Listening to The Dr. Demento Show, as a kid, was like being in a private club. All of my friends would eventually hear about "Weird Al" Yankovic (thanks to Dr. Demento). But growing up, none of my classmates were talking about novelty songs like "Elvis Was a Narc" by...
Read More
Joanna Vassilatos sits behind a desk in a red painted room at the School of Rock in Naperville, Illinois. A loud rehearsal sends tremors through the walls like a melodious earthquake. In the corner of the room hangs an oil painting of a concert poster commemorating...
Read More
My view of the speeding expressway was blurred by a few teardrops on October 21, 2003. I remember driving to observe focus groups for my day job in the account management side of advertising and feeling that I just needed to take the day off. Everything...
Read More
An archived video shows a wide-eyed boy crouched down. He's sandwiched between young males in the front row of a small venue. Dressed like a prep with slightly feathered hair, he appears mesmerized by the band. The pre-teen, suppresses a Chesire grin. With a touch...
Read More
This article was originally published in Paste magazine in December 2004 Ondi Timoner was determined to understand how artists maintain integrity in the face of commercial pressure. So the cum laude Yale graduate spent seven years documenting the careers of two promising Northwestern U.S. rock bands—The...
Read More
At the top of the wooden stairs, a guitar leans against the wall like a lazy support beam while an amp cord is coiled up like a sleeping snake. A snare drum waits in the corner to be struck. The upstairs loft at the School...
Read More
This article was originally published in Harp magazine in June 2007 When Albert Einstein theorized about parallel universes, he probably didn’t think that a few cyberpunk geeks could actually invent them. As virtual communities like Second Life continue to populate the Internet, a new medium for...
Read More