Mike N Molly’s packs a loaded bill Friday night. For those of you that don’t have the cash for Neko Case tickets or might be into something a little more intimate, this won’t be one to miss.
Chicago’s Alaya Conscious combines the frenzied aproach of Fugazi with the loftier pieces of Iron Maiden and wraps it all up in a predominantly instrumental display. They share the bill with local shoegaze power-poppers Hot Cops and rockers Take Care, so we thought we would give them the same five questions and see what we get.
And by their own admission, none of them have ever had a really bad show. Fingers crossed that Friday will be no different.
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Smile Politely: How would you describe your sound to a person who you don’t think will like your music?
Mark Wyman (Take Care): Oh man…I’m always doing that. I just explain as usual. Epic kind of eerie, ambient rock. I try to leave it vague so they can judge it themselves.
SP: What are the primary factors/influences/motivations that keep you doing what you’re doing?
Take Care: Well, we try to do everything DIY and low budget. That’s something we’ve believed in for a long time and it’s also something we enjoy-making our own t-shirts, buttons, stickers, art. Everything we can do ourselves, we do.
SP: What is the best (or worst) thing happening in music today (either local, national or international)?
Take Care: I’d say the best thing about music right now is where the level of exposure starts these days. The level is so low that the music industry (or should I say “the biz”) is having trouble adjusting to some midlevel bands selling literally tens of thousands of units, sans record label. This has never been an issue until about five years ago.
SP: Tell us about the worst show you have ever played.
Take Care: Fortunately Take Care hasn’t really had a bad show yet. We did play with this kind of bad band in Chicago where the guitar player had — no joke — a five-foot long pedal board, a whole waist-high rack unit filled with bullshit, and was running it all to four speaker cabs. The show was in a basement, in front of no more than 30 kids. What was sad is that I sound better than dude through my laptop speakers.
SP: What do you have coming up on the horizon?
Take Care: We are releasing a split vinyl with our best good buds Community College. Hopefully that will be ready in January, if not definitely by February. We have a bunch of shows coming up, then, if everything goes right, a big east coast tour to kick off our spring!
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The Alaya Conscious
Smile Politely: How would you describe your sound to a person who you don’t think will like your music?
Taken from bio: The Alaya Conscious brings a fresh new sound to the instrumental genre. Inspired by forging their own voice and the exploration of poly rhythmic and metric arrangements, the Alaya Conscious has carved three flawlessly flowing movements into their new ep, “RED.” “RED” is the result of an experimental and organic writing and recording process, a concept new to the band… [it] exhibits a broad range of dynamics and timbres not often used in the instrumental genre to produce a sound of melodic, inspiring backdrops grounded in aggressive, carefully sculpted rhythms.
SP: What are the primary factors/influences/motivations that keep you doing what you’re doing?
From bio: The Alaya Conscious was initially formed in the summer of 2006 by three closely knit friends seeking to create a vocal centric sound. Following the departure of their vocalist during the production of their March 20, 2007 debut release, “Seventy One Percent,” the Alaya Conscious would take bigger strides to take the Chicago scene by storm, this time with a different view. By 2008, The Alaya Conscious line-up was back to where it all began. Recharged to evolve from its roots into something completely against the grain, the original three had something new and unexpected.
SP: What is the best (or worst) thing happening in music today (either local, national or international)?
The Alaya Conscious: I’m seeing a lot of changes in the local music industry of late…not necessarily better or worse, just different. There are a lot of bands emerging that have some great music to get out there. Good venues are popping up all the time or changing what they do and it feels like local promoters are stepping up their games a bit. I’m confident about where music in Chicago is going and we’re excited to be a part of it.
SP: Tell us about the worst show you have ever played.
The Alaya Conscious (Mike Rinkenberger): We’ve never played a bad show. Certainly some shows are at a better venue or the bands we play with are better than others or a show draws well. But we feel that anytime we can play for people it’s a good show. If we’re able to get our music in front of just one person who gets it and becomes a fan, then our mission is accomplished and it’s worth it. That’s what it’s all about for us.
SP: What do you have coming up on the horizon?
The Alaya Conscious: We’ve got a lot on the horizon. We’ll be taking a more relaxed approach towards booking over the next few months and just playing a bigger show once a month. We just started adding vocals to the mix and are in the process of writing a full length. There’s a lot of material on the burner and more surprises to come…
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Hot Cops
Smile Politely: How would you describe your sound to a person who you don’t think will like your music?
Hot Cops (“Dirty” Jon Hasselbring): Recklessly.
Nik Allen: Name-dropping, obviously. I think if we say “The Unicorns” every fifteen seconds, we can convince anyone. Maybe toss in “a Taylor Swift vibe” to close the deal.
Michael Daab: Do you like rock n roll? What kind of rock n roll do you like? It’s kind of like that.
SP: What are the primary factors/influences/motivations that keep you doing what you’re doing?
“Dirty” Jon Hasselbring: Playing shows is the cat’s pajamas.
Nik Allen: It’s fun/cathartic, but primarily because we’ve known each other so long. I love writing music with these guys and I’ve never felt better than playing on stage with them (with the exception of the afterparties).
SP: What is the best (or worst) thing happening in music today (either local, national or international)?
“Dirty” Jon Hasselbring: Andrew Bird, best
Nik Allen: Best: 2009 might’ve been the best year of new music I’ve ever seen. Girls, the Antlers, Volcano Choir, Japandroids, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Oceans, blah, blah, blah. It was a swift kick in the ass. Worst: Breakup of Oceans. Easily my favorite Champaign band.
SP: Tell us about the worst show you have ever played.
“Dirty” Jon Hasselbring: It was with a band called Self Taught…I think that was our problem.
Nik Allen: Double Door on a Tuesday night in December. Snow, sleet, went on at midnight and played to a nearly empty venue. I don’t think they’ll invite us back anytime soon.
SP: What do you have coming up on the horizon?
“Dirty” Jon Hasselbring: Trumpets! Right Too Smooth?
Nik Allen: What, you mean besides the Great Cover-Up? We’re writing for a full length and trying to line up some new shows in Chicago.