This week, Features director Marjorie Alford speaks with Angel Lunetta of Chicago-based ethereal experimental metal band Alenia. They discuss the band’s inception and current line-up, their song writing process, Angel’s one woman production company Voodoo Masochist Productions, and advice for artists looking to break into the scene.

"I think it’s very important to be patient with yourself because being an artist, any type of artist, is a whole process." - Angel Lunetta of Alenia

Produced by Marjorie Alford.

Photo Credit: 106 Fever

This week, Features contributor Liz Mason speaks with vocalist and multidisciplinary artist Shami of Mother Fortune, a Chicago-based five-piece hip hop cooperative. They discuss Shami's elaborate and intentional stage presence, the band's collaborative songwriting process, and his work on the online sex positive zine, Zig Zag Sex Mag.

"I'm just fortunate to be one of the gears in this clock that is Chicago music." - Shami of Mother Fortune

Produced by Liz Mason.

Photo Credit: Lex Vasquez

For a transcript of this interview, visit the blog.

This week, Features contributor Sophia Ramirez speaks with multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator, recording artist & hearing conservation advocate Joel Styzens. They discuss the collections of quiet moments that make up his newest release, Resonance, and how his battle with tinnitus helped him discover his voice as a composer.

"Sometimes the smallest moments can sometimes be the most powerful, or the most moving or inspiring." - Joel Styzens

Produced by Sophia Ramirez.

Photo Credit: Sarah Boudreau

Joel is performing October 16th at the Cliff Dwellers in Chicago and November 2nd at The Blue Strawberry in St. Louis, MO.

This week, Features contributor Michal Gliszewski talks with Jay Post & Jimmi Gordon of Chicago based experimental hip-hop group OutPastMidnight. They discuss Jay and Jimmy's fated meeting in poetry club in high school, how a love of the literary arts built the foundation for OutPastMidnight, the importance of open mics for the community, and the in-and-outs of their latest album Super Stereo Brothers. 

"I feel like a lot of the poetry culture in this city - gave life to the mundane. So you're able to write what's under your nose and make it something people can relate to." - Jay Post of OutPastMidnight

Produced by Brian Szpak.

Photo Credit: Dan Merlo 

This week, Features contributor Alyssa Edes speaks with Jen Dot of the newly reunited and Chicago-based beastii. They discuss their newest LP, Follower, Jen's book Hit Girls: Women of Punk in the USA, 1975-1983 that covers the women who started Punk music, and her unlikely sources of inspiration for songwriting, like lyrics she wrote as a seven year old.

"This is actually the first album I've conceptualized since I wrote the book, and since I was immersed in those artists' work.  I'm being my authentic self, but I'm also carrying a torch." - Jen Dot of beastii

Produced by Alyssa Edes.

Photo Credit: Chris Nightengale

Soli Santos is a native Chicagoan and graduate of The Second City Theater. She's a co-producer of The Laugh Lounge Comedy show and has performed at various comedy clubs across the country such as The Laugh Factory, The Laughing Skull and The LA Comedy Club. 

Follow her on IG: @SoliComedy

The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs in Chicago's North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by any cover of the storyteller's choosing, performed by our house band, The First Time Three.

The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Production by Andy Vasoyan and Executive Producer Bobby Evers. Podcast produced by Andy Vasoyan. Recorded by Tony Baker.

Megan Kirby is an artist, writer, and zinemaker. She has published in places like The New York Times, The Chicago Reader, TIME Magazine, and McSweeney's.

Kirby runs a zinemaking and storytelling show called Meanwhile. In her daily life, she likes long walks, thrift stores, pop music, and sleeping in. 

The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs in Chicago's North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by any cover of the storyteller's choosing, performed by our house band, The First Time Three.

The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Production by Andy Vasoyan and Executive Producer Bobby Evers. Podcast produced by Andy Vasoyan. Recorded by Tony Baker.

Hope Rehak is a lifelong Chicagoan who keeps leaving and coming back. She sometimes lives in LA, but is thrilled to be here today. She used to be young and perform stand-up before the pandemic and is now an agèd hermit.

She regularly teaches comedy and creative writing online and in person. She wrote this bio when she was single so feel free to flirt harmlessly. 

The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs in Chicago's North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by any cover of the storyteller's choosing, performed by our house band, The First Time Three.

The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Production by Andy Vasoyan and Executive Producer Bobby Evers. Podcast produced by Andy Vasoyan. Recorded by Tony Baker.

Fraxiom is a writer, producer, and performer of music and musical ideas. With hits early in their career like the seminal 21st-century anthem "Thos Moser" as part of Food House (Fraxiom's duo project with super-producer Gupi) and the cheeky Skrillex reprise "scawy monstews and nice spwites :3," Fraxiom's stardom ignited brightly in early 2020 and was catapulted into the Fifth Dimension.

Since then, having toured the US coast-to-coast, having sold out shows across the UK, and enjoying nods from Dog Show Records founder Dylan Brady and PC Music founder A.G. Cook, Fraxiom is a luminous, musical force to be reckoned with.

The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs in Chicago's North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by any cover of the storyteller's choosing, performed by our house band, The First Time Three.

The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Production by Andy Vasoyan and Executive Producer Bobby Evers. Podcast produced by Andy Vasoyan. Recorded by Tony Baker.

Ashir Badami is quite likely the least interesting person in the room. His only claim to fame is bouncing around South and South East Asia as a kid with his family before somehow landing in Malta where the azure blue seas turned his wanderlust into a love of travel writing and poetry. He has lived in the shadows as a closet writer, and aspiring journalist (Go Medill!), and his passion for writing and literature has endured parochial boarding schools in South India (where Kerouac was banned) and even the vagaries of the West Coast Tech Bro scene where he made his living as a marketing zombie.

He recently returned to the Chicago area with his amazing wife and highly-entertaining five-year-old. He currently teaches media innovation at his alma mater, the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. 

The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs in Chicago's North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by any cover of the storyteller's choosing, performed by our house band, The First Time Three.

The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Production by Andy Vasoyan and Executive Producer Bobby Evers. Podcast produced by Andy Vasoyan. Recorded by Tony Baker.