Tag: Local Music History
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The Sonic Alchemist of Champaign: Mark Rubel, Pogo Studio, and a Lifetime in Sound
Sitting in a Parkland College recording class inside downtown Champaign’s Pogo Studio in the late 1990s, I watched Mark Rubel push up the faders on rough, in-progress mixes of Hum’s Downward is Heavenward. From the theatrical rock of Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets to tracking over 1,000 records on analog tape and directing education…
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Prairie Power Pop & Neon Distortion: Inside the 1980s Champaign-Urbana Rock Explosion
Long before the 1990s alternative boom swept through central Illinois, Champaign-Urbana ran on high-octane power pop, garage grit, and theatrical bar rock. From the iconic stages of Mabel’s and the Blind Pig to the raw energy of The Vertebrats, The Elvis Brothers, and Didjits, explore how the 1980s music scene built the blueprint for a…