By Lucy radochaI remember my life better not by how I felt, what I said or the things that happened, but rather, by the way it sounded, by the song I was humming in that moment or by the music playing on the drive home from that day. Every sweet, sour, sappy, serendipitous memory from my experiences in college can be tied to a song and every song I've ever loved or hated or screamed or hummed can be tied to a person, place or moment.
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By Ella Bullock When a friend contacted me about going to a music festival during the eclipse on Monday, I was unsure. I had never been to a full-on music festival before. I told myself, the eclipse was a rare event. It would be a cool experience to listen to live music during the day. So I replied back, "Yeah, absolutely!"
By julian harveyLast Friday, I had the pleasure of sitting down virtually with Elliot Montanez, Director of Operations at Lyrical Lemonade. We discussed his history with the company, making money as an artist, and the bright future of the Chicago music scene. Elliot started at Lyrical Lemonade when the whole operation was just a blog run by founder Cole Bennet. As the site expanded, so did his role, but as he explained to me, the growth both in size and vision for Lyrical Lemonade was very organic. “It would sound cool to say that we planned all this from the beginning but we didn’t… We took opportunities as they came along.” Elliot credits some of their early success to luck and good timing. When I asked him what some of the company's breakthrough moments were, he recalled when they brought Philly’s Lil Uzi Vert to Chicago for the first time. When they booked Uzi, they paid only $2,000, a show price that had ballooned to $20,000 by the time they put the concert on. We got a chance to discuss what it takes to turn your art into a career. Merch plays a huge role these days, not just because it’s a way to have money coming in, but because it’s a way for your fans to identify with your work and spread the word. “Stickers, hats, tee-shirts–branding is so important,” Elliot told me. “There was a time when the carton patch hoodie (a simple hoodie with the iconic Lyrical Lemonade logo on the breast) was basically funding the company.” Lyrical Lemonade’s apparel might have had humble beginnings but they’ve since done collabs with everyone from Nike to Poptarts. I learned it was Elliot’s time cutting his teeth at merch tables for Chicago artists like Chance the Rapper that he attributes some of his success to in the apparel world. Chance, of course, might have the only more recognizable logo in Chicago hip-hop–the connection made sense to me. The Lyrical Lemonade media empire is vast. Obviously, Cole Bennet’s music videos are what made them famous but live shows, YouTube videos, and the Lyrical Lemonade blog are also big pieces of the puzzle. This January, Lyrical Lemonade released their first music. The album, “All is Yellow,” features mainstays of the Lyrical Lemonade world like Lil Durk, G Herbo, and Lil Yachty. According to Elliot, “The seed for the album was planted back in 2020.” Montanez told me, “It was only possible because of a lot of great relationships.” Montanez stressed to me the importance of being genuine and how, with a lot of artists, he’s a friend before he is a collaborator. I closed out the interview by asking Elliot who are a few artists to watch out of the city. He gave back two answers. The first is Ausar, a southside artist who has had a few bigger tracks over the years including “Growth” and “Hive,” both of which are stellar and I would highly recommend. The other artist he wanted to recognize was Rogers Park's very own OG Stevo. Steve is an artist I’ve been familiar with since I was a little kid, not because I was a particularly tapped-in 13-year-old but because he was a counselor at my summer camp. Stevo’s melodic style is ripe for mainstream success and it’s only a matter of time before he crosses over. “He’s realistically one big feature away from taking off,” Elliot told me. Thanks to Elliot for sitting down with me and Oliver Olson for making this interview happen.
By: Julian HarveyThe Billboard year-end charts continued to reflect the backward-looking nature of the public’s music appetite. Taylor Swift and Drake, two artists who have been on top since the 2000s remain in firm control of the charts. Beyond that, the world all of a sudden seems very interested again in more traditional genres like country and even Corridos music. Many of the songs that were big this year weren't even from 2023! Songs like “As It Was,” “Save your Tears” and even “Heat Waves” all somehow remained in the Top 40 all year. With that said, I’ve heard some critics claim that 2023 might be one of the worst years for new music ever and with that - I disagree.. It’s no surprise that my favorite albums and songs this year didn’t show up anywhere on the Billboard year-end list (with one glaring exception) but it’s not like these are super underground projects. The next ten albums were my favorites of the year in no particular order: (quick honorable mentions go to The Record by Boy Genius, 6 by Kenny Mason, Mega Tron 2 by Baby Tron, Heaven Knows by Pink Pantheress and Michael by Killer Mike.)
KSLU's Publication Committee historically produces semesterly publications to show our fellow KSLUers and fans of KSLU and The AMP what we've been up to throughout the semester. Publications Director Lucy Radocha and Brand Director Elaine Lohse are bringing back this tradition with the creation of KSLU's first ever ZINE!!! Check it out and leave your comments below!
To celebrate the release of The revAMP, we threw a release party/karaoke night/ticket giveaway/cookie decorating bonanza.
By Paige BosticSince the beginning of October, and now well into November, "The Great Pumpkin Waltz" is once again soaring in popularity on Spotify, and for good reason. It’s a sweet, nostalgic waltz that reminds many of us of being little kids watching It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Songs from this special, like “Linus and Lucy” and “Snoopy and the Leaf,” are auditory motifs of the autumn season, and for good reason! The composer of many of my favorite Peanuts specials, Vince Guaraldi, was a talented jazz and bossa nova musician both within and outside his work with Charles Schultz. While his work may not be as widespread as, say, stadium rock, his stylings are just as awe-inspiring.
By: Lucy RadochaI do not, and will not fear tomorrow because I feel as though today has been enough.
The line from Zach Bryan’s “Fear and Friday’s (Poem)” sums up the feeling of his recent release of a new, self-titled album. While the opening track is named as a poem, the rest of his lyrics throughout the album take on this same feeling of deep-rooted, heart-wrenching lyricism. by: julian harvey
The Sunflower Convertibles might be from the future. Their debut EP “Sheboygan” is an eclectic mix of mind-melting production, soulful and passionate vocals and storyteller lyrics. The record was spawned from the group’s journey from their native Chicago to the tape’s titular city and aims to make you feel like you were brought along for the adventure. Themes of wanting to unwind and reconnect with your inner child are all over the six-track project. All four members bring something different to the table. This paired with their hip-hop-centered, genre-bending style means that The Convertibles invoke an early Brock Hampton. Chief among their influences are other Chicago artists, including their collaborators like Elijah Free, who provided the album's cover art.
“Sheboygan” was preceded by a pretty elaborate and ambitious rollout. The “Days before the Sheboygan” campaign consisted of sketches, wheatpaste prints, a music video for the song “Full Moon,” and even a concert that doubled as the project's release party. This undertaking was no small task but has helped to build local buzz in the city. The Sunflower Convertibles recently sat down with me for an interview. We discussed the serendipitous nature of their group's formation, the struggles of getting listeners as underground artists and next steps for the group. That interview is going to be broadcast on my show “Spin Cycle” but the record is out now everywhere. By: Julian HarveyBy: Paige BosticThrumming basslines, thudding drums, catchy lyrics, and guitar solos that last long enough to sound cool but not long enough that you get bored. These make up the integral building blocks of the stadium rock subgenre – save for the eponymous pillar: the stadium. Stadium rock is built on the salt-slicked backs of thousands of screaming fans crammed shoulder to shoulder in arenas swollen past full capacity. But stadium rock is well past its golden age. For many listeners, it’s become a bit of a joke genre – a soulless cash cow that’s strayed from its mother. Let’s peel back the layers of what stadium rock is, why it’s become a bit of a derided subject, and why I think we should give it another chance. What is Stadium Rock? Stadium rock, otherwise known as arena rock or (horrifyingly) corporate rock, is a subgenre of rock music that’s made specifically to be performed to large audiences or on the radio. Emerging in the 1960s with the wild fanaticism that was Beatlemania, it’s undeniable that stadium rock is a lucrative genre. If you need a better idea of the sound of stadium rock, try and imagine that you’re watching a commercial for a pickup truck. What music is playing? Probably a rock-adjacent earworm that slips into your skull and plays for the rest of the day against your will. Common examples of stadium rock include the works of artists like Aerosmith, Poison, Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Van Halen and Bon Jovi (which are conveniently some of my most listened-to artists on Spotify, but we’ll get to that later). Stadium rock aesthetics can also apply to punk and metal; the core of stadium rock is its popularity more so than the actual quality of its artistry. Even the siren song that is ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ qualifies as stadium rock! The popularity of arena rock–and the subgenres it utilized–gave rise to some of the more ‘high-brow’ artistry that any self-conscious listener would be proud to have in their collection: grunge, alt-rock, indie rock, etc. These subgenres, while awesome in their own right, are squeamish about being connected to their more mainstream roots popularized by arena rock. In a way, it’s like how a teenager at the mall distances themself from their mom by ducking into the back of a nearby Spencer’s. |
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