By Jake Krzeczowski March 13, 2013 6:42PM
The 2011 Pitchfork Festival headliner had to forego a stop here in support of their latest album, “Centipede Hz,” released last September on Domino.
It wasn’t out of laziness or lack of interest in the Windy City; the band just wanted to take a break to see their loved ones. Continue reading Animal Collective primed for Chicago return
By Jake Krzeczowski
Originally Appeared for Chicago Sun Times
Andrew Barber of Fake Shore Drive hosts a sound showcase Thursday at the South by Southwest Festival. The Sun-Times asks the blogger about a few of his favorite things.
Favorite Chicago live performance?
Tie: Kanye West’s Foundation show at the House of Blues that was two weeks before the release of Graduation. He premiered songs from the album that he’d kept from leaking including “Big Brother” and “Good Life.” It was my first time ever hearing these records, and they sounded amazing in such an intimate environment. I highly doubt he’ll ever do a show at the House of Blues Chicago ever again, as he was stadium status soon after Graduation dropped. Continue reading A Q&A with Fake Shore Drive’s Andrew Barber
BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI March 13, 2013 11:38PM
Since starting the hip-hop blog Fake Shore Drive in 2007, Andrew Barber has consistently shone a light on Chicago’s lesser-known rappers.
On Thursday, through a partnership with the RedBull Sound Select concert series, Barber will continue to do what he does best — helping to curate a Chicago hip-hop showcase as part of the “140 Hours to Austin” lineup at the Texas city’s South by Southwest music festival. Continue reading Sorry, Kanye: Andrew Barber is the face of Chicago hip-hop
By Jake Krzeczowski March 6, 2013 1:00PM
Originally Appeared for the Chicago Sun Times
Chicago’s Congress Theater is quickly becoming a hot spot for electronic dance music.
As the genre has developed and exploded, the 86-year-old theater located at 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave. has hosted some of the rowdiest sets the city has seen.
It’s a perfect fit for the Chicago natives Flosstradamus and electronic artist Dillon Francis, who co-headline a show Friday. Continue reading Congress welcomes electronic duo home
Chicago musician Lili K (Kryzanek) is jazz with a nose ring — literally.
Blending jazz with hip-hop and R&B to form a wholly eclectic sound, the 21-year-old Milwaukee, Wis., native, who sports a stud in one nostril, has begun to carve a niche with her new take on the musical style while keeping jazz alive.
“I think my sound is very distinct, and I’ve gotten good at blending genres,” said Lili. “It’s awesome to be able to go from a jazz jam session to a Treated Crew party across town and be welcome at both.” Continue reading Blend of genres marks Lili K’s style
BY Jake KRZECZOWSKI February 21, 2013 4:21PM
Chicago Sun Times
For Alex Fruchter, no day is like the one before.
The 30-year-old Indiana University graduate and founder of the Chicago blog RubyHornet decided to forgo a more “traditional” path after college, investing his future in an art form that had followed him his whole life: Hip-hop.
“Hip-hop was going on all around us,” said the Hyde Park native. “You’d hear it outside or walking down the street. Eventually I just fell in love with it.” Continue reading Digital Freshness concert series kicks off
BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI February 19, 2013 11:00AM
What: Singer/Poet/Playwright/Teacher
School: Brown University
From: Hyde Park
There may not be enough hours in the day for Jamila Woods. The do-everything 23-year-old is a sort of modern-day Renaissance woman. With all that she does, it’s a wonder she can find time to do anything at all. “I really find that I can’t really do just one thing,” said Woods. “I get a lot of energy from that balance of other things, and I think my craft benefits from doing all of it.”
Woods sings as part of the Chicago duo Milo and Otis, who opened for Chance The Rapper at The Metro last October, and play the Hard Rock Cafe on March 1. Her poetry has won her two Louder Than A Bomb College slam poetry titles (2009 and 2011). “Being onstage for poetry has helped me so much because if I have a nervous feeling now, it’s more of a familiar feeling,” said Woods. She has also produced two plays and has a book of poetry, “The Truth About Dolls” (New School Poetics Press). Woods also spends her down time helping at Young Chicago Authors.
“Working with students, they don’t care what I do in my free time. It’s humbling because I have to come in and convince them that poetry is worth their time, which, at the same time pushes me to do the kind of poetry that I’m writing.”
Jake Krzeczowksi is a local free-lance writer.By Jake Krzeczowski
Originally appeared for Elevator Magazine
If ShowYouSuck’s recent release, One Man Pizza Party Three: Rest In Pizza, ends up as a flop, it won’t be the end of the world for the Chicago MC.
While he may not have to worry about bad reception, Clinton Sandifer, better known as ShowYouSuck, has plenty of options if the music world was suddenly not an option.
At 27, Sandifer finds himself of the older guard in a city where it seems as though the average MC’s age hovers somewhere between a driver’s license and a first legal drink.
With age comes wisdom and Show has seen it all, becoming a sort of twenty-first century Renaissance man in the process.
A graduate of the Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg, Sandifer helped establish an art gallery, Artpentry, in Pilsen and is involved with Code of Conduct tattoo parlor along with his clothing line Slurpcult, and yeah, he sometimes finds time to rap too.
Fresh off the Slumerican Tour with Yelawolf, ShowYouSuck credits his creative personality to his success.
“If this shit fucked up tomorrow I could go right back to working at a skate shop or to the art gallery or tattoo shop,” said ShowYouSuck. “It allows me to make my music freely. Music isn’t my last resort.”
The Bridgeview native doesn’t necessarily evoke the stereotype of a rapper. You can often find him around town in a cut-off jean jacket and tie-dye shirt. His style is more punk than hip-hop, an ode to his first true love in music.
“I’d rather embody the spirit (of rock) than rapping over guitars and shit,” said ShowYouSuck. “There’s definitely been rappers before me who have shown influence from rock but I feel like a lot of it comes off cheesy. I just want to make rap music.”
The rock influences are easily evident in his work.
“Girlfriend” from his 2012 Stefan Ponce-produced mixtape Girls, Girls, Girls features a heavy guitar riff and “The Return of the Headbanger’s Ball” on OMPP3 evoked feelings and fond memories of the 80s MTV rock show.
He admits his stage name is somewhat modeled after bands he knew growing up.
“It was sort of an ode to me playing with a lot of bands when I started doing shows, especially in the ‘burbs and hardcore scene,” said ShowYouSuck. “A lot of them had names that were statements. People seeing it might think I’m a band at first.”
OMPP3: Rest In Pizza is the end of a saga for the Treated Crew member, the third installment of a trilogy that came about because “America loves threes and who doesn’t love pizza?”
To be sure, the growth in each chapter is evident as his deep, gruff tone rhymes about everyday topics over uptempo beats from an assortment of producers including Chicago’s own Mike Jaxx with some help from Ponce.
Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, Auggie The 9th, Hollywood Holt and Grade A Plus also lend a hand with well-placed features.
The mosh-pit party vibe that was a theme on the first two One installments of the Man Pizza Party trilogy is still there in the third chapter, but blends itself with a grittier, trappier sound.
“I get the same feeling from trap music that I did when I first discovered punk,” said ShowYouSuck. “OMPP3 is basically a kind of cleansing, kind of a bass-heavy trap sound. There’s definitely inklings of what we have coming in the future on there.”
As someone who has been around the game in Chicago for awhile, Show has seen the growth in the scene around the city.
With the rise of a steady, nationally-recognized hip-hop scene one would assume competition and beef would be at an all-time high; he feels the contrary is true.
“I’m kind of like the new old guy,” said ShowYouSuck. “I was rapping on the Chicago scene before the internet age. At that time? Four years ago? That was cut-throat. Right now it’s not cut-throat; everyone’s working together.”
The collaboration of artists in the Windy City is obvious by looking at any release to hit the internet from the area in the past year. With more freedom for everyone to pursue their own lane, the competition has given way to a sort of collective.
With the project out for the public, ShowYouSuck continues to carve his own very distinct niche and will turn his sights to 2013 of which South By Southwest in Austin, Texas March 12-17 is the first priority.
ShowYouSuck was chosen by RedBull and Fake Shore Drive as one of three contestants for the SoundSelect competition between Sasha Go Hard, Tree and himself for a spot at RedBull’s SXSW showcase, fans can vote for their favorite artist of the three here.
If his performance at the kickoff event February 7 at the Bottom Lounge was any indication, ShowYouSuck means business. Sandwiched between the other two acts, Show’s punk-inspired live show left the crowd in a frenzy.
“The SoundSelect show was hands down my best show yet,” said ShowYouSuck. “The crowd was amazing and the vibe was perfect. I was stoked to be playing for people that were ready to party, I felt right at home!”
While he may be prepared to pursue other endeavors at some point, it looks like hip-hop will remain priority No. 1 for the do-everything MC. The strong, well-thought Rest in Pizza finale is the perfect end to one chapter and beginning of another for ShowYouSuck.
“At this point I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel,” said ShowYouSuck. “I just wanna keep doin rad shit and keep connecting with like minded people. Life is good.”
Written by Jake Krzeczowski
Any band has its growing pains, but for Chicago funk-fusion band whysowhite, there have been more than a few.
Its show and coinciding debut album release Friday at Martyrs mark a milestone for the eight-piece band, which started recording the project in 2011.
After a period of setbacks, the band is playing its first gig together in more than a year and a half. “It has seemed like every year is a set-up year for the next one, which is why I think we’ve been successful,” said rhythm guitarist Charlie “Uncle Funk” Dwyer. “We’re excited to get things rolling finally.”
The band started as the brainchild of eclectic front man Nick McMillan, who began his stage career as an actor before slowly drifting toward music. Over time each member seemed to fall into place.
“Even since our last show at Martyrs, our numbers have grown,” McMillan said. “Davis [Haines, vocals and percussion] dropped out of school and came back to Chicago to play with us and start recording our album.”
In July 2011, just after the band began work on its self-titled debut album, Haines was run over by a semi while he was on his bike. The accident left Haines with a shattered pelvis, broken femur, fibula, ribs and two collapsed lungs, and quite near death. “I pulled through, but we weren’t sure really how the whole thing would affect the band,” said Davis, whose twin brother, Charles, also provides the band’s lead vocals.
The Davis twins retreated to their home Birmingham, Ala., to recover physically and mentally, leaving whysowhite in a state of hiatus for about six months.
“We were in a whole different world, there was no time, and day to day, business was just ambiguous. We felt like the band was a passing fancy we would tell our kids about,” Charles said. “We weren’t sure how to be in a band after our world had just shifted.”
After their bandmates took a road trip to visit the twins in late 2011, there was renewed faith in the group. With Davis on the mend, whysowhite enlisted help from newcomers Hannah Shefsky, a Northwestern grad, on keyboards and supporting vocals, and DePaul graduates Dave Sumberg on bass and Andrew Ambromawitz on percussion.
The steadily growing band began playing again, with shows at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas; Martyrs and Abbey Pub. But the show Friday at Martyr’s represents the first time the full band has performed together since Davis’ accident.
As they jam in their practice space, a converted fire-house on the North Side, it is easily evident that the close friends put heart and soul into their work. The sound is a mix of funk and rock with a hint of hip-hop flavor, lent by Charles Haines and McMillan.
“We spend 10 hours practicing every week, but probably like 40 hours together just hanging out,” said lead guitarist and in-house engineer Chris Miller. “The reason for our sound is because we said maybe to everything and didn’t say no to anything.”
With the album finally out, the band isn’t certain what the future holds, but it plans to charge fully into whatever it is.
“We’ve had every reason not to stay together, and we’ve been through tough times, which makes hanging out that much more important. This music is what we make when we hang out,” Charles Haines said. As for the future, “We have no idea; there’s no precedent for that in life.”
Jake Krzeczowski is a locally based free-lance writer. Follow him on Twitter: @jakekrez
Jake Krzeczowski 