I made a name for myself in Chicago media (WKQX, WGN, WLUP, WXRT) and a career for myself in the digital and marketing spaces. My current Marketing role at Accenture finds me managing major internal and client-facing projects from end to end. On the journalism/broadcasting front, I've earned multiple Lisagor awards in Chicago, as well as a national…

Shelby Pollard is the founder and Black Bobbin, a company that works with and constructs guitars, amp, effects pedals, and more. Shelby is a multi-discipline artist from Chicago that specializes in product and portrait photography. www.blackbobbin.comBy bendingbrains

“I don’t think I’ve listened to a band that had a genre distinct unto themselves. Even crazier is that every song on Robot Heart Throb’s first album is almost completely unique”- Pacific Ridge Records. Jared casts Saxophone solos with explosive ADHD, lucious flute-playing sings in midwest Emo style. Heart-on-your sleeve lyrics spin stories with hip…

Dan Stewart is an independent filmmaker and musician based in Chicago, IL. His directorial debut feature film 'Local Band' will begin its festival run in 2024.By bendingbrains

Seth Engel is recording engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and music instructor living and working in Chicago. Over the last decade, he has toured nationally and internationally. He has engineered a continually-growing volume of music for both nationally recognized and local artists. In 2013, he received a BA in Music from Columbia College Chicago. H…

Will Stephan is a Chicago born Skateboarder and founder of Sapient Skateboards. Will builds skateboards from scratch and gives skateboarding lessons at Sapient Skateboards. Will also puts on Skateboarding events around Chicago. www.sapientskateboards.comBy bendingbrains

Introducing Friday James, a gifted songwriter originating from Nashville, Tennessee. Relocating to Chicago in November of 2021, Friday swiftly immersed herself in the local music scene, enthralling audiences with her mesmerizing performances. Her artistic essence is centered around a profound appreciation for lyricism and poetic depth, artfully wea…

Sean Neumann is a musician and sports reporter from Chicago, Illinois. He’s currently on tour with his band Ratboys. As a reporter, Sean works for People Magazine, GQ, and other entertainment magazines. seanneumann.us has any info you might need!By bendingbrains

The Eastern and Western halves of Washington can seem like two different states; one dry and pastoral, the other overcast and lush. Rob Joynes is a singer-songwriter who's music captures these two contrasting landscapes. Raised on the East side of the Cascade Mountain Range, Joynes often invokes his home town of Spokane directly in his lyrics. Pair…

Julien Fontaine is french-canadian percussionist, drum teacher and now certified public accountant from Montréal. Firstly a passionate music lover and compulsive record buyer, he went on completing an interpretation jazz drumming diploma in Québec before making a complete change of path into obtaining a CPA licence. Music, arts and business are now…

Joe Gaspar is the owner and founder of 2 Bici Bicycle shop in Willow Springs, IL.By bendingbrains

Hannah Bess Ross is a Chicago based illustrator and writer. She lives in a little house with a blue door and an orange cat, but dreams of the woods and the waves of rocky seas far, far away. She likes telling stories about everyday magical things like bugs and stars. She also loves puppets, folk art, and silly word-play. Hannah mostly makes art for…

Karen is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Chicago. She is tirelessly curious about all forms of creative expression, and her work includes illustration, sculpting, print making, video editing, songwriting, and sewing. Her tenure in the Production Art space has also provided her with a deep appreciation for graphic design. Primarily, she works w…

My first memory is of hitting everything in sight at 2 years old. From playing in the church from the age of 5 to performing with the Percussion Scholarship Group, (PSG), starting in 4th grade, I have had many valuable experiences and lessons that have brought me to where I am today. Directed by Patricia Dash, percussionist with the Chicago Symphon…

Molly Compton is a singer-songwriter, visual artist, amateur baker and founder & resident bleeding heart at Ur Mom Records. She thinks everyone deserves a good mom and everyone can be a good mom.By bendingbrains

Introducing Friday James, a gifted songwriter originating from Nashville, Tennessee. Relocating to Chicago in November of 2021, Friday swiftly immersed herself in the local music scene, enthralling audiences with her mesmerizing performances. Her artistic essence is centered around a profound appreciation for lyricism and poetic depth, artfully wea…

Alec Koukol is an Omaha-born, now Nashville-native. The multi-instrumentalist and songwriter is involved in many projects within Music City, but his primary operation is Safari Room, Koukol’s indie rock outfit that began in 2018. Five years into the band, Safari Room has released two eps and two full-length albums, ‘Look Me Up When You Get There’ (…

Julia Danielle is an up-and-coming vocalist, arranger, educator, and composer based in the heart of the vibrant jazz scene of Chicago. As the 2022 International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition Winner, part of Julia's prize was performing alongside The Tierney Sutton Band at the renowned Blues Alley Jazz Club in Washington D.C. and since then…

Clare Bollnow is a 26 year old artist living and working in Chicago. She started painting in 2019, never having gone to art school, she began with watercolor and eventually branched out; she works with oil paint, spray paint, watercolor and pigment dye among other mediums together on large-scale material. Clare finds inspiration in the human form a…

Iyana Brown-Bey is an alternative, neo-soulful musician, who uses her voice to shed light and to uplift. She aims to create music for those who often feel that they are only apart of the background. Iyana believes that “being human is to reflect and to feel, to express and to create with self and others.” And her goal is to build a unified communit…

Claudio is an LA based singer-songwriter/poet whose artistry blends the acoustic storytelling style of James Taylor or Jim Croce with the soulful vocal stylings of John Legend or Eddie Kendrick. Originally from Kenosha, Wisconsin, Claudio relocated to Los Angeles in Spring 2018. Since then, he has kept busy touring the country 4 times while steadil…

Dr. Marc Colomer, Ph.D. is a cognitive neuroscientist and musician. In his postdoc at the University of Chicago, he investigates children’s social understanding and conceptual development in the early stages of their life. He asks questions such as how racial and other social biases emerge, with the goal of informing which solutions can reduce earl…

Charles is an educator, artist, designer, musician, and podcaster. He runs his creative business: Custom Crafted Design - where he does all things creative. In 2022, he received his BA in Art Education and BFA in Studio Art & Design from Saint Xavier University. He has a podcast: Inside the Artists Studio - where he interviews artists from all back…

Trash plays in the world’s greatest and only country band of all time, Totally Cashed. When he’s not saving country music, he spends all his time tending to his horses and making delicious bagels for his friends, fans, and family. He’s also never told a lie. Catch Totally Cashed live at Schubas June 2nd for their release show…

Mark Adkison is an Immigration Attorney and singer-songwriter in Chicago. A graduate of UIC Law School (formerly known as John Marshall), he has been working with his family at the Adkison Law Offices since 2006. He specializes in immigration law, and works on cases that include extraordinary ability visas, citizenship applications, marriage applic…

Aaron Paulsen is a 20 year old content creator and musician. His content consists of comedic skits, in which he plays different characters, composes original music, as well as incorporating his “one man band” style , in which multiple instruments are played at the same time. He first started making videos at 18 and has since then amassed over 350+ …

Julia Hagen is a Chicago based painter with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She creates urban landscapes with a colorful twist, portraying the mood of the place in both a realistic and whimsical way. She often toes the line between representational and imaginative, but always prioritizes the glow that nostalgia leaves.…

Spencer McCreary is a York, Pennsylvania based singer-songwriter who has fronted and founded the bands ‘Cardinal Harbor’ and ‘Public Disco Porch’. The latter being the most current project with a 2022 LP release of ‘Have A Great Life’. Check out the band’s music at the link below: www.publicdiscoporch.com”…

Eddie Hokinson (Manager D) and Matt Bauer (Manager Z) sit down to talk about 10 years of DZ Fest in Hickory Hills, IL. For 10 years Eddie and Matt helped to grow DZ Fest. They took on the responsibility that very few could do or even understand. They are saints amongst men.By bendingbrains

Richard Reed Parry is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, best known as a core member of the Grammy Award-winning indie rock band Arcade Fire, where he plays a wide variety of instruments, often switching between guitar, double bass, drums, celesta, keyboards, and accordion. His new collaborative album "Heart and Breath: Rhythm an…

Priya Shah is triggering social consciousness to challenge barriers and empower communities from the inside out. As a Chicago creative and entrepreneur, she has built a network of artists and collaborators dedicated to igniting social awareness and change through art and imagination. Shah began volunteering in developing countries at a young age, w…

Megan Myrie (Domeríe) is a creative entrepreneur from Chicago. She likes to use her creative abilities to support and shine light on other people’s creative abilities. This is especially true for her design company MGD LLC, in which she creates brands for creators. Her pursuit of music and modeling is more personal, however, she hopes to be a sourc…

Aspen Noah may be a mental health technician from the north suburbs of Chicago but when he is done working long exhausting 16 hours shifts he transforms into a well talented, extremely creative music artist/songwriter. Aspen began writing music at the tender young age of 12, performing with the likes of Soulja Boy, Yung Jeezy, Young Money, Mike Pos…

Mexican-American/ Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Mariah Colon was raised in Cicero, IL. and started her music career with just a keyboard and ukulele in her room. With diverse music inspiration from talented musicians in her family, Mariah incorporates the love of R&B and pop in expressing her day to day thoughts. Her first single "Roots" released …

Summer has spent the last decade as a Brand Strategist and Marketer, working in a variety of roles in some of the world’s best ad agencies and Fortune 100 companies. She currently works for an AI-based software company that is modernizing the construction industry. When she’s not working her 9-5 or running DIY GRRL you can find Summer spearheading …

Niia is an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. She submerges herself in deep extremes on her 2022 project, Mouthful of Salt. As if born again in the wake of a tsunami’s destruction, the Los Angeles-based jazz/R&B artist slips in and out of oceanic calm like waking from a delicate afternoon dream. She carefully assembles thirteen tracks buoyed…

"Nez" is a Chicago-based Latina artist that specializes in painting, mural artwork and illustration. She studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is now a freelance artist that enjoys making art that is nothing short of cute. She is best known for her cereal cartoon characters "Fruits and Stars" depicted in many of her recent work…

Steve Albini is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums o…

Stella Got is a Tel-Aviv based musician, producer & sound engineer. Graduate of the Music-Technology department at Bar-Ilan University and was the first woman in the plugins department at Waves Audio. Today she's the house mixing/recording engineer at Assaf Amdursky's studio and an independent producer and sound engineer working with artists from v…

Grant Milliren is a Midwest touring indie singer-songwriter from the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois.By bendingbrains

Ayden Reda is a Chicago model, photographer, actor, and artist.By bendingbrains

Hana Fujisaki is an award-winning pianist/organist/composer originally from Japan. She is a performing musician specializing in jazz, R&B, samba, salsa, and J-pop; as well as a choir director and an avid music educator in the city. Her biggest musical influences include jazz/fusion music and movie soundtracks of studio Ghibli, both of which are uni…

Mitchell McLaughlin is an indie folk artist from Chicago, Illinois. He currently writes, produces and performs in Nashville, Tennessee.By bendingbrains

Thaddeus Tukes is a multi-instrumentalist from Chicago, IL. He is the Jazz Big Band Director for After School Matters and the Vibraphonist for the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic. He is a graduate from Northwestern University where he majored in Jazz, Music, and Journalism.By bendingbrains

Eliy Orcko is a black American lyricist, song writer, and entertainer born in Elyria, Ohio and raised in Coral Springs, Florida. In their later years, Orcko became a solo act putting out singles, mixtapes, and EP’s under multiple aliases until they landed on the name “Eliy Orcko '' in 2019. It was then that they independently dropped their first al…

Chloé Chanel is a Chicago native and creative artist specializing in visuals and music. Chloe’s creative journey began in childhood as she participated in theater, band and dance from the age of eight all the way into adulthood. She was first introduced to photography as a college sophomore when she joined a campus fashion/ modeling troupe and fell…

DrxQuinnx is a multi-talented artist, producer, emcee, and DJ based out if Chicago. He is also one third of the Midwest trio "Bullies" (with Denmark Vessey and Azarias) and one half of the Chicago duo "The Citizen (with Lil Kydd). Growing up, Quinn was heavily influences were Madlib, Kanye West, J Dilla, Lupe Fiasco, and Mos Def to name a few. All …

Joshua Powell is an artist from Indianapolis with a literate brand of psychedelic indie rock that is simultaneously socially conscious and spiritually turbulent. With over 900 shows under his belt, Powell blends the narrative richness of folk with a dose of hallucinatory swirl and notes of ‘00s-vintage bedroom indie, all highlighted in ethereal fal…

Kyle Lang is an Illinois musician who has fronted bands Easter and Special Death.By bendingbrains

Damon Hankoff is a multifarious musician, making music in a wide variety of settings: improvisational ensembles, early music consorts, string bands, church choirs, straightahead singer-songwriter groups, and his own Out of Sight of Land, an ever-evolving songs project that draws on all of these. He was born and raised in New York City and has train…