A celebration of life, community, and music! April 30, 2012 Hey Readers! This is Pat Gilroy from the Chicago rock band The Super Happy Fun Club! I've known and worked with Billy throughout the years and I'm excited to be a guest blogger today! In the summer of 2010 I received a troubling text about a friend who was part of a brutal attack. He stood up for someone who was in harm’s way, and in a terrible turn of events, became the victim. (check out the full story here). Matthew Leone (bassist for the rock band Madina Lake) was at the beginning of a very long journey back to normal life.
Material Issue: Chicago’s Most Underrated Band? September 1, 2011 Hungry for some new music to listen to? Then let me point your attention to the band Material Issue. Although technically not “new” per se, this amazing band formed in 1985 right here in Chicago. In 1991, Material Issue released one of the best pop albums ever, International Pop Overthrow, and broke on to the national music scene. Unfortunately, it seems as if the band had either arrived too early or too late with their fresh take on straight forward pop music. By the time they released their second (and equally great) album, grunge bands like Nirvana and new alternative sounds from the likes of fellow Chicago band The Smashing Pumpkins had taken hold. Sadly, the world never got to see Material Issue recover their popularity as frontman Jim Ellison committed suicide in 1996.
