No Wristbands! We Drink For Free

Peter Gill, leader of the band 2nd Grade and guitar player in the band Friendship, joins us to talk about his music history, his songwriting and more. And, of course, we talk about his favorite things about Chicago. Time Stamps: 2:30: How easily did Easy Listening come together for you? 3:50: At what point did you decide you wanted to be a musician? 5:53; What music was inspiring you on your way u...

Journalist/author Bob Mehr joins us to talk about our favorite rock book, Trouble Boys. He shares stories about The Replacements and what it took to write the book. He also tells about writing the liner notes for the new Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 20th anniversary release. And, of course, we chat with the former Chicago Reader critic about what he likes about Chicago. Great stuff here! Time stamps: 4:40...

In our inaugural episode of No Wristbands! After Hours, Andy Weber updates us on all the cool things that are happening at Smashed Plastic. We talk about the latest developments in the vinyl business, their new partnership with Jeff Tweedy and the upcoming music fest - Smashed Plastic Live Vol. 1 on October 1st, 2022. Time Stamps: 1:53: Where are we at with getting a second press? 4:45: Do you wan...

Johnny Marriott from the UK punk band Pet Needs shares some great stories about their recent extended US tour with Frank Turner and The Bronx. We also talk about their 2021 album Fractured Party Music and their upcoming new one Primetime Entertainment . He also reveals his favorite Chicago pizza. We had a lot of fun with this one! Time stamps: 1:35: How you doing Johnny? How did the band get start...

Sam Wegrzynski (vocals, guitar), Henry Shields (bass, vocals) and Edgar Viverous (lead guitar) of Ben Quard joins us to discuss what it's like to be a band in Oklahoma City. We talk about their new record, I'm Scared That's All There Is , how they were received on their recent tour, what's next and what they'd like to do when they come to Chicago. Enjoy! Time Stamps: 1:45: How did you guys meet? 3...

Tony Assimos knows what it takes to run an independent record store. He opened Tone Deaf Records in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago in 2019. He talks about the good times and the challenges, including navigating COVID with a new business. And, of course, he tells us what he loves about Chicago. Enjoy! Time stamps: 1:26: We are here with Tony Assimos from Tone Def Records 2: How did you ge...

Really stoked to get the opportunity to sit down with Jon Ginoli to discuss his musical journey from his jangly power pop band The Outnumbered in Champaign, IL to his openly gay punk rock band Pansy Division in San Francisco. We talked about touring with Green Day, what Jon's musical future looks like and, of course, some of his favorite memories of Chicago. Time Stamps 1:40 How'd you get into mus...

Snow Ellet woke up one day to find that Pitchfork had given his 2021 ep suburban indie rock star a fabulous 7.1 rating. We talk about how he made that record, the impact of the Pitchfork review and his new ep Glory Days. And of course, our usual Chicago questions. Check him out on Spotify and we hope you enjoy this one. Time stamps: 1:33: We are joined today by Snow from Snow Ellet 2: How'd you ge...

Hugo Reyes has spent that last 10 or 15 year listening to music and going to shows in Chicago. He's also been writing in-depth articles about the emo, punk and hardcore scenes for places like The Alternative (@GetAlternative), Twitter (@hvreyes5) and his Medium page (hugoreyes-36858.medium.com). You can also catch him on the podcast "Watch Me Pod". We're excited to talk with Hugo about his love of...

We got the chance to track down Fake Fruit at their recent shows at South By Southwest in Austin earlier this year. And from there, we convinced Hannah D'Amato (vocals & guitar) and Alex Post (guitar) to join us on the show. We talk about their self-titled Fake Fruit debut album, being on the road and, of course, visiting Chicago. Check them out at Sleeping Village on May 9th. Time stamps: 1:3...

We've been working really hard to make this one happen! Katie Tuten from The Hideout and Jennifer Estlin from Annoyance Theatre join us to discuss what it's like to own and run their historic venues in Chicago. They also get into detail about how CIVL (the Chicago Independent Venue League) was formed and how it helped all our treasured community venues band together to survive a devastating pandem...

Donnie Biggins wants to book your band. The owner of Chicago music venue Golden Dagger has a lot of experience - he's done it at places like Subterranean, Lincoln Hall, Tonic Room and Fitzgerald's. And he'd also love to have you stop in to his Lincoln Park location to hang out and talk and have a coffee. We talk about all that, plus being sober, playing music and, of course, his favorite things ab...

No Wristbands! goes to Amsterdam to talk with guitar slinger / teacher mellow fellow Jimmy Tomasello. Jimmy T. recently retired from the Old Town School of Folk Music and he takes the time to tell us what makes the Old Town such a Chicago treasure. From his early days working at the music store, teaching scores of students to play guitar, expanding the course offerings and helping to save the Armi...

Very excited to welcome Julia Steiner of Chicago’s very own Ratboys to the show. We talk about the origin of the band in South Bend, Indiana and the evolution in Chicago. Making music, the 10th anniversary of Happy Birthday, Ratboys and so much more. And of course, we discuss the things she loves about Chicago! Time Stamps: 2: We are here with Julia Steiner from Ratboys 5:40: You go to Notre Dame...

Spencer Tweedy joins us to talk about all the cool stuff he has been doing. Finishing up the new Case Oats record with Casey Walker. How he put together the Mirror Sound book project. Playing drums after school with Dad. Learning drums from Glenn Kotche. Playing with Norah Jones and Mavis Staples. Starring in The Tweedy Show. And so much more! Plus lots of things he loves about Chicago. Time Stamp...

Kip Berman joins us from the fine state of New Jersey to discuss his time spent leading indie faves The Pains of Being Pure at Heart , as well as his new gig as The Natvral and the new record Tethers . Along the way he explains his love for the Green Bay Packers and classic uniforms - plus his favorite things about Chicago. Time Stamps: 1:40: Hi Kip! 5: Were you involved in music prior to Pains? 8...

Mark Greenberg is a legit nice guy. And that has helped him to live a really cool life in the Chicago music community. We talk about his early days in Chicago with The Coctails, his experience working at the legendary Lounge Ax, playing in Eleventh Dream Day, his dream job as manager at the Wilco Loft and so much more. Time Stamps: 1:20: Welcome Mark Greenberg 2:02: What brought you to Chicago? 3:...

Dylan Slocum, singer, guitarist, songwriter from Spanish Love Songs, joins us to talk about how the band has survived and evolved thru the last 20 months during a global pandemic. We talk about cancelling a tour, surviving a derecho in Iowa, starting a Patreon group, moving to Nashville, working on a new record, what he loves about Chicago and finally beginning the journey back to playing live sho...

Aadam Jacobs joins us to discuss his amazing treasure trove of live recordings. Starting in the mid-1980's, Aadam has documented an incredible portion of the Chicago music scene as the guy in the back with the tape recorder. His archive of shows from iconic Chicago clubs like Lounge Ax, Schubas, Metro, West End and many more includes bands like Husker Du, Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Wilco, 11th Drea...

Bob Nastanovich of the bands Pavement and Silver Jews, along with the Three Songs Podcast, and Brokers Tip Records joins us to discuss his career from driving a Manhattan bus to joining Pavement, to owning racehorses, to starting his own podcast, and label.  Time Stamps:  2:00: We are here with Bob Nastanovich/Brokers Tip Records 10: Music streaming isn't all bad 13: Three Songs Pod...

Andy Weber Co-Owner/Founder of Smashed Plastic Record Pressing joins us to discuss how he got his start in the record pressing business, why the personal touch matters so much in dealing with artists, how demand is currently outpacing supply by 6+ months, what separates Chicago from other markets, and Smashed Plastics ethos in how they run their company.  Time Stamps:  00:30: Intro...

Today we have Shawn Campbell the head of CHIRP Radio joining us to discuss what separates local community radio from the big radio stations. CHIRP Radio is Chicago’s only non-commercial community run radio station at 107.1 FM or via the web at  chirpradio.org . Shawn dives into her journey through radio, what she learned along the way, what she brought to creating her own radio station and he...

No Wristbands: We Drink For Free! is a podcast for Chicago music scene fanatics BY Chicago music scene fanatics. With over 40 years of music memories and experiences we are here to champion all things Chicago music - from local bands, to touring bands passing through Chicago, to radio stations, to music venues, to the background players - concert promoters, record pressers, engineers, producers. E...