189 – NNAMDï

My First Band Podcast

This week's guest is NNAMDÏ. The Chicago-based singer, rapper, producer and multi-instrumentalist has put out a ton of great music since 2020 (including his acclaimed new Sooper Records / Secretly Canadian album, Please Have a Seat). He's performed with Wilco, Sleater-Kinney, Black Midi, Jeff Rosenstock and Speedy Ortiz. He has garnered acclaim from Kasey Musgraves and he was named "Chicagoan of the Year" by the Chicago Tribune. Before he was an accomplished artist on the cusp of even bigger and better things, NNAMDÏ was living in the Chicago suburb of Lansing, drumming in rock bands and teaching himself to record by writing songs about butts for his friends.

Recently, just prior to the release of Please Have a Seat and the upcoming U.S. tour (including an Oct. 20 show at Cactus Club), NNAMDÏ spoke with My First Band host Tyler Maas about making the new album, getting back on the road again, as well as some of the hopes and plans he has for the near future. Along the way, he also talked about playing drums in his middle school's jazz band, starting a group called The Para-Medics, playing basement shows and comic book shops in high school, dabbling in self-recording and rapping, and how lighthearted material about booties and inside jokes inadvertently paved the way to a successful solo career.

My First Band is sponsored by Mystery Room Mastering, Lakefront Brewery and Music Go Round Greenfield. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. You can also listen to rebroadcasts of previous My First Band episodes on WMSE every Wednesday from noon to 12:30 p.m. CST. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers") and NNAMDÏ ("Grounded").