Familiarize Yourself

As we venture further into January, it is time to welcome back our weekly edition of “Band of the Week.” 2009 introduced us to acts from all over the world with one thing in common – each of them now calls Chicago home. Brother and sister duo The Arrowsics’ story may be similar to interviews we have conducted in the past, but lead singer and composer Trevor Geiger gives us a glimpse into his musical background and the beautiful coastal town they are named after, Arrowsic, Maine.

The Arrowsics is comprised of you and your sister, have you always played music together or is this a new project?
Back when I started playing in bands everyone always said that Molly should sing for my group and I was always annoyed. My little sister….in my band? But about three years ago when my long-time band DPOM broke up, I realized that she has a great voice, and that any annoyance from years ago was gone. We’re really great friends and our voices are really similar, so it actually made a lot of sense.

We’ve done a bunch of stuff where she sings lead, but for this latest project she’s been really nice and done support vocals for me on my solo work. I love having a female voice for the high harmonies and even though Molly’s more used to singing lead, she does a great job.

What was the influence behind moving to Chicago from your hometown of Arrowsic, ME?
I dropped out of college in 2003 to move to Atlanta with my old band. After a few years down there we had all decided to move to Portland, Oregon where we thought we’d fit in better. We packed up all of our gear and began the cross-country drive. But we only made it as far as Chicago. After spending a few days in the city we had decided to stay. A reunion with our old guitarist (studying at the University of Chicago) convinced us that this was a pretty cool town. Read more…

These boys may still look like they couldn’t pick up a pack of cigarettes at the local 7-11, but trust me, they can surely rock. Named after Jim Carey’s “The Truman Show,” Truman & His Trophy are combining math-rock and punk rock together to create a sound perfect for any house party. Check them out at one of their upcoming shows over Winter Break!

Enjoy this week’s installment of “Band of the Week”

How is it that Truman & His Trophy began and what brought all of you
together? Where did you get that name? It’s really interesting!
Truman & His Trophy began as a collaborative basement recording
project between Frank and myself in the summer of 2007. We were in a
band together that had just disbanded. I had written two songs that I
really liked and wanted to record them for fun at his house and at
this point I had no intention of starting another band. After we had
recorded them, we felt extremely good about it and wanted to properly
start a new band. We immediately found a house show to play without
any sort of band. We then asked our friends Jake and Ryan to help us
out, who are still in the band now. I had made up the name Truman &
His Trophy out of nowhere in particular. I really liked the movie The
Truman Show at the time, which I suppose is where the name Truman came
from. I’m also really attracted to phrases with alliteration, so I
guess the “trophy” came from that. Long story short, I wish there was
an awesome story behind our name but there sadly is not.
Read more…

Carbon Tigers is made up of five hip boys, four of whom go to Columbia and their odd man out from DePaul. They meet several times a week late in the evening way up north in an orange  room filled with amps, guitars, basses, drums, effects pedals and luke warm beer to hang out and write  music. Last night they let me into the boys club and I got to hang out and see what they do best, and ask them a bit about their band.

Enjoy.

FYW: Why Carbon Tigers? Where did that name come from?

Carbon Tigers: Aaron (bassist)- I saw the name in the Columbia Chronicle. The words picked themselves. I noticed them on seperate pages, and put two and two together-actually one and one together. Nick (guitar)- We struggled with the band name, it took us about three months to decide. Then we decided to  just name the band. Matt (guitarist)- We narrowed down to two names Coto Moroales. Nick has an adopted daughter in Honduras named Sofia Coto Moroales. Nick- We went with Carbon Tigers, it sounded alright. Jon (vocalist & keyboardist)- The Tigers are being run out of the jungle in Africa. Nick- But we’re not a bunch of animal activists. Jon- We could be if we had money.

FYW: When did you start playing music together?

Carbon Tigers: Aaron- Matt & I have been playing together since were 13, back in Texas. Then we moved up to Chicago and started playing together here. Jeff (drummer)- Nick and I played together a while. Jon just played with himself. Aaron- He means he was a solo artist. We’ve been playing together as Carbon Tigers since around June or July.

Read more…

Chicago’s music scene has a deep history. Whether you were born and raised in Chicago’s music scene or you are an immigrant, Chicago is always here to welcome musicians with its arms wide open. This was the sitation for So Many Ways, who were drawn to the city to receive a college education but gained much more than a lifetime’s worth of debt and a pile of textbooks that will never be opened again.

© Ashley Stolberg

Can you give us all the important background information about how So Many Ways began in as few words as possible?
Why yes we can. We all met here in Chicago, we all like pop punk and we’re all the coolest people you’ll ever meet.

As your line-up has increased and changed over the past year, you mentioned SMW has the “three singer attack.” Can you go into more detail about this sound and what each singer brings to the table?
Our line-up has been shakier than we ever wanted it to be, but the band as it is now is stronger and more together than ever. We seem to really be writing some great songs that are more fun and serious than our previous ones at the same time. Our ex-members are some of our favorite people on this planet, and they had to leave for other reasons just to be clear . Concerning our singing situation, Colin Screams and sings, and Jason sings as well, and as it is now Chris and Murphy are on the manly back-up vocals.

This summer you relocated to Massachusetts to record your first demo, The Real Talk EP – how did you choose your recording studio in Massachusetts when Chicago seems to have a million solid recording studios located closer to home?
The reasons behind the move to Massachusetts were actually pretty legit because Read more…

Making the transition from high school to college can be difficult, but making the decision to move from one hemisphere to another can be disastrous. Luckily, for half of They Face Reaction, the transition from Brazil over a year ago became one of the best decisions of their lives. Vocalist/Guitarist Ren Volpi gave us a heartfelt interview about all things Brazil vs Chicago in this week’s edition of Band of the Week!

© Lauren Gill

How did you and Pedro meet, and when did you start playing together as They Face Reaction?
Well, Me and Pedro are cousins. He [Pedro] is 6 years older than I am, he was the first person who actually introduced me to punk rock. They Face Reaction actually started as a solo project from Pedro back in 2006. I remember when I came back from California (I was living there for 8 months) I helped him record the backing vocals on our first demo in 2006. In 2007 we recorded another demo, but this time I was able to add some of my own compositions to the recording, and it kind of gave us the sound that we have now- a mix between Pedro’s songwriting and mine.

You guys are originally from Brazil, how did you end up in Chicago?
Well we always sang in English, it was really hard for us to reach a big audience in Brazil (and punk rock is not a very popular genre [in Brazil]). We started moving here when Pedro (who is also a Graphic designer) got a job in Lake Zurich,IL in a company called Warmly Yours in January of 2008. After Pedro left, I wasn’t very happy studying law in Brazil and not being able to work with music anymore. So one day as I was talking with Pedro on the phone the idea of moving the band here sounded great. As a backup plan, I applied for music business at Columbia College, so if the band didn’t work out I would still be able to have a career on the music industry. Once I was admitted at Columbia, I quit my life back home and moved here in January of  2009. It was a big decision to make, but looking back, I believe I made the right one.

Read more…

It may be turning cold outside but now you can bask in the warmth of summeresque music with Sleepless Entertainment‘s Sounds of Summer Mixtape volume 3, avaliable for a FREE download at thesoundsofsummer.com.

I had the opportunity to interview Sleepless Entertainment manager Nick Pampenella about his company, their artists, and musical collaborations.

Read more…

© Jori Schmalz

Chicago-based band glittermouse may have gained inspiration from Bertrand Russell when it came to naming their band, but there is nothing dark or controversial about their music. glittermouse’s Jeremy Mumenthaler gave us an inside look at how the band began, the naming process, and who they are influenced by in this week’s edition of FYW’s Band of the Week!

Be sure to catch glittermouse’s live show on NOVEMBER 19TH at our favorite venue, Metro Chicago.

When the band started as a dorm room project, what were your goals for glittermouse?

The goal of glittermouse was always to have fun and be outrageous. When we realized that people started to like our music and enjoyed our shows, we decided to get serious, the point was to make engaging music that involved our audience.

Did the additional members help shape your sound to what we hear on the demo? And if you had to classify your music as a particular genre what would it fall under?

Each member comes from a different musical background which allows glittermouse to have it’s original sound. We all compliment each other with our own flair. We don’t really like to pick genres, but we fall under rock. It’s all just rock anyways, rock just means it makes you move, and that’s what we do. We have been considered, “fraggle-rock, pop, feel-good, space, fun, soul, dance, march”, and the list goes on.

What bands have influenced you over the years that you’d recommended our readers become “familiar with”?

We all have our own influences that bridge the spectrum. If it’s got soul, we like it. We have been compared to the Silversun Pickups, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead and The Flaming Lips to name a few.

glittermouse is an usual, but catchy name. How did it come about?

Bertrand Russell, Lewis Carroll, Michael Jackson. That is our line of thought. Bertrand Russell had a theory, the teapot theory, which you should look up. Read more…

2009 sounds more like 1997 without sounding dated or trite with newcomers, Horus Adores Us. At Columbia College’s Jam Of The Year they opened for B.o.B. and White Rabbits, which had many in the crowd whispering fond memories of Gin Blossoms, Smashing Pumpkins and more. However, they are hardly limited to sounds of decades past, they simply like to “write music that comes to them and enjoy pop music.” I had the chance to talk about their music with lead vocalist and guitarist Tino Forneris, graduate student at Columbia College in the Arts Entertainment and Media Management program.

Enjoy.

FYW: How Did you meet? Do you all go to Columbia, are you all graduate students?

Tino: We’re a four piece band. I met our drummer Austin in 2005 when we were both attending undergrad at University of Illinois. We played on and off for a few years then in 2008 we met Sarah, our bassist, who was also attending U of I at the time. We played as a three piece until I moved to Chicago- we reformed this fall. Sky is our newest member who I just met recently at Columbia. He accompanies me on vocals and plays guitar and keyboard.

FYW: Were you always Horus Adores Us? Where did that name come from?

Tino: We used to play as Synthesis Reaction, but I didn’t think that was “superior enough” … haha! So, I was talking with my brother one day, tossing out names and for whatever reason, I just said it, Horus Adores Us. I kind of laughed at the time, but kept thinking about it. I ended up loving it. I asked my younger cousin what she thought and figured if enough people liked it, then it must be alright! It’s unique- that’s the best part.

Read more…

I decided that I wanted to go to Columbia College for two reasons: one was that it was the best school to further my education about the music business and two because the students there are motivated and talented beyond my imagination, which I find really exciting. Since transferring last fall, I’ve been nothing but amazed with my peers and the art they are capable of producing. This week I had the opportunity to discover and interview sophomore and multi-instrumentalist, Seth Engel.

Enjoy.

FYW: Where are you from and what brought you to Columbia?

Seth: I’m from a small town called Narberth outside of Philadelphia, PA. I came to Columbia after my friend Melissa suggested it. I checked it out and wound up not only really liking the school, but the city of Chicago as well. I’ve never felt so at home before, and I don’t intend on leaving anytime soon. Ideally, I’d like to be able to play music for a living, so I’m hoping my training at Columbia will lead to such a career.

FYW: What do you think of Chicago’s snow?

Seth: I like the snow way more than I thought I would. The first three weeks of snow last year were awesome, and I’m hoping this year will be great as well. In Philly, it snows, but nowhere near the level Chicago gets. It’s cool being in a different winter environment because it inspires me in different ways than I’m used to.

FYW: When did you start playing music?

Seth: I started playing real music in 2000, but I picked up a guitar in 1999 and started making up chords and writing songs with lyrics. In 2001 or 2002, I picked up drums, and every couple of years after that, I’ve picked up something new. I’m self-taught on almost all of the instruments I play. Read more…

Check out this killer video of Chicago locals Maps & Atlases shot at the AEMMP Records Chompilation release party back in May! The high-def quality and the stunning performance by the band still gives me chills.

For your enjoyment.

Shot and produced by The Belmont Sessions.