I wouldn’t have had the amazing opportunity to be Managing Editor of the No. 1 newspaper in the nation if it weren’t for Chris Richert. Without your guidance and encouragement, I would have left The Chronicle last year without even considering applying for the management team. Your ability to make any situation comical on top of your magical talent of remedying any problem will forever have me saying, “I miss you.”

I can’t find the perfect words to express my love for two-thirds of the blonde Trinity—Heather Schröering and Lindsey Woods—but you ladies are the most talented, whip-smart, beautiful journalists anyone could ever hire. And to Zach, as seen in the comedy issue, you also make the perfect blonde. But goldie locks or not, your skill as a graphic designer is unsurpassed.You’re all going to get jobs like hotcakes! I made the three best friends of a lifetime here, and I can see all of us growing old together, recalling our early-mornings at work and late nights spent downing margaritas at Flaco’s. Which reminds me, Sylvia Leak, I absolutely have to thank you for teaching me how to twerk.

To the rest of the current Chronicle staff:  You guys are sickeningly brilliant, and all of you are 100 percent deserving of being the No. 1 reporters, designers, photographers and videographers in the country.

None of this could be possible without the infinite wisdom of Jeff Lyon and Stephanie Goldberg, who have exponentially helped me through both the newspaper and my courses. Jeff, your gentle words have turned my crappy writing into award-winning work. Stephanie, I am forever grateful for our makeup breaks during production day, and you have inspired me to pursue writing in the cosmetics industry.

Of course, I can’t forget to thank my boyfriend of five years, Chris Richko, for sticking with me throughout my entire college career. The Chronicle is notorious for putting strains on relationships, but look, we survived!

Naturally, I saved the best for last: my mom and dad. You two are such selfless people, and I can’t express how thankful I am to be the daughter of endlessly hilarious, accepting and inspiring parents. Dad, I want to personally thank you for teaching me how to breathe deeply and be compassionate. Mom, I am determined to one day be able to buy you a coach house in the back of my mansion, where we will own dozens of dogs. Love you both
so much.

Now, Now (1), Chance The Rapper (2) and Electric Guest (3) will headline at Manifest, Columbia’s urban arts festival, May 17. | Photos Courtesy (1) BIG HASSLE (2) CHANCE THE RAPPER (3) THE WINDISH AGENCY

“It was a typo, which turned into something we thought was really funny to say,” Dalager said. “And then when we were 18 [years old and] we tried to figure out what our band name should be, and for some reason, we chose this—not realizing we would be stuck with it. And here we are.”

The group has expanded from a two-piece band of high-school best friends, with Dalager on vocals and guitar along with drummer Brad Hale that went by the name Now, Now Every Children. They adopted bassist Jess Abbott in 2008 as the group’s permanent third member, advancing their early indie-pop sound to a more alternative-rock inspiration.

The Chronicle sat down with Dalager to discuss touring, songwriting and her favorite thing to do when she’s not on tour.

The Chronicle: What was your experience touring with Paramore?

Cacie Dalager: The Paramore tour still feels like a joke, like it couldn’t have possibly happened. We were totally panicked. I can’t explain the feeling [of] playing to nobody [then suddenly] to sold-out arenas. I wish it didn’t happen at that point and we could redo it in a year because I felt we weren’t ready at all.

What is the biggest difference between your first album, “Cars” and your sophomore album, “Threads”? 

The lyrics are a little bit more focused. I feel there’s something more pure about our older lyrics, but they felt more scattered and didn’t make as much sense. Instead of me being like, “Dear diary, I went to the store, I did this, I did that, I bought a pack of gum,” I tried to edit all my thoughts into something that made more sense.

What do you do when you’re not touring or making music?

We just got home maybe two days ago from a year of touring, so for the next two months we have to write the next record. I kind of am confused about what I like to do anymore because I rarely do anything. When I’m home I really like going bowling and I also like dragging people to science museums. Those are my two favorite places aside from sleeping and doing nothing and hanging out with my cat.

Courtesy CHANCE THE RAPPER | Chicago native Chance the Rapper will be performing at Manifest on May 17 from 6:25 – 7:10 p.m.

Garnering comparisons to Andre 3000 and Kanye West from publications such as Billboard and Rolling Stone, the critical reaction to the local Jones College Prep alumnus’ new release has crowned him hip-hop’s newest sensation.
Following a 10-day suspension from Chicago Jones College Prep in the spring of 2011 for smoking weed, where his teachers ridiculed his aspirations to be a musician, he released his first mixtape “#10Day.”

The Chronicle sat down with Chance the Rapper to discuss his early days of rapping, how Chicago has influenced his sound and the making of “Acid Rap.”

The Chronicle: What was your inspiration behind the lyrical content of “Acid Rap?”

Chance the Rapper: I really wanted to write something that people could use for critical discourse analysis and break down to a lot of different meanings [by] studying the rhetoric and the different word uses. It’s really just about people getting from the project what they want to get from it.

When did you first start rapping?

First time I rapped I was probably 10 or 11 years old, after the first time I listened to [Kanye West’s album] “College Dropout.” It was around the time I started writing my own raps, and the first time I recorded I was like 14 [years old] at one of my cousin’s studios.

How has Chicago influenced your sound?

Chicago influences my music by having such a rich music culture to take from. It’s the birthplace of blues, rock ‘n’ roll, soul, oldies [and] electronic music as we know it comes from Chicago’s house music in the ’90s. There’s just so many influences to play from just being in the city for music. It’s a way of life—there’s a culture that comes with living in Chicago that’s indescribable once you live here. It carries a lot of weight in terms of where my music comes from.

What does it mean to you to be able to play Manifest ?

I f—in’ love Columbia. It was just somewhere that I thought I was going to go [to college] for forever. It’s a dope cultural learning experience for everyone who’s a part of it.

Courtesy NICK POBUTSKY | SausageFest, the annual festival honoring encased meats, will occur on June 15–16 in Wrigleyville. The event is still searching for more Sausage King applicants to sit on the sausage throne during the festival.

Cindy Gatziolis, director of public relations and marketing for the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, said her office works year-round to plan each of the city’s highly attended summer festivals to highlight some of its most beautiful areas and appeal to a diverse demographic.

“It can be a real variety [of attendees] depending on the festival,” Gatziolis said. “Something like Taste of Chicago not only draws from the suburbs, it draws from the Midwest and from other countries.”

Nick Pobutsky, co-owner of the Chicago event-planning company Green Curtain Events, will put on the festival Fashion in the Street on June 1–2 and meat-focused SausageFest on June 15–16.

Pobutsky said planning the festivals wasn’t easy because there are many rules and regulations required to put on a festival, including required free admission and donations to local beneficiaries.

“The city puts a lot of obstacles out there,” Pobutsky said. “But we have a great town, and there’s huge things going on every weekend in the city during street-festing, so we understand the reasons why they do it. You have to be really good at it, you have to limit how many things are out there—to close down a street and be serious, you really have to do a lot of things off the ground.”

He said the inspiration behind both of the festivals was to bring something new to Chicago’s wide span of established summer fests.

“We’re from the Midwest and we’re fest guys—we are the guys who are partying in the streets of Chicago,” Pobutsky said. “We were getting tired of the mundane, cookie-cutter mold of street festivals that were out there, so we’re trying to think of what’s not celebrated.”

Fashion in the Street will feature live music, DJ sets, high-end catering and 10 Chicago designer fashion shows on the festival’s 100-foot runway—which Pobutsky said is the biggest the city has ever seen.

“We are bringing fashion out of the clouds and putting it right on the street so an average Joe or a mother and a daughter can go and experience this without being on a posh guest list,” Pobutsky said.

The third-annual SausageFest will have local vendors selling encased meats along with live music, Pobutsky said. Inspired by the scene in “Ferris Buller’s Day Off” in which Ferris pretends to be Chicago’s “Sausage King,” SausageFest will crown “Sausage King of Chicago” the person who raises the most money for the festival’s beneficiary, which is the Wounded Warrior project for veterans this year.

Another food-centered festival is the June 1 Veggie Pride Parade and Festival, which originated in Paris, to take place in Grant Park in celebration of vegetarian and vegan lifestyles, according to Marisa Buchheit, media coordinator for the festival.

The festival, which will include guest speakers, a veggie-themed costume contest and vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free food vendors, is open to both vegetarians and carnivores, Buchheit said.

“We’re just trying to bring all the people down here to this awesome city to show what we have to offer—which is really a lot in the summertime, especially,” Buchheit said. “In my opinion, there’s really no better place to be than summertime Chi.”

Gatziolis said the festival season is important for Chicagoans and tourists alike to enjoy the warm weather and multitude of themed festivities.

“We need to take advantage of these nice summer days because it’s been a long winter,” Gatziolis said. “And it’s great to provide something for everyone.”

courtesy PAT KREMER
Scott Speck will take on Larry Rachleff’s principal conducting position at the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra following Rachleff’s final performance on May 24 at Pick-Staiger Hall in Evanston, Il.

Rachleff’s last season with CPO closes May 24 at Pick-Staiger Hall in Evanston, Ill., with a concert showcasing classic compositions by Leonard Bernstein and Franz Schubert.

He said his career with CPO has been filled with unforgettable memories of making music and the inspiring people involved in the process. With decades overwhelmed by countless positive experiences, he said he couldn’t single out one moment as his most cherished. However, collaborating with soloists such as Chicago violinist David Perry and his wife, soprano Susan Lorette Dunn, were a few of his choice recollections.

“You listen, talk, interact, challenge and learn,” he said. “You can’t do it without an audience, musicians or the incredible geniuses who created the music to begin with.”

Rachleff said his decision to leave CPO was prompted by his increasingly complex schedule of worldwide professional obligations such as the Rhode Island Philharmonic. The orchestra needed someone who could give it more time than his life was beginning to allow, he said.

Conductor Scott Speck, who has known Rachleff for about 25 years, said he has the utmost admiration for his CPO predecessor.

“Rachleff has done some very beautiful, adventurous programming,” Speck said.

He said Rachleff’s bold song choices will be exemplified in his final CPO concert, as Schubert and Bernstein are from very different eras in
classical music.

Schubert, an Austrian composer born in 1797, is often referred to as one of the early pioneers of the Romantic era in classical music. Bernstein, an American born in 1918, contrastingly approaches composition with a 20th century mindset and famously penned the musical score for “West Side Story.”

While Speck was studying at the University of Southern California to earn his master’s degree in conducting, Rachleff was a professor at the school, he said. Although he wasn’t directly studying with him, Speck said he still considers Rachleff a mentor.

Speck said Chicago’s music community knows Rachleff as being an incredibly consonant musician whose instincts as a conductor have greatly influenced the orchestra throughout the years.

“I remember being most impressed by Larry with the way he got players to listen to each other so musically,” Speck said. “That’s not something you find in every orchestra. The art of listening is sometimes very elusive, but it’s something Larry concentrates on from the beginning.”

Such natural interaction among musicians is what sets the CPO apart from other Chicago orchestras, he said. Much to the credit of Rachleff, Speck said the CPO relishes joining forces and spirits to tell their story to an audience.

He said the upcoming 2013–2014 season, titled “Romantic Impulse,” will feature an array of compositions from the romantic era. Romanticism in orchestral music, much like in art, literature and theater, depicts the powerful nature of the universe, often through one man’s humble perspective, Speck said.

The romantic era features more prominent melodies with a rich orchestral texture and lush harmonies, according to Ilya Levinson, assistant professor in Columbia’s Music Department.

Following Rachleff’s legacy, Speck said he hopes to maintain the same level of diversity in the upcoming season, balancing the beloved classics with more modern, American composers.

“I love Scott,” Rachleff said. “He’ll be able to devote what they need, and it’s not just that I wish [CPO] well, I know well is going to happen.”

courtesy AMY CREYER
Amy Creyer of the blog “Chicago Street Style,” explores the city with a camera in hand to capture the most stylish residents without the extensive planning required for a major fashion publication.

“That girl!” Giallorenzo screams at the top of her lungs as she reaches for her camera. “I need this shot!”

An easy turn isn’t possible at the neighborhood’s six corner intersection, so she instructs her passenger to take the wheel as she leaps out of the car and wildly sprints down the street to photograph the fashionable Chicagoan. Giallorenzo frames, focuses and shoots, capturing the stranger’s individual look.

Giallorenzo, a contributing street-style blogger for the Chicago Reader, carries a camera in her purse at all times and endlessly hunts for stylish Chicagoans to photograph.

“Street style is simply a documentation of the time and city I live in through fashion,” Giallorenzo said.

Similar to a fashion magazine, street-style blogs like Giallorenzo’s “Chicago Looks” showcase individual outfits but without the planned calculation of a major photoshoot.

Following the profusion of fashion blogs that have exploded onto the Internet in the past decade, websites focusing on street style have become major worldwide players in the fashion industry, according to blogger Amy Creyer of “Chicago Street Style.”

She said street-style blogs are the elitists of the fashion blogging community because there are far more skills needed to maintain a quality street-style blog than a personal-style blog. It’s difficult to capture a technically good photograph and approach strangers on the sidewalk, she said.

“Anybody with a camera on their phone can start a personal-style blog,” Creyer said. “I bet there are more than 99 personal-style blogs for every street-style blog.”

Creyer said the celebration of street style is important because of its raw authenticity. She said there is beauty in the way real people dress themselves, although the photoshopped models in Harper’s Bazaar and the candid paparazzi shots of celebrities in Los Angeles often overwhelm people’s perspective of  fashion.

“When I photograph someone, I’m not trying to work them into a box or make them look different,” Creyer said. “I really want to capture who they are as a person, honoring their spirit and fashion sense. I like my photos to highlight what a person has to offer authentically.”

She said the subjects she photographs generally aren’t decked out in high-end designer attire but instead transmit a strong sense of individuality through their personal style, regardless of the clothes’ labels.

This upcoming summer, Creyer said she anticipates seeing women embrace a ’90s alternative aesthetic on the streets, sporting Doc Martens, sheer flannels and tousled hair.

When determining whom she wants to photograph, Giallorenzo said she tries to be as open-minded as possible, photographing people from diverse walks of life with different styles and socioeconomic statuses.

The look of Chicago’s street style is highly dependent on the city’s isolated neighborhoods, according to Emma Arnold of the Chicago street style blog “Tres Awesome.” A photo of an individual from one neighborhood compared to another can look as if they were captured in completely different cities because the variance in style is so extreme, she said.

Creyer said the three main locations for street style in Chicago are Wicker Park, which has an eclectic vibe similar to Brooklyn, the South Loop featuring Chicago’s art student community and the Gold Coast boasting global tourists and affluent locals.

Altogether, Giallorenzo said the city’s style is devoid of pretention unlike fashion-driven cities such as New York.

Since Chicago doesn’t have a strong fashion industry, Creyer said Chicagoans are a lot freer to express themselves without worrying about sporting big designers. Creyer said the abundance of liberty within the city is what makes capturing street style exciting. While other cities develop their trends as a group, she said Chicago’s fashion scene is uniquely rooted in uninhibited freedom and creativity.

“Chicagoans are so ahead of the curve because they don’t feel restrained by having to fit in or be seen as stylish,” Creyer said. “You’ll see things on the streets of Chicago that pop up in designer collections a year or two later.”

At the 2011 Independent Fashion Blogger Conference in New York City, Creyer said clothing line Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez gave a presentation of how their collections are greatly influenced by the way everyday women  put their outfits together.

Vintage furs, a trend designers have collectively embraced for their past winter collections, emerged from everyday women raiding their grandmothers’ closets and wearing their old fur on the streets over contemporary clothing, she said.

In addition to high-end designers such as McCollough and Hernandez, Creyer said mainstream retailers also keep track of what street-style bloggers are posting to serve as the starting point for their seasonal collections. She said Vogue magazine flew her to LA in 2011 to tour Gap’s creative studio, where she said they had several inspiration boards covered edge-to-edge with candid images of street style.

“I bet the everyday person has no idea that a street-style photo heavily influenced the design of a Gap jean made for thousands of people,” Creyer said. “This brings a new level of authenticity to fashion that [the industry] lacked before.”

Although fashion once arguably felt inaccessible to the average person, Giallorenzo said street style blogs are bringing it back to earth and making the industry feel tangible. She said everyone has the right to look good, not just celebrities or supermodels.

“The distance between people and fashion is being decreased [by street-style blogs], and I think that’s very healthy,” she said. “I want to build a community around my blog of people who are interested in fashion—not in how rich and powerful they are.”

Courtesy JONAS EDVINSSON
Following her emotional singles “Hold This Moment” and “When My Heart Breaks,” Ester Ideskog will release her sophomore album in the fall under the moniker Vanbot.

“Pretty silly thing, but [songs are] just something that come when I’m on my bike,” Ideskog said.

Her currently untitled sophomore album, which will be released in the fall, follows the sound of her shimmering melancholic singles “Hold This Moment” and “When My Heart Breaks.” They’re a continuation of her emotionally charged, synthesized self-titled 2011 debut, landing Ideskog in the Swedish pop rankings alongside dance-hall queen Robyn and moody songstress Lykke Li.

The Chronicle talked with Ideskog about her start in the music industry, the Swedish music market and her love of catchy melodies and twisted synthesizers.

The Chronicle: When did you decide you wanted to pursue music?

Ideskog: I’ve always been involved in writing music since I was in my early teenage years, so it wasn’t a choice; it was more like something I had always done. When I started writing for this electronic [project] Vanbot, I really felt like I found my sound. That’s when I decided I needed to do this 100 percent. It was something I really had to do. It wasn’t even a choice.

How would you personally  describe your sound?

My songs have catchy melodies with more pulsating, deeper beats and synthesizers [layered] on top. Melodies are the most important thing in my songs, but I want to find the tension and balance between catchy melodies and a twisted, electronic sound.

Who are your musical influences?

Oldies like Tears for Fears or new music like Crystal Castles, Apparat and The Naked and Famous [inspire me]. They’re all different, but the one thing they have in common is their melodies. I’m so inspired by melodies.

How did you approach creating your new album?

I tried to make it simpler than before by creating interesting [sounds] with fewer elements.Ithink my songwriting process is also simpler now. It’s a little darker with more distorted  sounds.

What inspired the lyrics on your new album?

My songs are inspired by a fighting spirit—when you really struggle for something, put all your energy [into it] and you’re betting everything you have. That is what inspires my songs—to do what you really dream of doing.

How do you think the Swedish music scene is different from the American market?

I think Swedes are a little tougher to convince when it comes to new music. A lot of great music comes from Sweden, so we are very proud of our scene, but [people are] still pretty anxious about what to think. We want someone else to think something before we [decide] what we think. So, we look at what the blogs in the U.S. and U.K. say and then [decide] what we think. A lot of Swedes are afraid of being the first, but American people don’t really care what people think about their opinions. They are freer and Swedes are more uniform in that way.

Sweden has fostered other successful artists like Robyn and Lykke Li. What about the country inspires that distinct pop sound?

We have a history of good pop music, and I think that inspires [others] to dare to do it. That inspired me too actually, even though I’m from this small country. Also, the government actually pays for music schools, so you can go study music a few years after high school and it doesn’t cost anything. There are a lot of opportunities to put something together that in the beginning was just a hobby.

Why is music important?

When it comes to children, it’s so obvious that it is another language. If you sing a song to a child, you get 100 percent of their focus. I think even though we can hide it when we’re grown, music connects with something in our souls. [With music], you can communicate feelings on another level.

For more information, visit VanbotMusic.com. 

Now, Now (1), Chance The Rapper (2) and Electric Guest (3) will headline at Manifest, Columbia’s urban arts festival, May 17. | Photos Courtesy (1) BIG HASSLE (2) CHANCE THE RAPPER (3) THE WINDISH AGENCY

Taccone has also dabbled in the comedic realm of music with co-production credits for humorous hits from Saturday Night Live’s comedic troupe The Lonely Island, such as “D–k in a Box,” “Motherlover” and “3-Way (The Golden Rule),” and a hand in the soundtrack for Pam Brady’s 2007 comedy “Hot Rod” starring Andy Samberg.

The Chronicle sat down with Taccone to discuss LA’s influence on their music, co-producing “D–k in a Box” and creating music for “Hot Rod.”

The Chronicle: How has Los Angeles affected your sound?

Asa Taccone: LA is a challenging city to live in because it orbits around the whole celebrity thing. So there’s a whole culture that is a bunch of smoke and mirrors and at the end of the day, [it’s] bullsh–t. I was really struggling for a lot of years in LA, so almost every song is based off that. Whatever is happening in your life ends up in the music.

What was it like producing “D–k in a Box” with your brother, Jorma, from The Lonely Island?

I thought the idea was [stupid] at first. Like, you’re going to have a three-minute song about putting your d–k in a box? I didn’t know how they would hold it up as a 3 1/2-minute joke. But then we went into composing it. Everything on [SNL] is so last minute, and you stay up all night. Then, we did “Motherlover,” which was the sequel and [“3-Way (The Golden Rule)”] with Lady Gaga, which was the third installment of those  characters.

What was it like to produce songs for “Hot Rod”?

That was the first movie I ever did stuff for. I went to Vancouver, where they shot it, with my mom and best friends. We partied with [the cast] and they have this weird knack with whatever they do, it becomes a family affair. Whoever they’re working with, they cut out the celebrity part. It was awesome.

Disney star turned punk pixie Miley Cyrus graced the Summer 2013 cover of V magazine in all her spikey-haired, under boob glory. While I could do without the under boob, I have to say, I am really starting to like this new Miley.

Let me add that, until around the time she chopped her mane, I despised the “Hannah Montana” star because her music sounded like a screaming goat and her image was a confusing mess of pop princess meets rebel child. You know, the image that Disney constantly tries to perpetuate as “cool.”

The three magazine covers, shot by renowned celebrity photographer Mario Testiono, feature Miley sporting different hair colors and bold outfits. One shows her with pink hair in large, black Y-front briefs that she pulled upward, clad in a cleavage-bearing white blazer. The second cover shows her in a very tame, two-piece swimsuit and in the third, Miley wears leather pants and matches her vibrant orange hair with an oversized purse adorned with duct tape spelling out her name. Photos were leaked of the inside editorial, all of which are super sexy but tasteful. One shows her wearing a leather jacket, boots and pants, complete with a super-short crop top, exposing that trendy under boob. Hey, if Beyoncé did it on the February 2013 issue of GQ, why can’t Miley show her amazing body within the pages of an edgy, artistic magazine?

With all this flesh exposed, there are plenty of haters who are probably just mad they don’t look as hot as she does. “That’s a good lil whore. Aspiring sluts, take note!” is just one of the many incredibly misogynistic remarks on HollywoodLife.com, where the magazine covers were posted. 

The slut-shaming critics need to either move to a convent or pluck their eyes out if they can’t handle a little cheek and cleavage. There is absolutely no valid reason to direct condescending and degrading words to any woman, let alone a 20-year-old. Calling her these derogatory names doesn’t just affect Cyrus, but it also tells girls who choose to  represent themselves with fierce and fiery fashion that they are disgusting.

I may be too liberal for some when it comes to art and fashion, but I think Miley looks mind-blowing on her three different V covers. She isn’t exposing any part of her body we wouldn’t see if she were wearing a bikini.

I’m really sick of this country’s narrow mindset of what is acceptable fashion. Some people prefer leather hot pants and spikes instead of poly-blend sweaters and ankle-length skirts. Deal with it. I think my new favorite celebrity summed it up best in her interview with V magazine.

“I’m going to change, I’m going to be different. I’m going to do what I want to do. I chopped my hair and bought a pair of Docs and never looked back.”

Get down with your bad self, Miley.

James Foster THE CHRONICLE
Chicago natives Henry Jai (left) and Nick Bernstein make up the electronic duo Compact Disco, which just released their collaboration EP, “Kraken,” with local DJ Kave and will spin live at Soldier Field’s Spring Awakening Music Festival this June.

After Jai heard the DJs’ debut album “Cross,” he immediately began producing his first electronic track using software called Mixcraft. The result was what he described as a blatant rip-off of Justice’s “Genesis,” mimicking the melodies and synthesizers of the dance track.

At  a choir rehearsal in an Oak Park, Ill. church during his sophomore year of high school, Jai played his rookie track for Bernstein so loudly he blew out the speakers, marking the beginning of electronic duo Compact Disco.

In the ensuing years, the two have upgraded from church speakers to spinning alongside national acts like Chromeo, Designer Drugs and Passion Pit. With their latest electro-heavy release “Kraken” with Kave and a booked performance in June at Chicago’s 2013 Spring Awakening Music Festival at Soldier Field, Compact Disco is taking control of the dance floor.
The Chronicle sat down with Jai  to discuss Compact Disco’s varied sound, favorite show and their go-to song to spin live.

The Chronicle: How would you describe your sound?

Henry Jai: [Our sound] jumps around. We recently put out a remix of Justin Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie” that was way more disco-oriented. We also did a [remix of] “Sweet Disposition” by Temper Trap, which was more indie-dance lo-fi. We also do some deep house and straight-up funky music. It all depends on what we’re feeling at the time. Overall, I would say when somebody is listening to Compact Disco, they should expect to hear something that will make them move.

Electronic dance music has been making waves on mainstream radio. Do you think the genre has become formulaic?

The electronic music that’s popular nowadays is very clean-cut and well produced, but it follows a set rhythm.You have the intro, the buildup and then the drop. Anyone can make that, and I think people make those songs with the intentions of making money. The songs are made without actual feeling. It seems like electronic music is the thing to make, and there will always be people who hop on that bandwagon just for the sake of being on a bandwagon. But there is an equal amount of people who have been doing it for years and are genuinely passionate about it and put out the music they want to as opposed to what they think will sell.

What is your favorite show memory?

We played in Milwaukee with a group called Zeds Dead for a crowd of over 3,000 [people] and it was one of the biggest shows we’ve ever played. After the show, we ended up stealing the fire extinguisher from backstage and took it with us to our friend’s house. We were in the middle of the street blowing this fire extinguisher all over the place, and then when it was empty, I threw it down the middle of the street and it landed on the roof of a car and dented it. [For] most of our DJ sets, we’re completely trashed, and we’ll often wake up and not remember what happened.

What is your favorite track to spin that gets the crowd excited?

It really does depend on the crowd as far as songs go, but there is an artist that we’re huge fans of called Gesaffelstein. No matter where you are, you can play one of his songs. He did a remix of a Cassius song called “Les Enfants” and it has this really light, melodic build-up and then the drop is just this dark, out of left field, absurd thing. I always like to catch the crowd off-guard. The best thing to do is to surprise the audience with something they would have never expected to hear. There is always a unanimous feeling in a huge crowd of people whenever the right song plays at the right time. There’s absolutely nothing that will beat that moment, ever.

Rena Naltsas THE CHRONICLE | James Blake performs the more somber tracks off of his new album, “Overgrown,” along with his old staples May 2 at Chicago’s Metro, 3730 N. Clark St.

Perhaps it’s the hollow, stark and simple formula of piano and smooth, pinging vocals paired with ambient synthesizers—a sound the 24-year-old describes as “post-dubstep”—found on his new album “Overgrown,” released April 9, that evokes the romantic yet sorrowful emotions. Blake’s 2011 self-titled debut record is peppered with multi-layered R&B vocals and heavily distorted synthesizers, and his remarkable performance at the Metro delivered a similarly dissonant but more tightly composed sound, showing the progression of his self-proclaimed hybrid genre.

Blake’s most complicated song was still open and transparent as he built on the foundation of his glowing piano chords in “I Am Sold,” creating an airy sound with a hissing high-hat, a guitar monotonously droning each note and his high-pitched cries of “speculate what we feel” looped within the song. Like the memory of a lost lover, his echoed vocals thrust like a knife, introducing a vast outpouring of loneliness that overwhelms the heart with unavoidable, luminous disappointment and grief.

Such an accurate artistic rendering of an emotion had the audience at the palm of Blake’s hand, in awe of the  music’s honest relatablility.

During the first half of his set, Blake kept to this recipe, weaving his artful production through growing and crashing crescendos. His cover of Feist’s “Limit To Your Love” was the most bleak, as the dark, pulsating bass puttered like a heartbeat under the sound of the audience’s singing along to his repeated falsetto vibrato crying, “Like a waterfall in slow motion/ Like a map with no ocean/ There’s a limit to your love.”

Most of his set was a gospel-like haunting mantra. In addition to their instruments, his bandmembers, drummer Ben Assiter and guitarist Rob McAndrews, sat on stools with synthesizers, performing as if they were sitting at their desk during a 9-to-5 job, typing away on their miniature keyboards. The tracks usually moved at about 2 miles per hour, droning on three notes at a time, but Blake’s commitment to its effective whir as a whole painted a  large-scale mural of minimalistic sonic abstraction.

The 2011 track “Lindisfarne II,”  which sounded like a folktronic version of  “re: Stacks” by Bon Iver, might have been the most abstract, featuring Blake’s sustained notes in auto tune above a seesawing acoustic guitar and a constant bleep-blooping beat.

Thankfully, his unmistakable talent matched the oddity of his outer space R&B sound. His primitive, slow-motion compositions were pretentious efforts, though behind his shaggy brown locks and humble smile was raw talent that
shined through.

Intermittently, Blake would peep a “thank you” to the audience, but toward the middle of his set, he looked out to the crowd and in his soft British accent said he would now play dance music, clarifying “not eyes-down dance music, but, like, dance music.”

The emotions in the set’s second half shifted to a slow-motion dreamlike sonic journey, ebbing and flowing over synthesized, undulating waves. After previewing a track from his side project titled 1-800-DINOSAUR, which sounds like a Blake spin on classic Chicago house, he threw back some funkier tracks from “James Blake” and the ’80s-inspired 2010 “CMYK” EP. Techno-inspired tracks such as the jazzy “Voyeur,” repeated with Blake’s phrase “and her mind was on me” over a treated cowbell. During the robotic and jagged electro-alarm “CMYK,” which features a sample from the neo-soul R&B artist Kelis, the sound drowns in a rumble of crackling drum ripples and vocal warbles.

During his closing track, the band members exited the stage and a spotlight silhouetted Blake as hollow piano chords began. He circled back to that inescapable feeling of reflection with a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You,” featured on his 2011 EP “Enough Thunder.” Skipping around the keys, he played the fluting, somber love lament as the notes trickled into each other in the silence. His airy voice crooned, “Oh you’re in my blood like holy wine/ You taste so bitter and so sweet/ Oh I could drink a case of you darling /Still I’d be on my feet.” The audience stood motionless and spellbound by the perfect depiction of emotions Blake had unleashed.

Courtesy FREDDIE KOLE | The Mustache Bar Crawl in 2012 visited bars across Wrigleyville. Similarly, this year’s June 29 crawl will visit bars such as Casey Moran’s, 3660 N. Clark St., Mullen’s Bar and Grill, 3527 N. Clark St., and more.

Handlebar, pencil and chevron ’staches will parade around Wrigleyville June 29 at the Mustache Bar Crawl, visiting bars such as Bernie’s, 3664 N. Clark St., and Mullen’s Bar and Grill, 3527 N. Clark St. Hosted by local event planning company Chicago Twenty Something, the crawl invites participants to show off either real or fake mustaches while traveling bar to bar and competing for prizes to benefit the Dave Bolland Foundation, a nonprofit organization that mentors underprivileged youth.

Attendance for the fourth annual Mustache Bar Crawl is expected to grow as much as the crawlers’ upper lip hair, according to Freddie Kole, founder and president of Chicago Twenty Something. As of press time, 1,500 tickets have been purchased, and Kole said they are expecting approximately 3,500 mustached bar crawlers to participate in the crawl, which is double last year’s participation.

“People in Chicago like to day drink, and people in Chicago like to dress up while they day drink,” Kole said. “So I thought, ‘What easier way to dress up and be goofy than [by wearing] a mustache?’”
Although mustaches are not required, Kole said participants can create or grow a ’stache, or can purchase one at the event for $2. During the crawl, there will be a mustache contest at 7 p.m. at Casey Moran’s, 3660 N. Clark St., where judges will seek out the top contenders in categories such as The Funniest Mustache, The Sexiest Mustache, The Best Real Mustache and The Most Creative Mustache, he said.

Kole said the title of Mustache King or Queen will go to the mustache enthusiast who sells the most tickets for the crawl. The Mustache Royalty will also win some Blackhawks memorabilia, Kole said.

The foundation that is the beneficiary of the event was founded by Chicago Blackhawks player Dave Bolland to empower marginalized youth and raise funds for groups such as Beyond the Ball, an organization that offers recreational sport programming to gang-riddeled areas of Chicago.

Derek Jancar, secretary for The Dave Bolland Foundation, said pairing up with Chicago Twenty Something was a great opportunity for the foundation.

“It makes a lot of sense for the demographic of the Blackhawks too, so it’s a great partnership,” Jancar said, adding that Bolland plans to attend the crawl.

Kole said he was inspired to create the Mustache Bar Crawl because he thinks the city is welcoming to mustaches.

Chicago is so ’stache savvy that it was named America’s Most Mustache-Friendly City in 2011 by facial hair advocacy organization the American Mustache Institute.

According to Aaron Perlut, researcher at the American Mustache Institute, the organizations decided to pursue a two-year analysis to highlight the cities in the United States that would be most appealing for a “mustachioed-American” lifestyle.

Chicago took first place, excelling in the categories of number of mustaches in the education, transportation and entertainment industries and also in creating “mustache-positive employers” with high records of hiring mustached-Americans. Though 2011 is the most recent award announced, they plan on re-evaluating the cities in 2016, he said.

“There are clearly a vast number of events across the country that celebrate different minority groups,” Perlut said. “And we look at the Mustache Bar Crawl as an opportunity to recognize [the mustached] community, which often gets left on the sidelines.”

For more information and to purchase tickets for the Mustache Bar Crawl, visit ChicagoTwentySomething.com/mustache.

Ahmed Hamad THE CHRONICLE

John Podmajersky III founded the CAD in 1987 as part of his family’s goal to create a destination art community and economic stability for artists. The Podmajersky family has faced community uproar and multiple protests from the neighborhood’s many Mexican-American residents who fear the artists will spur gentrification.

As the Latino community fights gentrification, this is not the first time Pilsen has  adjusted to a major cultural shift.

Victor Krol, co-founder of Pilsen’s City Garden Early Childhood Center, 920 W. 19th St., grew up in Pilsen and has lived there nearly his entire life. His family has been rooted in the neighborhood since the 1890s when his grandparents emigrated from the former Czechoslovakia.

Named after the second largest city in Bohemia, Pilsen served as a hub for thousands of newcomers, including Czech, Lithuanian and Polish immigrants, most of whom were factory workers seeking affordable housing near downtown.

By 1920, the 87,000 immigrants peppered the neighborhood with ornate churches and gargoyles influenced by their European homeland’s architecture.

But in the 1950s, a cultural shift began in the Czechoslovakian neighborhood when an influx of Latinos, pushed out of their homes on the Near West Side, sought refuge in nearby Pilsen.

“These [Czech immigrants] were from Eastern Europe and their homes in Pilsen were their castles,” Krol said. “In the ’50s, that area turned mostly Mexican, and we were actually the last white family in that neighborhood.”

The impetus was the move of the University of Illinois at Chicago to a location at Harrison and Halsted Streets, which decimated Taylor Street’s Little Italy neighborhood and drove its Mexican residents to move south. As a result, Mexican culture overtook the Czech roots of Pilsen, said Peter Pero, author of “Chicago’s Pilsen Neighborhood.”

He said the Czech churches were adorned with Mexican murals and mosaics, which reflected the artistic heritage of the Mexican community.

By 1970, Pilsen became the first primarily Latino community in Chicago, and today, its Czech roots are barely evident in the community.

“Mexicanidad is what they called it—the Mexicanization of what the Czechs left,” Pero said. “They painted the buildings, covered the walls, filled their churches.”

Cesáreo Moreno, curator at Pilsen’s National Museum of Mexican Art, said this expanding art community made its mark on the neighborhood’s diverse culture.

“Artists are always looking for less expensive rents [and] a vibrant community that has ‘ma and pa’ stores that oftentimes end up being immigrant neighborhoods,” Moreno said. “Oftentimes, that recipe happens not just in Pilsen, not just in Chicago, it happens everywhere.”

This is the similar formula that created what Wicker Park and Lincoln Park—also previously Latino neighborhoods—are today, according to John Becantur, associate professor of the Urban Planning and Policy Program at UIC. Because of this cyclical pattern, many people fear the gentrification of Pilsen.

Currently, the main hub of the neighborhood stretches along 18th Street, where an array of small shops, food markets, galleries, restaurants and clothing stores can be found.

This street also has one of Chicago’s largest collections of murals adorning many of the building’s exteriors, attracting businesses to settle in that area, Becantur said.

But he said moving further west, the housing market is cheaper, creating a wide disparity in incomes along 18th Street.

“Pilsen was very much a throw-out of a neighborhood under the previous regime,” Becantur said. “But as the new economy takes over and the downtown becomes what it became, and you have all these new-class white-collar people making a lot of money, therefore engaging in all these consumption lifestyles of show and spectacle. They devour them not only based on the value of land but in the basis of culture.”

However, in his 2005 research study “Gentrification Before Gentrification,” he found the simple expectation of gentrification of a neighborhood is enough to spark change.

“Gentrification had taken such a hold of the city that as soon as a neighborhood starts getting gentrified, there is an immediate reaction of prices that go up very quickly to levels that don’t correspond to the condition of that real estate,” Becantur said. “That’s why I call it gentrification before gentrification, because suddenly everybody started reading Pilsen that it has already been gentrified [and] that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Courtesy PIETRO RUSSOMANNO
In 2012, Pietro Russomanno, an Italian product designer, developed the concept for a wooden flatboard bicycle prototype called the “Ecoframe,” as part of the growing trend of unconventional bicycle designs.

“[The bicycle] is an expression of your individual style as much as clothing is,” said Levi Borreson, owner of Legacy Frameworks in Chicago. “A lot of thought goes into bicycles from the design concept all the way to building and decorating it.”

Although practicality has limited the market potential for experimental bicycle design throughout the past century, there is an increasing interest in unconventional aesthetics, opening up unlimited visual possibilities, according to Margaret Schlesinger, Museum of Science and Industry curator.

The current show at the Museum of Science and Industry, 5700 S. Lake Shore Drive, pays tribute to bicycles’ form and function. Bicycles are being displayed as their own art form in “The Art of the Bicycle,” which opened March 21 and runs until 2018.

Schlesinger said each bicycle is individually suspended from the ceiling and framed by a wooden backboard, similar to photographs adorning the walls of a gallery, inviting guests to view the machines from a design perspective and absorb the array of materials, colors and technical approaches that can be used in creating a bicycle.

Schlesinger said the exhibit traces the progression of bicycle designs from their early 19th century conception to more modern ideas.

“Early machines were very heavy, made of wood and [lacked] pedals and comfortable seats,” Schlesinger said. “In the 1850s, bicycle makers began to make them out of heavy metals like wrought iron, which added even more significant weight.”

As technology progressed, she said designers began to incorporate materials like rubber and leather, which improved bicycles’ visual appeal and comfortability. A standard diamond-shaped frame and equidistant tires were developed in the early 1900s, Schlesinger said.

Although she said this practicality overwhelmed the bicycle market for most of the 20th century, modern day riders are demanding cutting-edge designs that represent their unique tastes and lifestyles. She said such expression has sparked industrial designers around the world to conceive unexpected bicycle design concepts.

Schlesinger said a cardboard bike made of recyclable materials, created by inventor Izhar Gafni in 2012, is one of the many unusual bicycles displayed in the exhibit. He anticipates selling each bicycle for no more than $20, she said.

“It was [Gafni’s] dream that these bicycles would be mass-produced worldwide and available to everyone,” she said. “It’s a very simple, elegant design.”

Other featured designs include an off-road bicycle called the Moonlander by Minnesotan bike brand Surly, which Schlesinger said has thick, flat tires to effortlessly plow through snow, sand and water—terrain that could easily destroy most bicycles.

The streamlined Bicymple, which also adorns the MSI’s exhibit walls, features brakes and pedals uniquely attached to the back wheel, Schlesinger said.

Because of the growing popularity of cutting-edge bikes like Gafni’s and the Bicymple, companies can’t get away with pumping out the same bicycle designs in only two colors anymore, Borreson said.

Unlike conventional bicycle companies, Kevin Saunders, president of KGS Bikes in San Antonio, said he handcrafts custom bicycles based on clients’ bodies rather than making the individual adapt to an existing design.

He said he works with clients one-on-one to find their natural balance before creating each detailed component of the bicycle, including the saddle, brake lever and handlebar positions. Once all the variables are defined, he said the process of constructing each customized bicycle takes anywhere from four months to an entire year to complete.

Using state-of-the-art bike design technology, Saunders said his high-end personalized bicycles cost clients $30,000 to $50,000—an investment he said only select enthusiasts will make.

Schlesinger said customized bicycles are growing in mainstream popularity and are featured prominently in the MSI’s exhibit, including a bicycle from Pacific Northwestern company Renovo, which develops individualized frames out of natural wood.

Although wood may seem like an unconventional material for bicycle construction, Italian designer Pietro Russomanno said most wood designs simply mimic the shape of standard, steel pipe bicycles.

Departing from this tradition, Russomanno developed a conceptual prototype called the “Ecoframe,” which joins two mirrored, wooden flat-board cutouts together.

“In my opinion, the wooden bikes I’ve previously seen are just good-looking pieces of artwork,” he said. “However, they are not efficient for industrialization and mass-production.”

With such a simple, geometric shape, Pietro said the Ecoframe would take less time and energy to create in a factory than any pipe-shaped structure built from wood or steel.

“[My bicycle] idea is not about [visual] aesthetics,” he said. “It is a technical design.”

In light of all the creative advances in industrial bicycle design, Saunders said he thinks it’s a shame the mainstream industry still favors a standardized approach to selling bicycles.

“[Most] bicycles are designed by marketing departments, mass-produced in Taiwan, promoted by paid endorsers and sold at a discount in shops worldwide,” Saunders said.

With the rise in customization and design experiements, Schlesinger said this age-old, utilitarian machine has taken on a new identity in the modern age.

“There are so many things you can do with handlebars, fenders, wheels, colors and saddles,” said Adam Wachendorf, owner of Iron Cycles, 1316 W. Montrose Ave. “It’s unlimited.”

Satisfaction is imminent after finishing a lengthy project. But when the final product is showcased at a venue packed with dozens of students, feelings of achievement

are amplified.

Rapper Haile, center, was one of four artists who performed at Arts Entertainment and Media Management Practicum’s release party for “The Prerequisite” mixtape at Schubas Tavern, 3159 N. Southport Ave. Kevin Gebhardt | THE CHRONICLE

The hip-hop division of AEMMP Records, Columbia’s award-winning student-run record label, dropped this year’s collaborative album, “The Prerequisite,” April 22, featuring 11 songs by 13 artists. To commemorate their hard work, AEMMP held a release party at Schubas Tavern, 3159 N. Southport Ave. with performances from five of the featured artists.

The company is part of the Decision-Making: Music Business Management course in the Arts, Entertainment & Media Management Department and is managed by graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in the class.

Although AEMMP has been around for 30 years, the hip-hop division is the youngest at 3 years old and follows different marketing and promotion strategies than the other divisions, which also include lifestyle and rock, according to Margaret Hobson, an administrative coordinator with AEMMP’s hip-hop division.

“A lot of times in hip-hop with mixtapes, [they] feature multiple [collaborations between] producers and artists, so that’s the concept we went with for ‘The Prerequisite,’” Hobson said. “Lots of mixtapes are also released for free, so we wanted to do
the same.”

Franky Murdock, Daryn Alexus, Haile, and St. Millie all preformed at the release party, which was sponsored by streetwear boutique Jugrnaut, music blog Ruby Hornet and independent hip-hop label Closed Sessions. All of the performers have been students at Columbia, except St. Millie.

Murdock, who raps with a fast, brash delivery, said his music represents him not only as a person but also shows that people like him can create their own plan, start their own career and do what they love.

“Before I got here, nobody really knew who I was,” Murdock said. “But Columbia gave me the opportunity to network with students that were not only doing rap, but visual art, acting and dance. Networking with people from different genres allowed me to incorporate what I had learned from them into my music.”

Among many other songs, St. Millie performed his new, explosive track “No Damm” off “The Prerequisite.” During the performance, he shared his technique and love for connecting with the audience through with
his music.

“I’m a pretty great performer and I’m good at controlling the crowd and getting people involved,” St. Millie said. “I enjoy having fun, so everyone else should have fun
as well.”

“The Prerequisite” was a planned process that took nearly a year to complete. According to Hobson, AEMMP released a five-song EP last year but needed more time to plan for a full-length mixtape.

She said making the album was all a matter of establishing chemistry among the artists and producers. Featuring tracks from Chicago emcee ShowYouSuck and production by Nu Theory and Zack “Fox” Jablow, the record was recorded and mastered at Soundscape Studios, 2510 W.
Chicago Ave.

Alexander Fruchter, an instructor in AEMM’s practicum hip-hop course, said AEMMP’s mission is all about giving exposure to
Columbia artists.

“The purpose of [the release show] was to showcase the new album, the artists and to get students out of the South Loop,”
he said.

Fruchter said he noticed a lack of Columbia support for the label in terms of participation and recognition. Fruchter compared it to his college days when he attended Indiana University in Bloomington, and professors would cancel class just so students could go support the
sports teams.

“You could probably walk out of Columbia and throw a shoe at a kid on the street that’s probably a producer, musician, rapper or DJ—and for them not to know that they have a student-run record label at their own school is crazy,” Fruchter said.

The fashion blogosphere has become oversaturated, and because of the accessibility of blogging, it probably won’t change. Unless that shoe I figuratively chucked hits a few in the head hard enough, many bloggers will have delusions of grandeur in the pursuit of fashion fame. But free clothes and the occasional advertisement aren’t enough to sustain life, and it’s time for a reality check. While rich and famous bloggers like Leandra Medine of The Man Repeller, a streetstyle blog, and Tavi Gevinson, the teenage fashion prodigy of Style Rookie, have turned their witty words and eye for style into formidable careers, the number of fashion bloggers who actually hit it big is slim. In fact, following fashion fancies such as these can land you on the streets—and no, it’s not glamorous.

PJ Gach, New York-based fashion blogger of Queen of Style, is no longer living the royal life. Gach took to the Internet April 24 in an act of desperation, asking fellow fashionistas to donate to her PayPal account so she could pay her rent, according to an April 24 article on the New York Observer’s website. Gach has lived in her $1,759-a-month Harlem apartment for 13 comfy years, but now to fend off eviction, she has until May 8 to pay her landlord nearly $8,000 in back rent. As of press time, she has only raised $500, and according to her blog, she has no family or strong support system to fall back on. The outlook is dim.

Her horror story began when she was laid off in November 2012 as a senior editor at Betty Confidential, a fashion and beauty website. Her editing job was her main source of income that supported her blogging, and even though she seemingly had it all figured out, her story is a testament to what all fashion writers should be aware of: You are entirely disposable.

Fashion blogging is superficial— it’s purely based on the materialistic cravings of those who are willing to spend in the name of being chic. You need money, connections and a solid wardrobe. A budding fashion blogger without these privileges must start out of his or her own closet—and if that’s made up of mass-produced clothing from Akira or Urban Outfitters (like me)—you can plan on making your permanent home on Tumblr or WordPress. Being driven is also important, but blogging should be treated as a hobby in pursuit of a more realistic career. Sadly, the lines between fashion journalism and fashion blogging are blurring into a muddled mess that can hopefully be solved by one thing: a degree.

I know I’m stomping all over some people’s dreams, but just remember that the student loan debt many of us will soon be drowning in will be worth it, because a journalism degree is more valuable than any designer dud.