are working hard within our organization, this section will also feature interviews with our favorite artists and industry folk. This week, we are proud to present David Brewis, the clever pop-rock songsmith behind School of Language and one-third of the acclaimed indie/art-rock trio Field Music. Supporting his debut album as School of Language – Sea from Shore released on Chicago’s Thrill Jockey Records in January – we had the opportunity to sit down with Brewis after his in-store performance at Reckless Records. Though exhausted from his rigorous touring schedule and still shaking slightly from the adrenaline induced by his just completed performance, Brewis took on the interview like a pro with poise, sincerity and eloquence. Or perhaps it was just the Sunderland lad’s English accent that disguised any kind of impatience. Either way, we discussed his infectious new album (which very well may be a dark horse contender on many critics’ 2008 year-end lists), striking out from beneath the Field Music shadow, and his future plans as a solo artist.
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To kick off our monthly spotlight on active members of the Chicago Independent Radio Project, we sat down for a conversation with Vice President Jenny Lizak. As well as being the chair of CHIRP’s Legislative Committee, Jenny is the Head Publicist for one of Chicago’s premier independent music venues, the Metro and Smart Bar, and co-anchor of the Women on Women Music Program. In a noisy bagel shop on the north side, we briefly pinned down the ever-busy Jenny on her lunch break to discuss her position with CHIRP, her passion for community radio and her recent trip to Washington, DC on behalf of the organization.
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“Believing that “the true power of radio is in localism, diversity, adventurousness and immediacy,” CHIRP may be just the thing to unplug from your IPod and enjoy listening to the radio again.”
While admittedly we do enjoy our IPods, that’s still pretty nice of the folks over at UR Chicago to say.
You can read the entire story here in .pdf form and online at their site through the end of April.
The online journal, Is Greater Than posted a really great story about our endeavors recently with quotes from CHIRP president Shawn Campbell, and yours truly, Dustin Drase.
Here’s a bit of what they had to say about us:
“In a time where so many independent outlets – from alt-weeklies to bookstores to record labels to radio stations - face epic challenges, CHIRP has emerged as a community-focused force to be reckoned with.”
You can read the whole article here.
Democracy in action!
Two of our staffers went to Washington, D.C. at the end of February for Low Power FM Action Days. Organized by the Prometheus Radio Project, LPFM Action Days provided an opportunity for community radio advocates throughout the country to meet and network as well as lobby on Capitol Hill, meet with senators and representatives, and visit the FCC. CHIRP president Shawn Campbell and vice president Jennifer Lizak took letters from local CHIRP supporters and presented them during the meetings. (more…)
…about independent radio and why we’re so crazy about it? Well sometimes, it’s making the smallest difference in a person’s day that counts.
Here’s a video a listener made while listening to Bo Diddley’s “Mess Around” on the radio.
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Photos by John Schroeder | ©2007-2008 CHIRP