Illinois Entertainer August 2021 | Page 4

August 2021 • Volume 47 , Number 10 • www . illinoisentertainer . com

COVER STORY : CHVRCHES

Chvrches ' Lauren Mayberry watched 2015 ' s horrorcomedy The Final Girls as part of research for her trio ’ s new Screen Violence concept album , it ' s fourth , out August 27 on Glassnote . Naturally , splattery metaphors burrowed their way into its danceable yet dark synthrock studies on the new album featuring an apt cameo from Britain ’ s reigning King of Goth , The Cure ’ s legendary Robert Smith . But many complexities are happening just beneath the record ’ s surface , swears the Scottish-born , now Los Angeles-based Berry . And no one should ever accept anything Chvrches does at mere face value . “ We ’ re big cinephiles ,” the singer / lyricist says of her Glasgow bandmates currently residing only a few blocks from each other . “ And I ’ m not necessarily a gorehound , but I ’ ve always been drawn to horror movies because of what they speak to within me if that makes sense ,” Berry speaks in a soft , speedy , burr-inflected lilt that belies the gravity of her carefully considered thoughts . Tom Lanham spoke to Mayberry for August ' s horror music and film inspired cover story .

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HELLO MY NAME IS JOHN

To calm , cool , and collected X anchor John Doe , it ’ s all about how you see the world these days . Some artists may have dreaded all that enforced 2020 lockdown time as a curse , but , homebound apart from his bandmates in Austin , he viewed it as a blessing , a creative windfall , even though X had just issued a punk-powered new masterpiece called Alphabetland , its first new studio album in 27 years . “ I was a little sad that we couldn ’ t go out and celebrate the hell out of that record ,” says the bassist , vocalist , and part-time film and TV actor . “ But I think that the pandemic gave people the time to reset , gave people the time to work on things as if they were in prison because they sort of were . As in , ‘ If only I had the time to …’ fill in the blank . Well , now you DO , motherfucker ! So I used my time wisely — I worked on songs and recorded an entire solo album .” Tom Lanham spoke to Mr . Doe in " Hello My Name is ..."

GEAR : EPIPHONE SLASH COLLECTION

Epiphone is going with a winning formula and a great guitar value line when they announced the new Epiphone Slash Collection will officially debut on www . epiphone . com . Crossing three decades of collaborative partnership between Gibson and Epiphone luthiers and the iconic guitarist Slash , the all-new Epiphone Slash Collection features multiple acoustic and electric guitars and follows his self proclaimed historymaking Gibson Slash Collection released last year . In a first for the brand , every guitar in the new Epiphone Slash Collection , as well as the Gibson Slash Collection is an evergreen artist collection with fourteen guitars in production . “ I ' m really proud to present this great line up of excellent quality , signature Epiphone guitars ,” says Slash . “ They sound & look fantastic . It ' s all I could ask for ." Catch up in Gear for the details .

File : Billy Duffy

Our interview with the legendary founder of X , John Doe .

Cinemascopes

Respected releases .

Media

Sports radio ' s rising star at WCKG .

Spins

Steve Dawson , Jeff Elbel + Ping , Prince & more .

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