Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
You wouldn’t think that sleeping in a coffinlike bunk would be “cool,” but Rachael Yamagata can’t get enough of it. Prior to this tour, Yamagata never had enough money for an actual tour bus, so as far as she’s concerned, the small sleeping quarters are fine. Not so for her bandmates.
You hear of rock stars turned actors. But musicians parlaying a second gig as a renovator? That’s a little more unusual. But Dave Pirner makes it all sound like the norm when he phones from a place he’s working on in New Orleans.
What does an indie rock star do when he’s not busy touring with his critically acclaimed band? If he’s Sooyoung Park, frontman for the Chicago-based Seam, he gets a couple of pals together and spearheads an arts festival in his hometown.
As a warm-up before resuming their world tour in Las Vegas, the Smashing Pumpkins played a “surprise” concert Friday afternoon at Metro. It was the band’s first show since the firing of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin in connection with the July 12 heroin overdose of keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin.
Matthew Caws can’t wait until he gets to Chicago for his band’s Friday night concert at Metro. Sure, the Nada Surf singer is anxious to show fans that his trio has more substance than its kitschy single “Popular” would indicate. But just as important, he wants to collect his birthday present.
When a cocky guy like Noel Gallagher rates your band as being better than his, there might be a tendency to get a swelled head, especially since the Oasis guitarist isn’t particularly generous in his assessment of other groups. But while John Power is quick to tout the merits of his band, Cast, he’s just as swift to set the record straight with a modicum of modesty.
Sooyoung Park’s theory is there’s a time and place for everything. When he majored in math in college, he didn’t worry that school was holding back his music career. And when Seam’s singer-songwriter-guitarist felt ready to tackle music full time, he put grad school on hold.