Profile: The Flips

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Jessica Braun Gervais in Music, Profile Features and tagged A Harm Deep but Shinning, Annette Nowacki, band profile, Better Days, Chaos is a Color, Chicago, Chicago music, DIY music, DIY recording, Dustin Martin, Engines, I'm Okay, Lettering, live music, Mac Kelem, Mike Carlson, music videos, New Music, Nick Sintos, Pelafina, profile, punk, rock, Subterraean, The Flips, Troy Sennett, Weakened Friends.

The “ah-ha” moment: for a band, it’s a time when everything comes together. It’s when all the struggles from nights of pouring over lyrics, drafting guitar riffs and the countless auditions are all justified. For The Flips, that “ah-ha” was the reaction from their 2015 album Better Days, a raw record exploring the struggles of mental health, depression and suicide. The songs are darkly beautiful conversation starters, drawing audiences to connect with the band on personal levels.

Q&A: Zigtebra

Posted on September 15, 2017 by Jessica Braun Gervais in Music, Q&As and tagged Chicago, Chicago artists, Chicago band, Chicago music, listen live and local, music challenge, music videos, Picture This, q&a, Schubas, tour, Zigtebra.

It’s hard to pinpoint it, but there’s something about Emily Rose and Joe Zeph, the duo behind Zigtebra, that makes them impossible not to admire. They’ve spent the past four months traveling the United States; playing shows, writing songs and producing music videos, yet they bounce into Sip Coffee House with such energy and enthusiasm, you’d never know they’d only just returned to Chicago the day before.

Emily Rose falls onto the plush couch, coffee in hand, apologizing for her mere one-minute lateness as Joe Zeph takes a seat in the armchair across from her. They playfully banter, the admiration between each other evident as they recall their crazy endeavors of the last couple of weeks.