Chicago area band Smoking Popes not fading away

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

It only took 36 minutes for Smoking Popes' reunion show at the Metro in November 2005 to sell out.

That's just another indication the band's strong following was not ready for the group to just fade away.

The Smoking Popes are busy these days working on a new album and will perform Sept. 10 and Sept. 11 as part of the Middlewest Music and Arts Festival, which will take place at several venues in DeKalb.

Maps & Atlases, Ha Ha Tonka, William Elliott Whitmore, The Frantic, Lucky Boys Confusion and Hawthorne Heights are among the other bands on the bill. More information is available at www.middlewestfest.com.

The Smoking Popes will also perform at the Riot Fest in Chicago, which will take place Oct. 6 to 10 at several venues in Chicago. Other bands on the bill include Bad Religion, The Lawrence Arms, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Bouncing Souls and The Lawrence Arms.

More information is available at www.riotfest.org.

I had the chance to talk to Smoking Popes lead singer Josh Caterer of Elgin about how he is juggling being in a band with his responsibilities as worship leader at Harvest Bible Chapel and raising a family.

Q - It seems like things are going full steam ahead for the Smoking Popes. I see that your current record label is releasing some of the band's previous material.

Asian Man Records put out a CD for us in February which was a collection of all of our old 7'' releases. That had been stuff that had come out in various collections over the years or was out of print until this year.

Q - I suppose that some of your die hard fans would already have these songs, but was it cool to have that material out there for your newer fans?

Totally. It's kind of sad to think that some of our songs would just disappear. They're like kids, really, you know. You want the best for them. You want them to have a productive life. If they just disappear, it makes you very sad and sort of uneasy.

Q - You guys are working on a new album. How is that going?

It's almost completely tracked. There are 10 songs on the album, and we have the basic instrumentation for all 10 of those songs. The album is 99 percent finished.

Q - What should people expect from the new album?

Well, it's a concept album, written entirely from the point of view of a high school senior. The album is called "Teen Tragedies."

Q - Was this something you were mulling over for a while, to do a concept album?

I had never planned on doing a concept album, but once the idea hit me, it just all came like a flood. I started writing these songs really quickly.

Q - Is it autobiographical?

No, not really. It's inspired by some of my own thoughts and feelings as a teenager, but I definitely created a character other than myself to be the main character on the album. It gave me the freedom to express things that are not strictly from my own life.

But I was thinking one day about the fact that when we were a young band, I would never intentionally write songs from a teenage point of view. I was always trying to pretend like I was more sophisticated. I was always listening to Frank Sinatra records and trying to capture his vibe.

It occurred to me that it would be funny if now that I am well into my 30s if I started writing songs from a teenage point of view. I had the first five songs for the album after coming up with the concept. The ideas were there, and I just had to take the time to write them out.

Q - Has this process been freeing for you?

It is freeing, to sort of paint yourself into a corner a little bit. You don't have to decide what in the world am I going to write about. Your subject matter is a little more obvious once you put some borders around it.

Q - You are juggling a lot of things these days, including being a worship leader at Harvest Bible Chapel.

I am on staff full time, actually as a worship pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel. The Popes aren't actually any touring right now.

Right now, we are just playing a few times a month around the Midwest, always within a couple of hours of Chicago. So it's really not that much of a conflict. I can be at my office all week and lead worship on Sunday, and still go out and play shows with the Popes on Friday and Saturday nights. If I had to choose between the two, I suppose I would choose worship leading.

Q - What do you like about being a worship leader?

Worship leading is better because it has eternal value. There is a verse in the book of First Corinthians that says, ''Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

So when I give myself to leading worship, I know that I am helping to build God's kingdom, and that it is something that is going to have value that lasts beyond even this life. The Smoking Popes are fun, but it is a fleeting thing.

Q - What about your side project Duvall? Is it still active?

Yeah, it was inactive for a few years. After the Popes got together, it sort of seemed Duvall evaporated. And a couple of months ago, we played a Duvall set at the Metro opening for our friends The Fold. After that, we've gotten offers to play a couple of different shows, and we're supposed to do a set on JBTV next month. Once I got the ball rolling, it has just picked up momentum on its own.

Duvall is actually going to start leading worship at the youth ministry at Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows once a month.

Q - And Duvall is writing new songs as well?

Yeah, I've been writing some new stuff for Duvall. Back when we were making Duvall records before, that was my only band. I was sort of on the fence whether Duvall would be a Christian band, or whether it should function in the general market. I think that my songwriting for that band was a little ambiguous because of that.

But now that the Popes are back together, my vision for Duvall is to make it a more explicitly Christian band, actually leading people in worship as a band.

Q - It seemed like labels kind of yanked the Popes around. Do you have any regrets about how things went in the past?

No, I don't. I think it was good that we were on Capitol Records. It got us a lot more exposure, and it helped us expand our fan base pretty quickly.

So that was beneficial. In the long run, I think we've always been an indie band. We're just more comfortable functioning on an independent label, because we have a pretty specific vision about how we want to approach making our music. We really don't like having to deal with the corporate structure in order to make that happen.

Where we are at now is a better fit, but I don't regret working with Capitol. If nothing else, it was a valuable learning experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Q - Tickets sold out really fast for the Popes' reunion show in 2005. Was that a surprise?

We didn't know what to expect. We knew that there was a dedicated core following of fans out there. When Duvall was touring, I would always run into people across the country that were really excited and really devoted. I figured there would be at least 100 really excited people at the show, but there was more like 1,100 really excited people at the show.

That night was really special for us. It was a lot of fun.

Q - For a while, the Chicago music scene was the big scene. What do you think of the Chicago music scene these day?.

Well, I live out in the suburbs and I work full time at my church, and I have two kids. I don't get out to a lot of shows. Pretty much the only shows I go to are the ones that I'm playing in. So I'm not an authority on the Chicago music scene.

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• Riot Fest 2010: Bad Religion, Bosstones (jambase.com)

Chicago band Smoking Popes to release new CD next month

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

The long wait is almost over for fans of Chicago band Smoking Popes.

On March 15, the band will release "This is Only a Test," its first CD of original material since 2008's "Stay Down."

Smoking Popes also will be busy touring in the next few months, including shows at 9 p.m. Feb. 19 at The Montrose Room, 5300 N. River Road, Rosemont, and at 10 p.m. Feb. 25 at Mojoes, 22 W. Cass St., Joliet.

For a full band schedule, go to www.smokingpopes.net.

Last year, I had the chance to talk to Smoking Popes lead singer Josh Caterer of Elgin about the new album, and how he is juggling being in a band with his responsibilities as worship leader at Harvest Bible Chapel and raising a family.

Q - It seems like things are going full steam ahead for the Smoking Popes. I see that your current record label is releasing some of the band's previous material.

Asian Man Records put out a CD for us in February which was a collection of all of our old 7'' releases. That had been stuff that had come out in various collections over the years or was out of print until this year.

Q - I suppose that some of your die hard fans would already have these songs, but was it cool to have that material out there for your newer fans?

Totally. It's kind of sad to think that some of our songs would just disappear. They're like kids, really, you know. You want the best for them. 

You want them to have a productive life. If they just disappear, it makes you very sad and sort of uneasy.

Q - What should people expect from the new album?

Well, it's a concept album, written entirely from the point of view of a high school senior. The album is called "Teen Tragedies."

Q - Was this something you were mulling over for a while, to do a concept album?

I had never planned on doing a concept album, but once the idea hit me, it just all came like a flood. I started writing these songs really quickly.

Q - Is it autobiographical?

No, not really. It's inspired by some of my own thoughts and feelings as a teenager, but I definitely created a character other than myself to be the main character on the album. It gave me the freedom to express things that are not strictly from my own life.

But I was thinking one day about the fact that when we were a young band, I would never intentionally write songs from a teenage point of view. 

I was always trying to pretend like I was more sophisticated. I was always listening to Frank Sinatra records and trying to capture his vibe.

It occurred to me that it would be funny if now that I am well into my 30s if I started writing songs from a teenage point of view. I had the first five songs for the album after coming up with the concept. 

The ideas were there, and I just had to take the time to write them out.

Q - Has this process been freeing for you?

It is freeing, to sort of paint yourself into a corner a little bit. You don't have to decide what in the world am I going to write about. Your subject matter is a little more obvious once you put some borders around it.

Q - You are juggling a lot of things these days, including being a worship leader at Harvest Bible Chapel.

I am on staff full time, actually as a worship pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel. The Popes aren't actually any touring right now.

Right now, we are just playing a few times a month around the Midwest, always within a couple of hours of Chicago. So it's really not that much of a conflict. I can be at my office all week and lead worship on Sunday, and still go out and play shows with the Popes on Friday and Saturday nights. 

If I had to choose between the two, I suppose I would choose worship leading.

Q - What do you like about being a worship leader?

Worship leading is better because it has eternal value. There is a verse in the book of First Corinthians that says, ''Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

So when I give myself to leading worship, I know that I am helping to build God's kingdom, and that it is something that is going to have value that lasts beyond even this life. The Smoking Popes are fun, but it is a fleeting thing.

Q - What about your side project Duvall? Is it still active?

Yeah, it was inactive for a few years. After the Popes got together, it sort of seemed Duvall evaporated. And a couple of months ago, we played a Duvall set at the Metro opening for our friends The Fold. 

After that, we've gotten offers to play a couple of different shows, and we're supposed to do a set on JBTV next month. Once I got the ball rolling, it has just picked up momentum on its own.

Duvall is actually going to start leading worship at the youth ministry at Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows once a month.

Q - And Duvall is writing new songs as well?

Yeah, I've been writing some new stuff for Duvall. Back when we were making Duvall records before, that was my only band. I was sort of on the fence whether Duvall would be a Christian band, or whether it should function in the general market. 

I think that my songwriting for that band was a little ambiguous because of that.

But now that the Popes are back together, my vision for Duvall is to make it a more explicitly Christian band, actually leading people in worship as a band.

Q - It seemed like labels kind of yanked the Popes around. Do you have any regrets about how things went in the past?

No, I don't. I think it was good that we were on Capitol Records. It got us a lot more exposure, and it helped us expand our fan base pretty quickly.

So that was beneficial. In the long run, I think we've always been an indie band. We're just more comfortable functioning on an independent label, because we have a pretty specific vision about how we want to approach making our music. 

We really don't like having to deal with the corporate structure in order to make that happen.

Where we are at now is a better fit, but I don't regret working with Capitol. If nothing else, it was a valuable learning experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Q - Tickets sold out really fast for the Popes' reunion show in 2005. Was that a surprise?

We didn't know what to expect. We knew that there was a dedicated core following of fans out there. When Duvall was touring, I would always run into people across the country that were really excited and really devoted. 

I figured there would be at least 100 really excited people at the show, but there was more like 1,100 really excited people at the show.

That night was really special for us. It was a lot of fun.

Q - For a while, the Chicago music scene was the big scene. What do you think of the Chicago music scene these day?.

Well, I live out in the suburbs and I work full time at my church, and I have two kids. I don't get out to a lot of shows. Pretty much the only shows I go to are the ones that I'm playing in. So I'm not an authority on the Chicago music scene.

Smoking Popes frontman Josh Caterer talks about band's longevity ahead of Bloomington show

Photo by Meredith Goldberg

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

The songs on Smoking Popes' quintessential album "Born to Quit" are so fresh sounding, it is hard to believe the album is more than 30 years old.

The album was released on Chicago indie label Johann’s Face Records in 1994 before it was picked up by Capitol Records the following year.

The Chicago area pop punk band is performing the album in its entirety as part of a tour that includes an April 25 stop at The Castle Theatre, 209 E. Washington St., Bloomington.

Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are available by going to the band's website, smokingpopesmusic.com. 

The band will also perform songs from its latest album, "Lovely Stuff," along with other songs from its catalogue.

I had the chance to talk to Smoking Popes frontman and Aurora resident Josh Caterer about the band's latest projects.

Q – Great to talk to you again. I believe the last time we talked was in 2010 and a lot has happened since then.

For one thing, back then you were living in Elgin and you were a worship leader at Harvest Bible Chapel. Now, you live in Aurora and are a worship pastor at Village Bible Church in Sugar Grove.

What do you like about being a worship pastor?

There's a lot of things. I like to worship the Lord and I like being able to help other people do that.

Having a job that involves music is right in my wheelhouse. To have a job that involves a weekly musical performance is pretty much right on the bullseye for me.

Q – And it's great that you're living in Aurora.  I know you've played at The Venue in downtown Aurora.

It's got a great vibe. I love that place.

I did a solo performance there. The Smoking Popes has never played at The Venue.

Q – Speaking about the Smoking Popes, it seems like the band is pretty busy these days. You teamed up with Scott Lucas of Local H for the song “Allegiance.” How have people been responding to the song?

It was great to record with him. We've known Scott for a long time.

 

Smoking Popes toured with Local H back in the '90s. So we've known Scott for a couple of decades now.

But I had never been in the studio with him. So it was great to have the opportunity to do that and to see how he works in the studio.

You always see a different side of a person in the studio and it was really cool and inspiring to see him at work.

The response to the song has been mostly positive so far, except for some of the pushback that I expected. 

Q – So you felt the need to write a song like that? I was reading about how you felt after the presidential election and you just felt compelled to put this out there. Are you hoping to change anybody's mind?

I don't know if that's possible. I simply felt the need to express the very strong feelings that were within me and art is a great and constructive way to do that.

Because in the immediate wake of the election, I was not only frustrated and disappointed that he was reelected, I was also very upset at the thought that there might be people out there who assumed that I voted for him because I'm a Christian.

There is a general stereotype about Christians, that all Christians in America are Trump supporters. And it's not actually true. 

Maybe a majority of them are, but not all Christians are Trump supporters. A person doesn't have to become a Trump supporter when they become a Christian.

Those are two different things. Christianity is not a right-wing political movement.

It was very important to me to let the world know that while I am a Christian, I am definitely not a Trump supporter.

Q – You and your brothers, Matt and Eli, recently performed a sold-out show at Tivoli Bowl in Downers Grove. I know you guys don’t always perform live together, but when you do, is it an extra special experience?

Yeah. My brothers, Matt and Eli, both have little kids, so they don't go on tour these days. They play the shows that are local.

But if we're playing out of state, we have other players to fill in for them. It is special to have the original lineup of the band at these local shows.

It's really fun. There's a certain repertoire that I have with my brothers that is pretty special.

And that show in particular was incredible. There was a lot of energy there that night.

It's always amazing to play at these alternative venues like a bowling alley or a record store or somewhere that's smaller than we usually play, somewhere that people are just packed in and it feels like a real punk show.

That show at Tivoli Bowl felt like some of the punk shows that we played when we were starting out.

Q – Do you think the fact that you are brothers is one of the reasons that Smoking Popes is still around more than 30 years after first forming?

I guess it's a little surprising that a band of brothers has stayed together this long, because usually brothers in a band will fight. Look at Oasis.

I feel like those guys can barely stand to be in a room with each other for a long time. But we've always been friends and able to work out our differences with each other.

It just depends on communication. I think we developed some good communication skills when we were younger. 

So if we have a problem, we don't just scream at each other or throw a tantrum. We'll talk it through.

Q – And of course, you will going on tour this year and performing “Born To Quit” in its entirety to mark the 30th anniversary of the release of the album. Why do you think the album has stood up so well over the years?

I think that there's something in the songwriting that has kind of a timeless quality and that probably comes from the fact that when I was writing those songs, I was listening to a lot of music from the '50s and '60s and trying to incorporate that vibe into what I was writing, those melodies and those themes.

 

If those songs were still appealing 30 or 40 years later back in the '90s, then a new version of them is still going to add that same timeless appeal, I think.

Q – As part of this tour, you also are playing songs from your new album, “Lovely Stuff,” which was released in March. I understand you started the album in 2022.

It seems like there is a meaning behind the album's name. Is there a story behind the album's name?

Yes. We did a tour of Europe and the UK last year. It was the first time we had been over there in 28 years.

And one of the shows took place at a small club in Northwich called the Salty Dog. And in between songs, the audience started chanting those words, 'Lovely Stuff! Lovely Stuff!' 

It was a wonderful, strange moment, because it was so ridiculously British. It's not something an American audience would chant.

It was really kind of beautiful. It was a moment that stuck with us.

There was so much love and positivity and celebration in that room. And it came to represent in our minds the transcendent joy there is in playing live music.

Q – What were your goals for the album and do you think you accomplished them? I understand you started the album in 2022.

We worked on it slowly. We would just record a couple of songs at a time and then go back into the studio two or three months later with two more songs.

We were taking our time with the writing and arranging process. We don't have clearly defined artistic goals.

You want to stay open to whatever creative impulses are brewing within you. You want to try to be honest and you want to try to be inspired.

I am really happy with the way these songs turned out because I feel like on our last few albums, we have started to incorporate the musical textures that we weren't capable of before, especially in the guitar work.

The way that Eli and I play off of each other in the studio has become more interesting to listen to over the years, I think. And Eli has really started to bring a lot more atmospheric layers into his playing.

Q – It seems like you guys are always looking for new challenges and new ways to approach things.

That probably helps to keep you going.

Yeah, I think that's part of life, just trying to stay engaged. You get to a certain point in life where you notice that people your age start to consider themselves old. 

I noticed this even when I was in my 30s, that people my age would start to make jokes about how they're old now and they're always making self deprecating comments about their own age.

I have always felt that even if that is intended to be light hearted, it still is not helpful and it can be really counterproductive and it should be avoided at all costs.

I have always felt, even from when I was young, that older people should be celebrated, appreciated and respected. People gain wisdom and skill along the way that young people don't have.

Willie Nelson is still touring and he is 91 years old and he's still putting out albums every year. And Buddy Guy is still going.

So it's possible to stay engaged and stay inspired and to stay active. I think the point is you just have to keep moving, you have to keep caring and just never think of yourself as old because you never actually are.

Any person who is still alive is still relevant and still has something to say about what's happening around them and something to contribute.

And I hope that I always feel that way, no matter how long I have left on this planet and that sentiment will come through in our music.

 

 

  

Smoking Popes to reissue "Born To Quit," tour on album

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

Fans of Chicago area band Smoking Popes will have plenty to cheer about next month.

Not only will the band reissue its landmark album, "Born To Quit," on Oct. 23, but will also perform the entire album on Oct. 20 at the Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago.

The show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $15, available at www.doubledoor.com.

The remastered album comes with a deluxe repackaging featuring new artwork, a memorabilia collage, new liner notes from Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio), Joe Shanahan (Chicago’s Metro) and comedian Kyle Kinane, as well as a track-by-track analysis by Popes’ frontman Josh Caterer and two bonus tracks - the Willie Nelson cover “Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground,” and the previously unreleased duet “Blanket In The Park”. 

There will be limited edition red and blue vinyl in addition to a CD. Red vinyl will be for sale at www.SideOneDummy.com while blue vinyl will be available on tour.

In 2010, I had the pleasure of catching up with Caterer on the band's latest activities:

http://thetotalscene.blogspot.com/search?q=smoking+popes 

Chicago's King Mixer releases new album, will perform at Martyrs'

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

Legendary Chicago musician Cliff Johnson - of Off Broadway fame - is just one of the many musicians who drop by on "Hang On," the latest album of King Mixer's Eric Howell.

To celebrate the release of the new album, King Mixer will perform June 18 at Martyrs', 3855 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Phil Angotti and The Bigger Empty also are on the bill.

The show starts at 9 p.m. and tickets are $10, available by going to Martyrs' website at martyrslive.com.

I had the chance to talk to King Mixer about the album.

Q - Great talking to you. Of course, you will be performing at Martyrs' to celebrate the release of "Hang On." In sitting down to make the album, what were your goals and do you think you accomplished them? 

KM: I suppose, being an independent artist, it's a goal to make art your own way, on your own terms. But this can also mean you're living in a world of nebulous deadlines. Elastic deadlines. Making an album can take a long time, and it's helpful to have a hard deadline in place before you get into recording, even if that deadline does end up getting pushed back a bit.

https://musicclout.com/contents/userprofile.aspx?u=c590e987-3dc1-419f-b8e9-b95eb73d1e12

Limitation is good for creativity. Especially if you think you've truly got the goods, it can test that theory. Less can be more, etc. At the outset of this album, what would eventually become "Hang On," it was basically time to get moving, time to put something new out.

I released my first album, which was "Eric Howell's Greatest Hitch! Vol One" - back in 2009. I woke up one day realizing I'm only a few years off from the 10-year anniversary of the first record, and I hadn't even put out a second record yet! Pathetic. 

Time to get moving. I wanted to basically make a record that would be fun to play live, fun to listen to, that would keep people's interest from start to finish, and for several months before starting the album I had a handful of, for me, really different melodies and song ideas running through my head.

Nothing like "Greatest Hitch!" at all. And I had been playing with some great musicians in sort of corporate bread n butter type gigs, jobbing gigs (which is SO not my thing), and from those gigs I met some terrific guys, some great players, and I thought, "Now is the time to make a new record, while I have these guys in my circle of musician contacts," etc.

And it turned out that my producer, Christian Cullen, he knew most of these great players I was bringing into the fold and so it was just a sort of perfect time, a perfect storm for making a new record while this collective was running hot. I am certain that everyone involved in the project feels we made a much better album than the little indie record we initially thought we
were making.

In terms of scope, it started out as "American Graffiti" and ended up "Star Wars," no question. 

Q - I understand that you crowdfunded the making of "Hang On" and surpassed your goal. Are you honored that so many people would want to fund the project? Do you feel like the CD is now even more connected to your fans? 

KM: For sure, absolutely. I was initially hesitant to use the crowdfunding method, I resisted it for years.

I'm from the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" generation, man. I've been homeless rather than accept a hand out.

But I was again at that point where it was time to make a record and my resources for doing so were almost nil. I make just enough as a full time musician to just, you know, LIVE.

There's never enough money to make your grand masterpiece. So through the advice of a dear friend, I decided to use GoFundMe to attempt a crowdfunded record.

Crowdfunding is NOT a handout, the concept operates on the premise of "mutually beneficial reward." Still, I was hesitant because other platforms like Kickstarter and Pledge Music, though hugely successful, insist that your campaign is globally public, as opposed to perhaps selecting a specific demographic of friends, family and fans through social media and keeping it sort of between you and them, which is what I was interested in doing my first time into the crowdfunding thing. 

And GoFundMe let's you do that, if you're sort of wading into the crowdfunding waters like I was it's great. Plus, with those other platforms you have a certain amount of days to reach your desired financial goal and if you don't reach the projected
goal by the imposed deadline, that's it.

All the money you managed to raise through that platform is returned to the people who tried to help you and you get nothing and your project doesn't get made.

And then you have to soldier on, perhaps with the very public stigma attached to you that "Oh, he couldn't reach his goal, not enough people cared, so why should I care?" from your audience, etc. Kinda like being dropped from your record label back in the day.

I didn't wanna deal with that possibility. It had been five years since I had released anything. I didn't know if anyone still cared.  So I chose GoFundMe because you can leave your campaign open-ended, there's no hard deadline to meet your financial goal.

And as it turned out, I raised 10k in about 48 hours. I was flabbergasted. Just knocked to the floor. I was on cloud nine for days, knowing that people still care about my music and wanted to hear more of what I would create.

It makes a huge difference in one's attitude going into a project like this to already know you have advance orders on the record, before you've even begun tracking. That's a huge shot in the arm, creatively. Of course, I burned through that money extremely fast, paying for studio time and musicians and pizzas and baby sitters and engineer's rates.

The musicians on the record are top shelf but it's not like we'd been touring together playing these new songs for months orbanything. A lot of the songs were created in the studio, building on just the basic tracks and experimenting with a myriad of ideas to see what would stick. We didn't have the songs totally down pat.

I generally don't work like that in the studio, I've always tried to beat the clock but with Christian producing, experimenting with sounds seemed like the best way to ensure I didn't just make a repeat of my first album.

That's an expensive experiment, though. More than a few blind alleys were doubled back on.  I ended up putting another 10k of my own money into the record as well, before it was even finished.

But the GoFundMe campaign remained open throughout the recording process and I would post video updates every few weeks, and more money started flowing in. Eventually I met and surpassed my second fundraising goal.

So yes, without a doubt, I am forever grateful and extremely motivated by the direct connection I've maintained with my fans throughout all this. Of course, there's various tiers and rewards given to whomever pledges towards the project. But I must say, it's vastly different playing a house party or giving a guitar lesson to people who directly supported the creation of your art, rather than just playing to get paid so you can eat.

The campaign is still up, just so everyone can see the magnificent results, but I'm done asking people for help in that regard. I feel extremely lucky to have the backing of friends and fans who not only believe in my music, but they've also been very patient with the whole process.

You can't ask for more than that. The record is about to launch, and I plan to show my gratitude with a great live show. The payback is the live show now, sink or swim.

Q - Is there a meaning behind the album's name? 

KM: Yeah, everyone was saying it during recording...LOL. A missed cue, an aborted take, trying to find the right guitar tone, or waiting for Logic or Pro Tools to reboot it was always, "hang on." Those two words came back a LOT.

Then over time, it became like a mantra for that inner voice inside..we all have that nagging voice inside telling you it's not good enough, it's a pipe dream, it isn't going to work. And you shut that voice out, but it can be very taxing just trying to hold it together.

Trying not to cave under the pressures of day to day living. That seems to be a running theme on the record. Things fall apart. Keep it together.

All of this eventually ends, you and me and everything. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Every day we're aging.

How does one handle that rather unforgiving information? When you're young, this is an impossible concept to grasp.

I believe we're designed NOT to grasp it, fully, in youth, lest we give up and not live up to our fullest potential into old age. It's only later that we begin to understand it, within ourselves. It's deeply personal.

Why should a young person fully understand it? That would be tragic. The understanding comes with age and experience, I think that's part of the pact.  You lose a few friends to drugs and alcohol or one day it's a text, bluntly stating that someone you've had a sacred relationship with has succumbed to cancer. Relentlessly unforgiving information.

And it's not a TV show, it's YOU. It's your life. And yet life goes on. We have to hang on, to fulfill our destiny. And yet is it so much to ask to just...get a break every so often? Can't any of my genius ideas make me rich so I can invite all my friends onto a yacht for a weekend? Or have I missed the boat?

There's a tendency to give up, to give in, once you know you can no longer hide behind your adolescent allusions. Where do you go when your certainty about things proves false? The old stand byes cease to work anymore.

Now what? And yet, life is ongoing. Just as it was when you were 10. There's still as much beauty and wonder as there ever was, and we just need to keep at it more as you get older, to find it. To rediscover it, while everything is seemingly conspiring against you doing just that.

You have to hang on, to find it again. These are themes within the new record. The song "Zookeepers" with the line, "Does anybody else out there see the world as a beautiful parasite...where life eats life?" or in "Gravity" : "It's coming at you all of the time, the wants and the needs of a mind...in particles and waves of light..invisible to the naked eye."

In the final song on the record, "Days That Used To Be" it says, "All those things that you believed you're wishing now you could retrieve, there's no guarantees, delete your head, reboot your heart."

That's where nearly all of the songs on this record ending up going in some fashion: "Keep it together, it's the changing of the guard, you'll be alright..roll with it...just...hang on."

Q - Cliff Johnson, of the Chicago-area band Off Broadway, is one of the guest artists on the CD. How did you connect with him and what do you think he brought to the table? Did the band have an impact musically on you? 

KM: Cliff is a wise sage, man. He has seen it ALL. I didn't know him when we made the record.  I dug out an old song I wrote when I was 16 years old called 'Don't Chu Think' and with Christian producing, we brought the song back from the dead.

Off Broadway was a huge influence on my singing. Huge. When I was in junior high, you couldn't get away from their record "On." It was Cheap Trick with "I Want You To Want Me," The Knack with "My Sharona" and Off Broadway, "Stay In Time."

On the radio, all the time. It sounded so Beatley, so John Lennon like on my AM clock radio.

But unlike those other songs, "Stay In Time" wasn't about a girl, didn't allude to anything sexual. "Stay In Time" seemed to be addressing, "Hey man, live in the now, not in the past, don't get stuck, don't spend your time ruminating in your 'sad dream' that is denying your own ability to love. "What a sad thing."

That is some heavy shit for a power pop record in 1978! And it somehow got on the radio! I think that first record, "On," sold something like 100,000 copies in Chicago alone. And somehow Atlantic Records blundered horribly and didn't put any overseas tours together for the band and so they remained local heroes.

Meanwhile, Cheap Trick is at Budukon and breaking world wide. I saw Off Broadway play College of DuPage in like, 1980 or '79. I couldn't even drive yet, but they blew my mind they were so good. The guitarist was like Elliot Easton from The Cars.

He was playing these crazy fast leads that threatened to derail but never did, beautifully crafted over these simple Buddy Holly staccato chords. So I loved Off Broadway and wrote my own version of an Off Broadway song with "Don't Chu Think," in my little bedroom, freshman year in high school.

Flash forward a lifetime later I'm explaining all this to my producer, and he goes, "Do you know Cliff?" - I'm like "No, I'm just way into Off Broadway" and Christian says, "Well I do. I know him. I wonder if we could get him to sing on this."

Phone calls were made, demos were emailed, and two weeks later, I'm meeting Cliff for the first time and we're in the studio tracking vocals on a song I wrote when I was a kid, pretending to BE HIM. Life is beautiful. And Cliff is a sweet dude.

He's a pal. And more than a little crazy LOL

Q - A number of other guest musicians also appear on the album. How did you about picking the musicians on the album and did the recording process go smoothly? 

KM: Like I said, there were a number of just fantastic musicians I was playing money gigs with for a year or two, prior to King Mixer forming. Guys like Matt Nelson on keys, who is just a savant, Nick Kitsos, who drummed for The BoDeans for years, Grant Tye who plays guitar for Robbie Fulks' band and a number of other great bands in Chicago.. I met all these guys through playing with Nick Kitsos in his band for a couple years.

I was a side man for Nick and then I stole all his guys! LOL kidding. Kinda. But with guys like this, their talents put them very much in demand and they are always juggling projects so being a proper band, a four legged table where all the costs and the artistic glory is divided equally, is just out of the question.

King Mixer is more of a collective in that sense, not a band. It's healthier this way, we've all been in true bands and it's like being in love for the first time, it's great, it's scary and you live for it and barely get out alive. And it only happens once.

And we've done all that when we were younger so being called into a collective where there's a great deal of mutual respect for what we've done and who we are now is...more on balance with where we are in life now, I'd say.

And it allows me, as the show runner, to tap various musicians for both the live shows and recordings. I have been a fan of The Smoking Popes for many years, and I reached out blindly to Mike Felumlee, the Popes drummer, and asked if he'd play drums on a few songs for my record. In situations like this, Facebook and the Internet is a very handy thing.

It cuts through all the B.S. and gives you direct access to a lot of people you'd otherwise have to spend years hanging out in clubs and bars to meet. So, same as with Cliff Johnson, I emailed Mike my demos and we met for the first time a few weeks later, rehearsed once, and boom, we're tracking. 

And it turns out, he's been fronting his own band, The Bigger Empty, for years, and playing guitar in that band, not drumming at all. He told me, "I haven't touched my drums in six years," just before we began rehearsal.

I was like, 'Ohhh..." this could be terribly awkward...LOL. But within seconds of playing, Mike's hitting the skins so hard I had to turn my amp up so loud to keep up, I was almost hallucinating. It felt like we were in a stadium with legions of kids pogoing to my songs, and I understood where the secret weapon lies in the power of The Smoking Popes.

Mike is opening our Martyrs show with The Bigger Empty and the bass player in The Bigger Empty, Reuben Baird, mixed the King Mixer record with me. So having them start the show is a great way to kick off the record release party. 

Q - Will the night be even more special because Phil Angotti will be opening for you? What makes him a good musical fit? Will he be joining you on stage? 

KM:  Phil is one of our city's true treasures. We've been pals for many years now and have a mutual fascination with all things Beatles. We've even played Liverpool together and played The Cavern Club.

We sang together on a tour of John Lennon's boyhood home, in the front hallway, just like John and Paul did when they were first starting to write songs together. And so we had to sing together in that very same spot. Cuz we're nerds, LOL.

But Phil has like 100 albums out, he's a terrific songwriter in his own right and he's a wicked, visceral guitar player and I'm sure all of this will be on full display when he takes the stage at Martyrs with us. Plus, June 18 is Paul McCartney's 74th birthday, so I'm inviting Phil back on stage during King Mixer's set for sure.

We've got some special surprises for the 'Beatle People' in the works! 

Q - What do you think of the Chicago music scene and how do you think you fit into it? 

KM: I don't think of the Chicago music scene. And I can't think of any scene I've ever fit into, honestly, musically or otherwise.

It's kind of like what people say about being the life of any party: you make your own fun. Don't expect anyone else to bring the "it" factor into your life. YOU bring "it". Or don't.

But no, I just finished making my best record on the good faith of about a hundred people who gladly pledged their hard earned money for me to do this. That is the scene I fit into and I intend to shower that scene with great songs and just...let it do whatever it does, with love in my heart for all who enter the grounds.