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elcome to our inaugural issue of FYCzine, or, more specifically, For Your Consideration. Here in the Chicago art and music scene it’s become clear that one thing that Chicago needs (one thing everywhere always needs, all the time) is diversity. We live in an extremely segregated city and we tend to move in our own circles. Wouldn’t it be great if we were able to see and experience people and cultures that might not always be immediately in our purview? This is our attempt to do this. We’re focusing on women and people of color. Come to our shows and join FYC in crossing lines. There’s a big world out there. Rae Bees & Piya Willwerth January 2015
© 2015 FYCzine
Crudos Chicago-based Crudos Tribal started in 2003 and they’ve been mixing it up in dance, norteño, tribal, and folk music ever since. Now Ismael Mota, Chabelo Vasquez, and Ricky Contreras are embarking on a new country album. Have you tried breaking into the indie scene before? How does it differ from the Latino crowd you played to before? No this is the first time. We don’t get as weird. It’s more dance focused and Tex Mex. Our sets are more traditional with a Mexican audience. We have to test the waters first. Whereas for a local show our weirdness is going to dominate the set. All of it to the front. It’s kind of why we wanted to break out, we wanted to be ourselves. What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Crudos Tribal is definitely more latin based but we came from a regional Mexican scene. You know the pointy boots? Tribal is cumbia, regional Mexican, guaracha, African beats, and dance music. We were the first actual band performing Tribal, before it was just DJs. We did a 2 year tour of Crudos Tribal all over the country. We were signed with Universal and when the movement fell apart in the US we were like fuck this shit lets play country! Why country? Universal dropped everyone on their regional Mexican scene. They put their money into soap operas instead. People don’t buy music the way they used to. There was so much griminess in the industry. The country music industry is different because people still buy music so they treat musicians differently.
Tribal We stopped in Nashville on tours and for 3 months we went there every weekend to check out the scene. We loved the music and the people involved. We didn’t know where to record in Nashville so we started asking all the musicians. They were offended at first. They’d say stuff like we looked like the Los Lonely Boys. They wanted us to start as an open mic guys, go to Broadway St. and hit those bars before you “go” anywhere. We wanted to skip that, we wanted to record at a top of the line studio, and we did. Dolly Parton recorded there! This country album is our 9th album. It’s called Marley Weathers. When we went to record and right before we went in we were super stoned and they asked for our names and we told them Marley, Stanley, and Ricky Weathers. The Weathers brothers. So you guys created this little fake family of country musicians? Your name is Stanley so are you singing in English or in Spanish? Yes all the songs are English. They are literally country pop sings. We figure it’s like a being a chef. You don’t have one dish. As musicians we are going to hit everywhere. Why be good at only one style of music? Are there a lot of Latinos in mainstream country? No. Zero. That’s why we don’t wanna come in as just Mexican either. That’s why Stanley, Ricky, and Marley. Publicists spin it all. Because of marketing ways- commercially they like bands who haven’t established themselves or their band personas too much so they can fabricate you and make you into whomever they want you to be. We’re gonna be Latinos but we’re not trying to fly a flag. We’re born in Chicago ya know? They can figure it out themselves eventually but we kind of have to let them like us first. That’s what the publicists do, they can create the stories. You guys clearly want to go the distance, you’ve got a country pop album coming out, but if most musicians knew about the industry would they still want to be signed? It’s hard to say. If you try to talk to some musicians about it they take it as if we’re trying to discourage them or we’re making it up. There is so much politics in the industry. Times have changed a lot how music is distributed but how it’s consumed. As a kid I use to have Columbia House. Remember you’d get those CDs & tape deals in a magazine? When I was a kid and started to
play music I thought wouldn’t be so cool if my face got on one of those stamps? It happened! The game has changed though; People don’t buy music that way anymore. To make money off music you have to tour. What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands? Have a vision and stick to it. It’s hard to move forward when everyone has different projects and can’t stay focused. What was one of the biggest moments of your previous tours? Something I wanted to do was Sabado Gigante forever. That was such a fucking big deal. They had only like 144 bands a year on this show and we finally got it. It was a big achievement for us. Can you recommend two local artists to our readers which you feel deserve their attention? South Aresenal & Malinche - Rae Bees Visit the Crudos Tribal websites: facebook.com/crudostribal twitter.com/crudostribal
PHOTO CREDIT: LOUIS FITCH
A Person of Interest Jeez Loueez is an award-winning burlesque performer, actor, emcee, and instructor known as “The Honey Badger of Burlesque” and “The Powerhouse of the Midwest.” FYC: What kind of dance experience is in your past? JL: I started dancing at 5. I was one of those annoying kids that did it all from jazz, tap, ballet, pointe, African dance. I wanted to do it all. I went to Columbia College for Musical Theater. Which is acting, dancing, and music all rolled into one. How and why did you transition into doing burlesque? About 6 years ago I was working at a strip club and enjoyed myself. I always thought dance was empowering, but I wasn’t into lap dances, ya know? I had a friend in a burlesque troupe who needed a last minute replacement to their act. I hopped in and have been performing in the burlesque scene ever since. Where do you get your inspiration for your acts from? From everywhere! Music and fashion of the classic big bands, rockabilly, and Jazz eras. I also love 80s-90s pop culture. Some of my biggest inspirations
come from other dancers like my mentor Perle Noire, Foxy Tann, or Brown Girls Burlesque in New York. These women have stage presence, sexuality, and undeniable skills. What inspired you to start Jeezy’s Juke Joint: A Black Burly-Q Revue? I really wanted to connect with other brown performers. I started researching and uncovered local performers like Bizarre Sally and Cherokee Rose. On a national level I found Harlem Shake Burlesque, an all-black burlesque troupe in California. I created Jeezy’s Juke as a blog showcasing and interviewing brown performers. In 2011 Vaudezilla got involved by helping me produce it as a show. I wanted to not only bring black performers together I also wanted to bring burlesque to the black community. Too often the burlesque venues are in Wicker or Lincoln Park so the scene as a whole is not very accessible to the rest of the city. What was the response? Do you think movements towards these type of exclusive showcases are necessary? The shows have gotten a great response. I get asked frequently if an all brown show is necessary and yes it is. I just think it’s the responsibility of producers to seek out that diversity. Not only do we have brown performers involved we also like to represent black queers as well. Our connection, the energy, the comradery that we all share is special. - Rae Bees Visit Jeez Loueez at her websites: jeezysjukejoint.com facebook.com/jeezloueez twitter.com/jeezloueez
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idden away in Rockford, IL, Chinacat663 is a natural introvert, spending the majority of her time alone, creating art and hanging out with her cats, a cup of tea or a bottle of beer in her hand, and occasionally another, collaborating artist. “I pretty much make art so I can stay sane,” she says. She has hazel hair tinged with red. “I’m not exactly what you’d call an extrovert. I’m not really a good speaker or a good writer. But by doing art I get to express my thoughts. That’s why art is so important to me; it feels like an extension of myself.” Chinacat663, a Taiwanese American, incorporates a lot of different influences in her art. She grew up in Taiwan and moved to the States when she was around thirteen years old. She says that the Taiwanese culture has a strong Japanese influence, given their occupation of the country from 1895 to 1945. She grew up eating Japanese food, watching Japanese cartoons, and reading Japanese manga. “I’m not [really] a manga artist, but the Japanese manga art style does have influence.” Chinacat663 is also interested in incorporating art from other cultures, most notably Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday. “I like all things that are unusual and out of the ordinary because they possess the element of surprise and mystery. So naturally I’m interested cultures that are different from my own and I enjoy [incorporating] them into my art.” - Piya Willwerth Visit Chinacat663 at her websites: chinacat663.com facebook.com/chinacat663 instagram.com/chinacat663
Emily Letts filmed her abortion when she was 25 and a counselor at Cherry Hill Women’s Center in New Jersey. It blew up. This is her story. I was an abortion counselor at the Cherry Hill Women’s Center in New Jersey. At my clinic it’s mandatory to have counseling. It’s a high volume clinic — we saw a lot of women per day. I saw twenty or thirty patients a day for abortion counseling. I heard a lot of the same thing over and over again — “Of course I feel guilty,” and “I’m doing a terrible thing.” It was frustrating. It’s not true! You don’t have to feel guilty! It was this perception forced upon them. I had never had an abortion before, and then I got pregnant. I wasn’t ready to be a mother. I’ve accompanied many women during their abortion and I thought, I can use this. I can relate to my patients better. My supervisor actually pointed me to Angie the Anti-Theist on YouTube when I told her. Angie got pregnant. She needed more information for her abortion, so she researched it on the Internet — it’s terrifying out there. Women are terrified. Women think it’s going to be like that Dirty Dancing scene where you’re wearing a muscle shirt and you’re in an alley and blood is pouring out between your legs. I wanted to show that abortion can be a positive thing. This is shocking for a lot of people. Angie the Anti-Theist made a video of her abortion and she got a lot of negative criticism. For every comment she got, she made a new video, saying, “This is what I think about that.” For my video at Cherry Hill, it was difficult getting the clinic to agree since it could put a lot of people in danger. We had to be very specific about who’s in the footage and who isn’t. When the video was done, I entered it in a competition called the “Abortion Stigma Busting Video Contest,” and it ended up winning. They put it on the Internet on their website, and I was like, “Okay, it’s on the Internet!” Nothing happened. I got frustrated. People need to see this! Women are terrified. I started slamming Facebook with it and I put it on Reddit, where I actually
had some really good conversations. Then a media company came along and said, “Hey we really love this, can you write an interview for us?” After that Cosmopolitan got ahold of it and they were all about it. It went viral for two weeks straight. It was on Huffington Post and Jezebel and a bunch of other sites. I did a lot of interviews with foreign media and I was on Dr. Drew. I got a lot of backlash, but I refuse to be a victim. Death threats are stupid. I actually got some backlash from pro-choice feminists, who were critical of the fact that I hadn’t used birth control (I used the pull-out method). It was like, have you never made a mistake or crossed a street with a red light? It’s important for us to know how to recover from our mistakes. I got hundreds of messages from women all over the world. I still get messages. But I think it’s important for women to tell their stories. There’s not a platform for them. I met up with a pro-choice family from Texas — they are amazing people — and we started a website in July, http://notalone.us and it’s a place for women to tell their own stories. There is so much misinformation out there. We want to encourage supportive abortion stories, destimatize, and spread information. It’s been featured in Marie Claire, Huffington Post, and Cosmopolitan. This is important. - As told to Piya Willwerth
Visit Emily at her YouTube account: youtube.com/user/EmilyEstherLetts Visit Not Alone: notalone.us
EvEnts
Jan 16th @ 7PM Club Rectum’s BLACK/WHITE Art Show @Club Rectum 20+ artists and 3 performances. FREE
Jan 20th @ 6-7PM MCA Live: Welcome to the Neighborhood @ Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago 220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60611 Jan 23rd @7-10PM Chicago Truborn Presents: Binary Reverence @Chicago Truborn 1418 W. Division St. A Duo Show Featuring the Abstract Graffiti of YAMS & DEL REAL Jan 24th @ 8-3AM CumbiaSazo! Dance Party ft. GRACIE CHAVEZ + LA COMADRE @Double Door 1572 N Milwaukee Chicago’s sporadic & nomadic Cumbia & Tropical Bass gathering, since 2011 $8 WITH RSVP at www.do312.com/cumbiasazo Feb 13th @7:30PM Author Reading: Issa Rae, THE MISADVENTURES OF AWKWARD BLACK GIRL @ 5211 N. Clark St. For one night only, Issa Rae, creator of the hit web series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl,” will discuss her new memoir with Chicago’s own Samantha Irby. Feb 18th @ 10PM Jeezy’s Juke Joint Takeover at No-Tell Cabaret (Fundraiser and Show!) @Debonair Social Club 1575 N Milwaukee Ave Hosted by Jeez Loueez, “The Powerhouse of the Midwest” Featuring some of Chicago’s brownest and brightest burlesque starlets! All monies raised from this show will go to the big yearly production of Jeezy’s Juke Joint returning to Chicago in the spring of 2015 $5
WHAt’s nEXt ...
FEB 2015
For our next issue release party, join us at FrontWoman Fest at Burlington Bar in Logan Square for some awesome female-driven music. Can’t go wrong with badass chicks wielding guitars! Feb 21st @2PM-2AM FrontWoman Fest. @Burlington Bar, 3425 W Fullerton Ave. 12 local incredible female fronted bands presented by Impossible Colors, Midwest Action, Radio One Chicago and Revolution Brewing! $7 and all proceeds go to benefit Girls Rock! Chicago. Visit these websites for more info: girlsrockchicago.org/2015/01/05/frontwoman-fest/ facebook.com/events/315615381969527/
Tell us if you have some kind of amazing story. Or if you’re an artist, a comic book illustator, a performer, or a member of a band. If you’re a non-white human, basically (and that might not even really be a requirement). Your anonymity will be respected if that’s your bag. FYCzine@gmail.com
© 2015 FYCzine