No Wristbands! We Drink For Free

Taylor Hales is the studio manager and recording & mixing engineer at the world-famous Electrical Audio recording studio. He also fills a bunch of other roles at the studio. We talked with Taylor about how he got his start in music and his internship at Electrical Audio. He filled us in on the inner workings at the studio. And he shared many stories about his employer, co-worker and friend, St...

Brandon Lewis of Punkerton Records joins us for the latest After Hours episode. Brandon's record label is out of Ohio and supports a number of awesome punk rock bands. It's a labor of love for him and he works hard to provide full support to his bands - from recording, to artwork, to tour bookings and more. Four Punkerton Records bands will be playing the upcoming fForest Fest in Morris, IL on Jun...

Stacey Dee is a singer and guitar player in the California punk band Bad Cop / Bad Cop. She's also known affectionately as Stacy Fucking Dee because, well, she's a badass! She's been playing in punk bands for a while now and Bad Cop / Bad Cop is one of the best. They've already put out 3 great LP's - Not Sorry , Warriors and The Ride - and they've got a new one in the works. Stacey shared some gre...

Jon Snodgrass has a unique way of looking at life. He joins us on this episode and we talk about his philosophy about music, money, baseball and so much more. Jon has a lot of friends and sometimes has them play on his records - like Frank Turner. And Jon has a new record out, barge at will with Bill Stevenson (Descendents) on drums & bass. We also talk about all the things that Jon loves abou...

Growing up in Mattoon, IL, Rick Sims (guitar, vocals) spent his early years drinking beer, smoking dope and practicing in the chicken shed in Sullivan, IL with his brother Brad (drums). Joined by Doug Evans (bass), they put together some crazy-ass music and the Didjits were born! From 1986 thru 1993, they put out five great records, including Hey Judester . We talk with Rick about how those record...

Sean O'Keefe joins us for episode number 42. Growing up in Wilmette, IL, Sean dropped out of Columbia College in Chicago to record his friends' bands. We talk about how he came to produce Take This To Your Grave for his friends, Fall Out Boy. We discuss what's involve in producing, engineering and mixing a record. Sean has also worked with a ton of other bands, including Hawthorne Heights, Motion...

Jason Narducy has carved out quite a career for himself in music. His first band, Verboten (which he began as a pre-teen), was influential in getting Dave Grohl in started music. Subsequently he formed the acoustic duo Jason & Alison, Verbow, Rockets Over Sweden and his current project, Split Single. He's also played with or toured with the likes of Bob Mould, Superchunk, Sunny Day Real Estate...

Welcome to 2024 and our 40th episode everyone! We're so happy to be talking with Ken Draznik and James Wald from one of our favorite bands of all-time, The Vertebrats from Champaign, IL. We talk about how these guys got together with Matt Brandabur and Roy Axford and helped create a vibrant DIY music scene in Champaign-Urbana. We also talk about how their short 3-year career created a legion of fa...

Did you ever wish you had your own music festival? Well, our friends Stacey & Erik Olson are living the dream! In 2022 they put together the first fForest Fest in Morris, Illinois with a few of their favorite punk/folk/Celtic bands. We talked with them about what it takes to run a festival, what makes fForest Fest different and what plans they have as they grow this thing. And they are announc...

Bruce Finkelman decided on a late night drive down Western Avenue to open his iconic Chicago music club, The Empty Bottle. So he took the $942 he had in savings and made the plunge. Thirty years later, he's transformed that into the hospitality collective, 16 on Center, which includes a host of music venues and restaurants. Thalia Hall, SPACE, The Salt Shed, Longman & Eagle, Dusek's, Revival F...

In our latest episode of No Wristbands! After Hours, we got a chance to talk with two of our favorite people over at CHIRP radio - Jenn Sodini and Shawn Campbell. Jenn is the host of the fantastic CHIRP in-person storytelling and music event, The First Time . We chatted with Shawn and Jenn about what's involved in putting together that quarterly show. The next live performance is Wednesday, Novemb...

Milwaukee emo band Barely Civil joins us for No Wristbands! episode 36. Connor Erickson (vocals, guitar), Isaac Marquardt (drums) and Alex Larsen (lead guitar) share their thoughts on their great new single "Coasting Mostly", making new music, surviving the pandemic, the Milwaukee music scene and, of course, a few Chicago questions. Enjoy!! Time stamps: 2:40: What have you guys been up to? 5: Is C...

Kenn Goodman joins us to talk about the long history of Pravda Records. 2024 will be the 40th anniversary of Pravda and Kenn explains how it got this far. We also talk about his musical history and, of course, we chat about all things Chicago. Time stamps: 2: When did you start playing music? 6:11: You were sneaking into shows as a fake Rolling Stone reporter. 10:35: I can do this (make a record l...

We are so damned excited to have Frank Turner join us for this one. We talk about his upcoming visit to Chicago to play Riot Fest, his opening gig for Bruce Springsteen, his thoughts on songwriters Jeff Tweedy, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, his Lost Evenings festival in Anaheim, CA, his favorite Chicago music venue, his relentless touring and much more. Time stamps: 2:05: Two rules. 2:50: What's it...

Deanna Belos joins us to talk about her great Chicago punk band Sincere Engineer. Deanna is the songwriter, singer and guitarist in the band and began putting out records in 2017 with the album Rhombithian . Along with bandmates Kyle Geib (guitar), Nick Arvanitis (bass) and Adam Beck (drums), Sincere Engineer released Bless My Psyche in 2021 and their incredible new album, Cheap Grills is due out...

Leor Galil is a senior staff writer for the Chicago Reader and has written there for a dozen years. His work as a freelance culture and music journalist has appeared in numerous publications, including Pitchfork, Rolling Stone.com, The Washington Post, Forbes.com and many others. We had a great time talking with Leor about what it's like being a journalist these days, what he sees in the Chicago m...

We're very excited that we got the opportunity to talk with Beverly Rage (vocals/guitar) from queer garage-pop band Bev Rage & the Drinks for episode 31. We talk about Bev's musical journey from Canton, Ohio to Chicago, what it's like playing original music in drag and the challenges presented by today's political environment. We also cover Bev's favorite Chicago things! Time Stamps: 2:40: How...

Bridget Stiebris and Haley Blomquist from OK Cool are back with us After Hours to discuss their new ep Fawn . We go track by track and also talk about what they got coming up on tour. Time stamps: 3:15: Let's talk about fawn, track by track breakdown 3:45: Track 1: 333 6:10: What are the themes you are laying out in 333? 8: Track 2 normal c - When you are writing, are you writing to write or with...

We had a great time talking with long-time Chicago musician Brian Case for episode 29. We talk about his musical history with 90 Day Men, The Ponys and Disappears. And we get into detail with his current band FACS and their new record Still Life In Decay. We also talk about record labels, touring and his son's band Lifeguard. And, as usual, all things Chicago. We hope you enjoy this one! Time Stam...

We are beyond excited to have Glenn Kotche on the show for episode 28. It's a dream come true (although Glenn said we have to have bigger dreams than that!). We talk about how he got started as a drummer, his early career, meeting Jim O'Rourke, playing in Loose Fur, joining Wilco, his solo projects and a whole lot more. Of course, we also talk about Chicago. We hope you enjoy this one as much as w...

Haley Blomquist and Bridget Stiebris from local Chicago band OK Cool join us for episode #27. We talk about how they got together to form a band, what their songwriting and creative process looks like and what we can expect from their new ep Fawn . Of course, we also ask them about their favorite Chicago things! Time Stamps: 2: Hello, we are joined by the band Ok Cool 3:45: Bridget, you had to hav...

Bruce Adams joins us for episode # 26. He co-founded kranky records and recently authored a wonderful book, You're with Stupid: kranky, Chicago, and the Reinvention of Indie Music. We talk about Bruce's early history working at Kaleidoscope, Touch and Go and Cargo Records. We also cover his history with kranky records and then talk about how he came to writing You're with Stupid. And, of course, w...

Bill Roe of Trouble In Mind Records joins us for episode #25. Bill and his spouse Lisa played together in the garage band CoCoComa and in 2009 they started releasing records on their Trouble In Mind label. They are still busy putting out great stuff today. Bill shares with us what it's like to run a record label, what music he's listening to and, of course, what he loves about Chicago. Time Stamps...

Dan Ozzi - author of the national bestseller SELLOUT - The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore 1994-2007 - is our guest for episode #24. He also co-authored (with Laura Jane Grace) TRANNY - Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout . He joined us to talk about those books, how he got started as a music writer and his thoughts on Chicago. Plus he shares hi...

John Rossiter joins us to talk about his latest release Shepherd Head , as well as his 2020 record Welcome to Conceptual Beach . We discussed his songwriter process and how his music has evolved. And, of course, we talked about all things Chicago, including his upcoming show at the Empty Bottle. Time stamps: 2:15: How long did the album take to come together? 3:12: Is this a new approach to making...