"In His Own Words: Balancing Love, Loss, and Creative Fire" by Felton Edward Kizer delves into the heart and soul of artist Apache Grosse. The interview explores his latest project, "Life After Her," a profound reflection on personal evolution and artistic rebirth. Apache discusses the intricate balance between love and art, the sacrifices demanded by creativity, and his relentless pursuit of artistic expression.

You might be tempted to expect a rebirth if you were mesmerized by his 'Slow Devotion' era—replete with ethereal soundscapes. But Drew isn't trying to reinvent himself; he's coming home to his authentic self in all its imperfect glory. Drew Elliott is back, bringing the wisdom and soulfulness accumulated during his time away. There's no script, no preconceived persona, just a man and his music. He’s simply returning to himself, but this time, he doesn’t have to change any parts of himself to fit in. 

Mia Rodriguez has been on a bit of a hot streak in the last year. After seeing several recognitions and awards from publications and cultural mainstays like Triple J in the past year, her TikTok passing 2 million followers. And a handful of singles that have each kept her a name in the underground pop scene; it’s safe to say that Rodriguez is a name to watch. Like many, I’d become aware of her through TikTok, where I’d heard her single “Psycho” several times.

There’s a new class of musicians leading the charts, social media, and shifting how we consume music. They’re emotionally intelligent, outspoken, queer, and doing whatever they want. I had the pleasure of speaking with one of them, corook. I didn’t know much about corook when I watched her video for ‘bad friend,’ but after experiencing that, I wanted to consume everything. I was immediately captivated by her emotional intelligence, her willingness to problem solve, and at the same time, her desire to have fun. As a twenty-something adult, looking inward isn't always the most pleasurable, but highly recommended.

Reno Cruz is an artist circling the Chicago scene for quite some time. He tours as a guitarist for Lala Lala and has played or toured with Sen Morimoto, Wyatt Waddell, Waltzer, and more, but his talents as a songwriter cannot be ignored. A native of California, Cruz went through a myriad of past lives before arriving at his current profession of musician, as previous jobs included actor, salesman, cheesemonger, and banjo player at one point. His move to Chicago in 2017 signaled a significant shift as he began working as a backing musician for Chi mainstays like the aforementioned bands and artists.

From the first moments of “Are You Ready for the Birds?” — the debut solo album from Paddlefish lead Owen Misterovich — it’s obvious something interesting is afoot. Bright, elevated guitar chords give way to clanking, textured drums, emboldened by Owen’s wispy, reverb-soaked vocals. It’s as psychedelic as it is poppy, fusing familiar song structures with unfamiliar sonic landscapes.

The duo that make up The Black Creatures, known independently as Jade Green and Xavier Martin, felt like a sacred piece of amenity from afar, a beautiful testament to the beauty that is living one’s truth and fully. I implore you to read on and discover the wondrous artistry that is The Black Creatures, as they are both impressively talented in their craft and humbly virtuous. By the end of this interview, I hope you can think of them as friends for your soul, as I came to feel by the end of our conversation.

Gabrielle Grace, a 24-year-old singer-songwriter from small-town Texas, finally found her voice in her newly released EP, “We’ll Be Alright.” From the truck bed of her dad’s old pickup that blared Johnny Cash to the newer prominence of Maggie Rogers and Kacey Musgraves, Grace created a space for herself that is truly authentic to her roots.

With her sultry vocals and pianistic prowess, Zoe Berman will never leave my morning playlist. The Colorado-based singer-songwriter combines both musicality and lyricism into a hypnotizing mélange of soul, jazz, and Americana music. The energy of her music gives listeners a serotonin high. And paired with her lyrical poeticism, Zoe creates songs that are tender and utterly human. In this interview, we take a peek into the heart behind the sound as she shares the experiences that have paved the path for her to be the artist that she is right now.

People are not simply one thing, and neither is their work. Creatives, especially, are unique in their disposition, a quality that’s reflected in their work and the way in which it engages with an audience. That is what was so evident in my conversation with Mallory Hauser, aka MAL. She went through some tangible pieces of work that inspired her and her music, but our dialogue would continually come back to things much less tangible—things like more abstract ideas of self-fulfillment and artistic ethos. It offered a careful reminder that is always needed when talking to artists: expression is intentional, but inspiration might not be.

“I always explain Birthday Boy as a semi-concept album about the milestone of a birthday and the introspection that comes with it,” Taos notes. “For me, birthdays are a day to stop and reflect, to go over the previous year and evaluate if I am headed in the right direction. It’s a very personal day. With that theme in mind, I recorded and produced the album completely myself. I wrote every word. I don’t say that in boast, I just say that to highlight it is very near and dear to my heart. It was a laborious process. It was a learning experience. Above all it was a solitary journey.”

Sitting down for a conversation with Taed Cejtin and Erik Rothlind of The Foons was electrifying. This electricity comes from the dynamic between Taed and Erik. Taed sits calmly with the finer details ready to go while Erik can’t help but pull you down the rabbit hole of music ideation and creation. There’s a confidence and excitement to these two that grew throughout the conversation as they got further into talking about their music.

The Foons first project “Balloon Fruit” came out earlier this year and is a feel good, indie rock album mostly written by lead singer Erik. “Balloon Fruit” is a great foundation for the group before they dabble into more experimental sounds like their upcoming single “Shapes.” The new track comes out on Dec. 4th, and The Foons will be donating all of the streaming proceeds to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Claude sees her past through a looking glass. As an existentialist and a poet, she uses her experiences to write lyrics that touch on life, longing, love, and loss. She questions the paradigms that surround her existence with a guitar in her hand. “It’s easier to do it when you’re writing,” she told me laughing, remembering her days as an English major in college. From that alone, I could already tell that she carries the weight of her words with careful consideration.

This stripped-down interview gives us a glimpse of Claude’s cathartic songwriting process, letting us in on how her vulnerability became her strongest asset. In the honest revelation of her creative process, we see how her beautifully haunting voice performs the intricacies of literature through form and harmony.

For J Lind music is fundamentally a form of medicine. It can brighten your day, soothe anxieties, make you cry or laugh. Through his journey with music, he’s seen dementia patients come alive when they hear an old favorite song, connected with others, and been able to further understand his own experiences. His first EP “I Don’t Know” directly engages with medical narratives he heard while visiting folks in hospice while his second album “For What It’s Worth” also tackles medical narrative but through a more abstract and experimental lens. His music encourages listeners to think about their experiences in another light: as a means of recognizing what others are going through in the hopes of creating a more caring community.

Lead singer/songwriter Alex Reindl from one of Chicago’s freshest sounding bands, Old Joy, is an individual filled with wisdom and kindness. Our conversation went much longer than usual as we engaged in side conversation about life in our current climate and relatable sarcasm-infused discussions about 2000s alt-rock bands.

Alessia Labate creates music for nostalgic summer evenings when the radio is blasting and the windows are down, when you feel the wind on your hair and every second feels eternal. The pop singer-songwriter, based in Milan, is known for her ability to create a musical atmosphere that is at once personal and universal.

On a calm Wednesday afternoon Warren Thomas Fenzi and I sat down to talk about his music, American ideology, and what was going on in our lives. Warren was buzzing with excitement after having just returned to his home in Minneapolis from his recording space where he’s currently working on his next project. He’s unsure of when new tracks will be released, but he’s loving being back in the studio—music is his whole world. Minneapolis has been good to Warren—his most recent EP Live in the Atrium was recorded and filmed there. However, Minneapolis isn’t an apparent factor behind his music unlike his original home of Arizona.

Guytano has been hard at work for over a decade, making a name for themselves in Minneapolis as scholars of the ways of Brandon Flowers and Chris Martin. Making simple but anthemic pop-rock, Guytano is awash with the same sense of melancholy and mysterious allure that a band like The Killers feeds off of. Grant Hamilton, the frontman of the group, paired up with his brother Eddie and friends from his neighborhood, to start playing punk covers. Now, more than a decade later, the band is stronger than ever and carving out their own path and sound.

With one life-changing decision after another, Apache Grosse is a force to reckon with. In the industry, he demonstrates his musicianship through sultry vocals and dissonant guitar licks. He pays careful attention to rhythm and melodies, and is meticulous in crafting his sound—a mélange of R&B, hip-hop, and rock music that explores love, identity, and self-acceptance. Grosse walks through his creative process in music production, letting us in on what he does when the music stops and his passion for culture, community, and craft keeps going.

Emi Wes is vulnerably powerful. She’s dressed in a gray Champion hoodie, her hair slicked back in a ponytail. With our air waves located somewhere between Copenhagen and Wisconsin, we talked about what it feels like to be a young female artist in a time when much of society’s structures are challenged, when women are given more space to be loud and be heard. Emi is hyperaware of this, especially since her songs talk about the self, which is, in her words, “sensitive as a flower.” But instead of seeing this as a weakness, her ability to be tender is what makes her music captivating.