Dave Chamberlain

I have occupied this space on a weekly basis for more than five years now--my anniversary of writing the column went by unceremoniously a few months ago.

In 300 or so columns and features, I've interviewed a great many interesting people, both from Chicago and away, and for various reasons I've often not been able to use some of the better quotes. To celebrate said anniversary, I've culled together some of the best of both used and unused commentary, with context provided where necessary.

"Nu-metal has elements of hip-hop and elements of heavy rock. But then you get to something like the Hives, and that's just pure rock. There's no hip-hop or rapping of any kind, which, you know, thankfully saves us from fucking Fred Durst."

--Colin Newman from Wire

"My wardrobe was always too good to be just a lowly guitar player anyway."

--Johnny Marr

"The reality of it is that the United States has tampered with the lives of people in damn near every country in the world. Everyone's fucking gunning for us--don't waste your time looking for any one person."

--Mr. Lif

"I never ask anyone to move. I think that's the lamest possible thing. If you want to move, fine. If you don't, fine. But I'm gonna be moving, and if you're so inclined, then please. You're just gonna have more fun. Just drop what you're doing and enjoy yourself, lose your shit for forty minutes. I mean, you paid the money, so you might as well."

--Michael B from Watchers

"One thing for sure, that might be a bit of a shock to some of your readers, is that there's hip-hop outside of the States. And the question is not where there is hip-hop, but where there isn't hip-hop."

--DJ Vadim

"We had a song on our first record, "Procession," that Jeff wrote the lyrics to when he was seventeen, that says "the crisis in our country isn't caused by external forces, the danger lies within." That sentence seems to carry so much weight today, it doesn't seem like a dated statement."

--Ethan Port from Savage Republic

"Somewhere outside of Denver, at a truck stop."

--Jerry Only from the Misfits, responding to the question, "Where are you?"

"The more you see how faith is an industry, it's kind of sick. I would call myself a believing unbeliever. I think it's important to live with faith, but I can't put a name on it now like I could when I was 15 years old."

--Jason Sipe from Matthew

"It was our first tour--we came to the States and played five shows, and four of them were amazing. Then we did this show with four total grindcore hardcore bands. We were totally the skinny art kids and they fucking hated us. It worked, because we hated them more."

--Hotel (Jaime) from The Kills

"Jane [magazine] people are fucking great--that was a total dry-hump fest. All the ladies were ready, there were free drinks, I got a lot of action on the dancefloor, lots of halfies--I was half-hard pretty much the whole time."

--Har Mar Superstar

"Underground is overrated, and obscurity does not equal musical integrity. Oftentimes people think the more obscure, peculiar and elitist they can be, the more they think that represents musical integrity. We're rebelling against the Chicago tradition--but it's the same everywhere, it's the cliché of the underground."

--Casey Spooner from Fischerspooner

"For our first show, we had six songs, and three of them were terrible."

--Kiki Yablon from The Dishes

"Dressing like a scrub is global."

--Cayce Key from 90 Day Men

"Maybe the video games slowed down the record a little bit."

--Charles Cooper from Telefon Tel Aviv

"As you get a leg up in this business, you get more opportunity. I choose to take the work. I always count on it ending next week."

--Henry Rollins

"It was at a time when people were still really open-minded, before everyone started wearing their little uniforms, their little punk-rock uniforms. Before everyone had a Korn T-shirt on so you could see what kind of music they liked when they walked down the street."

--Exene Cervenka

"My old dark enclave of weirdness that was Wicker Park has now been replaced by a shiny happy world of new sidewalks, expensive diners and no parking."

--Rennie Sparks, The Handsome Family

"Chicago's a very anti-fashion town. That's what struck me when I moved here. I worked in a very high-style gay bar in London, and everybody was ultra-rich, ultra-beautiful and very fashion oriented. People here wake up and carefully tussle their hair so it looks like they woke up with it that way."

--Damien Kulash, OK Go

"Eventually, my liver is just going to fall out of my ass."

--Kevin Sharp from Damaged

"After all these years of begging, I finally get a listing in the Newcity."

--Casey Spooner from Fischerspooner

(2003-06-25)

Also by Dave Chamberlain

Raw Material
Persistence has paid off for Kevin McDonough. The singer/songwriter/guitarist for local power-trio The Drapes has been slugging away now for more than eight years, trying to not only take care of all of the above, but to also keep the band together.
(2003-06-18)

Chicago Rocks!
In the last two years or so, a wave of underground rock has hit Chicago like a storm
(2003-06-18)

Raw Material
When local band Frisbie released its first record in 2000, "The Subversive Sounds of Love," there was hardly an area band with a bigger buzz.
(2003-06-11)

Tip of the Week
Yet another in the crew of extremely talented Def Jux hip-hop artists, Murs is far from a rapper-come-lately.
(2003-06-04)

Electric company
(2003-06-04)

Raw Material
(2003-06-04)

Author Visit
(2003-05-28)

Raw Material
(2003-05-28)

Tip of the Week
(2003-05-21)

Raw Material
(2003-05-21)

Tip of the Week
(2003-05-14)

All grown up
(2003-05-14)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment