AUX Populi

This week, after a busy week off, Andy returns with four members of the indie rock band, The Darling Suns. With Rob Krause, John Stenger, Lindsey Ward, and Charlie Dresser on deck, the discussion moves through all the usual pathways, taking an extra glance at depression and addiction, and finally ending on their newest (soon to be released) single, “Afterglow”. Single release event will be held on November 23rd at the Cubby Bear in Chicago, same day as the single will be available for streaming and downloading.

Stay tuned after the episode for a special clip from the single “Afterglow”.

This week, Andy is joined by musicians Taylor Ford and Paul Sottnik, from Mela Collective. Though Mela Collective began its life as the band Mela, based out of NY, it has since transformed into an artist collective, with the goal of providing recording/production, booking/gigging, promotion/distribution, live sound, audio for film and visual media, songwriting, and composition.

Stay tuned after the show for two original tracks from Taylor Ford, Paul Sottnik, and Mela. The first track is titled “Tourmaline”, and the second is “Nomad”.

On the show this week is musician and intellectual property lawyer Andrew Fraker. Andrew has been part of several bands over the years, most recently being the band Andrew Fraker & Sons. Andrew can also be seen performing most Friday night at The Butcher’s Tap on Southport in Chicago.

Stay tuned after the show for two tracks from Andrew Fraker & Sons, the first titled “South of San Antonio”, and the second “One Hard Lesson”.

On this week’s episode, Andy traveled further into edges of Chicago than he’s ever been before to sit down with artist Hollie Davis. Hollie is the second artist Andy met and has interviewed from last month’s RAW Artists event at Metro in Chicago. Hollie, a painter, is a lifelong student of art, and has a special interest in art’s relation to cultures.

After a week off, Andy is back this week with a guest he met at September’s RAW Artists event at Metro in Chicago. Columbia College Chicago student Megan Troglio (aka, Trogs) is an artist, content creator, and model. Full of light, energy, and ideals, Megan focuses primarily on digital art, and turning the internet into her own canvas.

This week, Bitter Jester Studios co-founder Nic DeGrazia recounts his introduction to the arts through Highland Park High School's FOCUS on the Arts program. Nic is also the founder of Highland Park's Bitter Jester Music Festival, which is not only a music festival, but an empowering process that provides bands and musicians with a positive platform and in-depth critiques.

This week, Andy travelled down to Joliet to chat with singer-songwriter, Rob Fishbeck. Though listed online as a Country Rock and Americana singer-songwriter, Rob prefers not to define his music by genre, but rather lets the music speak for itself. Rob is also the co-host of the podcast Mandate Movies, alongside Ben Arguelles from DZ Records.

Stay tuned after the episode for two original tracks from Rob Fishbeck’s debut album Tomorrow is Forever, the first titled “Try”, and the second “Damp”.

This week, Andy sat down with the first non-music related guest of AUX Populi, Trevor Kezon. Trevor is an LA-based writer, and author of the recent NY Times essay “How Sumo Taught Me to Love the Gym”. He is also another one of Andy’s old Columbia College roommates named Trevor, the other being multi-appearance guest Trevor McCandless (making his fifth appearance on the show today via speakerphone).

This week, Andy took several trains to sit down and chat with West Chicago rock band, Loose Cannons. Lead vocalist John Lutgen appeared previously on the Homegrown episode of AUX Populi, and this time he’s joined by bandmates Ben Thompson, Brian Buchna, and Dave Maday. Life may take many twists and turns, but it’s from those experiences that vocalist John, drummer Ben, guitarist Brian, and bassist Dave became the Loose Cannons.

Stay tuned after the episode for two original tracks from Loose Cannons, the first titled “Secret”, and the second “Hanging Around with Me”.

This week, Andy sat down with Kira Annalee to discuss her evolution of as a singer-songwriter, and why music is her “everything”. Though collaboration and being part of a group is very important to her, Kira is also currently working on her self-titled EP, which is due out either late 2019 or early 2020.

Stay tuned after the episode for a clip from Kira’s song “Beautiful Isolation”, and a full song titled “Green Peace”.