Peter Jesperson has had an incredible career in music. Initially inspired by watching The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, Peter took a job at legendary record store Oar Folkjokeopus in 1973 and became the primary DJ at Jay’s Longhorn in 1977. He was a co-founder of Twin / Tone Records the following year. Along the way, Paul Westerberg dropped off the famous demo tape for The Replacements. Peter eventually became the manager for the ‘Mats and spent time of the road with R.E.M. After overcoming some personal issues (he’s now been 33 years sober!), Peter moved to LA and worked with New West Records and with artists like Vic Chesnutt, Jack Logan, The Flatlanders and many more. Most recently, he has written a fabulous new book, Euphoric Recall. Mark and Tom talk about Peter’s life (plus a few Chicago stories).

Mike Maple started Liquid Mike in 2021. In that short time, the band has already put out five albums of songs - including their most recent one, Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot. Hailing from Marquette, Michigan (that’s the Upper Peninsula, folks), Mike balances his job as a mailman with writing a ton of songs, playing guitar, singing and touring. You can check them out in Chicago at Concord Hall on Dec 11th. Give this one a listen!

Mark and Tom welcome Elizabeth Moen to the show this time! Originally from Iowa, she now calls Chicago home. Her self-titled first album was released in 2016 and her latest, Live at Lincoln Hall came out earlier this year. She’s working on a new one with Spencer Tweedy producing. Mark and Tom talk about that, as well as her story about meeting Eddie Vedder, her current tour with Jeff Tweedy and her love for Bruce Springsteen’s music. She also has a new single out in advance of her big show at Empty Bottle on 11/16. As always, she shares her thoughts about Chicago! 

Ian Robinson has been performing as Black Guy Fawkes for almost ten years now. He joins us on the podcast to talk about his musical journey, meeting Frank Turner , his challenges as a black artist and the battle to maintain positive mental health. Ian is working on a new album and also has a great podcast called “Fawkes & Friends”. He’ll be playing the Color Club in Chicago in October.

We are very pleased to have Abby Monroe and Josh Dihle on the show for our 50th. Abby and Josh are the owners of Color Club, a Chicago venue that hosts an eclectic array of events. In 2020, they purchased the building on Elston Avenue that previously was home to the Chicago Latvian Association. Their intention was to create "a gathering space for Chicago's creative community." Mark and Tom with them talk about how they have done just that - hosting all sorts of events - poetry, dance, art, music and more. And, of course, we talk about how they came to open "The Sugar Hole" - the world's only puppet powered ice cream walk-up window. And they also tell us what they love about Chicago.

John Mohr and Mike Greenlees have been playing music together for a long time. They first got together in Dekalb, Illinois at Northern Illinois University in 1983 with the band Blatant Dissent. In 1988, they transitioned to the post-hardcore band Tar, based in Chicago. And now, in 2024, they’ve released a fantastic new album with their latest quartet, Deep Tunnel Project , with Jeff Dean and Tim Midyett. We talked with John and Mike about how this all happened - and shared our mutual love of Chicago

Tom and Mark are excited to have Dean Zelinsky on the show. While still in his teens, Dean founded his first guitar company, Dean Guitars, starting it from scratch. He talks to us about how a couple of trips to the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan inspired his dream. After setting up his first factory in Evanston, Illinois, Dean went on to build iconic guitars for musicians like Dimebag Darrel, Billy Gibbons, Michael Schenker, Leslie West and Brad Paisley. Dean later moved on and currently builds guitars as Dean Zelinsky Private Label Guitars. He shares with us some of the innovations he’s incorporated into his latest designs. They also talk about a few crazy stories and some of his favorite things about Chicago. Dean also has his own podcast, The Dean Zelinsky Show and you can hear even more stories about his guitar journey at his website.

Taylor Hales is the studio manager and recording & mixing engineer at the world-famous Electrical Audio recording studio. He also fills a bunch of other roles at the studio. Tom and Mark talked with Taylor about how he got his start in music and his internship at Electrical Audio. He filled us in on the inner workings at the studio. He also shared many stories about his boss and friend Steve Albini. This was an emotional episode, and we are so grateful to Taylor for sharing with us.

Brandon Lewis of Punkerton Records joins Mark and Tom for the latest After Hours episode. Brandon’s record label is out of Ohio and supports a number of awesome punk rock bands. It’s a labor of love for him and he works hard to provide full support to his bands - from recording, to artwork, to tour bookings and more. Four Punkerton Records bands will be playing the upcoming fForest Fest in Morris, IL on June 1st!

Stacey Dee is a singer and guitar player in the California punk band Bad Cop / Bad Cop . She’s also known affectionately as Stacy F*****g Dee because, well, she’s a badass! She’s been playing in punk bands for a while now and Bad Cop / Bad Cop is one of the best. They’ve already put out 3 great LP’s - Not Sorry, Warriors and The Ride - and they’ve got a new one in the works. Stacey shared some great stories here, including some of her struggles, and how she’s in a great spot now. Fuck yeah!!!

Jon Snodgrass has a unique way of looking at life. He joins Mark and Tom on this episode and they talk about his philosophy about music, money, baseball and so much more. Jon has a lot of friends and sometimes has them play on his records - like Frank Turner. And Jon has a new record out, barge at will with Bill Stevenson (Descendents) on drums & bass. We also talk about all the things that Jon loves about Chicago.

Growing up in Mattoon, IL, Rick Sims spent his early years drinking beer, smoking dope and practicing in the chicken shed in Sullivan, IL with his brother Brad). Joined by Doug Evans, they put together some crazy-ass music and the Didjits were born! From 1986 thru 1993, they put out five great records, including Hey Judester. Mark and Tom talk with Rick about how those records came to be made and also get into some stories about the intensely crazy live Didjits shows. The No Wristbands team are all stoked about the new Didjits Record Store Day release of Strictly Dynamite: The Best of Didjits coming out 4/20/2024. Of course, Rick talks about all things Chicago - and left everyone wondering is Rick going to play live again???

Sean O'Keefe joins Mark and Tom for episode number 42. Growing up in Wilmette, IL, Sean dropped out of Columbia College in Chicago to record his friends’ bands. He talks about how he came to produce Take This To Your Grave for his friends, Fall Out Boy. He also discusses what’s involved in producing, engineering and mixing a record. Sean has worked with a ton of other bands, including Hawthorne Heights, Motion City Soundtrack, The Hush Sound and Beach Bunny. He also co-produced “Hey There Delilah” for Plain White T’s.

Jason Narducy has carved out quite a career for himself in music. His first band, Verboten (which he began as a pre-teen), was influential in getting Dave Grohl started in music. Subsequently he formed the acoustic duo Jason & Alison, Verbow, Rockets Over Sweden and his current project, Split Single. He’s also played with or toured with the likes of Bob Mould , Superchunk, Sunny Day Real Estate , Robert Pollard, Eddie Vedder, Liz Phair, The Pretenders and more. He’s got some big 2024 plans, including a tour booked with Michael Shannon where they perform REM‘s Murmur album. He joins Mark and Tom on the pod for a fun conversation.

Welcome to 2024 and the 40th episode of No Wristbands! Ken Draznik and James Wald from one of our favorite bands of all-time, The Vertebrats from Champaign, IL join Tom and Mark on the podcast. They talk about how they got together with Matt Brandabur and Roy Axford and helped create a vibrant DIY music scene in Champaign-Urbana. They also talk about how their short 3-year career created a legion of fans that have continued to love them and influenced a generation of C-U bands. In recent times, Kenny and Jimmy have recorded music as The Surly Bells and are looking for an avenue to release their new music. Enjoy!

Did you ever wish you had your own music festival? Well, our friends Stacey & Erik Olson are living the dream! In 2022 they put together the first fForest Fest in Morris, Illinois with a few of their favorite punk/folk/Celtic bands. Mark and Tom talked with them about what it takes to run a festival, what makes fForest Fest different and what plans they have as they grow this thing. And they are announcing their 2024 lineup here - see you in Morris on June 1st, 2024!

Bruce Finkelman decided on a late night drive down Western Avenue to open his iconic Chicago music club, Empty Bottle. So he took the $942 he had in savings and made the plunge. Thirty years later, he's transformed that into the hospitality collective, 16 on Center, which includes a host of music venues and restaurants. Thalia Hall, SPACE, The Salt Shed, Longman and Eagle, Dusek's, Revival Food Hall and much more. We talked with Bruce about his love of music and how this all came about. And, of course, we talked about Chicago.

In our latest episode of No Wristbands! After Hours, Tom and Mark talk with two of their favorite people over at CHIRP Radio - Jenn Sodini and Shawn Campbell. Jenn is the host of the fantastic CHIRP in-person storytelling and music event, CHIRP’s The First Time. They chat with Shawn and Jenn about what's involved in putting together that quarterly show.

Milwaukee emo band Barely Civil joins Mark and Tom on the podcast for episode 36. Connor Erickson (vocals, guitar), Isaac Marquardt (drums) and Alex Larsen (lead guitar) share their thoughts on their great new single "Coasting Mostly", making new music, surviving the pandemic, the Milwaukee music scene and, of course, a few Chicago questions.

Kenn Goodman joins Mark and Tom to talk about the long history of Pravda Records. 2024 will be the 40th anniversary of Pravda and Kenn explains how it got this far. He also talks about his musical history and, of course, all things Chicago