“Filled with abrasive guitar, riot grrl-like vocals and hard-rock-meets-punk rhythms, So Pretty (consisting of Holman, Rachel Manter, Stefan Lindgren and James Seminara) has found footing in Chicago by pushing against the most popular local music trends (jangly guitar rock, pretty synth pop) to create a sound that is at once familiar and unique.” -Chicago Tribune
Around Christmas of 2010, Mike Martello was stuck in a stranger’s house with three weeks to kill. He decided to write and record an album using an acoustic guitar, a microkorg, and whatever else was lying around. The project was dubbed Sheep Numbers, and the album was actually pretty cool, so now Sheep Numbers is a real band with real people playing ramshackle pop/rock nuggets.
Mitch Mead’s songs are equal parts heartbreak and humor, misery and mirth, sci-fi and fantasy. And each one is roughly 25% alcohol by volume. This Michigan-born, Chicago-based singer/songwriter wields an energetic and highly literate brand of folk rock that is as much melancholy as it is euphoria. Call it what you will, this is folk music that refuses to sit down.
Chillwave is alive and well in Chicago. Magicks combines mellow indie-pop with atmospheric noise to create what Magicks (either seriously or not) refers to as “beach daze.” And beach daze seems to perfectly describe that moment where you’ve been baking under the sun for far too long and then sets that feeling to music. Recently taking the lead on vocals, Monica Rose is a thoughtfully stylish Chicago, Illinois-based indie jazzy/pop singer-songwriter, rollerblader, subconscious mind student, future fashion icon, and skilled painter. She intrinsically fuses that healing melody that helps us deal with our day, as this is a caring musician who selflessly makes music to help others through her art.
