bookies new and used books is a supporter of wxav 88.3 fm and wxav.com located at 10324 southwestern avenue in chicago bookies offers a selection of new and used books with orders available for books not currently in stock for more information visit their website at bookiesbookstores.com support for wxav 88.3 is being provided by northwest community credit union located on campus inside the grand school of management the credit union provides members with a variety of financial products and services to help them achieve their financial goals members can access services and bank on nwccu's mobile app for more information visit their website at nwccu.com or call them at 1-800-2-BLONG this is a wxav 773 sounds podcast introducing you to the best local bands in the chicagoland area hi this is peter krayson with 773 sounds and i'm really excited for this next interview that we have on the program when i first heard this individual's music it literally stopped me in my tracks by just literally how catchy it is and also by the fact that it's been really hard to describe what the music sounds like in the best possible way i think the only way i can describe it is it's a casserole of early to mid-2000 sounds and when you go to his band camp he has a great description that says real deal builds from guitar buzz to include sub bass synths breakbeats and live horns sometimes within the same song inspired by the anything ghost sonics of tv on the radio they might be giants and the clash call it remix rock it definitely is remix rock we just love to call it great music here i have jack ready with me here on 773 sounds jack how are you doing well thank you so much for that introduction it's great to be here oh it's great to have you here uh i mean there's so much that i would love to just uh talk with you about so let's jump right into it talk to me about how you first discovered music and how you knew you wanted to be a musician yeah i was lucky to grow up with parents that were very into music themselves uh especially growing up when i did in the 90s my parents had a big set of cds that they maintained over time and i remember they kept ticket cells on the back of the cds occasionally from bands that they had seen live and so they were always playing children's music around me when i was growing up but also uh adult music which sounds more insidious than i intended to but you know music regular music but not necessarily aimed for children and so i was introduced to a lot of stuff at a very young age i do have a very distinct memory of hearing prints on the radio probably in fourth or fifth grade or so hearing let's go crazy and being like what is that and the way that song starts in one place very quickly goes to another and has this whole arc in a very short span of time is very inspiring and i had always been interested in music as a listener and so by the time that i was old enough to be going to the library on my own to get music magazines and cds and things like that i was a huge music nerd from a very young age so it's been very gratifying to get to know a lot of different kinds of music and try my hand at performing it more and more over the past few years that's amazing i love the story i also love the fact that you went to the library to to get music uh newspapers and things like that because i feel like that's something today's youth don't have the joy of doing because everything's just at their fingertips um but you mentioned Prince is he one of your big musical inspirations definitely i think there's a lot in his career and his artistry that i admire for one he's just a great musician he's written so many fantastic songs that he performed or he gave to other artists or he produced for them there's so much to dig into just as a fan of his sound but i also like that he was able to work so independently and record so many parts on his own and he also did a lot for himself and other artists to advocate for his own rights in a commercial sense and work to distribute his music on his own and work to gain control of his master recording so that he ultimately was the main profiteer of the work that he was doing which i think is an admirable stance for any artist to take especially someone of his stature who was making so many millions of dollars from the major labels at the time of his peak so there's a lot that i admire about his work and his career and i also just love his music you know he's he's a great singer a great uh rhythm performer good lyricist so something for everybody to like and i think we do have to plug it you actually wrote a book about Prince called electric word life writing on Prince from 2016 to 2021 um so definitely go out of your way to check out that that book that jack wrote thank you yeah that was a fun project my then girlfriend uh now wife mary collaborated with me on that project a few years ago where i published some writing from different publications that i've written in various essays about Prince projects combine that with some original artwork that was printed out also beautifully by cereal box studio out in ohio on this risograph printing process with these gorgeous colors so uh it's a fairly small press but we've been talking about trying to get a second run together so we'll see if something materializes in the new year let's hope that does happen now i think we got to talk about the album that you dropped earlier this year it's called raw deal and i can't remember the last time i've listened to an album that is so insanely catchy on so many different fronts with the melodies with the beats with the lyrics um can you kind of talk me through and walk me through your approach of how you wrote this album thank you i appreciate that i certainly spent a lot of time on each track refining different parts in different ways trying to make sure that everything worked together well so i'm glad to hear that it's in a couple different ways a lot of songs on this album were in the works for quite a few years either as ideas i had sketched and put aside or demos that i kept revising and coming back to and it was really gratifying to get my first single recorded finished release your timeline a few years ago which is partially about this idea of making your own space and operating on your own time and then getting through that first step of having one song done made it a lot easier to finish another six seven eight nine ten songs so it's been really gratifying to not only get the songs finished mix master put out earlier this year but then perform them throughout the city all throughout 2025 and have them take on a new phase of life as songs with the band putting them together so yeah it started with a lot of early ideas that stuck around in my own head and felt sticky enough that hey i need to at least see the song through as a demo and once it became a demo it was nagging at me that hey i gotta complete this and turn into a full song i mean every track on this album they have their own unique hook you know if you're listening whether it's clockwork or your timeline or uh the track that we've been loving a lot on 773 sounds which is why say anything you really get like at a fundamental level and i'm kind of curious do you focus more on lyrics first or do you start with melody when you're writing a track sorry my cat's uh hollering at me in the background here oh that's okay like the other room it's all good my cat is actually asleep on a chair right now so she's snoring away oh how serene shout out to your cat my cat bella sends her regards what's up bella rosie says hello uh to answer your question i think it really depends song by song i think the easiest thing for me is when a lyrical idea comes with its own rhythm or with a melody attached and that makes it really easy for me to grab onto it and turn it into something bigger and help it grow a little i think generally i start with a lyric or a phrase or even like a word that really jogs something in me and at best try to match it with some music idea that fits the tone of it but i think the easiest songs for me to write have been the ones that an idea sort of lands fully formed with a lyrical idea and something musical to it and those are the ones that get sticky to me too and i hope that they can last as songs for people to listen when i'm done with them no no that makes sense now i'm at your band camp page right now it's a jackrady.bandcamp.com and you have something written on there that is really interesting and it's really stuck out with me since the first time i read it and it says quote raw deal is about the fear that market logic has turned even our relationships into transactions and we're still that i might be getting ripped off i mean there is so much to unpack in that in that statement and everything and i think raw deal kind of really explores some of that concept of everything's become transactional even our personal relationships what are your thoughts about that and how have you seen that kind of impact the way you create music or has it i think there's a helpful aspect to recognizing something as plainly as saying everything feels transactional lately and i think even in my relatively short lifespan thus far i've felt that you know i feel like we live in casino america at this point and it helped me to clarify the album as i was in the finishing round of mixing and mastering and making tweaks and helping all the pieces fit together as an album to recognize there's some common threads here not only in the relationships that i'm writing about but the types of relationships they are and the things that i'm writing about often fall back on this fear of the transactional or this anxiety around the marketplace of emotions or the marketplace of relationships and so it really helped to recognize that somewhat subconscious pattern in my songwriting to bring to the surface a little bit better help me name the album put together some of the aesthetic around the art and i think what it comes down to is some universal feelings that you're going to experience if you're living where we do and when we do so feeling like you might be getting ripped off or feeling like you have to bite your tongue about something important or feeling relieved that you have what you have because you know that it's hard out there for everybody else and taking solace in what you got so this album really helped you confront some really deep-seated ideas that have been brewing for a while then definitely i think i look back at this album in some ways as a little memoir at least for myself there's a lot of stories built into these songs of nights that i spent in dive bars and small rock clubs here in chicago in logan square and in wicker park and up here on the north side and out in the burbs when i was growing up and in all throughout the midwest you know there's stories in here of uh people drinking too much and people singing too loud and people getting in fights that they forget about or letting feelings that they should come to the surface bubble for a while and uh in some ways i think it's a very big western album in that way because that's where i'm from and that's what i know and it did help to finish these songs and articulate some of these feelings and what's been great as i've been performing them is having to get into character a little bit when i get on stage and if not feel the feelings more sort of put myself through them again and it has been helpful device to recognize a little bit more about what the songs are about even if i thought they were finished there's still stuff i'm discovering them and some of that has to do with the band as well it's been great having my live band consistently for the past year the deal breakers and they're a real tight group that's fantastic and in fact you guys just released a live album of real deal live and that's available on your band camp as well too i'm here with jack reedy here on 773 sounds now jack if people want to check you guys out on social media uh where can they go and find you yeah the best place to find me is my own website jackreedy.com j-a-c-k-r-i-e-d-y but you can find me on instagram jackreedy music tiktok jackreedy music youtube jackreedy music and then my band camp i think it's also just jackreedy and that's gonna be the best place to find the shows that are coming up the music that have come out so far uh music that will come in the future and the shows that will be announced in the future fantastic be sure to give jack a follow now i'm kind of curious jack um you are also a working journalist you've written for chicago reader you've written for pitchfork uh stereo gum even gq how has been being a working journalist influenced your music and your approach to music i think they're both an outgrowth of the same interest in music i have learned a lot of things about music by reading about books and reading interviews and reading things in the music media and then going to listen to bootlegs or deep cuts or live albums and things like that and that's great research material when you're interviewing artists or when you're writing about music or putting a critique together but uh it also kind of trains your brain and gives you some reps creatively to have some inspiration and some ingredients in the stew that's cooking up here so i sort of look at different music books in my record collection and the shows i've been to throughout my years as training i love a samurai i love that okay so you you said the magic two words record collection what are three albums that everyone needs to listen to on vinyl oh that's interesting i'm squinting as i look through my shelf here uh one album that i will start with is i got to give a shout out to the recently departed d'angelo who's one of my favorite musicians and voodoo is one of my treasured records i bring it with me every time i dj i play around the house a lot it's so deep and groovy and funky and so many people much smarter than me have written a lot about how great that album is and it sounds great when you put it on a turntable and it's got that warmth to it can't recommend that one enough another one that i play around the house a lot is confetti and the heartbreakers damn the torpedoes i believe it's the third album it's all killer no filler the band is tight the songs are really good everything just kind of sparkles in this way that's a little bit punk it's a little bit new wave it's kind of power poppy it's the tail end of the 70s and it just rocks so hard it's such a great album gotta think of a third one then third one i'm gonna go with a local pick i have senmoimoto's self-titled album double album that came out a few years ago really fantastic release on super records sends a great multi-instrumentalist and songwriter he's put out a lot of really good albums but i like his self-titled there's a great uh rap feature by quarry on one of the songs and it has this great arc to it where you can put it on for all afternoon you flip the record a couple more times since it's a double album really fantastic things to listen to love it i love the variety that you have there you know uh 773 sounds is part of wxv and we're a college radio station so we're always aiming to play the underground play the lesser known bands and artists and things like that and as someone who is currently in the local chicago music scene how would you judge it how is the local scene right now i think it's in good shape um i was actually just on the phone with someone about this aspiring music journalist at the university of wisconsin which weren't my heart to know that there are still undergrads who are interested in music journalism and i know that they exist because i was a part of that continuum and i don't want to see it to fall off either and uh this was something i kept bringing up in a discussion regarding the indie musicians in chicago that have made efforts to move their music off spotify in protest of that whole corporation and i think that is a sign of health in the chicago indie scenes i think there's a lot of great music every night no matter where you go i think there's a lot of people who are dedicated to some sort of ethic around their own independence or the things that they do for themselves or the things that they refuse to do and i think there's also most importantly an audience that is open to going out on a weeknight and spending some money on a t-shirt and a couple of years for the venue and braving the cold especially this time of year you know it is really a life cycle like something out of biology textbook and i think part of that is the audience for everyone so it's great to know that in chicago no matter what kind of music you like no matter where you live you can find live music happening somewhere in the city that night and that's something i definitely try not to pay for granted yeah absolutely and uh correct me if i'm wrong but you're also one of those artists who has pulled all their music from Spotify as well, too. Yes, yes, that's correct. I did that a few months ago at this point. I want to shout out Minor Moon and Smushy, the artists that were spearheading that effort amongst indie artists in Chicago.
There's a lot of good reasons to not have your music on Spotify, and again, as a user, to not use Spotify. And I want to shout out them for leading that movement, at least locally, and I definitely don't regret being a part of it thus far. I, again, have the luxury of being an independent artist where I can make those decisions for myself, and I appreciate being a part of a music community that has some dedicated principles around not only how the artists are paid, but also how the best sums of money that Spotify's generator are going to use, and specifically avoiding investments in things like military technology and so-called artificial intelligence investments. No, that's wonderful.
And that's one thing that as you said earlier, I agree with. I just, I love the you're being a rock star, but you're being a responsible rock star. You're making music responsibly with it. Hey, I'll take that.
Thank you. Just a couple more questions for you. Do you have any shows coming up in the near future where people can go and check you out? Yes.
Like I said, the best way to keep in touch is probably on Instagram, JackReadyMusic, or TikTok or YouTube. It's the same thing. JackReady, IB4E Music. I made sure to include this on my handy dandy notepad so I can mention this coming up.
These shows are still TBA, but very excited to at least tease on January 30th at Cubby Bear in Wrigleyville. Got a great local lineup of Wide Orbit kicked by a hand and myself, JackReady and the Deal Breakers. And then got another show coming up in February that I think I got to play closer to the chest, but got another great local lineup that's very exciting towards the end of February. So keep an eye on my Instagram and I'll have more news for you there.
I also have some music in the can that's getting ready to be released at some point in 2026, so I'm very excited to share more about that once the time is right. Oh, that is fantastic. Really exciting news here. Again, be sure to check them out, jackready.com, and that is an I before the E in Ready.
You can also check them out on Bandcamp, which is jackready.bandcamp.com. Final question for you, Jack. You know, working with college students, you know, they want to get into the local scene, but there's some interpretation. There's a little bit of fear because they might not necessarily know the artists that they're going to go in and check out.
What would you say to them to encourage them to go and take that residency to that local band, and more importantly to support that local band? I think my greatest piece of advice would be to say that I've never regretted going to a show. And I've seen shows in football stadiums and in basketball arenas, and I've seen shows in people's basements and in backyards and in dingy bars and everything in between. And especially if you're a college student here in Chicago, I can't recommend enough going out to shows where it's free to get in, or it's $5 to get in, or you know to fork over $10, $15.
It's not only going to be a great time to listen to the music, but it's very easy to build a real community around the shows you're going to because you will start seeing the same people either at the same venues or at different venues with similar kinds of music. And especially in today's day and age, everybody's trying to make their own music, or if they're not making music, they're a photographer, or they are a videographer, or they do something else in the industry, or they're just a big fan and they'll put on to other music. It's very easy to make friends that way, frankly. So I can't recommend being a part of any kind of music scene around here enough.
I totally agree. You can find your people. Jack Reedy, thank you so much for spending some time with us here on 773 Sounds. Thank you for having me.
It's been a blast. Thank you for listening to this WXAV 773 Sounds podcast. For more information on 773 Sounds, please visit our website, WXAV.com.