[RH Photos] Midwest Ska Festival 2014 at Double Door (8/23/2014)
Photos by Geoff Henao. This post was originally published by our affiliates at Chicago Music.
Chicago music isn't just hip hop. For years, ska used to play a huge role in the city's independent scene, especially during the early '00s, coinciding with my high school tenure. Every month, my friends and I would either throw shows at our friend's Mom's gallery in Pilsen (props to Miss Tirabassi and the Humility Gallery) or attend a show somewhere in the city. National bands like Big D and the Kids Table, Mustard Plug, and Streetlight Manifesto would be big draws, but we were also very active in the local scene, thanks to Chicago ska bands like Random Outburst, Not Too Good, Deal's Gone Bad, and more. As I grew older, ska didn't captivate me the way it used to, but it stuck with a handful of my friends in Random Outburst.
Since that band's breakup, two pivotal ska bands arose from its ashes: The Judgementals and Run and Punch. For the past three years, Run and Punch has been making a name for itself across the Midwest ska scene, culminating in the biggest step for the band's relatively short existence to date: curating and running a day-long festival dedicated to ska: Midwest Ska Festival 2014. While the majority of the bands come from the Chicagoland area, other bands from the Midwest also played the festival, including Omaha's The Bishops, Milwaukee's Something To Do, and Indiana's Green Room Rockers.
From the Latin reggae of Los Vicios de Papa to The Crombies' 2-tone influenced jams, there was something for everybody in attendance Saturday night, with attendees skanking, moshing, dancing, and even crowdsurfing to the music. Check out some of my photos from the night below; for more photos, take a trip to my personal Flickr page.
New Location, Attractions for Riot Fest Chicago 2014
If you couldn't already tell, I'm extremely excited about Riot Fest's 10th anniversary. It's been less than a month since the punk rock-themed festival released their lineups for the year, and now we're supplied with even bigger, more exciting news. Riot Fest will be moving its location from Humboldt Park to... Humboldt Park! The festival will simply migrate to the north end of the park with North Ave. serving as its Northern end, Kedzie to its West, California to its East, and Division to the South. This will make access to the festival much more convenient for commuters as the North Ave. bus will now be accessible right on festival grounds.
Even better, more attractions are being added to the festival this year. In addition to the staple carnival attractions that Riot Fest has been known for, a 9-hole miniature golf course (supplied by our homie Artpentry), a haunted house, Gospel for the Guilty burlesque show, a 20-game arcade supplied by Emporium Arcade Bar (with proceeds going to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless), and more!
Haunted house and miniature golf tickets are on sale right now over at Ticketfly. Take a closer look at the updated map for Riot Fest Chicago 2014 below. We'll see you next month!
[Album] Nnamdi Ogbonnaya: "Feckin Weirdo"
You may not know the name Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, but I can guarantee some of you have at least seen him around. Ogbonnaya is arguably one of the most talented, multitool artists in Chicago right now. For their "2013 People Issue," the Chicago Reader featured Ogbonnaya as "The Drummer," and adequately so, a the musician drums for a multitude of Chicago bands, including Itto, The Para-Medics, and Pisces at the Animal Fair. While Ogonnaya is mostly known as a drummer in Chicago's punk scene, he's branched out to explore other musical ventures, namely in the hip hop realm. Enter: Feckin Weirdo.
Officially titled Feckin Weirdo: Nnamdi's spectral adventures through a pubulous conundrum, canceling out the burrowing burden and ambiguity of his pre?-?zuberant tooth shine., Ogbonnaya's debut full-length album is an experimental hip hop journey through one of the city's most illuminatingly eccentric minds. Ogbonnaya channels Tyler, the Creator with his irreverent imagery with hints of Del the Funky Homosapien sprinkled over production rife with horns and synths. Other write-ups of Feckin Weirdo have described the album as an acid trip, which is honestly the most effective way to describe Ogbonnaya's quick lyrical delivery that's oftentimes pitch-altered, furthering the eccentricity that sets the sonic and thematic t0ne of the album. Ruby Hornet favorite KSRA also makes an appearance on Feckin Weirdo alongside other guests Luscious Duncan, Julia Steiner, Ian Sutherland, Ace Da Vinci, Alicia Walter, and Julia Bard.
Listen to Feckin Weirdo and watch the videos for "2% Chest" and "Vasectomy" below.
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Midwest Ska Fest 2014 Information + Sampler
You know what I love? Well thought-out DIY musical ventures, and that is exactly what Midwest Ska Fest 2014 is. Operating in its second year (though formerly known as Summer Ska Fest last year), the festival is an appreciation of independent ska, reggae, 2-tone, and dub bands and artists throughout the Midwest and will be taking place at the Double Door on Saturday, August 23rd. Tickets are on sale here.
This year's lineup features Chicago bands The Crombies, On Your Marx, Los Vicios de Papa, and Malafacha alongside Ohama's The Bishops, Milwaukee's Something to Do, and Northwest Indiana's Green Room Rockers with special guest Matt Wixson and a DJ set by legendary ska DJ, Chuck Wren. To help commemorate the festival, a Midwest Ska Fest 2014 Sampler has been created to help familiarize potential attendees with the bands' music. You can find the sampler below.
We'll be attending Midwest Ska Fest 2014, so you can expect more from these bands full of "hep" cats, hephephephep. Ska puns!
New Guidelines for Submitting Music
As you may have noticed, we've moved away from soliciting music submissions as we've switched gears and began focusing on other endeavors. While we're still very supportive of all Chicago artists, music solicitation isn't our game anymore. As the saying goes, "It's not you, it's me." With that said, we would like to introduce you all to our new affiliate, Chicago Music. Chicago Music is slowly building itself up as Chicago's premier music destination where you can purchase tickets, read the latest music news, and with your help, listen to some amazing songs from the city's most talented musicians. Make sure to also follow Chicago Music on Twitter (@_ChicagoMusic_).
Moving forward, we will begin to send all music submissions over to our friends over at Chicago Music. Similarly, you can save yourselves an extra step by sending all of your submissions over to submissions@chicagomusic.com. Chicago Music will be accepting music submissions from all genres of music, so whether you're a rapper, producer, play in a band, or anything, as long as you're creating amazing music in this beautiful city, Chicago Music would love to feature you and your work. We ask that when you submit music, fill out the subject like this: "ARTIST NAME + SONG TITLE (GENRE)".
[RH Photos] Capital Cities DJ Set at The Mid (8/7/2014)
Photos by Alex Lapenia and Jesse Pizano. Recap written by Alex Lapenia.
Just because it was a Thursday night didn’t mean it was a dull night. The Mid has become one of the best venues for DJs to spin at as they’ve played host to some of the of the biggest names in the EDM scene, including Kaskade, Skrillex, and Afrojack, and Thursday night was no exception. The Mid welcomed vocalist Sebu Simonian of Capital Cities, and opening for him were local Chicagoans DJ Torio, DJ Gordo, and current resident DJ Gus Karas.
DJ Torio started the night off playing lots of trance music, mesmerizing the crowd and pumping them up with anticipation until his final note hit. The rush of energy didn’t die down, though, as DJ Gordo set the tone and pace for the rest of the night with his EDM packed set sending the crowd into a frenzy jumping around and throwing their hands in the air with every bone rattling drop of the bass. After the last track Gordo dropped, DJ Gus Karas didn’t miss a beat with a throwback of DMX’s “Party Up In Here;” the hip hop set didn’t stop there as he continued to play club bangers by Lil’ Jon, which included “Turn Down for What” and “Outta Your Mind.” Once DJ Karas stepped off the stage, the audience grew antsy with anticipation of what was next, and when Sebu came on, it was standing room only throughout the venue. Sebu immediately picked up a microphone and began singing his Capital Cities hit, "Safe and Sound." He was infectious and had the entire club singing and dancing along with him and his indie set.
There’s nowhere else we would have wanted to be except at The Mid Thursday night. There was a bit of everything for everyone, from EDM to hip hop to Indie jams, and it was enough to not only satisfy the type of music you listen, to but also help you discover something new. We hope you enjoy our photos from the night!
North Coast Music Festival 2014 Lineups Revealed
In three short weeks, North Coast Music Festival will be celebrating its fifth anniversary in Union Park! Earlier this week, the single day lineups were released, allowing NCMF-goers to plan ahead properly. Single day tickets are also available now via Clubtix, so cop a pair (or two!) if any of the artists performing tickle your fancy. Some of my personal highlights for the festival include: Bassnectar, Action Bronson, BADBADNOTGOOD, and Prob Cause for Friday, Kid Cudi and Talib Kweli for Saturday, and Snoop Dogg, Midnight Conspiracy, Porn and Chicken, Saba, and Zaramella for Sunday. We'll have a more in-depth preview piece for North Coast Music Festival 2014 as we get closer to the event weekend, but for now, check out the full day lineups below!
[Lollapalooza Interview] James King and John Wicks (Fitz and the Tantrums)
Getting to a 2:00pm interview in Lollapalooza’s press area after a random Chicago downpour on a Saturday means commitment. After having taken the Blue Line to Jackson, getting briefly lost leaving the train, and sprinting two blocks south, I had made it nine minutes early to my interview with drummer John Wicks and saxophonist James King of Fitz and the Tantrums. Although our conversation was short and sweet, I could recognize that their loyalty to Chicago fans is unwavering, and that their desire to spit out quality advice to persevering artists was genuine. Check out some of the words we exchanged in the interview below.
So welcome to the city of Chicago! What kind of vibes does it give you? Or, I guess, how do you feel about being here?
John Wicks: Oh, Chicago has always been the biggest champion of Fitz and The Tantrums.
James King: Yeah, Chicago kicked off our entire career.
JW: And the runners on Lake Shore Drive are the most badass runners I’ve ever seen.
True. We don’t play. Abruptly switching to the topic of music, which album do you guys consider your personal favorite?
JK: …This one.
The newest one?
JW: Yeah, this one. More Than Just a Dream.
Oh… well, I feel like it’s worth mentioning to you my personal favorite, which is Pickin’ Up the Pieces. Specifically because of “Tighter.”
* John and James look at each other *
JW: It’s very interesting that you say that. * long pause * We collaborated together on that song, all in one room, when it came into fruition. We don’t work like that often. It was a special time for us.
Please tell me it’ll be a track that you guys are planning on performing tonight.
JK: It’s hard to perform “Tighter.” It’s been a while. You’ve gotta keep the energy up.
It’s a song that serves as a soundtrack to many of my roughest nights, that I associate with college, particularly. James, you joined the band sometime after your college career. During your time in school, did predict this kind of future for yourself?
JK: No, definitely not. We were always doing multiple things. I was always doing side jobs or being the guy behind the scenes, but then finally focusing on one thing, putting all of your efforts into one thing, that’s what’ll get you somewhere. Not necessarily distributing your energy into multiple projects.
Do you have any more words of wisdom for DIY rock bands, people who are working on getting their name out there, or those following in your steps?
JW: Get cultured. Stand next to a tree, like we’re doing now. Don’t go to an Urban Outfitters and buy a shirt of a tree. Stop trying to accumulate things and just do. If I was spending less time buying things and appearing like I was doing something, I would actually be doing something. I would be more comfortable as a “starving artist” if I wasn’t trying to appear like I wasn’t just that.
