Homewoodstock II to offer local bands three days of music

Thursday, July 19, 2001

By Jessi Virtusio

As people descend upon downtown Homewood for Homewood Days this weekend, Sputnik Coffeehouse is having a celebration of its own.

"Homewoodstock was a big success last year. We had three completely different events, and we also got to show the variety of music we can run through here," Johnnie Brazas, owner of the all-ages staple on Dixie Highway, says.

"There are a lot of people who come in during Homewood Days who don't come in during other times of the year," Brazas says. "I want them to get a good impression, and push the idea Sputnik is for everybody. Whatever your cup of tea is, we can put a slice of lemon in it."

Homewoodstock II, a three-day music festival, will touch upon an array of musical styles with Chicago musician Bobby "Slim" James headlining an all-star blues jam tonight.

"I always feel honored to be a part of anything that is progressive, and for people coming together in the spirit of communion and having fun," says James, who has been playing the blues for 30 years.

"I always feel good about being a part of any kind of community oriented presentation. There's a spirit involved in community activities, and everybody should tap into that spirit and just enjoy the camaraderie."

James says people will be moved by his live show.

"You can expect a dynamic, hard jivin', energy-oriented presentation. We mix it up. We can't please everybody, but we can try."

The next night, Day Old Brutus from Iowa and Deals Gone Bad from Chicago will present their ska stylings.

Mike Park, singer for Deals Gone Bad, said audiences can expect a "Caribbean, sort of piratey, rip-roarin' good time."

"You don't want to miss us. We're a thrill a minute. We're a nitro-packed funny car, a wild ride of a time with a little sprinkling of summer."

Park, who often played Off the Alley in Homewood, says he's happy to see Sputnik carrying on the all-ages torch.

"We love coming down there. There was sort of a lull there after Off the Alley went away. Sputnik's turned into quite the mecca. It's pretty cool."

Homewoodstock II will culminate Saturday with "Stoned," a Rolling Stones marathon featuring south suburban natives The Mushuganas.

The Seventies from Park Forest, Johnny Underdog from Chicago, Brazas' band Your Dad, Frederick from Homewood, Deadly Numbers from Lockport, Vilius from Flossmoor, Evergreen Terrace from Crete and The Bluerock Targets from Homewood are also on the Saturday bill.

Chris Sloan, rhythm guitarist for Vilius, says he's excited about playing Homewoodstock II since his band played the event's tribute to the Beatles last year.

"It was a good experience so I am really looking forward to it. We are looking forward to the Stones," the 18-year-old Flossmoor resident says.

"There is a lot of possibility to work with their stuff. I definitely respect them for their influence, and I think there can be a lot done with the cornerstones that they've set."

Sloan says the band's stage show offers something for everyone.

"We try to mix and match. There's more intimate moments, and there's more straight-out, high-energy parts. We try to have a good balance and good transition between the two."

Nida Prukpitikul, lead singer for Deadly Numbers, says she feels privileged that her band was chosen to play the Rolling Stones marathon, and to share a bill with The Mushuganas, a band she enjoys listening to.

With "Happy," "I am Waiting" and "19th Nervous Breakdown" covers in the works, Deadly Numbers will bring its punk touch to these Rolling Stones songs.

"It's a challenge, but it's just really fun. Covers are always fun," Prukpitikul says.

For the 18-year-old Frankfort resident, this will be her first time at Homewood Days and Homewoodstock.

"I heard Homewood Days is supposed to be really fun. There's a pretty good set of bands, and The Mushuganas are playing."

IF YOU GO ...

WHAT: Homewoodstock II, featuring Bobby "Slim" James and an all-star blues jam Thursday; Deals Gone Bad and Day Old Brutus Friday, and The Mushuganas, with The Seventies, Johnny Underdog, Your Dad, Frederick, Deadly Numbers, Vilius, Evergreen Terrace and The Bluerock Targets Saturday.
WHERE: Sputnik Coffeehouse, 18067 Dixie Highway, Homewood.
WHEN: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
TICKETS: $6 each night.
PHONE: (708) 922-9950.
WEB: www.sputnikcoffeehouse.com.


Jessi Virtusio may be reached at (708) 802-8854 or via e-mail at jvirtusio@starnewspapers.com



Where kids rock

May 18, 2001

BY JIM DeROGATIS POP MUSIC CRITIC

Though it's rarely written about because cultural commentators tend to be well over the legal drinking age, the 21-and-over law at most local music venues is perhaps the single biggest factor limiting the economic health and artistic vitality of rock today.

You can count on one hand the number of all-ages venues in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, and the few that do exist tend to be under constant siege from civic forces that are inordinately threatened by the sight of large groups of kids having good, loud fun.

So what can a poor (under-age) boy do if he wants to hear a rock 'n' roll band?

One option is to wait for big, corporate, all-day outdoor festivals like the Q101 Jamboree (which comes to the Tweeter Center on Saturday--more on that in a moment) or the Van's Warped Tour (which pulls into the same venue on July 15). But a much more adventurous route is to patronize the handful of all-ages venues that consistently respect the taste and intelligence of under-age audiences by offering more challenging bookings.

There's the Fireside Bowl, of course, for as long as it remains at 2648 W. Fullerton (the building is earmarked to be torn down by the city and the site turned into a park). But quickly rising to serve as its successor in terms of cool ambience and good bookings is the Sputnik Coffee House at 18067 S. Dixie Hwy. in south suburban Homewood.

With a richly colored blue-and-red decor maintaining a celestial and outer space theme, the Sputnik serves coffees, lattes, smoothies and Italian sodas (most less than $3) in lieu of booze, and it hosts local and touring punk and alternative-rock bands starting at 7:30 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights (cover charges range from $5 to $7).

Translated into teenspeak, all of this spells "paradise."

The Sputnik is owned by John Brazas. A Homewood native, he spent 20 years working in Los Angeles as a part-time musician and full-time painting contractor before returning to Illinois and realizing his dream of buying and updating a local coffeehouse. He started by booking jazz and blues, but he soon found that older audiences weren't particularly supportive. Kids like his 17-year-old daughter Tate were a different story.

"There really is nothing for kids," Brazas says. "We started doing rock shows here, and the kids started packing the place. Then we got more and more bands who wanted to play--they're coming from all over the country now on these low-level, lose-all-your-money kind of tours."

The venue got a big boost last summer when Green Day name-checked it from the stage at the New World Music Theatre. Since then, the bookings have grown even more impressive. Tonight the club hosts a hard-rocking triple bill of the Plain White T's, Amona and the

*Gels. Saturday night industrial-noise veteran-turned-lush-pop songsmith

*Chris Connelly headlines with opener

*Polyfuse, an atmospheric electronic band featuring Tate Brazas on vocals.

Other upcoming shows include

*Showoff and

*Twinstar on Monday;

*Don't Look Down and the

*Midwest Premiere Hardcore Showcase on May 25, and a

*Ramones tribute show on June 8. Check the Web site at www.sputnikcoffeehouse.com for a full calendar, or call (708) 922-9950.

* * *

As for the annual Jamboree, this year's lineup reflects the moribund, hype-crazed and artistically bankrupt state of modern-rock radio. With the notable exception of New Jersey's psychedelic gods

*Monster Magnet, who've released a contender for Album of the Year in the new "God Says No," the lineup is mostly bombastic but hollow testosterone rock--the new millennial equivalent of miserable '80s hair metal.

WKQX-FM (101.1) refuses to publish the set times on the two stages in advance of the show (for fear of fans skipping some acts?), but one can guess the rough running order by the way the bands are listed on the station's Web site, www.q101.com.

From the lesser talents to the "greater" (sic), they are local ``nu-metal" wannabes

*From Zero; Limp Bizkit favorites

*Cold; poseurs

*Lucky Boys

*Confusion from Highland Park and Downers Grove; California nu-metal frauds

A. ien Ant Farm; Monster Magnet, and Sony Records rap-rockers

*Crazy Town.

Also: Memphis rap-rockers

*Saliva; the preening alt-pop poseurs in

*Fuel; tired rappers

*Run-DMC; New England's

*Staind, another of Limp Bizkit's "discoveries"; rap-rockers

*Linkin Park; inexplicably angst-ridden nu-metallers

*Papa Roach, and finally Chicago's entry into the vapid nu-metal sweepstakes,

*Disturbed.

"Hey, Jim, try to remember what it was like when you were 18," Q101 program director Dave Richards told me when I contended that this year's Jamboree lineup is the station's all-time nadir. Actually, I do remember those days: Then as now, I'd have preferred pogoing to the punk rhythms over at the Sputnik Coffee House to marching to the corporate beat at the Tweeter Center.

Pop music critic Jim DeRogatis co-hosts "Sound Opinions," the world's only rock 'n' roll talk show, from 10 p.m. to midnight Tuesday on WXRT-FM (93.1). E-mail him at jimdero@aol.com or visit him on the Web at www.jimdero.com.



This band takes music real serious

Thursday, May 31, 2001

By Jessi Virtusio

With a musical wisdom beyond their years, the members of The Real Me keep it real.

Heartfelt songs and strong musicianship have helped vocalist Raman Sachdev, guitarist Russ Miller, bassist Erik Kasper, saxophone player Marcus Roberson and drummer Gabe Wallace ascend the local music scene with their "hybrid fusion."

"I believe that we add a lot of things to our music, not just one style. All of us have different backgrounds, and that gives us an advantage over other bands," says 19-year-old Roberson, a Markham resident.

Like most bands, The Real Me has graced the stages of local clubs and coffeehouses, but the band has also played a number of schools, including the D.A.R.E.-sponsored Arbor Park School Lock-In in Oak Forest late last month as well as Tinley Park and Peotone high schools.

Roberson, who is studying electronic engineering at DeVry Institute of Technology in Tinley Park, says he is looking forward to the band's return to Sputnik Coffeehouse in Homewood this weekend. The venue was the site of the first show he did with the group eight months ago.

"I got hooked playing with them the first time because we all were playing well together. The crowd liked us, and I liked playing there," he says.

Wallace, 17, adds, "We have a sound that really deserves attention or recognition. We're five serious people who want to pursue this seriously. I feel that we have something genuine to say as a band. It would be a very wonderful experience for people to come and hear our show."

The band, which has had everything from hula hoop contests to "national anthem"-sing-ing contests at its shows, actually dates back to a partnership between Tinley Park residents Kasper, 18, and Miller, 17. They began collaborating in 1999 and played in a couple of garage bands prior to the inception of The Real Me.

Kasper says he enjoys the camaraderie that his bandmates have together.

"I like hanging out with the guys and playing music because it's something that I love," the Tinley Park High School senior says.

"We all get along so well together. We enjoy the music that we play. Even though we come from different backgrounds, that gives us totally different personalities. You can totally tell that on stage. We compliment each other extremely well."

The Real Me's lineup solidified a few months ago when Sachdev, 18, joined the band after hearing about an opening from his choir director at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, where he is a senior.

"Things clicked and went good. Whenever we play together, we come together and we have a lot of fun. Even when we're playing, we're always inputting different music and things to make us sound better," the Flossmoor resident says.

Sachdev quickly brought in Wallace, a Glenwood resident, to the fold and the lineup was complete.

"I felt an instant chemistry right away. Not even many words were said. We got together, sat down and played. It was like a love at first experience kind of thing. I just felt that kind of energy and chemistry with the guys.

It was a really addictive experience," says Wallace, a junior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

Miller, the main songwriter for the group, says he finds inspiration for his music everywhere.

"I'll be sitting in some parking lot in a car and get an idea and write it on my hand. I always have a pen and a guitar pick. It's just anywhere about anything, a lot of stuff about the way we live our lives," the Tinley Park High School junior says.

The Real Me, which has been featured on college radio stations as well as 96.7-FM Will Rock and The Loop, also has family ties for Miller, whose mother, Sharon, serves as the band's manager. He says he is hoping that with his mother's help as well as the band's talent, the group will go quite far.

"A lot of other bands are just in it to just play at a couple of places and get drunk on the weekend. We want to actually succeed and make this our career and be proud of what we do," Miller says.

IF YOU GO...

WHAT: The Cancer Merchants, The Real Me and King Video. WHERE: Sputnik Coffeehouse, 18067 Dixie Highway, Homewood. WHEN: Friday at 7:30 p.m. TICKETS: $6. PHONE: (708) 922-9950. WEB: www.sputnikcoffeehouse.com

Jessi Virtusio may be reached at (708) 802-8854 or e-mail at jvirtusio@starnewspapers.com



Two guitarists from Lowell play ferocious guitar tracks at Sputnik Coffeehouse

Thursday, October 19, 2000

Forget that Jason Fredericks and Jason Vargo are years apart in age.

Fredericks is 25; Vargo is 17.

The Lowell, Ind., musicians have proven they are in sync when they play their driving, instrumental guitar tracks.

For a year, Fredericks and Vargo have been thrilling audiences at Sputnik Coffeehouse with their energetic mixture of California surfer music and spacy rock 'n' roll.

Wearing weird masks and using space-age props, Fredericks and Vargo perform the '60s-flavored guitar music that rode a second wave of popularity in the movie "Pulp Fiction."

Cultivating their tunes on the open mike stage, and calling themselves Reverb Injection, the Indiana musicians will present tracks from their first demo CD tonight at 8 at Sputnik Coffeehouse, 18067 Dixie Highway, Homewood. Admission is $3.

Fredericks says he and Vargo love the fast rhythms of surfer music. They can slide their hands up and down their guitars, and then do some really fast picking.

"It's really fun to play," Fredericks says. "It translates easily because words don't get in the way."

Fredericks had played in other rock bands, but he and Vargo have the best musical chemistry.

"I just think Josh is pretty mature for his age," Fredericks says. "He's really into the music, like me."

Fredericks only took a few guitar lessons.

He says he could not stand the idea of someone telling him how to play the guitar.

Vargo turned to surfer music because he knew he could really kick out the adrenaline, and play the guitar ferociously fast.

Fredericks and Vargo sound more like a band than a guitar duo, when they crank up their amplifiers and perform their barreling guitar rhythms.

Right now, they're using a drum machine. But Fredericks says they are looking for a drummer.

Fredericks says he and Vargo are surprised. They knew they sounded good together but were not sure if audiences would feel the same way.

The Reverb Injection's demo recording is selling like hotcakes. He says he and Vargo are almost out of demo compact disks and might have to consider having more made.

"Hopefully, we'll get more shows and get a fan base together," Fredericks says.

But among the regulars at Sputnik, the boys from Lowell are already celebrities.

"The crowds have always been nice to us," Fredericks says. "People just love the energy of this music."

-- Terry Loncaric



Nirvana-Rama unveiled at Sputnik Coffeehouse

Thursday, September 28, 2000

The wheels never stop turning for Johnny Brazas.

The owner of Sputnik Coffeehouse has tried jazz and java, drive-in movie nights and open mikes.

Now Brazas unveils his latest musical tribute : "Nirvana-Rama."

This won't mean anything to you if you're not a fan of Kurt Cobain's pain-tinged, grunge music.

But if you followed the life, tragic death and the ground-breaking hits of Cobain and his band, Nirvana, then you just might remember it is the ninth anniversary of the release of "Nevermind," the album that set the standard for the grunge sound.

Brazas is inviting nine local bands to perform Nirvana's edgy tracks Saturday from 8 p.m. to midnight at his Homewood cafe, 18067 Dixie Highway. Brazas will introduce the bands and will even give a $50 cash prize to the performer or audience member who most looks like Kurt Cobain.

Tickets are $6, with some of the proceeds supporting Life : It's Worth It, an agency that helps suicidal youngsters.

Brazas already paid tribute to the Beatles and felt it made sense to honor the music of Cobain. "I realized that Nirvana is to my daughter's generation what the Beatles are to me," he says. "A lot of people have compared Kurt Cobain to John Lennon."

Brazas is glad all the bands who want to perform are not Nirvana clones. Then all of the music might sound alike. He emphasizes Nirvana songs have great pop melodies and can be performed in a variety of styles. "If it's a good song you could play it reggae, you could play it country, you could play it any style," Brazas says. "Kurt Cobain had songs you could play acoustically.

"I've talked to a lot of the bands who have already played here," Brazas says. He even recruited a DJ to spin a Nirvana dance mix. He is hoping a local surfer band will also show up.

"You never know what's going to happen at these events," Brazas says. "That's half the fun."

-- Terry Loncaric



Lance and the BoBoys like to shatter musical boundaries

Thursday, October 26, 2000

By Jessi Virtusio

Horns without ska, distortion without metal, strings without sleep. That's the way the members of local band Lance and the BoBoys describe their music.

"I think it's so cool that people have a difficult time describing what our music is, but still manage to enjoy it, says the group's founder, Lance Ayers, who simply goes by Lance.

The 26-year-old Chicago resident sings and plays guitar, as well as occasional keyboards and percussion for the group. He also writes all of the music for the ensemble, which features eight members from the suburbs and Chicago.

"What I like most is we have an established camaraderie. I can see myself 25 years from now accepting an award at the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame with these people," he said.

The group, which has been playing together since earlier this year, has brought its talent to stages as far away as Michigan and downstate Illinois, and as close as O'Malleys in Alsip, Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Sluggers in Orland Park and Mojoe's in Tinley Park.

And Lance and the BoBoys is gearing up for a Saturday night gig at Sputnik's in Homewood, where the band will open for the Gels and headliners, the Tossers.

"Sputnik Coffeehouse is probably one of the coolest places because they have a great crowd and a great atmosphere. And as far as treating the bands, they're really good to us," says 23-year-old Bolingbrook resident Rebekah Olsen, who plays trumpet in the group.

Lance adds, "Always when we play Sputnik Coffeehouse it's amazing. Those places are great to play in, mostly because I get to establish more of a personal relationship with the people in the room."

The namesake of the band has been playing music since the age of 3.

"I played in pretty much everything I could get into. I was in choirs. I played for my church and I played for my school," Lance says.

In high school, he took up the bass guitar, drums, keyboards, the saxophone, and even working with sound equipment.

Although Lance started writing music around the age of 13, he didn't find his true musical voice until the age of 19, when he was a student at St. Xavier University.

His tenure at the Chicago school helped to connect him with some of his bandmates, including Blue Island resident Ramon Esparza, who both manages and plays baritone saxophone for the group.

Esparza, 25, and Lance first met in 1993, when they teamed up in speech class at SXU. They went on to perform together in the SXU marching band, jazz band and chamber singers.

While they parted ways for a bit after graduating from SXU in 1998, they reunited their musical partnership in 1999 when Lance asked Esparza to manage the group.

Esparza says he likes the opportunity to get the audience involved with the group's music.

"It gives me a chance to express myself on stage, and people see I am having a good time," he says. "When I was managing, I'd be in the crowd dancing. And now that I do it on stage, we get more people out there into it."

Esparza, who along with Lance handles the booking for the band, says he would like to see Lance and the BoBoys play stages throughout the country.

"I want to tour and get on the road. I am just hoping that people are receptive to us everywhere, as they have been here," he says.

The SXU connection also helped to hook Lance up with bassist Daniel Lichter and part-time backup vocalist Kate Swem.

Like others in the group, Oak Lawn resident Lichter, 27, raves about Lance's songwriting ability.

"His music is wonderful. He's just got something in his music and his talent that I can't resist," says Lichter, who is also the assistant director of information services at SXU.

"I've known a lot of musicians, and out of everyone I've worked with, he's got the most talent and the most drive. I really think that Lance can get signed and be a very successful musician."

Swem, 20, concurs.

"I would just love to see Lance get the recognition that he deserves," the SXU student says.

Plans are already in the works for Lance and the BoBoys to play in North Carolina next month, and long-range plans include traveling to other states in 2001.

Burnham resident Kelsey Tarver, the band's 22-year-old drummer, says he hopes the success Lance and the BoBoys has seen so far just increases.

"I hope we make it big. I hope Lance makes it because he's a great writer, and I just hope to be there as the drummer and the partner in crime," Tarver says.

The ensemble includes Oak Lawn resident Paul Casey (alto saxophone) and Kate Christenson (alto saxophone and guitar), who moved from Minnesota to the Chicago area to perform with the band.

According to Lance, the group has amassed a strong out-of-state following due to the Lance and the BoBoys Web site, which has received more than thsousand hits since its inception. The site is at www.nformgroup.com/lance.

While Lance and the BoBoys has been pushing its self-financed release, "Picadilly Circus Station," the group is already setting its sights on working on a new release.

The band is going into Chicago's Airwave Studio in December to begin recording "24 Hours." The self-financed, double-disc collection has an anticipated street date of May, 2001.

© 2001 Sputnik