Summer is now in full swing and London is basking in fantastic sunshine and warm weather. To celebrate, Lovechild was Makin’ Hay with the sexiest farm hands gyrating to the summer beat!

Lovechild returns later this month with what promised to be Hot and Sexy with a Club Tropicana themed party! Latin fever is back and boy is it a scorcher!

Tracklisting:

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Follow Friday is an interview series in which each Chicago artist we talk to recommends a fellow local act.

This week’s guest: The Homoticons
Recommended by: Actor Slash Model

Everyone loves the idea of a threesome, but few can actually complete the triple play successfully. Madsen Minax (Actor Slash Model) appears to be one of those few; his new-ish side project, The Homoticons, enlists the powers of two fellow transsexual artists (Jesse Alexander of Cobalt & the Hired Guns and Elias Krell) to create incisive pop that isn’t afraid to take you on a “homotional rollercoaster” ride. Minax prepared us for what to expect at the trio’s next Chicago show, July 23 at the Hideout.

Describe your sound in 140 characters or less.
Dramatic indie folk pop with epic tendencies and gritty roof raising harmonies. Heavy on the climax and the decay, and neither will let you down.

Where and when was your first show – and what was it like?
Our first show was at the Red Line Tap in Rogers Park on September 24, ’09. We weren’t officially a band but from that night on we would be. Everyone in the room felt our connection: The show was intimate and well-supported, much like a high-end bra. On the way home, Jesse, our drummer, asked, “So, do you guys, like, wanna be in a band or something … ?”

Name three of your favorite Chicago spots (bars, restaurants, venues, parks – whatever).
Hollywood Beach, Big Chicks, Schubas.

What Chicago artist/band should we interview next and why?
Elias Dylan Krell.

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As a member of the legendary hip-hop crew The Molemen, producer/DJ PNS has had the opportunity to work with a laundry list of underground icons. His contributions run deep, particularly here in the Midwest, as he’s provided beats for a bevy of local stalwarts including All Natural, Astonish and Decay (both of the Molemen Camp), Longshot, Prime as well as Rhymesayers artists Slug and DOOM. With his menacing basslines, neck breaking boom-baps and thought provoking samples, PNS’ beats are a raw introduction to a distinct and rugged style of no-nonsense hip-hop, worthy of praise from even the most hardened hip-hop fans.

Recently PNS teamed up with fellow Chicago native Zavala for an all-instrumental album entitled Canciones Modernas, released by Fieldwerk Recordings. The album is a simultaneous celebration of both PNS and Zavala’s Mexican heritage and love of hip-hop culture. It’s PNS’ first solo album since 2007′s Audiotronics, and is proof that the Humboldt Park native hasn’t lost his magic touch. Centerstage caught up with PNS via e-mail to discuss the origins of the album as well as get some schooling on everything from how it all started to his thoughts on Chicago’s current hip-hop scene.

You’ve been making beats for over 20 years now, who or what was it that first got you interested?
Being a DJ, it was the logical progression to get into beats. I had a Nu-Mark mixer with a four-second sampler, so I started there and worked my way up to SP-1200, then MPC 2000XL etc.

I was self taught on the beat making process, no YouTube back then to see how my idols worked. I would constantly hit a wall until I figured it out. I did get tips from my friends, The Molemen, DJ 33 1/3 and Dug Infinite.

Growing up in Humboldt Park, was there a distinct vibe to build off of?
There were B-Boys/Girls doing their thing, whether breaking, graffiti, DJing or rapping. It was a culture that pretty much followed the rules of the streets, which was to earn your respect. Keep it real wasn’t a cliche. The environment could get dangerous, so there was no room for wackness. I kept it real to my surroundings, which also included skaters and punk rockers, and that evolved into my sound.

How did you link up with the Molemen?
One of my good friends from Prosser High School told me he copped a Molemen mixtape and that it was similar to the mixtapes I was doing. I began my search for these like-minded individuals. Again, no Internet, so I had to put the word on the streets. My boy Rive/CCA told me they were Chi-Rock Nation and that he’s been to their basement studio, so I was like, hook me up. It was like a secret society. I still didn’t get in, but I was determined. So eventually I met Big Juan and Panik “in the field.” They were digging for records and I approached them and said what’s up. Later that week I saw Panik again at WHPK and we started talking. I rode with the Moles, paying dues until they asked me if I was part of the crew.

Tell me how Canciones Modernas came to fruition.
I was judging a Scribble Jam beat battle here in Chicago. Zavala won and went to Cincinnati for the finals. I went up to him there and we chopped it up, so we agreed to work together on something. Two years later Crushcon 7 from Fieldwerks got it poppin’ to press it on vinyl.

Having two producers release an instrumental album isn?t something that happens too often. What was the process like? Did you and Zavala want to create a focused dialogue or did you want to let it grow organically on its own?
I believe that in music, we all speak the same language. I told Zavala to send me some music and I would work off that. Then I sent him some music and he went back and did what he wanted to add to his music. Finally I sent my finished version. We vibed off each other, from the music to the song titles.

You?ve been deeply rooted in the Chicago hip-hop scene for years now, working with a who’s who of legends. What’s your take on the scene now?
As far as people from the Chi doing their thing, I’m all for the Nation Business. It’s so diverse and we should be proud of the team. I like the homies Scheme and Astonish, Gaggie and JapCity get it in, Cool Kids and Kid Sister are doin’ it fresh, Flosstradamus and Million $ Mano on the 1s & 2s, Stefan Ponce and Vyle, I’ve watched grow and evolve. B.B.U. are taking it to the next level, Epidemik and 108 Music takin’ care of that business. It is a great time.

What other projects can we look forward to in the future?
Another joint with Zavala. We already talked about the premise, so now we have to make that into reality. Panik and Memo have been talking about doing the next Molemen production album. I also plan to release my “lost” beats & old mixtapes. As long as I can keep telling the story, I will.

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A nearly-finished track. Looking for suggestions. I feel like I should add a field recording of some kind, but I’m not sure what kind. I’m feeling a little bit of speech.

Follow Friday is an interview series in which each Chicago artist we talk to recommends a fellow local act.

This week’s guest: Actor Slash Model
Recommended by: Love Raid

Actor Slash Model ain’t just a name. It’s the collaborative effort of activist-slash-educator Simon Strikeback and artist-slash-filmmaker Madsen Minax. When the duo isn’t making gender-bending music together, they’re on the movie scene, having released the recent rockumentary Riot Acts: Flaunting Gender Deviance in Music Performance. Strikeback tells us a little more about the duo.

Describe your sound in 140 characters or less.
We call ourselves a homo indiegrass duet. Our sound is influenced by a wide range of sounds, from far-reaching indie to very traditional bluegrass.

Where and when was your first show – and what was it like?
Our first show was in fall 2006 at the Prop Theater on Elston. We played the opening of a porno that Madsen had done some music for and I had a little spot in. We knew a lot of folks in the film and at the performance, so it was a nice introduction to playing out – everyone clapped and probably would have no matter what we sounded like.

Name three of your favorite Chicago spots (bars, restaurants, venues, parks – whatever).
Red Line Tap in Rogers Park. Jackhammer in Rogers Park. Women & Children First bookstore in Andersonville

What Chicago artist/band should we interview next and why?
The Homoticons – its Madsen’s new band and they are really making headway through the Chicago indie scene.

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As one of the founding members of the famed underground rap group, Typical Cats, Qwel has worked tirelessly to establish his own brand of Chicago hip-hop. His solo albums have drawn heavily upon Chicago-centric experiences, and have garnered attention worldwide, which is a testament to how quality homegrown rap is possible when the emotional investments are made. With the completion of his last album, So Be It, Qwel has wrapped-up his four horsemen/seasons project (with producer Maker), a series of albums that boldly characterize the relationship between Chicago’s polarizing weather and the intense emotions that come with it. What’s next for the ambitious artist? A lot, including a new Typical Cats album, another possible project with Maker and even a book release.

You’ve been a veteran of the Chicago hip-hop scene for some time. What’s your synopsis on it now in comparison to other cities?
The Chicago scene without a doubt is way more honest than other scenes throughout the world, not only very honest but more than willing to voice its honesty at the top of their lungs. It comes from taking pride in a city drowned in diverse excellence.

What about hip-hop as a whole, do you see it moving in one cohesive direction or fracturing off further into sub-genres?
It’s honestly hard to call right now. We at galapagos4 have just kept our heads down making raw hip-hop that we like. I know right now there seems to be a trend of heading down the electronic road a bit, but with all trends that have been added to hip-hop music, heads never wander too far from home.

WHPK was a big part of your development. What was your reaction when you heard JP Chill was hanging it up?
It makes me feel old man! We as a culture seem to take a lot of the beauty and hard work that the giants before us put in for granted. You never know what you got till it’s gone man.

Last year’s album So Be It wrapped up the four horsemen/seasons project. For those who don’t know, tell us a little bit about that concept and what went into it?
Well from conception to completion the project took over five years of daily observing and reporting. I guess we as a crew wanted to capture a whole block of time-capsule music to reflect on. I was lucky to write the four seasons in a very important time in human history. We observed different subjects and reported as they seemed fit according to the thematic soundscape. We did the topics of abrupt change throughout The Harvest, which reflected the swiftest change in season (American politics, gun violence, music puppeteering). We then followed with a tribute to the trudging frozen Chicago winter in Freezer Burner. I tried to touch on how we spiritually and psychologically have become freezer-burnt as human beings from the slow and consistent numbing of the human emotion. Then The New Wine came with a very wide range of clean, crisp “springy” sounds. Topically the spring record tried to capture the young hunger in art that so many have tried to pronounce dead so recently. So Be It wrapped it up with the duality of summer’s harsh extreme, really hot hard day followed by quenching breezy nights. I hope this helps, I’m trying not to ramble, but over a couple of beers I’ll eat your ear off for hours about any of the records. I’m very proud of the fact that we actually captured the feeling of each season through the soundscapes.

Your working relationship with Maker has spawned some amazing results; how does a producer of that caliber bring out the best in you and vice-versa?
With the amount of respect I have for his opinion sonically, he frees me up to focus hard on the writing. If you know your boy makes bomb rice, you have more time to salt the beans right. Plus he forces me to step my game up. I’m not trying to get shined by his beats.

G4 is a name that’s synonymous with Chicago hip-hop. What direction are you guys moving in now?
Straight ahead. We always have made music that we like to bump among ourselves. It feels good to know other cats enjoy what we enjoy, but we make it to have somethin’ raw for us to bump. That’s what we will be doing forever.

What projects can we expect out of you (personally) in the future?
We are mixing the new record as we speak. We are headlong into this new Typical Cats record too. Me and Maker have been thinking about doing a free project. I been fancying the idea of writing a book soon enough, too much man. People keep telling me to slow down, and I keep thinking to myself how will the world handle it when I learn to really focus and start doing as much as I really want?!

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photo: Alex Duran

Follow Friday is an interview series in which each Chicago artist we talk to recommends a fellow local act.

This week’s guest: Love Raid
Recommended by: Roommate

Love Raid may have just released its debut album in February, but by no means is this pop trio new to the Chicago scene. Justin Petertil (OFFICE, Roommate, Crap Engine), Seth Vanek (Roommate, Velvetron) and Gerard Barreto (Old Fake, Blasted Diplomats, Roommate) have been making music together since 2008, and been involved in Chicago music since well before that. Petertil gives us a bit of background.

Describe your sound in 140 characters or less.
Off-Pop. “..wonderfully crafted songs, simultaneously satisfying and unsettling.” (according to Cody Hennesy of The Rhombus)

Where and when was your first show – and what was it like?
The Empty Bottle, March 2008. It was a benefit for a film project by Actor Slash Model (eventually titled, “Riot Acts: Flaunting Gender Deviance in Music Performance”). The stage is pretty high at the Bottle but it is still a comfortable venue and proved to be a great first show filled with friends and awesome strangers. The three of us in Love Raid have been musical collaborators in various ways for awhile and are good friends as well. Getting together to play some songs was an easy decision and transition.

Name three of your favorite Chicago spots.
The Whirlaway. The Hungry Brain (esp. on Sunday & Monday). The Hideout.

What Chicago artist/band should we interview next and why?
The aforementioned Actor Slash Model not only got us our first show in relation to their film, but are also fantastic songwriters/performers that we’ve known for a number
of years now. They are a positive force in the city, using old and new traditions, and writing great witty songs addressing love/sex/gender/political/etc issues.

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Despite the absence of marquee names like Keith Richards and Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – both of whom have graced its stages in years past – and budget cuts that have slimmed the event down from four days to three, the Chicago Blues Festival (June 11-12 in Grant Park) is still the largest of its kind in the world. And it’s still absolutely free.

It’s worth noting that the city did splurge on an iPhone app this year, which features a fun “encore flame” to hoist in the air when all the returning-to-their-roots Chicago bluesmen finish up their sets. The roster again runs deep with talent this year, with a tribute to the legendary Chester “Howlin’ Wolf” Burnett the thread that ties it all together (he would’ve turned 100 this weekend). So charge up your phone and head down to these highlighted performances, especially the homegrown ones.

Friday

Jimmy Dawkins w/ Taildragger
3 p.m. Friday; Front Porch
One of the last holdovers from the West Side funk explosion, Mississippi transplant Jimmy Dawkins inspired a young Bob Koester (the founder of Delmark Records) to release his 1969 debut, Fast Fingers, a tie-back to the nickname he earned scrapping it for a good decade after he rode the rails to Chicago. Dawkins’ W.C. Handy Award-winning guitar skills, when paired with the grimy, dive-bar scratch of fellow transplant vocalist James Yancy “Taildragger” Jones, should make for an interesting balance of ache and slash.

Howlin’ Wolf alumni feat. Eddie Shaw & The Wolf Gang w/ special guests
5 p.m. Friday; Petrillo Music Shell
No one taps the energy of the late, great Howlin’ Wolf like his longtime bandleader, Eddie Shaw. The pocket skills he mastered with The Wolf Gang allowed for Wolf?s seedy, wild soul to set underground blues aflame. An arsenal of special guests, from all-star session drummer Sam Lay to harpist Corky Siegal will be in tow to channel the icon proper.

Big George Brock & The House Rockers w/ George Brock Jr.
6:30 p.m. Friday; Front Porch
This 77-year old gem’s style is an entirely rare breed, and not just because of his salmon three-piece suits and leopard-skin capes. Brock grew up in the cotton fields of Clarksdale, Mississippi, and was hardened in local boxing rings, while building friendships with everyone from Muddy Waters to Howlin’ Wolf. He eventually settled in St. Louis, with string skills learned from Waters and an affinity for achy harp solos. Although Brock has mostly flown under the radar over the years, his marriage of front-porch swagger and knee-weak soul lofts have seen a comeback of late. Look for minimalist, searing tales like “Poor Boy” or harrowing harp flutters like “Rockin’ Chair.”

Saturday

David Honeyboy Edwards

2 p.m. Saturday; Mississippi Juke Joint
An acoustic legend, this 93-year-old guitarist is one of the last living links to Delta pioneer Robert Johnson, the man who wrote “Sweet Home Chicago.” Aside from Pinetop Perkins, Edwards is arguably the last Delta blues musician alive. Armed with the catchphrase, “the world don’t owe me nothing,” and hands that are still nimble as ever, he’s the authoritative grandfather voice of the journey from Delta freight train to Chicago blues boom.

Rev. K.M. Williams & The Amazing Trainreck
3 p.m. Saturday; Zone Perfect All-Nutrition Bars Route 66 Roadhouse
An actual ordained minister, Rev. K.M. Williams one-ups Johnny Cash with closer-to-God tales, albeit using a boogie, steel-lap approach. A lot of it is reserved, Williams not one to let loose with his vocals – but when he does, watch out for harrowing “Yea Lordy” heel stomps, gospel wails and ominous tales from his breakout album, Here Comes The Preacher Man.

Chicago Blues ? A Living History feat. Billy Boy Arnold, Billy Branch, John Primer, Lurrie Bell and special guest Carlos Johnson
7:35 p.m. Saturday; Petrillo Music Shell
In tandem with a double-disc album of the same name, Chicago blues supergroup A Living History combines the powers of 10 all-stars, young and old, from harpist Mathew Skoller to the muscular punch of guitarist John Primer, from Kenny “beady-eyes” Smith on drums to guest guitarist Carlos Johnson. It’s a veritable blues family, joined to honor and document the evolution of the genre. Think The Traveling Wilburys, but with a purpose, which likely includes paying continuous homage to Howlin’ Wolf.

Sunday

Quintus McCormick
noon Sunday; Gibson Guitar Crossroads
Guitarist McCormick has a Mississippi-Delta heart and a British sense of humor, and has been known to rock Robert Plant-wailing covers of ?Stairway to Heaven? when not indulging his love for classy R&B. A regular at Kingston Mines, he’s known his his ability to control a crowd (while also suppressing the shyness that kept him as a sideman for years, until Buddy Guy and friends put the pressure on him to start his own band).

Guitar Shorty
4:45 p.m. Sunday; Front Porch
The grittiest Chicago bluesman that isn’t from Chicago, Texas-based Guitar Shorty mastered the hard-nosed modern electric sound that has stocked Buddy Guy’s Legends for the past two decades – before the club, and arguably before Buddy. He just happened to be down in Florida or New Orleans, and didn’t cut records until the early ’80s on Black Top. The accolades have been streaming in ever since (from W.C. Handy Awards to Billboard chart-topping hits) for his glistening solos, monster guitar fingers and, when he was a bit younger ? he’s over 70 now ? wily stage antics from back flips to headstands. Judging by the aggression on this year’s Bare Knuckle (on Alligator Records), there’s still plenty of fire there.

East of the Edens Soul Express
5:30 p.m. Friday, 6:15 p.m. Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday; Zone Perfect All-Nutrition Bars Route 66 Roadhouse
Best known for their Saturday-night residencies at the Hideout, these DJs/Rabbit Factory Records owners have an intense retro love for Southern soul and blues circa ’60s and ’70s Chicago, but make sure to mix it up with contemporaries like Common in the interest of putting bodies on the dance floor (or in this case, makeshift roadhouse). A broad range of influences, from Issac Hayes to The Band to Muddy Waters, will melt inhibitions into one hot, sweaty golden mess.

T.K. Soul
8:30 p.m. Sunday; Petrillo Music Shell
The self-titled “Bad Boy of Southern Soul” closes the curtains on the 27th Annual Chicago Blues Festival. He’s a bit placid on recordings, with Casio-grade keys punching along his zydeco-tinged Louisiana sass – funny because that’s how he got his start, playing keys for other bands. Soul is a fine R&B songsmith, though, and has recently made his debut on the mic, showcasing a sultry, Stevie Wonder croon he should have busted out in the first place, with quintessential swoon lyrics like “I’ve got to go to rehab, baby, just to get over you.”

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Follow Friday is an interview series in which each Chicago artist we talk to recommends a fellow local act.

This week’s guest: Roommate
Recommended by: Algernon

It’s not often that you can recommend a band to both Neil Young fanatics and Air fans. But Roommate splits the difference between intriguing, sometimes wistful lyricism and dark, dreamy electronic soundscapes. It’s all done with an intimacy that makes it easy to imagine how the band began as a solo recording project of Kent Lambert in Brooklyn, NY in 2001. Roommate is now five members strong (though many others have passed through its ranks in the last six years) and is readying its third full-length, Guilty Rainbow, for a fall release (you can check out a version of its closing track here, and download a bonus cover track here. Lambert took some time out from mixing to offer some tidbits about the group.

Describe your sound in 140 characters or less.
Synth-heavy groove-based soul-searching shape-shifting cinematic stoner-crooner pop music?

Where and when was your first show – and what was it like?
Our first show was on April 23, 2004 at the Hideout. It was a benefit for Video Mundi, a festival that I helped my friend Jim Finn organize. I started the show with a cover of Camper Van Beethoven’s “Sweethearts” that was just me singing along with beats and blips on a Gameboy. The rest of our set featured a rag-tag band of friends I plied into playing with me: Anton Hatwich on upright bass, Evelyn Weston on musical saw, Dewayne Slightweight on glockenspiel, “Uncle” Woody Sullender on banjo… and yours truly on the mic and keytar. We closed the set with a cover of Scott Walker’s “Thanks For Chicago, Mr. James” and I somehow had the nerve to get the crowd to join me in a tender sing-along for the finish. The Thin Man headlined and the show was a blast.

Name three of your favorite Chicago spots (bars, restaurants, venues, parks – whatever).

1. The Bloomingdale Trail
2. The patio at the Logan Square Small Bar
3. The Old Town Spice House

What Chicago artist/band should we interview next and why?
You should interview Love Raid. They are good friends of mine – all three of them are or have been heavily involved in Roommate, but you should interview them because they make really tight, effervescent pop music. Their song “Interview” is a first-rate jam that definitely warrants an interview with you.

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