The Thirsty Bird Of The Pacific Northwest Speaks: Q & A With Scott McCaughey Of The Minus 5

It has been three years since Scott McCaughey and I chatted over the phone for an interview. The last time was a month prior to his appearance at the Abbey Pub in April 2003 to perform with Wilco as the latest version of McCaughey's band The Minus 5, a band which he and Peter Buck of R.E.M. started.

The album he was promoting at the time was going to be called Down With Wilco as a joke referring to all the trouble Wilco went through privately and publicly the previous two years; the band's problems were a laundry list filled with major label rejection, band members fired, and a finished album called Yankee Hotel Foxtrot waiting for an official release.

Now, three years later, McCaughey returns this month with The Minus 5 for a show at the Abbey Pub. The band's new album The Minus Five (aka The Gun Album) was recently released on February 7 by Yep Roc Records. In an interview for the March issue of Chicago Innerview (now available), McCaughey and I chatted on a grey Sunday (2/12) afternoon about the new album, his partnership with Peter Buck, and the true value of his autograph.

Chris Castaneda: Of all the songs on the album, "Cemetery Row" is my absolute favorite. It's a song that's as good as anything R.E.M. has written. How did Colin Meloy of The Decemberists become involved with that song?

Scott McCaughey: I was lucky he was able to sing it. It would have been okay if I sang it, but I wasn’t really happy with my vocal on it; it was a difficult song for me to sing because I was a co-writer. I wrote the words to it but didn’t write the melody. It was a little challenging for my limited vocal capabilities. Then I thought, “Colin’s voice would sound great on this.” He was happy to come over and do it the day before he was leaving on a tour with The Decemberists. It came out great.

CC: How did the album come together?

SM: It’s kind of a typical Minus 5 story, sit-in sessions in between other stuff. The first tracks that were recorded were “With A Gun” and “Hotel Senator,” which I did in Chicago with Wilco on a day off from the R.E.M. tour (Fall 2004). “Original Luke” and “Bought A Rope” I recorded with my buddies in Oregon. John Moen played drums--he’s the drummer in The Decemberists now and Stephen Malkmus and The Jinks. I’ve known him for a long time. His old band The Dharma Bums were really good friends with The Young Fresh Fellows; we toured a lot together. I basically used three of those guys, and we did some songs in a living room on an 8-track.

The rest of them were Bill (Rieflin), Peter (Buck), John (Ramberg), and I whenever we had a couple of weeks off from R.E.M. stuff. We would do a session in Seattle where we would do four or five songs and pick the best out of those; the songs I really wanted on the record that went together conceptually and lyrically. These were the ones I felt really had to be on the record. It’s kind of the typical piecemeal approach of The Minus 5, but I think it sounds really cohesive.

Kurt (Bloch) and I mixed it all together at the same time. I think the songs flow pretty well together. The sound is compatible, even the ones that were done in different studios. With Minus 5 stuff—especially the last couple of years when R.E.M. has been so busy—we have to pick out spots when we can work on a record. It all came together pretty quickly once the R.E.M. tour was over.

CC: Has there ever been a time when The Minus 5 had the time to sit down and make an album on some kind of schedule?

SM: Not really. [Laughs] The closest would be In Rock (re-released in 2004 by Yep Roc); we basically recorded that in a day, and then I added some overdubs at home, later, and mixed really, really quickly. That’s not a scheduled one where you record the whole album in a day. Down With Wilco was probably as close to that where I had five straight days in the studio and another four a couple months later. We’ve never really had that…it would be pretty amazing if we had a couple of weeks or a month to go do a record from start to finish. That would be pretty amazing, but we never really had that opportunity.

CC: Basically you take the time you can get. Right?

SM: Yeah. It’s funny because I’ve probably spent more time in the studio on the last couple R.E.M. records than I have all The Young Fresh Fellows and Minus 5 records put together. It’s kind of ridiculous but that’s just the way it works. I wouldn’t want to take as long as it takes to do an R.E.M. record though. I don’t think I could do that, to get myself to operate on that time schedule.

CC: What was the earliest song written?

SM: “Twilight Distillery” is definitely the earliest. We’ve actually been playing that song live for four or five years. I remember not wanting to put it on Down With Wilco because I’d been playing it already with the band, with Peter, Bill, and John. I thought we should record that one together. We actually ended up recording two versions of it. The first session we did, last December, with Bill, John, and Peter for this record, we did “Twilight Distillery” and banged it out. But we had been playing it for so long that it had gotten really revved up, really rocking. It was really good; we did it in one take. We had time to reassess because we went back on the road with R.E.M. for four months until the next session.

I might have played it for Wes (John Wesley Harding). He did some backing vocals on the early versions. He talked about how it got rocked out and was really fast. When we first starting doing it with Wes, it was more Dylan-y and a little more folk rock. We thought the version was really cool, but we thought it would be cool to slow it back down again. So, we ended up re-cutting it at the last session for this record and decided that was the version to go with. I’ll definitely release the other version, the rocker, because it’s really cool. But this version, the folk one, was the right one for the record.

CC: You toured with John Wesley Harding and Dag Juhlin of Poi Dog Pondering as the All-Male Threesome in the summer of 2004. Some of the new album appeared in your sets. The sweetness and simplicity that came across in your solo performances from that tour really carried over to the album.

SM: The performances are a lot simpler, a lot more direct; there’s less going on in a way. This record has a lot more songs that are just kind of, “We just played this song, and now it’s done” [Laughs], whereas with Down With Wilco there’s a lot of crazy shit on there. We didn’t really go into it thinking it was going to be that way. Jeff (Tweedy) really encouraged me to keep that record simple, but I probably ended up ladling on some extra things just ‘cause I had time. I think it came out fantastic; I love the way it came out.

We made more of a conscious decision to keep this one pretty straightforward just as far as being songs you perform and sing and people can just hear them as songs. I didn’t blend all the songs together like I tend to do lots of times on records where I run one into each other and they overlap and make little sweeps. The songs all go together. To me, they sort of tell a story, but I tried to keep it just a little more direct. It’s kind of an old-fashioned record for me.

CC: What songs on this album really pleased you in terms of traveling from the demo stage to final mix?

SM: That’s hard to say. I guess “Out There On the Maroon” is one that came out kind of exactly like I envisioned it to come out. That’s sort of rare; that doesn’t happen very often. I felt like that one was played the way I hoped we would play it; we did a mix of it that sounded like just how I wanted it to sound. That’s one that came out really, really nicely. Lots of times you envision a song a certain way and it comes out completely different, and that can be great! But that one came out just as I thought it should. That’s a good feeling.

I think “Bought A Rope” came out really good. That was one where I really didn’t know what it would sound like. I wasn’t sure about the arrangement; even the chords got simplified when I ended up recording with John, Eric (Lovre) and Jim Talstra. We did it on an 8-track, and somehow it still ended up sounding really amazing. It might have sounded amazing because of that. I really had no idea how that one would turn out. I’m happy with all of them.

CC: Does the album come out in March?

SM: It came out on Tuesday. I’ll be getting those big SoundScan figures in a few days. [Laughs]

CC: Now, John Wesley Harding has already worked within The Minus 5 world. Chicago's own Kelly Hogan makes her first appearance on a Minus 5 album. What track did you use them on?

SM: “Twilight Distillery.” They’re doing the backing vocals on there, which were great. I recorded them when Kelly was on tour with Wes for the Love Hall Tryst tour. When they played in Portland I went down, took my laptop and a microphone to the Econo Lodge they were staying at and recorded them doing backing vocals in about a half hour to an hour. Kelly (Hogan) never heard the song before, but she’s so damn good; she just nailed it. She’s the greatest.

CC: How was it working with Wilco this time around? They appear notably on "With A Gun."

SM: It was awesome. Back when Wilco played as the Minus 5 after Down With Wilco came out I had just written that song; we learned it and played it at those shows. So, I just knew I had to record it with them. When we recorded we hadn’t played for six months, but everyone remembered what they were doing on it. It’s all live, even the vocals. The only overdubs on it are Jeff’s multiple lead guitars. It was on a day off on the R.E.M. tour. Peter came down and played; he played 12-string. So, it was Wilco with Peter and me; it’s just a live performance.

The only thing that I always intended to add was Jesse Greene because she played violin on it. Leroy (Bach) had quit the band since we last played together. He wasn’t around. He did this cool thing when we would play it live where he would start the song with these handclaps. It was really cool. I could have put it on, but I wasn’t going to put it on unless Leroy does it. We were never able to get that together. I just left it the way it was; I didn’t want to have someone else playing violin or doing the handclaps. I think it came out great. That’s a really rare thing for me to use a live vocal in the studio because I usually think they kind of suck ‘cause I’m not that good of a singer. For some reason, we really captured it.

CC: After all these years you're still really self-conscious about your voice?

SM: Well, I’m pretty used to it. I don’t mean to be denigrating my vocal talents so much. I just know they’re fairly limited. I’ve come to work with that. With The Minus 5, I’ve always kind of been interested in having other people sing the songs. Whenever I try to do it I am usually met with resistance. The guys I play with seem to think I should just sing it. When I said I was thinking of getting someone else to sing “Cemetery Row,” I don’t think Peter and Bill really liked the idea. But when they heard it they thought it was probably the right idea since Colin did such a great job. They weren’t really into it at first.

On Down With Wilco, I wanted John Stirratt to sing lead on a couple of songs; I wanted Jeff to sing lead on some. Jeff did “Family Gardener,” but he wasn’t for spreading the vocals around that much; he thought I should sing the songs. Usually, I’m lucky to get one other person per record to sing a song. I got Ken Stringfellow to sing one on Let The War Against Music Begin (2001), he sang “A Thousand Years Away.” I’d like to do more of that. I like singing them, too. [Laughs] But I think it’s fun to get other voices on there.

CC: You must have loved it when Tweedy began to incorporate “Dear Employer” early on into his solo shows. He sort of debuted the song in Chicago at his solo shows at the Vic Theatre in January '03.

SM: That was thrilling! It was amazing when I heard him playing it in Chicago and the whole crowd singing along with him at the end.

CC: Was this album easy to record compared to Down With Wilco? Wilco seemed like the black sheep of albums at that time. You and the band had a session in Chicago the day before the World Trade Center attack on September 11, and then later on the album faced a delayed release.

SM: That was pretty fucked up, that’s for sure. I couldn’t say this was an easy one. I guess compared to that we didn’t go through any of the traumas with the record company. I was kind of going through a lot of shit. The R.E.M. touring was pretty grueling in a way; it was super fun, the music was amazing, but it was really, really long. I think for Bill, Peter, and I it was a difficult time in a lot of ways. When it came down to the actual recording of it, yes, it was easy. Kurt did a fantastic job in the studio. Everything just sounded good.

CC: One of the new songs is called "All Worn Out." Is that the best description of how you must have felt after the R.E.M. tour?

SM: Ummm…yeah. [Laughs] I really liked the way it came out, too. We played it once or twice and it sounded really cool. Peter said, “All you need to put on this is to get someone to play pedal steel on the chorus.” Ok! [Laughs] That’s what I did, and it was great. I love how it sounds.

CC: The Minus 5 has been around for ten years now. Is my math right?

SM: The first record came out in ’95, Old Liquidator. I think it came out in Germany first in ’95, and then maybe it was January ’96 when it came out in the U.S. Peter and I probably started working on it in ’93. That was recorded very piecemeal as well in typical Minus 5 fashion; we set the template up right there—recording with people whenever certain people were in town in between tours. [Laughs]

CC: I certainly don't know the story, and I don't remember asking you the last time we chatted. But how did you and Peter Buck meet?

SM: I probably met him in ’85 or ’86. I can’t remember if I met him at an R.E.M. show or if it was Peter coming to a Young Fresh Fellows show in Athens. I’m not really sure where the initial thing started. We started seeing each other at shows. I knew he bought our records. I think I met him outside an R.E.M. show and gave him The Squirrels record we had just released. Then he would come to our shows in Athens. We didn’t really start hanging out until ’92 when R.E.M. was recording Automatic For The People in Seattle.

CC: How's the relationship grown musically?

SM: It’s been awesome. He and I just love playing music together. We’ve played in so many bands together now, not just R.E.M., but The Minus 5 and Tuatara. We’ve done records with a lot of other people. We did the Mark Eitzel. We’re doing a Robyn Hitchcock record right now, and we’re going to do the next John Wesley Harding record, it’s going to be as The Minus 5. We just love doing that; we love backing other people. He and I also almost always demo his stuff for R.E.M. together. Whenever he’s got new music for a song he and I usually record it together, and that’s really exciting. He’s just a great guy to play music with. He plays bass in The Minus 5 all the time, but it’s funny when we back up someone else and he’ll play 12-string and I’ll play bass. We’re pretty versatile with each other. It’s a cool thing.

We did that whole record where he wrote the music and I wrote the words, The Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy (1997), and that was a really good experience for me because I had never really done that before. It was really difficult for me, but it was a good experience. I probably got a little better at doing that through that. For instance, “Cemetery Row” was a song where someone gave me the music and I really had no problem writing the right words for it. Probably a lot of that was because of learning how to do that with Peter.

He comes up with way more stuff than R.E.M. could possibly use. There’s usually 15 or 20 that he gives to R.E.M. with every record that end up not used. There are tons of great tracks with no vocals on them from the last three R.E.M. albums. Oh my god, there’s some amazing stuff from Up (1998), stuff that I think is so fucking great. We had tons and tons of material for that record. Some of them Michael (Stipe) just didn’t quite finish, but we recorded so much stuff. There are some really cool instrumentals from that record.

CC: How else has Peter broadened your horizons?

SM: Peter almost has this sense of duty to do something good. He just has certain standards to live up to; he’s very conscious about putting out something good. I won’t say that’s necessarily a new thing for me; I wouldn’t set out only to put out crappy stuff. His kind of attitude is that he’s a musician and he works. I find that really inspiring because I’ve always thought I was a musician by luck, by chance. I feel like I don’t have to apologize for being a musician. This is what I do; I like to work, we want to work hard, and we want to make good music. I get a lot of that from Peter.

His guitar playing is so precise and so melodic. I could say the same thing about Mike Mills from playing with him. He’s really taught me a lot about keyboard playing. I’ve probably changed how I play the organ, especially, from Mills teaching me stuff he had put on record.

CC: The band is keeping it simple as just the four-piece with you, Peter, Bill Rieflin on drums, and John Ramberg on guitar. What can we expect from this upcoming Minus 5 tour?

SM: Rock ‘n’ Roll with The Minus 5. [Laughs] Lots of times Peter and I go out and sign stuff afterwards, which is great, not that anybody cares if I sign it, but people seem to like to get his autograph. [Laughs]

Photo Taken July 10, 2004 At The Club Cafe, Pittsburgh, PA

The M's @ Empty Bottle (2/24/2006)

The M's wasted no time in getting their record release party for Future Women underway at the Empty Bottle. The clock may have read 12:30am, but to The M's, it was by no means bedtime.

With just two albums under the band's belt (the latest being released three days prior), The M's are already in a class of their own. The quartet is considered to be one of the top up and coming bands in Chicago and have quickly captured the praise of their peers (Wilco, Broken Social Scene). They may not be an overnight success story, but for The M's it's better to have a career of substance than to suddenly become everybody's IT band. The M's seem to find the right step to take them forward.

In concert, The M's definitely know how to create a show. You never know when a giant robot may suddenly appear in the crowd. For this special night, The M's invited local musicians to add some extra color to their sound. Backed by a horn and string section, The M's took advantage of all the space they could find on the cramped stage; Poi Dog Pondering violinist Susan Voelz and Poi Dog alumnus Dave Max Crawford on horns led their respective sections.

Drawing greatly from their latest album Future Women, The M's racked up a setlist that brought the album to life on stage.

The band sounded eager and excited as it launched into the first new song, "Mansion In The Valley." Drummer Steve Versaw almost seemed like a chariot rider with Josh Chicoine, Joey King, and Robert Hicks as the band's horses; the harder Versaw worked his drums, the more his three bandmates responded with furious interplay.

"Never Do This Again" transported the crowd inside the Empty Bottle back to 1976 with its T.Rex take-no-prisoners guitar assault; the band's mini-orchestra took the spotlight during the acoustic "Light I Love," by far the band's best song from Future Women. Just as the band has grown, so to has the band's early material like "Banishment Of Love" and the soulful epic "Break Our Bones."

The vocal trio consisting of Chicoine, King, and Hicks never missed a beat. The Redwalls, favorite sons of Deerfield, IL, may get the attention with their almost pitch perfect Beatle-esque harmonies, but The M's give those British Invasion harmonies a twist, making The M's a more captivating, devilish sound with edge and less imitation. The M's hooked the crowd and never let them go. Fans screamed out requests for new songs like "Trucker Speed" and "Underground." It was a true sign that whatever The M's are doing, they are certainly turning heads with their music.

The M's may not have Chicago and the rest of the world in the palm of their hands, but they sure played like they did.

All Photos By: Chris Castaneda

Autumn Defense @ Schubas (2/23/2006)

On their second to last show of a winter tour, John Stirratt and Pat Sansone brought Autumn Defense back to Schubas for a sold out evening. The duo have been road testing new material for a follow-up to their second album Circles (2003).

With Wilco on break, Stirratt and Sansone found the time to put together a small 14 city tour. Over the years, Autumn Defense has become a hot ticket at Schubas. People lined up from the showroom entrance to the bar's front door, some even asking patrons sipping their drinks if extra tickets were available.

By 10pm, Autumn Defense strolled onto the cluttered stage and began their set. The band, mostly a three-piece on this tour with drummer Greg Wiz, welcomed John Pirruccello on pedal steel and Steve Tyska on trumpet. The inclusion of these musicians definitely made for a richer sound on stage. Seated upon wooden stools, Stirratt and Sansone were in fine form. "The Sun In California" provided some warmth to a crowd that has endured another Chicago winter. It was fitting that a song like "Written In The Snow" soon followed.

The band hit its stride during a performance of "Bluebirds Fall." The song originated from a split EP called Birds, Beasts, & Flowers (2004) that the band was featured on along with the Brooklyn-based band Hem. At the time of its release, "Bluebirds Fall" really displayed the band's most ambitious arrangement. Stirratt and Sansone's vocals beautifully balanced one another, moving together as if dancing.

The band spread out about seven new songs throughout the set, each well-received by the crowd. Of the new songs, one in particular called "Feel You Now" rose above the rest. If you were to close your eyes, Stirratt's voice could have been mistaken for singer Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie. But it was that small twist by Stirratt that gave the song a fresh performance.

The band continued the running joke that every band is faced with when playing the small stage at Schubas: there's nowhere to disappear to before an encore. Wiz remained at his drums as the rest of the band moved towards the stage steps. He was thinking what most of the crowd was thinking--play one more song. Sure enough, with time permitting, Autumn Defense returned and gave the crowd a song from Stirratt's Wilco past to send them into the night. Reaching back to Wilco's first album A.M., Stirratt led the band through "It's Just That Simple," the only Wilco song on which he has ever sung lead vocals.

The evening served as a perfect preview to what Autumn Defense has in store for its fans in the coming months. Stirratt and Sansone manage to keep on making the quietest, romantic noise you'll ever hear.

All Photos By: Chris Castaneda

Play Or Nay

The M's - Future Women (Polyvinyl)

The M's are quickly becoming the Dr. Strangelove of rock music. Like the many personalities brought to life by Peter Sellers in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film, The M's grab hold of the voices and set them up against music that is as butt-shakin' as it is menacing.

The Chicago band's sophomore album Future Women takes leaps forward from their 2004 self-titled debut. The M's don't run away from their strengths here, but the hunger to branch further out musically takes center stage. The three-part vocals by guitarists Josh Chicoine and Robert Hicks and bassist Joey King come more into their own, providing even more muscle to the band's wall of sound attack. What each voice brings to the microphone transforms into this singular discombobulated head with drummer Steve Versaw stampeding from behind.

Future Women maintains that drunken looseness from the debut album but spotlights some maturity. Some might say, "I don't want my band to become mature." Well, the lucky bands find a way to ride maturity towards new roads they never thought possible. The bands that try and fight it are really kidding themselves and soon fall off the map. Grow up or die trying, and The M's welcome the growth. Two prime examples of this are "Light I Love" and the album's title track "Future Women."

On "Light I Love," string arrangements by Dave Max Crawford (formerly of Poi Dog Pondering) turn this simple acoustic-driven tune into possibly the best song on the album. It's a gentle, bittersweet tune, featuring violinist Susan Voelz of Poi Dog Pondering that showcases more of the acoustic side of The M's. Rivaling that song is "Future Women," a song just as good as anything The Flaming Lips have written. For some reason, the image of Humpty Dumpty marching along a road in Hell to a strip joint comes to mind when listening to this song. Twisted? Sure. Fun? Definitely. The M's paint a dreamy world filled with these strange yet welcoming sounds that somehow all make sense.

But The M's don't hold back on the nastier rockers. "Never Do This Again" turns back the clock to T. Rex and Cheap Trick; the guitar bombardment comes from every angle. "Underground" can sum up any crazy Saturday night in Chicago onboard some late night El train. It sort of pays homage to The Jam's classic song "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" with its train-like guitar rhythm.

The fuzzed up potential The M's showed on its debut album has become reality on Future Women. The songwriting team of Chicoine, King, Versaw, and Hicks has to be considered one of the best out there in music right now among young bands finding their feet. Future Women wraps up imagination, mystery, and sheer joy all into one, something any good album should deliver from the first note to the final fade.

Extra! Extra!

The following is a link to my published review of last night's Jeff Tweedy show at Otto's Niteclub in DeKalb, IL:

http://www.dekalb-chronicle.com/articles/2006/02/21/news/news05.txt

Enjoy!

Bob Mould @ Old Town School of Folk Music (2/17/2006)

The concert hall at the Old Town School of Folk Music on Lincoln Ave. provides a very intimate and relaxed atmosphere for concertgoers. For Bob Mould, the hall was completely removed from the rock show experience. Armed with an acoustic and electric guitar, Mould delighted the crowd with a passionate performance that not only was inspiring, but raw.

The small setting inside Old Town puts the performer closer to the audience; it's like a large living room. Every move the performer makes on that stage can be heard in every corner of the hall. It also sets a mood where the performer feels the audience almost as if they too were on stage. After a two-night run at Metro last September, Mould returned to Chicago unaccompanied by a band. As he began his show, Mould scanned the venue with wide-eyed amazement. He was thirsty. Had there been no microphone on stage with him, the way in which Mould attacked with his voice would have been enough to reach every seat.

Mould tapped into his wide catalog of songs, ranging from Hüsker Dü and Sugar to his solo work. But for anyone in the crowd that attended any of Mould's Metro shows, the setlist didn't veer too far from the standard set Mould has been performing. Still, Mould hit the ground running from the beginning.

Mould barely spoke a word at Metro, since each song came blasting one after another. As he stood at the microphone inside Old Town, a completely different Mould turned up. His voice lumbered through "Hoover Dam" and "See A Little Light." His bouncing good spirits came across not only through his command on stage but his talkative banter with the crowd. Mould let down his guard and opened up to the crowd. He joked about his recent troubles with airlines handling his guitars and praised the work of an Evanston music shop for designing a brand new case. He also poked fun at himself. Mould mentioned he noticed a concert date for Richie Havens to appear at Old Town soon. Mould spoke highly of Havens as a guitarist, especially with a 12-string acoustic. The joke was clear as Mould tuned his own acoustic and programmed his effects panel to reproduce the sound of a 12-string acoustic.

The stripped down feel to songs like "High Fidelity" and Hüsker Dü's "Hardly Getting Over It" glowed perfectly in the room. You could see it on Mould's face that even he knew he was having a good night.

He soon switched over to his blue Fender Stratocaster for a mini-electric guitar set. Mould openned the set with two songs from his latest solo album Body Of Song. "Circles" and "Paralyzed" cut the air like razors, changing the mood of the room. It was like watching Mould go from painting to gearing up a chainsaw. The electric guitar brought out the defiant punk full of fire that still boils hot inside him all these years later. After mixing it up between Sugar tunes ("Your Favorite Thing," "If I Can't Change Your Mind") and a Hüsker Dü favorite ("Celebrated Summer"), Mould soon bowed down before the standing ovation from the crowd and exited the stage.

Mould continues to make growing up sound really good.

All Photos By: Chris Castaneda

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ Metro (2/8/2006)

Lin Brehmer, veteran DJ of WXRT, stood at the microphone like a pillar of musical integrity before a sold-out audience at Metro. "Right now, awards are being handed out for the worst music America has to offer," said Brehmer sternly. What he was referring to was the 48th annual Grammy Awards that was currently underway out in Los Angeles, CA, the music industry's big night out. It was clear from the volume of cheers that the audience knew exactly what Brehmer was talking about. "Here's the best rock 'n' roll America has to offer," said Brehmer about the band about to take the stage. That band was Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

It was just five years ago when this San Francisco band was considered to be one of the hottest rock bands on the scene. On the trio's 2001 self-titled debut album, the buzz was ignited with the take-no-prisoners attack of "Whatever Happened To My Rock 'N' Roll (Punk Song)" and further backed up by songs like "Love Burns" and "Red Eyes And Tears." The band was later handpicked by Noel Gallagher of Oasis to fill the support slot on Oasis' 2002 tour. But following the band's second album, Take Them On, On Your Own (2003), Virgin Records, the band's label, released Black Rebel Motorcycle from their stable of artists. In the blink of an eye, Peter Hayes, Robert Levon Been, and Nick Jago were without a record label and were faced with the looming question mark surrounding the band's future.

2005 saw the band return with Howl (RCA), a major detour from The Jesus & Mary Chain swamp of fuzz soaked guitars that dominated Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's first two albums. In many ways, Howl was the breath of fresh air that the band desperately needed if they were to continue as a band. Who knew a couple of acoustic guitars, a touch of piano, and a trombone could rescue a band from a creative dead end?

Making it evident that B.R.M.C. is a changed band, the set's first four songs came from Howl. There was a cryptic mood in the room as "Restless Sinner" opened the night; the stage lights were barely raised to a level that would make the band members completely visible. The hymn-like song cried in the shadows of Metro, uncovering a well of soul that was always there within the band but went unnoticed beneath the chainsaw frenzy of guitars. The band balanced a strong mix of new and old favorites making their stage presentation a much more full experience. The stomp of "Ain't No Easy Way" in all of it's Led Zeppelin-esque glory steamrolled with Hayes blowing away on harmonica; "Love Burns" prowled like a stalker; "Promise" tapped into the essence of Sam Cooke's blend of gospel with the same passion they put into their trademark anthem "Whatever Happened To My Rock 'N' Roll (Punk Song)."

A smile crossed Hayes' face during "Sympathetic Noose" as he looked over at Been during a solo, a rarity for Hayes whose brooding demeanor almost never waivers. It was as if they could sense the new freedom provided by the path they choose to take musically. The dark times were behind them. Now, they were having fun being a band. A roadie dressed up in a bear costume and ran across the stage to change guitars for Hayes. Been caught a glimpse of the roadie, cracked a laugh, and took a friendly swipe at the roadie with his leg. It was a lighthearted moment that anyone watching the band five years ago probably would not have seen.

Call it a reinvention of sound, but what B.R.M.C. demonstrated was a fearlessness to explore what maturity could offer as inspiration. The influences go beyond just The Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. Before the band even played a note, Johnny Cash could be heard playing throughout Metro's speakers. If that's not enough of a sign B.R.M.C. have embraced their other musical tastes that were overlooked by critics and listeners, then who knows what would be. Almost encapsulating this fresh chapter of the band's career, Been started off the encore with a B-side called "Mercy," a song which Been admitted to never before playing live. Alone on stage with an acoustic guitar, Been sang with such gentleness and care you would almost forget this was the same man whom thrashed on his bass during "Six Barrel Shotgun."

Five years ago, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club asked whatever happened to their rock 'n' roll. What eventually happened was they became faced with themselves and were forced to question what they had become instead what happened to the music they loved. It seems now, years later, they have found their answers and their true rock 'n' roll.

All Photos By: Chris Castaneda

Extra! Extra!

The February issue of Chicago Innerview is now available online.

http://www.chicagoinnerview.com

I have contributed three articles for this issue. The first is a special feature article with Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune and Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times. The other two are write-ups on Bob Mould and Autumn Defense. The links to each page are provided below:

Kot & DeRogatis:

http://www.chicagoinnerview.com/archives/feb06_rock_critic.htm

Bob Mould (scroll down):

http://www.chicagoinnerview.com/archives/feb06__previewC.htm

Autumn Defense (scroll down):

http://www.chicagoinnerview.com/archives/feb06__previewD.htm

Portrait Of A Drummer: A Conversation With Glenn Kotche Of Wilco

The grey skies blanketed Chicago on a Wednesday morning, the New Year just a little over a week old. For Glenn Kotche, it's merely another day filled with various errands barking at his brain and a cup of coffee to provide a kick start. "You’re going to edit this down, right?" asks the Wilco drummer with a laugh. "I can be a little long winded after I get some coffee." It's a considerate warning minutes into the conversation.

Kotche is relaxed on a couch inside a neighborhood cafe on the north side of the city. Occasionally a customer will enter for a drink to go and the train track guards will sound off every so often with the arrival of a CTA Brown Line train. Other than the young woman working behind the counter in the cafe, Kotche and I viturally have the whole place to ourselves. The day marks three years since he and I sat down for an interview, hours before Jeff Tweedy took the stage for the first of three nights at the Vic Theatre; it also marks Kotche's sixth year with Wilco.

No one, from the band to its fans, could have imagined how the past six years would have turned out. The band that was once given the cold shoulder by their record label became a Grammy award-winning band behind their 2004 album A Ghost Is Born. The album that almost didn't see the light of day in 2001, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, was released in 2002 and went on to become Wilco's first gold album of their career. But the road towards the rewards was, at best, rocky. Original members Ken Coomer and Jay Bennett were voted out of the band. At the start of 2004, Leroy Bach departed on good terms with Wilco to pursue other interests. Although disappointed with Bach's decision, Kotche maintains he has nothing but respect for his former band mate. "I still think the world of him. It was great playing music with him. He just felt he was done; he needed to try some new things," says Kotche. "There was no animosity, no weirdness. It’s better he did that instead of staying around for a paycheck and be a disgruntled band member. I think he’s a tremendous musician, and I really respect him, personally. I love his personality and the way he goes about things. I miss that."

Three months after Bach's exit, Tweedy entered a Chicago rehab center to seek treatment for a condition known as dual diagnosis, brought on by years of self-medicating for migraines and panic attacks. Having stepped into Wilco at a tumultuous time in their career, Kotche can sympathize how newest members Pat Sansone, Stirratt's partner in Autumn Defense, and Nels Cline must have felt. "For Pat and Nels, it must have been a little unnerving for them to come to Chicago to rehearse and then Jeff went in," says Kotche. "But they were both lifetime musicians who have seen it and done it all; they played big gigs, they’ve done the horrible van tours. Most musicians with their experience can be pretty resilient. So, I think they just took it in stride. They were just happy to be a part of it and hoped for the best. Right when Jeff went in we still rehearsed without him. It was great. Every one of those guys came to the table completely prepared. We had great rehearsals without Jeff, and I think it also sent a good message to Jeff not to worry."

With Bach gone, Kotche and John Stirratt were the seasoned and now senior members of the band. The thought to try and hold the band together in Tweedy's absence was the last thing on their list of concerns. "I don’t think it was tense at all," recalls Kotche. "For John and myself, it was more of a relief to not even think, 'What if Jeff comes out of this (rehab) and doesn’t want to come back?' That’s besides the fact. Who cares? He’s getting better. That’s what we cared about at that point, as his friends. Bands are bands in the big scheme of things. You can always start a new band, but you can’t get a life back."

Life since then as been calm for Wilco. Tweedy is in better health and the band concluded their second session of work in December for a new album. Kicking Television - Live In Chicago, a double album of performances at the Vic Theatre last May, was released in November and as been hailed as "the 21st century's first truly great live rock album" (Austin American Statesman). Kotche takes it all one day at a time.

He's a soft-spoken man and will apologize often if his train of thought isn't coming out the way he would like. A native of Roselle, Illinois, Kotche is an accomplished musician, schooled at the University of Kentucky, who is as much a thinker as he is a rocker behind the drums. He remains humble about the success amassed since joining Wilco, but underneath that meek casualness is a little voice saying, "Cool!" I remember talking to Kotche after the band's final night at the Auditorium Theatre in 2003 about Wilco joining R.E.M. the previous week at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. Wilco served as an opening act during the fall leg of R.E.M.'s tour. The grand finale was both bands performing "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)". I asked what it was like to play with R.E.M. He gave this sly smile and said, "R.E.M. played with us!"

Kotche doesn't try to hide the excitement behind a similar story. This time the story involves The Rolling Stones. At the close of the 2004-2005 tour behind A Ghost Is Born, Wilco was chosen to open for the Stones in Atlanta. "We were in the audience watching the show, and they played two of the songs that my high school band would perform," proudly says Kotche. "During my freshmen of high school we knew fives songs at that point, two of them by The Rolling Stones (“Honky Tonk Women” and “Get Off My Cloud”). They played both of those songs back to back. I was just looking at my wife, Miiri, and was on the verge of tears saying, 'This is so great!'" But Kotche remains level-headed. "To be perfectly honest, I try not to let myself gloat about that stuff," admits Kotche. "It is pretty cool, and it’s stuff that I always had hoped would happen even though I never expected it."

"I’m the same dude I was five years ago," says Kotche.

Wilco plan to use much of the year to work on the follow-up to A Ghost Is Born. Sorry, Wilco fans, keep your fingers crossed for a new album in 2007. Already, the first sessions have produced some interesting new labels such as "swamp rockers" and "butt rockers", which is humorous coming from a band that has had its share of labels. It's only rock and roll, or, as Kotche puts it, "good, old funky rock tunes." After a holiday break, the band and its various members will begin to hit the road again. Beginning this weekend, Jeff Tweedy and Kotche will tour together along the West Coast with appearances by Nels Cline; John Stirratt and Pat Sansone will take Autumn Defense out for a drive; a spring tour for Wilco is currently unfolding. "The audience can tell immediately if we’re going through the motions," says Kotche about Wilco in concert. "Sometimes it gets a little challenging as far as how to keep presenting the material in a fresh way, not go through the motions, not try and rely on stuff we’ve done. I don’t think that sits well with any of us." The stage is where Wilco has made its name as a fantastic live act, and on the stage is where Wilco has been documented the most. It's no surprise that Wilco is a highly bootlegged band, which it encourages. Somewhere on the internet you will find a community of fans that serve as archivist of the band's life in concert. Kicking Television - Live In Chicago captures Wilco during a four night run at the Vic Theatre.

The live album project was in conjunction with filming for a concert DVD, directed by Sam Jones, the same director of the Wilco documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart (2002). Unfortunately for all parties involved, the concert DVD fell through the cracks and was rejected by the band. "I’m sure there’s Wilco fans that would have appreciated it," says Kotche, "and I’m sure it will come out at some point in some form for people to see. I think none of us wanted to watch this, so, why should we put it out just to put it out? We’d rather take the hit and lose the money than put something out that we don’t want to watch or listen to." It appears the only shining light to the failed project was filming at Tweedy's cabin, along the Michigan/Indiana border, which Kotche describes as the "best performances" of a selection of songs. "I hope that comes out," says Kotche. "I think it should come out on our site at some point because I really liked those performances."

There are also mixed feelings within the band regarding the double live album. Positive reviews have showered the album, saying it presents the band in its finest form. The idea to record a live album has often floated around in the band." According to John Stirratt, the lone member who has been with Jeff Tweedy since Uncle Tupelo, "We had talked about it over the years quite a bit. This was the first time we were satisfied with a lineup, from top to bottom, that we wouldn’t mind documenting in a major way." But then there's another side to things.

"Out of a whole three-month period of touring, they were a down point for us," confesses Kotche. "We were really riding high; things were going great. Because of the cameras, it was a different thing than we were used to; I was really sick that whole time. They weren’t our best shows. I would have taken anything in the previous two months or the month after that over those nights." Kotche had the task of picking the best of those four nights. Technical issues hampered the first night and completely plauged the fourth night, forcing Tweedy to improvise the show with acoustic performances and a stage dive. The songs that did make the final cut were compiled from the second and third nights.

Stirratt would have to agree with Kotche's assessment of the band's performance and have a laugh over the fact that Wilco got away with one. "It’s hilarious. I’m glad it’s been received really well, but that is a C grade show," says Stirratt. "It was interesting to be kind of snakebitten because the two years of touring were so effortless."

Performance aside, Kotche stands by the album as an honest representation of Wilco and boldly defends its audio quality against some of the great live albums of rock music's past. "I’m very happy with it. It’s probably one of the only live records, period, where there’s not one overdub," says Kotche. "The Last Waltz [by The Band] is notorious for all the overdubs."

In March, Kotche will release his third solo album, Mobile. The album takes a more compositional approach than its experimental predecessors, Introducing Glenn Kotche (2002) and Next (2002). "It was basically written in hotel rooms, on the road, in the tour bus with Wilco, written down on paper and then flushed out in the studio," says Kotche about the development of Mobile. By no means is this an everyday rock drummer making a drum album drenched in thirty-five minute drum solos. What attracted Tweedy to Kotche's skills as a musician can be heard on any of Kotche's solo work, be it solo or with his side group, a duo called On Fillmore. Kotche seeks to go past the concept of a drummer as just someone who holds down the beat. His imagination and thrist for sounds allows him to paint pictures much in the same way Tweedy's lyrics open new worlds.

One piece in particular, "The Monkey Chant," gathers its inspiration from the ketjak, a Balinese form of performance art, also known as the Ramayana, which tells the tale of good versus evil. Kotche came across this music through David Lewiston's Nonesuch Explorer Series. The series, issused between 1967 and 1984, would be considered by today's standards as a collection of "world" music. It was even chosen by NASA to be included in a 1977 Voyager mission, preserving the album for an expected billion years. Kotche researched as much material he could get his hands on about the Ramayana. "The rhythms are fascinating even though it’s all vocal," says Kotche. "I was immediately thinking in my head that I had to try it on my drum set and see if something comes up."Kotche goes on to chart out the evolution of his interpretation. "I had this prepared snare drum and I assigned specific sounds on the snare drum to represent the main characters. There’s four or five main characters, and each one is represented by a sound on that snare. I’m playing the parts and telling the story through the interactions of the different sounds on the drum set. Instead of making up a cool groove, I like having something to work off of that gives it a deeper meaning for me."

The album put Kotche to the test but the final result is something he is proud of. The album may not be something the average Wilco fan will clamor to get a hold of, but that doesn't bother Kotche one bit. "It’s still pretty eclectic, stylistically, but not conceptually," says Kotche. "It’s still rooted in rhythmic explorations, which, as a drummer, is what I use composition for, and that’s what I use solo records for, to explore rhythm outside of what I’m able to do on a drum set. At the end of the day, it has to be something I'll be happy to put on in ten years."

Never looking back and always looking forward Glenn Kotche keeps his eyes toward what lies over each horizon. If meeting The Rolling Stones before walking onto their very stage hasn't led this former high school drum teacher and self-proclaimed drum dork into believing he's been given the license to act out the part of a stereotypical rock star, then Kotche isn't doing a bad job of keeping the picture in focus. It's all just one day and one beat at a time.

Live Photo By: Chris Castaneda (Taken At Otto's, 4/21/2003)

All Access: A Chat With Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune

Greg Kot knows a thing or two about music. As rock critic for the Chicago Tribune, Kot has made a good living writing about music. In 2004, Broadway Books published Kot's first book, Wilco - Learning How To Die, a biography about the Chicago-based rock band Wilco, whose own story placed the problems of the music industry front and center. With his counterpart at the Chicago Sun-Times, Kot and Jim DeRogatis have traveled into the realm of television and made their place on radio with "Sound Opinions." Recognized locally and nationally for his work in journalism, Kot remains the dedicated music fan you might find at a bar or club standing next to the jukebox.

On a quiet afternoon in December, with just two weeks left in 2005, Greg Kot shared his thoughts on music, journalism, and the new venture at Chicago Public Radio.

Chris Castaneda: 2005 is just a few days away from being wrapped up. Was there any particular artist that surprised you the most in the past year?

Greg Kot: Well, I’m a big fan of Tom Brousseau. I don’t know of too many people putting him on their Top 10 list, I’ll tell ya that. I think people kind of listen to it once and they dismiss it a little bit too easily, I suppose, if they listen to it at all. I think the guy’s kind of got something; a great voice, a voice unlike any I’ve heard in recent times, and just a really great knack for writing these beautiful, understated kind of songs—there’s actually one song on there that’s about silence, basically, having a quiet drink with somebody and having that silent moment with somebody. You don’t hear about stuff like that in pop songs anymore.

I’ve seen him perform a bunch of times. I really think every time I see him it feels like he’s a terrific songwriter whether anyone appreciates him or not. He’s writing great songs and he’s a terrific singer. And I’m not a huge fan of folky kind of singer/songwriter types; I think it can get kind of dull and predictable, but I really think he’s a cut above in terms of just the way he approaches the music.

CC: Who really made you simply cry or scratch your head in confusion?

GK: Boy, let me count the ways. The record that kind of surprised me that was a little overrated was the Sufjan Stevens record. I just thought that was a very underwhelming record. I’ve heard a lot of good orchestral-pop kind of indie rock records. To my mind, a guy like Sufjan doesn’t hold a candle to some of the best Elephant Six that came out a couple of years ago. Stuff like that just doesn’t impress me as much as it should because I’ve heard enough of it that I know when that stuff is really done well. I didn’t think it was a terrible record by any stretch, but I just thought it was incredibly overrated for what he bit off there—there were some really nice moments on that record.

CC: Was it almost like a novelty record to you?

GK: I wouldn’t even say a novelty. I just think it was a blah record. I’ve got tons of records in my collection that are in the same pocket that are way better. I was kind of mystified by the attention that was given to that record.

CC: Who would you like to have put out an album in 2005 but didn't?

GK: That's a good question. I was just thinking about Mudhoney the other day and how much I liked their last record. It's been a while. I guess they have a new one in the pipeline. So, I think a new record is going to come out. I was really glad to see Mudhoney come back a few years ago. They played a great show at the Abbey Pub. They sounded really rejuvenated in their second incarnation.

I'm waiting for Wilco to knock out some new studio stuff. I think they're overdue for a new studio record. I’m still waiting for My Bloody Valentine’s next record. I’ll probably wait until I’m dead.

CC: I’m still sitting with Loveless after owning it for over a year. It just hasn’t hit me yet.

GK: Wow. That’s amazing, Chris. Maybe you need to take more drugs.

CC: I've got enough (laughs). But's let's talk about our very field of music journalism. You try and listen to all the music you can. You also try and read as much as you can in order to keep up with what's happening in music. How would you describe the current state of music journalism, both print and online?

GK: I’m a big fan of writing, just good writing. We’re living in a time when there’s more writing than ever about music. I think I’ve seen less good writing than ever about music at the same time. More people are practicing it but fewer people have anything really original to say about it or can say it in a way that makes me want to read about something I may only have passing interest in. I find that most of the reviews that I read are so poorly written that it’s not even worth it to me to investigate further. One of the things that I most enjoy about music criticism was the excitement it gave me about wanting to hear something; the writing was so good that in some ways the record had a hard time living up to the writing.

While I enjoy a lot of what’s in Pitchfork, I think those guys do a great job of building their empire from basically the grassroots into something that’s really a taste maker, I found most of the writing on that website very difficult to read and not very good. They’ve got so much stuff to write about and so many writers. In some ways, they might be better served by sort of narrowing their focus a little bit and focusing on a few writers that are really talented rather than spreading themselves so thin. I’m singling out Pitchfork only because they’ve done better than most.

There’s a lack of really strong critical perspective. There’s a lot of consumer guides out there, but the deeper, explanatory pieces—the stuff that sort of gets under the skin of a record or a movement in music—I’m not finding out there. Maybe it’s either a lack of time or money or space, but the analytical chops just don’t seem to be there. I’m kind of disappointed that there aren’t more young writers out there who are developing those kinds of chops and making me really sit up and take notice of what they’re doing and the kind of perspective they’re bringing to music, in turn, really opening new worlds for listeners.

I really think music writing should be a process of educating yourself about music and in turn educating the listener on how to listen to music. That’s not an academic exercise by any stretch. I’m making it sound a lot less fun then it should be, but it should be fun. It’s like unlocking a door for a listener and saying, “Here’s this really cool piece of music, and here’s how I listened to it and why I got excited about it.” I’m not really seeing that as much, especially with the Internet where you would think the amount of space is unlimited; you could really go into depth on some things. I’m not really seeing it exploited that way. Maybe in a sort of back handed way it’s questioning the intelligence of the audience saying the audience doesn’t want to read a 5,000 word pieces on why the M.I.A. album is important or why it isn’t important. I would be equally interested in reading both of those pieces. I want to see more stuff along those lines.

CC: File sharing has been a thorn in the music industry's side for years. They just seem to be now coming to terms that consumers like having options when it comes to buying their music. But what about file sharing and music journalism? Through file sharing, people can basically eliminate the critic and album review. Do rock critics lose their audience because of file sharing?

GK: With bloggers and mp3 blogs, it’s a lot easier to access music and for consumers to make up their own minds about what they like or don’t like. I think that’s fantastic. The whole idea of democratizing the process is a real plus; the idea that there’s more music and more writing about music are all good trends. But I think things will eventually shake down a little bit, too. We’ve got all these amazing new tools, and we’re still figuring out to use them, how to effectively use them in a way where it’s more than just this piling on of information. It’s almost like we’re overwhelmed by this stuff; there’s so much of it out there, and whose voice do you really trust?

At the end of the day, there’s going to be taste makers and there’s going to be people who want to hear what the taste makers have to say about it. I think we’re still figuring out how that new process is going to work. The distribution model has changed radically, not just for music itself but also for how we talk about music, how we discuss it as an art form, and how we critique it. All of that stuff is in flux right now.

People who provide the best content and are the most insightful about that content are going to be the ones people keep gravitating towards. Right now it’s unclear as to how that will shake out. So, it’s an exciting time from that standpoint. I think it’s a time where young, ambitious people—both music makers and music writers—can make a mark because the ground rules are still being established.

CC: Before teaming up with Jim DeRogatis (Chicago Sun-Times) on "Sound Opinions," you had "Rock Tonight" on WLUP-FM (The Loop) in the mid-90's with Michael Harris, former editor of the Illinois Entertainer. Though you would never consider yourself a radio DJ, what types of DJs would you say have been inspirations to you in the radio world?

GK: The DJs that I admired are people like Johnny Mars and Marty Lennartz who played really cool music late night on WXRT. The most important thing for me was I wanted a DJ to surprise me; play me something I don’t know yet and turn me on to something really cool.

We try to play stuff that isn’t going to be as predictable or stuff that people maybe haven’t heard. I still remember playing Black Sabbath on the second or third “Sound Opinions.” I don’t think Black Sabbath had ever been played on XRT. It was a really proud moment for us.

CC: After seven years, "Sound Opinions" parted ways with WXRT (93.1 FM) in November to make a new home at Chicago Public Radio-WBEZ (91.5 FM). How's life under the new roof at Navy Pier?

GK: Well, I think the facility is amazing. It’s going to allow us to do some things with bands and musicians that we weren’t able to do at XRT. Being able to record John Cale properly and have him psyched about doing it was great...the ability to reach an audience by different means, not a traditional radio show playing at one time a week at a certain time slot, you’ve got the streaming, you’ve got the podcasting, and you’ve got the archiving. So, people can access the show in many different ways, at many different times. I think that’s the way you have to treat all media these days. You have to serve the audience in a way they want to be served. You can’t say, “Well, this is the only way you can have this thing.” Similar to the music industry trying to sell consumers only the $15 version of the CD instead of realizing they may want the single or the mp3 download.

The fact that WBEZ believed in the show enough that they want to syndicate it, they want to take it to other markets around the country…the fact that they’ve been successful with other shows like “This American Life” and “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” kind of indicated to me that Torey Malatia is the guy to do that. When he says he wants to do that you tend to give him a little bit more credibility than maybe with any other programmer in town because he’s one of the few, maybe the only guy, that’s really succeeded in doing that on a nationwide level, taking Chicago based shows and turning them into nationwide phenomena. The fact that there aren’t more “Sound Opinions” out there is really surprising to me. I’m glad we have the opportunity to do this show and maybe take it to a national level. That’s a real possibility at WBEZ whereas I don’t think it was at WXRT.

CC: You've been doing radio now for close to ten years. Are there still challenges you face with "Sound Opinions" even after all the experienced you've logged over those years?

GK: It still feels new, and it still feels like you’re learning things. It’s the same way I feel about my writing. If I felt like I knew it all and I was done learning, then I would feel like I would need to move on and do something else. I certainly don’t feel that way about radio. The more I do it the more I realize how much I don’t know. The learning process is fun.

I’ve got a guy (DeRogatis) across from me that in so many ways we’re such complete opposites in terms of temperament and taste. Yet, we’re still able to get along outside the studio. It’s a pretty rare thing. The essence of the show is you’ve got two guys butting heads about things a lot and having different viewpoints. Even when we agree we agree in different ways about something.

Why aren’t there more shows like this around the country? Part of the problem is that you need to find two individuals who sort of complement each other and have a chemistry. The more I work with Jim the more I realize that’s a rare thing. You can never take that for granted. As long as that’s there, the possibilities for the show are pretty limitless.

CC: What will you miss about being at WXRT?

GK: XRT gave us a shot. They were our first choice when we started looking for a radio station in 1998 to actually do this show after Jim got back in town from Minneapolis. He called me and said, “Let’s do this radio show, and let’s do it right.” We both sort of hit on XRT as the right place for this show even though XRT had never done talk radio before. They didn’t even have a phone line to take a phone call from a listener. We just felt that their sensibility and their sense of openness to something like this would be much greater than some of the other stations in town, and it would be the best home because of the audience—the intelligence of the audience and the wide variety of music that the audience had been exposed to. It wasn’t like we would be talking to a crowd that only listened to alternative rock, only listened to hip hop.

I have to give Norm (Winer) a lot of credit. He took a huge risk in putting us on the air; it wasn’t like this was a standard fare for him, giving us two hours of basically unsupervised airtime every week for seven years since January ’99. That’s an amazing thing! I have to tip my hat to the guy and say thanks for the opportunity. The only reason we left was we thought there was an even greater opportunity in moving to WBEZ and the exposure that the show would be given.

I give XRT a lot of credit for giving us the forum and for helping us develop the show. I don’t think we would have gotten the WBEZ deal if we hadn’t developed the show to the point where it was and what it was--XRT was a great home for it.

CC: The new format for the show is now just an hour. Is there still as much freedom as there was when the show was two hours on WXRT? How do you feel about the hour show?

GK: I like it because it’s faster paced. At the same time, we want to give it some more breathing room so that the exchanges, which are the essence of the show, can have some of that breathing room; we can go off on a tangent occasionally, which some people really loved about the XRT show. We still want to have those exchanges and those frivolous moments where it was about the personalities and the chemistry as much as it was about the content.

On one hand, I liked what we had. I liked the two hours of sort of freewheelin’ discussion on XRT. It’s now one hour, and it’s going to be less freewheelin'. I love the idea of figuring out how to make that great. It’s an exciting challenge, and I’m excited about the challenge. I really think we needed the challenge because we’ve been doing for seven years. We needed a fresh goal, a fresh sense of purpose about the show, and this is really giving it to us. In some ways, with the XRT show, we could have almost rolled out of bed and done that show. We just felt so comfortable in that format, but there’s sort of a mistake in being too comfortable. It’s good to feel a little bit weird and out of sorts.

*Chris Castaneda was a research assistant for Greg Kot’s Wilco: Learning How To Die and Jim DeRogatis’ upcoming book Starring At Sound: The True Story Of Oklahoma’s Fabulous Flaming Lips. He is also a moderator for the "Sound Opinions" message board*

All Photos By: Chris Castaneda (Taken At The Hideout, 6-17-2004)

The Greenwoods @ The Hideout (1/13/2006)

Somewhere around 2004, Dag Juhlin must have gone for a walk in his suburb of Woodstock, IL and landed in a nearby forest. When he emerged he brought with him not only the title for his first solo album, Into The Woods, but the name of his eventual new band...The Greenwoods.

Now in 2006, Juhlin, with his older brother Gregg (bass) and Jim Bashaw (drums), The Greenwoods have become a reality. Already a respected musician in the Chicago music community through his continuing work with Poi Dog Pondering and twenty years with The Slugs, Dag Juhlin is keeping himself occupied with a new outlet for his pop power, Townshend-influenced ideas. The Greenwoods have remained closer to their turf, playing the odd show here and there, developing the band's identity. Their show Friday night at the Hideout marked their first time in Chicago in front of an audience. Opening for local band Ness, The Greenwoods worked their hour set to their advantage, showcasing their blend of '60s rock a la The Who with a swagger harking back to the late '70s Mod revival fueled by The Jam.

The Brothers Juhlin have forged a musical bond that goes back to the days of The Slugs and even before that. If there were ever two musicians that mirrored Pete Townshend and John Entwistle on stage, it would have to be Dag and Gregg Juhlin. Before The Greenwoods even took the stage, I couldn't help but notice the bass guitar as the exact same model Entwistle played throughout the '70s with The Who (watch Entwistle during "Baba O'Riley" in the 1979 movie The Kids Are Alright). Then there's Dag with his gold top Les Paul that was also a favorite of Townshend's during the 1975-1976 touring era of The Who. The sixth sense connection that the Townshend/Entwistle team possessed is something the Juhlins also share.

The trio dove into their set as if to avoid any nervousness with their Chicago debut, but the supply of friendly drinks brought up to the stage certainly didn't hurt with calming the nerves.

A song that jumped out right away was a nicely structured gem called "How We Get There." The jingle-jangle of Juhlin's guitar and the added harmonies by his brother created this breezy, warm tune filled with little moments of perfection. Gregg Juhlin had Entwistle's style of play burned on the tips of his fingers. His busy fingers would race up and down the fret board of his bass with ease. Though he produced a sound that was as meaty, beaty, big and bouncy as Entwistle, The Ox, was known for, Gregg Juhlin was more aimed to beef up the harmonies to the songs.

For the most part, The Greenwoods held their own on the small Hideout stage. At times bumpy, the band would land on that one note which happened to not be the same note they all had in mind. Drummer Jim Bashaw kept things simple rather than trying to keep pace with Gregg Juhlin's thunder fingers on the bass. It was almost a reversal of roles; Juhlin's bass playing often spurred the band forward while Bashaw steadied a foundation. Not to be left out was Dag Juhlin.

Juhlin pulled double duty as singer and guitarist. As sharp and swift as his rhythm guitar work, Juhlin fired off a couple of heavily charged guitar solos that showed he wasn't shy about taking a lead on guitar. During another highlight, a song called "Pulling Change", The Greenwoods became this entirely different band; suddenly they sounded like a veteran band of ten years. They had become fearless. It was a moment when The Greenwoods were at their tightest musically, and loudest, topped off with a leaping Dag Juhlin.

There's plenty of potential with The Greenwoods. They are a band in the making, and like any newly formed band, they are filled with excitement and curiousity, eager to see what corners they can turn. But you can bet The Greenwoods will show you a good time.

All Photos By: Chris Castaneda

James Brown @ House Of Blues (1/12/2006)

"This is the man who took the wet out of sweat," preached Danny Ray, MC of the night, to a packed House of Blues audience. All eyes focused on the man in question; the man spinning and sliding with the dance moves of a 20-year-old. The man was James Brown.

The Godfather of Soul (now 72 years old) strutted his way across the cluttered stage towards his microphone and pulled off his classic dip with the stand, topped with a partial split. What could have been more amazing to the audience? Watching Brown get behind a Korg keyboard to join in with his band? Or the fact that at his age he's doing splits? Whatever the case may be, James Brown certainly hasn't lost his touch as one of the most pioneering entertainers of the past 40 years. "A man's gotta do his best when he comes to Chicago," said Brown as he flashed his classic smile. That same smile has logged many, many miles. From commercial highs to legal lows, James Brown has somehow managed to remain James Brown. His music continues to be celebrated by all genres of music and his reputation as "The Hardest Working Man In Show Biz" still carries meaning to his fans.

With Brown and his backing band decked out in suits style points
had to be awarded. The team of four female vocalists (one solo) and two female dancers provided reason enough why Brown was a happy 72-year-old on stage. It was Las Vegas and the Big Band all wrapped up into one. Brown served as conductor for most of the night, piloting his band through some funk and soul. The audience--ranging from early 20's to 50's--hung on every note. They came for the hits and that's what Brown gave them; "Living In America" and "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag, Pt.1" shook up the House of Blues.

Tipping his hat to another legend of R&B and soul, Brown paid tribute to Ray Charles by going a cappella with Charles' 1955 hit single "I Got A Woman" before having the band join him on a swaying version of "Night Time Is The Right Time".

It's difficult to demand Brown to be the artist he once was in his youth. It probably wasn't important to the audience that Brown often left it to his band and female dancers take on much of the show's load. At times, the music became background to the flash, but Brown seemed to know just when to grab the microphone. The sexuality of his music hasn't faltered or aged. Brown engaged in a steamy call-and-response with his female singers during "It's A Man's Man's Man's World". It was almost voyeuristic as the audience watched Brown slip off each singers' little black dress with his words.

By the end of the night, Brown gave nearly 2 hours of showmanship. "I Got You (I Feel Good)" sent the audience home with what they came for in the first place--a good time. In recent times, the likes of Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, and even Neil Diamond have undergone artistic rebirths in the mainstream. Both bio-films for Cash and Charles re-introduced the artists to a music world more interested in packaged TV artists. James Brown may never become the latest fad again or capture the attention of this generation's of teenagers. For right now, there is only one James Brown, and for a Thursday night in Chicago, James Brown showed up to entertain.

Poi Dog Pondering @ Vic Theatre (12/31/2005)

It was the end of one year and the start of a new one all under the same roof. Poi Dog Pondering rang in the new year at the Vic Theatre with the same sort of energy and enthusiasm they have brought to the stage for over 13 years. The capacity crowd filled the balcony and the dance floor for a night of smooth, sexy grooves and all-out-ass-shaking beats.

From the outset, Poi Dog Pondering recognized the importance of the night and flexed their muscle early with "Be The One" and "Get Me On". The 14-piece band (including members of local band Head Of Femur) were interlocked the second the first note was played; much credit should be paid to the stability the band's lineup has maintained over the past few years. As the only original members, singer Frank Orrall and violinist Susan Voelz couldn't have looked happier on stage as the orchestra of musicians around them brought the songs to new heights. Whereas, in the past, new faces in the band introduced different interpretations to the Poi Dog catalog, the long list of musicians, from guitarist Dag Juhlin to bassist Ron Hall, who have been mainstays in the band helped bring Poi Dog Pondering to a point where now the songs lead the band to new avenues.

Although the band can never really be pigeonholed into one category, one aspect that has always been consistent was the band's skill with mixing colors; the electronica drive of "Natural Thing" and the melodic pop quality of "Jeremy Brett"--a new song--are two worlds coexisting as one.

When the countdown to midnight was over Poi Dog Pondering launched into probably its most popular single, "Complicated". It was the perfect soundtrack while making New Year's resolutions under a cloud of balloons and confetti. "I'm not afraid of death/I'm afraid of going through this thing twice," became the crowd's mantra. Suddenly, it was a new show for the band. The already high octane show went up a few more notches as the band branched out into more jam sessions. More new material appeared in the set; "Fact Of Life", "Sticky", and "Maybe We Could Make A Baby Together" packed the pop and funk of early Poi Dog Pondering with a more focused, straightforward approach. The crowd openly welcomed the band's latest material in the works. And why not? It has been two years since the band's last studio album In Seed Comes Fruit.

A true highlight of the show came near the close of the night. Reaching back to 1990's Wishing Like A Mountain And Thinking Like The Sea, the band delivered a powerful and moving rendition of "Bury Me Deep". Each member appeared caught up in the song's magic and hung onto its wings as it soared higher and higher. Orrall would step back from his microphone, eyes closed, and soak up the band. It was as if Orrall was acknowledging the fact that when the band is on fire you don't stand in its way.

As the night entered 1:00am, Poi Dog Pondering took one final lap on the stage of the Vic Theatre with the phasing pulse of "God's Gallipoli". Backup singer Charlette Wortham sliced through the air with her inspired vocals; Hall and drummer Earl Talbott--a dynamic rhythm section--never missed a beat. The band could have gone on to play another hour if it was okay under city ordinances.

Poi Dog Pondering rushed into 2006 ready to take on all new challenges. The fire and swagger in the band's step remains vibrant. The show put on at the Vic Theatre was the band's first major statement of the new year: Poi Dog Pondering is nowhere near drying up creatively.

All Photos By: Chris Castaneda

Extra! Extra!

The January issue of Chicago Innerview is now available on-line. A special "Best Of" section can be found in the print edition of the magazine. If interested in obtaining a copy of the magazine, please check out the distribution listing on the magazine's website for further information.

The magazine has also expanded into the world of MySpace. The new site will be an extention of the magazine's e-mail newsletter. It will include announcements about magazine sponsored events, concert listings, and the latest news about Chicago Innerview. MySpace is a free service.

http://www.myspace.com

http://www.myspace.com/chicagoinnerview

Welcome to 2006!

Top 10 Albums Of 2005

Kanye West - Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella) : The stakes got higher as the Chicago south sider aimed to trump his explosively successful debut album The College Dropout (2004). Kanye West grabbed the horns of his bull-sized talent and chruned out one of the year's smoothest single with "Gold Digger." Sampling the likes of Ray Charles, Otis Redding and Curtis Mayfield, West once again explored new ground. On perhaps the most pivotal track of the album, the orchestral powered "Gone," West reveals a side to rap that seldom gets shown in the mainstream: imagination.



Coldplay - X & Y (Capitol) : Coldplay's third album wasn't working for the band in the early stages of recording, so, they cleaned the slate and started fresh. The result was something more than just an album; it was a painting of sounds which widened the scope of Coldplay's world of just a quality band into one of the blossoming greats of our time. The band slightly toys with their sonic textures to create something new yet familiar. By no means does Coldplay tred old water, but songs like "Speed Of Sound" and "Fix You" seem like they were on deck just waiting for their chance at the plate. A hidden track called "Til Kingdom Comes" (written specifically for Johnny Cash to perform before his passing) serves as a fitting end to an album racing towards the next horizon.

Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better (Sony) : They are the Scottish lads that put dance and style back into rock music and make it look fun again. The quartet add some more depth to themselves and avoid predictability. "Do You Want To" struts like a Las Vegas pimp on any given night, and "The Fallen" makes a nonchalant observation of the human desire to blow up one another ("What's wrong with a little destruction?"). But Franz Ferdinand deliver terrific transitions with "Walk Away" and "Eleanor Put Your Boots On." Here the band steps back for more understated performances that are both whimsical and breezy.


Oasis - Don't Believe The Truth (Epic) : During a musical campaign that has surpassed ten years, something that critics probably still can't get over, Noel Gallagher has managed to work a little magic from the small corner he and younger brother Liam have gotten Oasis into. No surprises are what listeners have come to expect from Britain's still reigning hit makers. With no original member left in the band other than the Gallaghers, Oasis has carried on while getting an injection of new blood from the likes of Andy Bell (Ride) and Gem Archer (Heavy Stereo). If you look beyond the fact that Ringo Starr's own son, Zak Starkey, gets behind the drum kit--offering a much needed kick--you will hear a band comfortable with resting on their past ("Lyla") while giving in to the idea that trying a new approach isn't so much a bad thing ("The Importance Of Being Idle"). Yet, somehow, Noel and company show off some fire that makes Don't Believe The Truth more of a whole album rather than a spotty one.

Paul Weller - As Is Now (Yep Roc) : The Modfather continues to get better with age, unafraid to display his softer side and more than eager to squeeze out some blistering guitar solos. Weller delivers his most straightforward rock song since his 1997 album Heavy Soul called "From The Floor Boards Up." There are no signs of Weller losing his touch throughout the album. On "Here's The Good News," Weller evokes Randy Newman with some saloon-style piano playing. Overall, there's a sense that Weller was going for a no-nonsense production and more for simply capturing the songs in the moment. As Is Now is quite possibly Weller's most direct solo album to date.

Chris Mills - The Wall To Wall Sessions (Ernest Jenning) : In three days and backed up by a 17-piece band, Chris Mills performed and recorded his fourth album The Wall To Wall Sessions. The process that Mills put himself through in such a short amount of time was the best decision he could had made at this point of his career. There is an excitement to the album that translates loudly with each song. "You Are My Favorite Song" romances with a smile, "Chris Mills Is Living The Dream" dances in buoyant spirits, and "Dancing On The Head Of A Pin" soothes like the softest of breezes. The heart of this album is its nakedness. Bypassing the trappings of the recording studio has opened new doors for Mills, and it is none more evident than on The Wall To Wall Sessions.

Doves - Some Cities (Capitol) : Since 2000's Lost Souls and 2002's The Last Broadcast the Manchester trio called Doves has enjoyed critical acclaim as one of the top acts in the U.K. music scene. What The Last Broadcast accomplished for the band Some Cities didn't quite reach--a leap forward. The Doves borrow from their own play book on "Walk In Fire," lifting "There Goes The Fear" (The Last Broadcast) for the song's overall structure. Even with its back to basics feel Some Cities still scores with songs like "Black And White Town" and "Ambition." If this is the sound of the Doves as an average band, then the Doves certainly come off as a damn good band with the ability to swith on greatness if they so choose.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl (Red Int/Red Ink) : The "acoustic" album happens at some point for any rock band. Just as this is B.R.M.C.'s third album it is also the band's attempt to produce Led Zeppelin III. The band sets down the abrasive howl of their previous two albums for more of a relaxed whisper, a bluesy moan. The piano-blanketed "Promise," perhaps the real soul of Howl, removes itself greatly from the Jesus Lizard-esque touch that has flowed B.R.M.C. As if content with the shadows, B.R.M.C. toys with the moody to create an atmosphere that quietly invites you in rather than rushes into your face. "Ain't No Easy Way" is the lone stomper that pumps with some smoking harmonica play backed by a good ole, down and dirty drum groove.

Son Volt - Okemah and the Melody of Riot (Sony) : Jay Farrar, singer/songwriter with a voice sometimes bigger than his own band, returns with Son Volt after a seven year hiatus. Although missing the original members of the band, Farrar produces one of the most melodically charged and socially conscious album Son Volt has ever made. "Jet Pilot" and "Endless War" take on the matters surrounding U.S. engagement in Iraq. Farrar seems to revel in the warmth of his electric guitar on "Afterglow 61." It's a rejuvenated vibe for Farrar as he feels out his newly transformed Son Volt. Closing with "World Waits For You," Farrar takes to the piano before the rest of the band enters in for the reprise. The song leaves very little indication on where Son Volt will go next, but, one thing is for certain, Farrar is at his best.

Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Sony) : It's the final chapter to a body of music that has spanned over twenty-eight years. John Williams' musical work, not only with the entire Star Wars saga, has given us some of the most memorable film themes in history. Once again at the helm of the London Symphony Orchestra, Williams charts out his absolute best work for Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, capturing the tragic transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader. The emotions soar in themes like "Battle Of The Heroes" and "Anakin vs. Obi-Wan." Almost as if giving his own personal farewell to George Lucas' galaxy far, far away, Williams revists the most significant Star Wars themes during the end credit theme "A New Hope." They are classical scores that not only were key to the Star Wars films but were pieces of music that touched popular culture in ways reminiscent of Mozart. It's a fitting end for a composer that brought the opera to space and beyond.

Extra! Extra!

The 48th Grammy Nominees were announced today. To view the full listing of nominations, please use the following link:

http://www.grammy.com/awards/grammy/48noms.txt

The award show will take place on February 8, 2006 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA and broadcasted by CBS.

Dinosaur Jr. @ Metro (11/30/2005)

Ok, I don't get it. I honestly for the life of me do not get it. This review is going to be rather different from what readers are normally used to when checking out my work. But I wouldn't be a good rock critic if I wasn't completely upfront about my feelings towards a record or a concert. In the case of Wednesday night's Dinosaur Jr. show at Metro, I must come clean and say I missed the memo that explained why this group was hailed as an important band from the 90s alternative era of music.

Metro held an e-mail promotion for those that subscribe to their newsletter where they offered the first 50 responses two tickets for either Tuesday or Wednesday night's show. To my recollection, the shows were not sold-out. I entered the contest thinking it might be a decent time. I would have a better time dealing with the show knowing I got in for free than knowing I wasted $30 that I could have put towards gas for the car or tickets to ride Metra to work. My girlfriend had expressed an interest in seeing the show in the first place but she knew I wasn't impressed by the band when I glanced at them at this summer's Lollapalooza. I thought that if I won I would take her and let her enjoy the show even though I wouldn't be the most excited person in the crowd to be there. Well, sure enough, I received an e-mail on Wednesday afternoon congratulating me for winning 2 tickets for that evening's show.

Now, my only memory of Dinosaur Jr. was probably when I was either 13 or 14. MTV--when it actually played videos-- used to have this Dinosaur Jr. video on heavy rotation where J Mascis (singer/guitarist) was riding around in a golf cart. That's it. That's what I walked into Metro with in the back of my mind about this band. I decided I would review the show having a pretty open mind about the band and that my opinions would be that of a first time listener. Sure, I didn't think much of them at Lollapalooza, but I'm willing to give a band a second chance (I did it with the Secret Machines and came to love them). Opening the show were Magik Markers and local band The Ponys. Liz (my girlfriend) and I saw The Ponys as part of this past Hideout Block Party. Both of us really liked what we saw and heard. So, we looked forward to seeing them again.

The Magik Markers certainly removed all of the connotation surrounding the word magic with their 18 minute set of feedback. I would actually be doing The White Stripes a disservice by comparing Magik Markers to them. Think of Jack and Meg White reversed in their musical roles and sounding like they came straight out of the worst mental ward you can imagine. Jaw dropping? You bet. It was so horrendous that someone in the crowd wrote a large sign and placed it on the stage, not too far from where the drummer was, well, drumming (the fact he needed to adjust the microphone on one of the drum heads seemed rather feeble in the big picture). The sign read, "PLAY A DAMN SONG ALREADY! SIGNED: YOUR MOM."

The Ponys sort of came and went. I don't think The Ponys at their best could have rescued the crowd from what we all just experienced. They put on a good show, but it didn't hit me quite as hard as when I saw them at the Hideout.

Then came Dinosaur Jr. in the original lineup. Mascis had this massive amplifier setup that reminded me of Pete Townshend's setup in The Who when he used to play with 3 full stacks of Hiwatts. I used to think there's no such thing as too much volume. I stand corrected. The opening song was this mess of drums, bass, and guitar. Somewhere in all that was some singing, but I couldn't tell. I understood the female singer of Magik Markers mumbling, "Bull shit! Bull shit!' more than I did Mascis' vocals. The bassist, Lou Barlow, drowned out Mascis entirely. Lucky us, Liz and I were positioned in front of Barlow and his PA system. After the first song, I turned to Liz and said, "We'll leave before the encore." There were some in the crowd that pleaded with Barlow to lower his amplifier volume. He laughed and said, "Stand over there," pointing to Mascis' side of the stage. I wanted to try and give this show a chance, but after six songs enough was enough. Liz also felt the same way as I did about making our early departure.

What wasn't I hearing that the guy playing air drums heard? Was I missing something? Would ear plugs have made the show better for me? Did I not catch the right beat to let loose? What was it?

Somewhere, someone must have said to Mascis, "The Pixies are cashing in. You should, too." Some doors should just never be reopened. All I saw on that stage was a troll of an old man, an aging Cousin It, with a fancy guitar effects panel and big amplifiers. What J Mascis was on stage was everything Paul Weller did not ever want to happen to him as the frontman of The Jam at the height of their success: a sad, old man trying to play rock music to a bunch of teenagers and 20-somethings.

The only thing that salvaged the night was the spectacular meter parking found in front of a McDonald's on Clark St. just 2 blocks from Metro. You know it's a bad concert when at the end of the night you're at your happiest for finding street parking around Wrigley Field prior to entering Metro. J Mascis, you and I weren't meant to be when I was 13, and it just wasn't meant to be when I was 24. Farewell...

Extra! Extra!

The December issue of Chicago Innerview is now available on-line.

I contributed a write-up on The Black Keys. The article may be found on the following page:

http://www.chicagoinnerview.com/archives/dec05_previewA.htm