First things first, The Locals would like to with everyone a very Happy New Year and thank everyone who came out to the shows in ’08. Tune in Friday, Jan 2nd at 5pm CST to hear The Locals live on WLUW 88.7 FM (Chicago). We’ll be stopping by to chat with our buddies Razor and Di.
Sorry for the delay in getting you all the information for our slot opening for Rusted Root. We are playing from 7:00 pm- 7:30pm. Hope to see you all there!
There is this rumor going around that music is dead. I keep hearing that “kids” don’t really appreciate music anymore, that they think it’s just “free” and if it’s not free they have zero problem just stealing it. Well, there is a dude in PA who is here to put that rumor to rest. And I think, he’s just one of MANY who still get off on discovering new indie music, who understand what it’s about, and are totally willing to help support artists by paying for it. Yeah, maybe the crowd just got tougher, because it’s more than easy to get your hands on music for free, but I think it’s people like these online indie radio hosts that will keep indie bands afloat, that will still pass the word along to friends and pack out clubs all over the world. That being said please:
We’ll be doing an interview tonight w/ the online radio program, “New Music Inferno”. The interview will start @ 8:30pm (central standard time). You can call in with questions, or even create a profile and chat online during the show.
Head on over to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/newmusicinferno (click on the rss feed link to hear the show). You can also IM us while we’re on by registering and hitting “chat”
“Imagine a rawer, moodier Gwen Stefani at the helm of straight-up, stripped down alternative pop, and you’ll get a pretty good idea of what Chicago’s The Locals deliver on “Big Picture, their fourth and most recent LP. While the band has been around since 1996, this release marks a change in direction, finding front woman Yvonne Doll and the rest of the band moving from a singer-songwriter sound into a more driving, guitar-heavy territory.There are obvious 90s rock influences here, at times bringing to mind acts such as Juliana Hatfield, The Breeders and Joydrop, but The Locals exude enough confidence throughout to own the material. Doll’s vocals come across as heartfelt and convincing, while the band is tight and the production is strong.
The CD’s most notable moments come when the band strives for a poppier, hook-heavy sound, as evidenced on catchy album opener “Tidal Wave” and the sprightly “Sign of Things to Come.” Quieter, more subtle tracks, such as the title track, help round out the disc’s sound, but are more likely to take a few spins to click.
Fans of straightforward, 90s-esque alternative and female fronted-rock should find much to like about The Locals and their latest project.
Check out the band live on January 8 at Martyrs’ and February 21 at Subterranean.”
–
Chicago Rock Music Examiner Dec 7., 2008 5:10pm
We’re really exicted announce that we’ve just been added to the Rusted Root show at The Rave in Milwaukee on Dec. 29th! We’ll have some tix on the cheap and more information very soon!
The Locals are featured on this months “Cherrygrrl.com” you can also read an interview with Yvonne. Here is an excerpt:
November 30, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Fronted by singer and songwriter Yvonne Doll, the Locals have been a part of the Chicago music scene for the last decade. With three talented musicians who together share a passion for the unique and exciting sound that they create, the band has earned themselves a dedicated fan base while playing extensively in the Midwest. Once a four piece, the Locals have downsized and are now made up of Doll, bassist and long-term partner of Doll, Christy Nunes, and drummer Kirk Snedeker. Cherry Grrl recently interviewed Doll about…”
Read the whole article and interview on Cherrygrrl.com!
So we’re doing this gig on 12/5/08 at The Elbo Room and it just so happens a snappy, sassy band called “The Moves” is having their cd release party that night. We decided it’s best to get to know these “Moves” and find out just how good of “Moves” we are talking about. (You know, so Kirk can be practicing the right routine for this show. I mean we don’t wanna look like no hay-seeds!).
Here is what we found out about “The Moves”
Q1: So Moves, (can I call you just Moves?) Dec 5th is your cd release? What’s the name of the disc and is it your first, second, 9th release?
You can call us whatever you like there Suzie *wink*. The name of our disk is “One Two Three Four” and it is our first professionally recorded EP. 4 songs, all rock.
Q2: How would you describe your music to a yetti who’s been living alone on a mountain with only spam and cashews to eat for the last 5 years?
We weren’t aware of such a yetti-heavy fanbase in Chicago, but here goes: We are a 3-piece pop band who call to mind early INXS and U2 as well as newer 3-piece punk bands like Jawbreaker and Green Day. We use electronic instrumentation (strings, synths) to beef up our sound.
Q3: “The Moves” that is a bold band name. How good are these moves you have and can The Locals fans expect some “wicked fly moves” at your show. Follow up question, and of all the people with “great moves” who would you say has most inspired your moves?
Our moves are the best you’ve ever seen. They are so good they could send a million yettis into a frenzy of cashew and spam binging. Most of all, we are inspired by all the nameless, hardworking yettis whose spam is rotten and cashews are stale. Keep on keepin’ on yetti bretheren!
Big Picture, the music video.
We got to work with two talented director / producers, Gen and Jerry from Metrospace Media, and had a lot of fun in the process. The whole video was shot in 2 ½ really long days, fueled by a ton of coffee, ridiculous jokes and general silliness. Stay tuned for the behind the scenes footage that will make itself to the web in the next week or two.
Day 1 was shot at the Metrospace Media studio. This is where we filmed all of the black and white footage you see in the chorus sections. We wanted to do something interesting and moody for these sections, so Metrospace came up with the idea of lighting these shots manually with flashlights. Gen brought in about 6 of her close friends, we armed them with 2 flashlights each and had them surround us in the pitch dark studio. Jerry then strategically placed each “flashlight technician” and was yelling out direction on where to aim the lights, when to move the lights, etc. It was obviously a pretty organic process, but the end result was the look we were after.
Day 2 started at 7am and went until about 6pm. We had two locations to get….the bar footage, which was shot at Reggie’s Rock Club on S. State street and the outdoor footage which took place at a local forest preserve. Shooting at the forest preserve was crazy, as it took place right after a lot of the flooding that took place in Illinois this fall. The forest preserve was dry for the most part, but due to the earlier flooding there were swarms of mosquitoes. Not just mosquitoes, but MOSQUITOS! These things were huge!! Gen ended up covered in bites, including an attractively large one on her neck. Yvonne ended up with a third elbow! Most of the footage we ended up being us swatting at insects. In fact if you look closely at the shots we did use in the video, there is one where Kirk is actually using the drumstick to knock a mosquito off of his neck. A lot of day 3 was spent scratching…
Day 3 was the longest, we shot from 8am until about 10pm. Again, we had two locations to nail…the first were the warehouse shots done at Freedman Seating on the west side of the city and the 2nd were the office scenes at the Tribune building downtown. The Tribune was interesting because we were so slap happy after 3 days of shooting we all just got a little bizarre (again, check back for the behind the scenes footage coming soon). As it got later into the evening, a few office workers dropped by to do some work, only to find the space taken over by a band filming a video. Not a usual Sunday night at the Tribune.
Check out the video and drop us your thoughts.
The Locals
Catch the last show of 08 at The Elbo Room on Fri Dec 6th! We’ll be pulling out our fav holiday tune and maybe a new song…… hope to see you there.
12/5/08
The Elbo Room, 2871 n Lincoln, Chicago Il 10pm
with: The Moves (cd release), Cut and Run, The Curbsides, Rachel Zystra
