The Underbelly Hours

Original air date August 11th, 2019.

The Underbelly Hours host one of those rare episodes with not two, but THREE feature band interviews. First up, loop-lover Quinn (or Iris Blue) tells us why dropping basketball kick-started his music career. Then, a quick check in with Pat McCloskey from First in Flight about touring and hardcore dance rock. Finally, the rock band from Hammond, Indiana show us all that, despite an intimidating name like Black Hand, they’re really just here to bring good times to audiences everywhere.

New Music by: Me’Lo the Generation Hero, First in Flight, and Superkick.

Original air date August 4th, 2019.

Snooze discuss math rock, and The Alibis grace us with stripped down folk rock. It’s a grand old time as our cheerful guests traverse topics ranging from concept albums and performance etiquette, to Yankee Candles and concrete house shows.

New music by: Speaking with Ghosts, The Darling Suns, and Katie Kadan.

Original air date July 21st, 2019.

Aaron Williams of the Homegrown Arts & Music Festival and Brian Shamie of Chicago Sound Check come together on air to talk about their individual projects, music loves, EDM fests, and most importantly, one of the biggest original music festivals in the Western Suburbs: the 7th Annual Homegrown Arts & Music Festival.

Special shoutout to Andy King, who was too sick to make it to this episode, and Matthew Kopecky, who was almost on this episode but will come back when he recovers from getting lost at Elmhurst College.

Original air date July 14th, 2019.

Haikus, song workshops, and fifteen years of making music. Adela sits down with Jenny Bienemann to discuss her recently released book of poetry, residencies at FitzGerald's Nightclub, the delicate art of simplicity, and how her creative journey in Chicago has lead her to where she is today.

Later, Michael Oldham comes on the show to talk about the impact of film soundtracks on his storytelling style, his favorite composers, directors, and some snips from his fantastic CD "In Select Theaters."

Original air date July 7th, 2019.

Adela is on her own this episode, so she takes full advantage of it by exploring strange subgenres of music. Specifically through a rant about nerdcore, sparked from a panel she attended with YT Cracker, MegaRan and MC Lars.

Later, an overview of the latest release release from ChinaRose, and album oozing with psychedelic garage rock titled “How Is It Now”, as well as a discussion with Waav of East Avenue about #trapgrunge.

Last year, Adela spent the whole day wandering around the Bitter Jester Music Festival, interviewing almost everyone she came into contact with, in a quest to find out why this now 14 year-old festival is so special to residents of Highland Park.

Original air date June 30th, 2019.

On this episode, Adela & Dan round up some of their favorite songs that have been released in the last eight months, and gush about some of the coolest festivals happening in the indie music scene this summer that you should not miss out on.

Plus, a special treat in the middle of the episode with as Nic and Michael from the Bitter Jester Music Festival join the show to explain this year's crazy wild card selection, and why you should make BJM Fest part of your 4th of July plans.

Original air date June 23th, 2019.

W. Dennis Perecevecz, the mastermind behind Merchants of Music Promotions, swings by with representatives from Alabaster and Captain Coopersmith to chat about MM's history, vision, and their fantastic roster of bands.

Later in the show, fresh faced funk jazz band The Guap Squad Gang reveals the hilarious origins of their band name, how they discovered Underbelly Hours through They Found Us, and share songs from their first mixtape.

Original air date June 16th, 2019.

What kind of music do you think of when you hear ginger-peach green tea and Ireland? How about bum fights and anti-depressants? Come find out why Mirabelle Skipworth and Nate Olsen (Lazarus Rocket) described their explorations into song writing in this manner. Two fun interviews, featuring a folk musician and an acoustic song-writer. Plus some new tunes by Violet Crime, Meghan & Caitlin, Chris Rawlins and Diamond Balazhi.

Original air date May 13th, 2019.

On this 2018 Mother’s Day episode, The Underbelly Hours delved into Local Motive’s discography with lead singer Mike Vinopal and his mother, while discussing his work with suicide prevention non-profit Hope for the Day. Then later, the space-rocking, deeply introspective, God Awful Small Affairs reveal a lot about their personalities and how writing brings them together.