MARCH STUDIO REPORT
Pete Berwick at Skye Bleu
A
t SKYE BLEU Studios in Villa Park,
Chicago cowpunk/rocker Pete
Berwick recorded his first album
(titled Island) in 3 years with his backing
band, Jeff Givens and the Mugshot
Saints (Jeff Givens, background vocals,
percussion; Jason Botka, guitar, key-
boards; Jennifer McCleary Botka, back-
ground vocals; Johnny Gadeikis, bass;
Luke Smith, drums). Berwick told IE's
John Vernon, "this is my most insightful
songwriting I've ever written on this
album. I really wrote outside the box on
this slab of 12 songs. I've been working
and tweaking some of the music for the
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that relationship was caused by me, but I
obviously didn’t see it at the time. So I
wanted to get out to the world that I was
sorry. I don’t know if we’ll play that one
live, but if we do I’ll probably get pretty
emotional," he chuckles.
The following track, "Half Smile," is the
most upbeat of the five with a solidly
melodic and harmonic vocal chorus. But
following right alongside that is Zarek, bel-
lowing out the protagonist's subconscious,
and Catanese's drum licks hammering out
a smoking layer of percussion that keeps
the whole scene afloat.
The EP closes with the nostalgic
"Treehouse," which starts out with
thoughtful guitar and Cass reminiscing,
building slowly as Zarek's "id" vocals and
increasingly intense guitar begins to break
through, all growing into an orchestral
peak of realization and acceptance – the
past is past, what is lost is gone.
Davlin recently opened a sold-out
show for Story Of The Year at Bottom
Lounge, which was an overall career
booster for the band. "Any sold-out show
is bound to be awesome, but this one was
especially significant to me personally
because SOTY was pivotal in my journey
as a music listener," explains Zarek.
"Sharing the stage with them, and walking
onto a stage overlooking a crowd of so
many people that evening is something I’ll
carry with me for the rest of my life."
Not saying the band has peaked in their
short two-year existence, of course. "I’m
past two years between playing live shows
and acting jobs. I've be lucky to have my
producer Jason and Jeff Givens and his
band making the album with me. "
AT GRAVITY STUDIOS, Phillip
Phillips recently mixed live recordings for
his live performances in Chicago for
streaming service Pandora.
At RAX TRAX in Chicago, Kid Hartha
worked on new music and mixes with pro-
ducer/engineer Andy Shoemaker.
Hey Studiophiler: To get your studio or
band listed in "Studiophile," just email your
studio/recording info to service@illinoisen-
tertainer.com, subject line: Studiophile.
just happy to be playing music," says
Zarek. "In the event that opportunities
present themselves, I will embrace them
with open arms. But I'm just extremely
humbled and thrilled that people seem to
take an interest in our band."
The band plans on hitting the road in
late spring/early summer. "Right now
we’re just trying to play some good shows,
promote the EP, and keep building our
local/regional fan base," concludes Cass.
"The ultimate goal, for me at least, is to be
able to commit full-time to music. You
have to take baby steps though, and put in
the work and be patient. In the end, I just
love playing and whatever happens, hap-
pens. If we don’t reach some of those goals,
that’s okay. I’m still having fun no matter
what."
Appearing 2/28 at Subterranean, Chicago.
march 2 018 illinoisentertainer.com
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