Tag: Mark Rubel
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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…
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Prairie Soundscapes: How Champaign-Urbana Built an Indie Rock Universe in the 1990s
Two hours south of Chicago, surrounded by flat miles of cornfields, Champaign-Urbana built a sonic empire in the 1990s. From the drop-D space-rock of Hum and sweaty nights at The Blind Pig to the rise of Polyvinyl Records and American Football, here is how a prairie enclave reshaped independent rock.
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Brian Krumm’s Return to his C-U ‘Neighborhood’
Discover the incredible music of Brian Krumm, a Chicago musician who has been in several noteworthy bands over the years and started a new one called Brian Krumm and His Barfly Friends.
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Mighty Pranksters: The Goodtime Gangsters of the C-U Music Scene
“We weren’t the kind of band that lived together and saw each other every day,” Bill “Griz” Stevens said. “But when we could get together every couple of weeks, get together and go play a gig somewhere, we had great camaraderie. And when we stepped on the stage, magic happened. But then we all went…