"Illinois" Original Music that Speaks for Itself
By Krista Doran
 

Over the course of the last several years, I have been able to meet some very interesting people involved in the Philly music scene.  I am very fortunate and also very grateful for this opportunity because there are some really awesome people and very talented bands, right here in our own backyard.  In this issue, I am very pleased to write about an original band that many of you already heard of called Illinois.  This band impressed me the first time I heard their music 3 years ago. 

 Illinois is a collaboration between bass player, Martin Hoeger, drummer JP Kuyper, guitarist and vocalist, Chris Shepherd and keyboardist/guitar player Dan Pawlovich.  The band has been together now for about 4 years, but Martin, JP and Chris grew up playing music together since they were in their mid teens.  This is why they have such a great chemistry between them – they are like family.  I interviewed Chris, and I have to say, I have not laughed that hard during an interview ever!  This guy is hilarious and if you have been on their website, you KNOW what I mean!  Chris is the star and inspiration of “Kid Catastrophe” which is the title of their brand new CD, just released in June.  Chris told me “Kid Catastrophe is my alter-ego...I have this black cloud hanging over me everywhere I go, so the name is very appropriate.”  The CD was released in chapters as videos – a particularly unique idea, spear-headed by an extremely inventive video producing company in LA called People Food (www.peoplefood.com).  The videos are trippy, innovative and just plain cool, depicting the often inauspicious life of “Kid Catastrophe”. 

 The music of Illinois is also very unique.  When I asked Chris who was his major influence growing up, he told me he has a huge crush on Mickey Dolenz from the Monkees, who Chris believes is the best male vocalist ever.  I can’t say as I disagree – the Monkees kicked ass and were totally ahead of their time.  The same truly goes for Illinois. This is an extremely talented band with really good songs that are lyrically intelligent.  When writing songs, Chris uses whatever he is going through at the time as his focus.  He also gets a lot of his ideas from movies and the mood a particular flick may put him in.  When I asked Chris to describe the music of Illinois, he told me “our songs are constantly evolving…the more we play, the more comfortable we get with the song itself and then it can become something else. People have told us that our songs have often gotten them through a hard time…it’s simply a people’s band because our music is about real life…its Suburban Soul Music and it speaks for itself.”  They infuse several styles, such as folk, hip-hop and rock and have been able to create a one-of-a-kind sound that all true music lovers will appreciate. 

Illinois has achieved some major accomplishments in the last 3 years, such as frequent air time of their song “Hang On” on WRFF 104.5, their song, “Nose Bleed” has been played on the HBO hit series Weeds, and they have opened up for such great bands as The Kooks and The Hold Steady.  The band is kicking off a very vigorous 2 month tour, starting on 7/14 in Seattle before coming back to the East Coast which includes 2 shows in Philly – 7/25 at the XPoNential Music Festival and 7/29 at Johnny Brenda’s. 

 This band is impressive, to say the least.  These guys are honest, true and dedicated individuals who love to play and have fun doing it.  They have kept things in perspective from the beginning and have worked very hard to achieve all they have so far.  Chris is right; the music does speak for itself.  Go check them out now to see what I mean – www.myspace.com/illinois and let them know what you think!