Alison Neubauer
Jrn 400
Court memo
Court is very formal. People have to be dressed nicely, be quiet, no hats, no gum and no food. When the judge walks in everyone has to stand up. He leads and nobody talks unless he speaks to them. It’s very orderly and easy to follow but the language is new. They take attendance. For a class 3 felony you get a prison sentence between 2 and 5 years, a fine up to 50,000, and a year of supervision after leaving prison. A class 3 felony is something along the lines of having enough drug with intent to deal but not too much where it’s a large distribution. If you steal a considerable about of money, over 10,000 dollars it’s a class 2 felony. The sentence for that is 3-7 years in prison, up to 25,000 dollar fine and 2 years of supervised leave. A class A misdemeanor is something like attempt theft or endangering a life and the sentence is up to one year in jail, and up to 25,00 in fines. Maybe some community service. Every day there are arraignments at 1:30 p.m. That is the person first appearance in court where they hear what could happen. The circuit clerk is the keeper of the files. If you want a case you go to them with the number. They also put the schedule up online and it’s by court room. There is a docket sheet which is just an overview of what happened. A discovery is the exchange of information between the prosecutor and the defense. The courthouse is designed so that prisoners don’t mingle with the public. One half of the building is where the holding cells are and where courthouse workers go and the other is for the public. This is because it wasn’t very safe before. To find people and cases you can look it up on the circuit courts website.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
profile story
Alison Neubauer
Jrn 400
Profile story
1922
Mark Rubel arrived at Rosfest in Phoenixville, Pa. to find this annual progressive rock festival behind schedule by 3 hours. Despite his delayed flight, he hadn’t missed anything except for a long line of angry fans and workers waiting for the lighting man to show up. Star Castle, a progressive rock band from the 1970’s, were the headliners supporting the album Gary Strater, musician, worked on for ten years. Strater died of Pancreatic cancer 3 weeks after he finished recording it 2004. Rubel promised Strater he would help him finish and put out the record. A promise that by 2007, he kept. Now Rubel was front row at the concert in support of his best friend’s last album. Things did not go as smoothly as planned. The lighting man, who was bringing necessary equipment to run the show, was 3 hours late.
“The sound people were cool, the recording people were cool, the lighting people were good and the lighting guy was drunk,” said Rubel. The light show is an important part of a progressive rock concert. After trying to communicate with him, Rubel just gave up realizing that this man could not understand how he wanted the light show to be.
“They go on. The band is fine, the P.A. is fine, everything sounds great and it’s the worst lighting show in the world,” said Rubel, but they just dealt with it until the man started disrupting the performance.
“So they start to play this song, nice, calm acoustic guitars and stuff and I hear this sound from the lighting guy. He’s singing. Wait, he’s chanting. No, he’s swearing. He’s decided he’s angry at the band. So he’s yelling profanities over the music and throwing things at the band while they are playing. And I’m thinking this is the part of the show where I have to vault over the amps and wrestle this guy to the ground and end up on You Tube,” said Rubel. He didn’t have to do that because 8 cops came and arrested the lighting man on stage while the band continued to play. That put an end to the light show.
“That’s one of my favorite stories and I have a million others,” said Rubel.
Soft yellow light gently falls over antique microphones, new and old instruments, recording magazines, records, an analogue sound board, large shelves holding books, magazines and music and a large variety and quantity of sound equipment that has been collected over the years, decorating Mark Rubel’s recording studio on Taylor St. in Champaign. Pogo Studio has been around for twenty-five years. It’s couches, warmth, original equipment, comfort, and homeliness contrasts the majority of studios which are usually “frigid, air conditioned and just feel like outer space,” said Rubel. He is the chief engineer, the studio owner, the studio president, an accountant, a producer, a full time teacher at Eastern University, and a part time teacher at Parkland College. He writes articles for recording magazines, plays bass in a rock band, and is involved with many panels, committees and organizations. He has run art councils, been a booking agent, works as an expert witness for law firms and trials, is working on a new curriculum for music business and audio technology at Eastern and is on the producers committee for the Grammy’s. His free time is filled with work.
“I like to hang out with my wife on the rare occasion that I get to see her and the cats. And you know, go out and eat and occasionally see friends and family. But it’s a very hard working lifestyle and I’m really working 7 days a week, eighteen to nineteen hours a day, day in and day out, year in and year out. I don’t take vacations. I don’t have hobbies, but it’s something that happens when your passion is your living,” said Rubel.
Fifty years ago in Princeton, N.J. Rubel was born into a world of creativity. A majority of his time was spent in Champaign-Urbana, Ill. where he sticks close to his roots to this day. His father was a mathematician at the University of Illinois, his mother was a journalist from Denmark, his sister is a painter and graphic artist, his wife is an artist and animal rights worker and his half brother is a TV producer.
“I haven’t grown up but I’ve gotten older mostly in Champaign-Urbana,” said Rubel. His father went on sabbatical so they lived in France for a year when Rubel was 8. There he learned French almost fluently. They spent another year in New York, one back in New Jersey, a summer in California, a summer in Montreal, and lived briefly in Holland and Denmark. After graduating from University high school he got an English literature degree from the University of Illinois in 1979. Since he was twelve years old Rubel has been a musician, playing the bass guitar.
“I started this silly band called Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets as a joke in 1980 and we decided to keep doing it as long as it’s fun. It’s been almost thirty years and it’s still really fun,” said Rubel. “When you start a band when your twenty-two you don’t expect to be in the band long enough for the members to become grandfathers.” Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets just booked their annual gig at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. They used to play 200 gigs a year but now they play about once a week.
Being an audio engineer hadn’t even crossed his mind as a possible career until he ran across a guy who was getting a team to put his studio back together and run it. Rubel had previously been working as a manager of this local arts council but when the offer to build the studio arose, he took advantage of it. The ramshackle white house sat twenty feet from active train tracks and for one hundred dollars a month, they had a studio.
“We took the minimal equipment that we had, wired it together and called it a studio,” said Rubel. “The 6 or 8 others involved were mostly electrical engineers that had jobs. I was a liberal arts guy and didn’t. I was playing in the silly rock band so I got elected to sit behind the council and run the studio.”
Having no training in audio engineering, Rubel learned everything by doing it or from reading about it. In 1983 he left this studio to start Pogo Studios in the same place it is today. He named the studio after his dog. Since then he has worked with mostly regional and local bands but also does projects for relatively well known people and major labels. He has recorded musicians such as Alison Krauss, Adrian Blue, Rascal Flatts, Ludacris, and Fall Out Boy. He produced Hum for RCA Records, Poster Children for Warner Reprise, Menthol for Capitol Records, various projects for Sony Records, the music for the 1988 Olympics and Jay Bennett from Wilco. He did live sound for Toby Twining so he was able to travel.
“I really like being able to travel and see other places. That seems to be where a lot of the memorable times come from. All these Bahamas gigs are great. That’s my vacation actually. I think if I had time and money to do it I would never go to a fancy resort with a casino. But this way I can rationalize it, I’m being paid. I have to be there, so I’m getting better at learning to be lazy,” said Rubel.
Aside from running the studio and being an audio engineer, Rubel is a teacher at Parkland College and Eastern University. He is finishing building a new studio and creating a new curriculum for a music business and audio technology program at Eastern. Dr. Tim Schirmer, a professor and the program director for music at Parkland, became friends with and boss of Rubel when he met him at Parkland in 1987. Rubel has recorded most of the projects Schirmer has done.
“He is wonderful, pleasant, helpful, meticulous, and a patient person interested in the world at large, and he is an excellent engineer and musician,” said Schirmer. “He has a real knack for making a tense environment very relaxed and always keeps his focus on getting the best result possible. He is a very nice guy.” Rubel has been at Parkland for 22 years.
The first word that comes to Stephen Fonzo’s mind when he thinks of Rubel is “nice“. Considerate, open-minded, talented and always busy follow. Fonzo is the media training advisor for the Independent Media Center in Urbana and read about Rubel before moving to Champaign from Virginia in 2006. Fonzo was transitioning to a new town. Rubel was from Champaign, knew everyone, helps the IMC by loaning them equipment and helped Fonzo meet people.
“That’s an aspect I’ve always been interested in, community. I’m kind of defined by a series of communities. I guess one of the things I’ve done that’s unusual for people in my area is I’ve stayed in a small Midwestern town and had a whole career staying in the town I originated from,” said Rubel. According to Rubel, he tries to encourage and help the musicians, advise, lend gear, help with WFT and IMC and anybody else. He is also part of a community of engineers/producers.
Rubel attends the annual Tape Op conference where engineers and producers get together. He meets many people from different places there. Greg Norman, recording engineer and electrical technician at Electrical Studios in Chicago, is one of those people. Rubel has also recorded sessions at Electrical Studio and stops by whenever he is in Chicago.
“He always has a new story to talk about but doesn’t waste time or air on small talk. He genuinely pays attention to people and is thoughtful in what he does and how he responds to people,” said Norman.
After recording with him and seeing Rubel at major recording events, Norman learned that Rubel’s creativity and layed back personality contributes to the positive mood in a recording session but also that he doesn’t steer the session.
“He allows people to do their own thing and he gets the best out of that,” said Norman. Norman visits Rubel whenever he is in Champaign.
“It’s really important for there to be a studio like Pogo in Champaign-Urbana. He has a variety of very nice equipment and he knows how to use them. It’s a place where people can record the old way with really good microphones, amplifiers and the space designed,” said Fonzo. “It’s an inspiring place.”
Inspired by his parents, Les Paul, Steve Albini, artists, musicians and writers, Rubel became a well known producer and engineer, instead of enlisting in the Army, with few regrets. If he has time he wants to get MBA, possibly go to law school, write a couple books, and travel all while keeping the studio running.
“If I had realized I was going to be doing this I would have wanted more training, taken more music theory, studied architectural acoustics, physics of acoustics, music history, studied abroad and researched. I would have been more hands on, doing stuff earlier, and been more self promoting earlier. You have to inspire confidence in people by having confidence in yourself. I would have taken more opportunities that came along. I should have taken every gig that came along,” said Rubel. “One thing I don’t regret is that I’ve stayed here. It’s been great.”
Sources
Mark Rubel
217-351-8155
pogostudio@sbcglobal.net
Tim Schirmer
217-373-3740
Tschirmer@parkland.edu
Greg Norman
773-539-2555
Greg@electrical.com
Stephen Fonzo
502-475-9289
fonzo.stephen@gmail.com
Jrn 400
Profile story
1922
Mark Rubel arrived at Rosfest in Phoenixville, Pa. to find this annual progressive rock festival behind schedule by 3 hours. Despite his delayed flight, he hadn’t missed anything except for a long line of angry fans and workers waiting for the lighting man to show up. Star Castle, a progressive rock band from the 1970’s, were the headliners supporting the album Gary Strater, musician, worked on for ten years. Strater died of Pancreatic cancer 3 weeks after he finished recording it 2004. Rubel promised Strater he would help him finish and put out the record. A promise that by 2007, he kept. Now Rubel was front row at the concert in support of his best friend’s last album. Things did not go as smoothly as planned. The lighting man, who was bringing necessary equipment to run the show, was 3 hours late.
“The sound people were cool, the recording people were cool, the lighting people were good and the lighting guy was drunk,” said Rubel. The light show is an important part of a progressive rock concert. After trying to communicate with him, Rubel just gave up realizing that this man could not understand how he wanted the light show to be.
“They go on. The band is fine, the P.A. is fine, everything sounds great and it’s the worst lighting show in the world,” said Rubel, but they just dealt with it until the man started disrupting the performance.
“So they start to play this song, nice, calm acoustic guitars and stuff and I hear this sound from the lighting guy. He’s singing. Wait, he’s chanting. No, he’s swearing. He’s decided he’s angry at the band. So he’s yelling profanities over the music and throwing things at the band while they are playing. And I’m thinking this is the part of the show where I have to vault over the amps and wrestle this guy to the ground and end up on You Tube,” said Rubel. He didn’t have to do that because 8 cops came and arrested the lighting man on stage while the band continued to play. That put an end to the light show.
“That’s one of my favorite stories and I have a million others,” said Rubel.
Soft yellow light gently falls over antique microphones, new and old instruments, recording magazines, records, an analogue sound board, large shelves holding books, magazines and music and a large variety and quantity of sound equipment that has been collected over the years, decorating Mark Rubel’s recording studio on Taylor St. in Champaign. Pogo Studio has been around for twenty-five years. It’s couches, warmth, original equipment, comfort, and homeliness contrasts the majority of studios which are usually “frigid, air conditioned and just feel like outer space,” said Rubel. He is the chief engineer, the studio owner, the studio president, an accountant, a producer, a full time teacher at Eastern University, and a part time teacher at Parkland College. He writes articles for recording magazines, plays bass in a rock band, and is involved with many panels, committees and organizations. He has run art councils, been a booking agent, works as an expert witness for law firms and trials, is working on a new curriculum for music business and audio technology at Eastern and is on the producers committee for the Grammy’s. His free time is filled with work.
“I like to hang out with my wife on the rare occasion that I get to see her and the cats. And you know, go out and eat and occasionally see friends and family. But it’s a very hard working lifestyle and I’m really working 7 days a week, eighteen to nineteen hours a day, day in and day out, year in and year out. I don’t take vacations. I don’t have hobbies, but it’s something that happens when your passion is your living,” said Rubel.
Fifty years ago in Princeton, N.J. Rubel was born into a world of creativity. A majority of his time was spent in Champaign-Urbana, Ill. where he sticks close to his roots to this day. His father was a mathematician at the University of Illinois, his mother was a journalist from Denmark, his sister is a painter and graphic artist, his wife is an artist and animal rights worker and his half brother is a TV producer.
“I haven’t grown up but I’ve gotten older mostly in Champaign-Urbana,” said Rubel. His father went on sabbatical so they lived in France for a year when Rubel was 8. There he learned French almost fluently. They spent another year in New York, one back in New Jersey, a summer in California, a summer in Montreal, and lived briefly in Holland and Denmark. After graduating from University high school he got an English literature degree from the University of Illinois in 1979. Since he was twelve years old Rubel has been a musician, playing the bass guitar.
“I started this silly band called Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets as a joke in 1980 and we decided to keep doing it as long as it’s fun. It’s been almost thirty years and it’s still really fun,” said Rubel. “When you start a band when your twenty-two you don’t expect to be in the band long enough for the members to become grandfathers.” Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets just booked their annual gig at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. They used to play 200 gigs a year but now they play about once a week.
Being an audio engineer hadn’t even crossed his mind as a possible career until he ran across a guy who was getting a team to put his studio back together and run it. Rubel had previously been working as a manager of this local arts council but when the offer to build the studio arose, he took advantage of it. The ramshackle white house sat twenty feet from active train tracks and for one hundred dollars a month, they had a studio.
“We took the minimal equipment that we had, wired it together and called it a studio,” said Rubel. “The 6 or 8 others involved were mostly electrical engineers that had jobs. I was a liberal arts guy and didn’t. I was playing in the silly rock band so I got elected to sit behind the council and run the studio.”
Having no training in audio engineering, Rubel learned everything by doing it or from reading about it. In 1983 he left this studio to start Pogo Studios in the same place it is today. He named the studio after his dog. Since then he has worked with mostly regional and local bands but also does projects for relatively well known people and major labels. He has recorded musicians such as Alison Krauss, Adrian Blue, Rascal Flatts, Ludacris, and Fall Out Boy. He produced Hum for RCA Records, Poster Children for Warner Reprise, Menthol for Capitol Records, various projects for Sony Records, the music for the 1988 Olympics and Jay Bennett from Wilco. He did live sound for Toby Twining so he was able to travel.
“I really like being able to travel and see other places. That seems to be where a lot of the memorable times come from. All these Bahamas gigs are great. That’s my vacation actually. I think if I had time and money to do it I would never go to a fancy resort with a casino. But this way I can rationalize it, I’m being paid. I have to be there, so I’m getting better at learning to be lazy,” said Rubel.
Aside from running the studio and being an audio engineer, Rubel is a teacher at Parkland College and Eastern University. He is finishing building a new studio and creating a new curriculum for a music business and audio technology program at Eastern. Dr. Tim Schirmer, a professor and the program director for music at Parkland, became friends with and boss of Rubel when he met him at Parkland in 1987. Rubel has recorded most of the projects Schirmer has done.
“He is wonderful, pleasant, helpful, meticulous, and a patient person interested in the world at large, and he is an excellent engineer and musician,” said Schirmer. “He has a real knack for making a tense environment very relaxed and always keeps his focus on getting the best result possible. He is a very nice guy.” Rubel has been at Parkland for 22 years.
The first word that comes to Stephen Fonzo’s mind when he thinks of Rubel is “nice“. Considerate, open-minded, talented and always busy follow. Fonzo is the media training advisor for the Independent Media Center in Urbana and read about Rubel before moving to Champaign from Virginia in 2006. Fonzo was transitioning to a new town. Rubel was from Champaign, knew everyone, helps the IMC by loaning them equipment and helped Fonzo meet people.
“That’s an aspect I’ve always been interested in, community. I’m kind of defined by a series of communities. I guess one of the things I’ve done that’s unusual for people in my area is I’ve stayed in a small Midwestern town and had a whole career staying in the town I originated from,” said Rubel. According to Rubel, he tries to encourage and help the musicians, advise, lend gear, help with WFT and IMC and anybody else. He is also part of a community of engineers/producers.
Rubel attends the annual Tape Op conference where engineers and producers get together. He meets many people from different places there. Greg Norman, recording engineer and electrical technician at Electrical Studios in Chicago, is one of those people. Rubel has also recorded sessions at Electrical Studio and stops by whenever he is in Chicago.
“He always has a new story to talk about but doesn’t waste time or air on small talk. He genuinely pays attention to people and is thoughtful in what he does and how he responds to people,” said Norman.
After recording with him and seeing Rubel at major recording events, Norman learned that Rubel’s creativity and layed back personality contributes to the positive mood in a recording session but also that he doesn’t steer the session.
“He allows people to do their own thing and he gets the best out of that,” said Norman. Norman visits Rubel whenever he is in Champaign.
“It’s really important for there to be a studio like Pogo in Champaign-Urbana. He has a variety of very nice equipment and he knows how to use them. It’s a place where people can record the old way with really good microphones, amplifiers and the space designed,” said Fonzo. “It’s an inspiring place.”
Inspired by his parents, Les Paul, Steve Albini, artists, musicians and writers, Rubel became a well known producer and engineer, instead of enlisting in the Army, with few regrets. If he has time he wants to get MBA, possibly go to law school, write a couple books, and travel all while keeping the studio running.
“If I had realized I was going to be doing this I would have wanted more training, taken more music theory, studied architectural acoustics, physics of acoustics, music history, studied abroad and researched. I would have been more hands on, doing stuff earlier, and been more self promoting earlier. You have to inspire confidence in people by having confidence in yourself. I would have taken more opportunities that came along. I should have taken every gig that came along,” said Rubel. “One thing I don’t regret is that I’ve stayed here. It’s been great.”
Sources
Mark Rubel
217-351-8155
pogostudio@sbcglobal.net
Tim Schirmer
217-373-3740
Tschirmer@parkland.edu
Greg Norman
773-539-2555
Greg@electrical.com
Stephen Fonzo
502-475-9289
fonzo.stephen@gmail.com
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
profile exercise
The familiar grey crutches lay on the carpet next to the couch where the high school senior wrestler, Steven Neubauer, rests. He is recovering form his second hip surgery in 2 years. His buzzed blonde head stares blankly at the T.V. Sleep, T.V. and food will make up the next 6 weeks of his life. His mom brings him a try of food and without batting an eye, politely says "thanks."
Monday, April 13, 2009
Alison Neubauer
Jrn 400 lab
3rd beat article
828
Faint sounds of fast guitars, thunderous bass, thrashing drums, and a clamor of voices conversing or singing to their favorite songs seep up and out through the walls of the white house at 700 Illinois St. in Urbana. Through the weathered wooden cellar doors at the back of the house, down the creaky wooden stairs, a crowd of fans enjoy live bands in a small, intimate basement. Andrew Hajduch hosts punk shows here regularly, once every month.
The Copyrights from Carbondale, IL, who are currently signed to Red Scare Records, are returning to Hajduch’s this year to headline the upcoming show on April 24th. The Knock Down from New York, The Kobanes from the Chicago suburbs, Teenage Martians from Champaign and Kid Tim from Champaign form the rest of the lineup. The show costs $5 and doors are at 9 p.m. Fans of all ages are looking forward to another entertaining night.
“That show is going to be awesome. They did that last year too,” said Chris Li, junior at the University of Illinois. Li has attended almost every show at Hajduch’s since he began hosting shows in 2007.
Andrew Hajduch, a senior at the University of Illinois, uses his basement as a venue for local and some national punk bands. When looking for a house to rent, Hajduch said that he specifically looked for a house that had a suitable basement for his bands to practice in and to hold shows in.
“House shows are fun. I like picking the bands that play. I like to pick bands that I like, bands that I’m friends with, bands that I want to see and bands that I want to play with,” said Hajduch. According to Hajduch, the shows are for fun and to promote the bands.
“I try to keep the genre consistent. Punk shows. Mostly local, sometimes out of town,” said Hajduch.
Tim Janis, guitarist for local band Dizzy Chair Time, acoustic guitarist for his local solo project, Kid Tim, and senior at the University of Illinois, plays shows in Hajduch’s basement and likes the laid back atmosphere. He said that he likes having the chance to play with new bands and that it’s fun making new friends.
“I like Andrew’s place because there’s always something interesting going on, whether it’s that someone lost their porn or there’s a big fight,” said Janis. “There’s not a bunch of dick bags telling you when to play, what to play or where to play.”
In comparison to a larger more traditional venue, Li said that in Hajduch’s basement the sound quality is worse and there’s barely any space or ventilation but that’s the fun part. It’s a bunch of friends getting together, playing music and making inside jokes.
“It’s hilarious,” said Li, laughing. “You don’t get that at a large venue.”
According to Li, the biggest difference is that at Hajduch’s, people don’t have huge egos, it’s just friends.
“There’s a big difference between going to a Green Day concert with a bunch of 12 year old kids and their moms and going to Andrew’s and getting beer spilled all over me,” said Li.
There’s not much space to move, people scream to hear each other, it’s so cramped that the sweat on you isn’t just your own, somebody lights a cigarette as another stumbles through the crowd, beer in hand. Hajduch quit smoking and doesn’t sell liquor at these shows but he doesn’t mind what people do. He said that there are basically no rules.
Hajduch said that the shows usually last from 10 p.m. until 1 or 2 a.m. and an average of 50 or more people come in and out throughout the night. The cops haven’t been called yet this year, the neighbors and roommates don’t mind, according to Hajduch.
“It’s not like it’s going all night,” said Hajduch. “One roommate stays in his room the whole time, but they don’t complain.”
Hajduch, band members, and friends walk around town posting handmade flyers on coffee shops and venues. They also post announcements on Myspace and opening bands.com to get the word out about the next show.
By hosting these shows, Hajduch is not only able to promote bands that he likes or that he’s friends with but he’s also able to promote the four bands he is currently in. Those bands are Dizzy Chair Time, Fourth Grade Rats, Social Defiance and Teenage Martians. He said that he will continue to play in bands after college and keep music as a hobby but isn’t sure he wants to book bands for a living. Right now, Hajduch is the only person in the area who hosts these types of shows regularly.
“Andrew’s house is a big part of the Champaign-Urbana scene. Bands come to play and have fun and that’s something you need in a budding music scene,” said Janis.
Sources
Andrew Hajduch
Ahajdu2@illinois.edu
847-3617573
Tim Janis
Tjanis2@illinois.edu
847-609-7582
Chris Li
Cli20@illinois.edu
973-420-8243
Jrn 400 lab
3rd beat article
828
Faint sounds of fast guitars, thunderous bass, thrashing drums, and a clamor of voices conversing or singing to their favorite songs seep up and out through the walls of the white house at 700 Illinois St. in Urbana. Through the weathered wooden cellar doors at the back of the house, down the creaky wooden stairs, a crowd of fans enjoy live bands in a small, intimate basement. Andrew Hajduch hosts punk shows here regularly, once every month.
The Copyrights from Carbondale, IL, who are currently signed to Red Scare Records, are returning to Hajduch’s this year to headline the upcoming show on April 24th. The Knock Down from New York, The Kobanes from the Chicago suburbs, Teenage Martians from Champaign and Kid Tim from Champaign form the rest of the lineup. The show costs $5 and doors are at 9 p.m. Fans of all ages are looking forward to another entertaining night.
“That show is going to be awesome. They did that last year too,” said Chris Li, junior at the University of Illinois. Li has attended almost every show at Hajduch’s since he began hosting shows in 2007.
Andrew Hajduch, a senior at the University of Illinois, uses his basement as a venue for local and some national punk bands. When looking for a house to rent, Hajduch said that he specifically looked for a house that had a suitable basement for his bands to practice in and to hold shows in.
“House shows are fun. I like picking the bands that play. I like to pick bands that I like, bands that I’m friends with, bands that I want to see and bands that I want to play with,” said Hajduch. According to Hajduch, the shows are for fun and to promote the bands.
“I try to keep the genre consistent. Punk shows. Mostly local, sometimes out of town,” said Hajduch.
Tim Janis, guitarist for local band Dizzy Chair Time, acoustic guitarist for his local solo project, Kid Tim, and senior at the University of Illinois, plays shows in Hajduch’s basement and likes the laid back atmosphere. He said that he likes having the chance to play with new bands and that it’s fun making new friends.
“I like Andrew’s place because there’s always something interesting going on, whether it’s that someone lost their porn or there’s a big fight,” said Janis. “There’s not a bunch of dick bags telling you when to play, what to play or where to play.”
In comparison to a larger more traditional venue, Li said that in Hajduch’s basement the sound quality is worse and there’s barely any space or ventilation but that’s the fun part. It’s a bunch of friends getting together, playing music and making inside jokes.
“It’s hilarious,” said Li, laughing. “You don’t get that at a large venue.”
According to Li, the biggest difference is that at Hajduch’s, people don’t have huge egos, it’s just friends.
“There’s a big difference between going to a Green Day concert with a bunch of 12 year old kids and their moms and going to Andrew’s and getting beer spilled all over me,” said Li.
There’s not much space to move, people scream to hear each other, it’s so cramped that the sweat on you isn’t just your own, somebody lights a cigarette as another stumbles through the crowd, beer in hand. Hajduch quit smoking and doesn’t sell liquor at these shows but he doesn’t mind what people do. He said that there are basically no rules.
Hajduch said that the shows usually last from 10 p.m. until 1 or 2 a.m. and an average of 50 or more people come in and out throughout the night. The cops haven’t been called yet this year, the neighbors and roommates don’t mind, according to Hajduch.
“It’s not like it’s going all night,” said Hajduch. “One roommate stays in his room the whole time, but they don’t complain.”
Hajduch, band members, and friends walk around town posting handmade flyers on coffee shops and venues. They also post announcements on Myspace and opening bands.com to get the word out about the next show.
By hosting these shows, Hajduch is not only able to promote bands that he likes or that he’s friends with but he’s also able to promote the four bands he is currently in. Those bands are Dizzy Chair Time, Fourth Grade Rats, Social Defiance and Teenage Martians. He said that he will continue to play in bands after college and keep music as a hobby but isn’t sure he wants to book bands for a living. Right now, Hajduch is the only person in the area who hosts these types of shows regularly.
“Andrew’s house is a big part of the Champaign-Urbana scene. Bands come to play and have fun and that’s something you need in a budding music scene,” said Janis.
Sources
Andrew Hajduch
Ahajdu2@illinois.edu
847-3617573
Tim Janis
Tjanis2@illinois.edu
847-609-7582
Chris Li
Cli20@illinois.edu
973-420-8243
issues budget line
Alison Neubauer
Jrn 400 lab
Issues story budget line
Shelley Smithson
I’m going to explore the issue of illegal downloading of music and movies on campus and how authorities of U of I deal with the situation if the deal with it at all. I want to know roughly how many people illegally download on campus and how many are caught and if they are caught, what happens to them. I’m going to find out how they catch people. What the actual rules are about downloading. What the consequences are and do they differ depending on circumstances. I want to know who does the monitoring and who does the disciplining. I want to find out what the worst case scenario has been so far and what the standard situation is. I need to talk to people who have been caught and been punished, people who have been caught but nothing really happened to them and people who haven’t been caught. I want to talk to the people who monitor and catch people, people who do the discipline, find out about the federal law by going to the Urbana federal court, and maybe find out about how high university authorities feel about the situation. Is it even a big deal?
Jrn 400 lab
Issues story budget line
Shelley Smithson
I’m going to explore the issue of illegal downloading of music and movies on campus and how authorities of U of I deal with the situation if the deal with it at all. I want to know roughly how many people illegally download on campus and how many are caught and if they are caught, what happens to them. I’m going to find out how they catch people. What the actual rules are about downloading. What the consequences are and do they differ depending on circumstances. I want to know who does the monitoring and who does the disciplining. I want to find out what the worst case scenario has been so far and what the standard situation is. I need to talk to people who have been caught and been punished, people who have been caught but nothing really happened to them and people who haven’t been caught. I want to talk to the people who monitor and catch people, people who do the discipline, find out about the federal law by going to the Urbana federal court, and maybe find out about how high university authorities feel about the situation. Is it even a big deal?
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