It's the new year! What better time to drink champagne and start talking about The Big Picture in this week's episode with performer Brandon Markell Holmes. What is the bigger picture? How do we fit into it and how do we find our own? Brandon discusses exploring his bigger picture, his career and what motivates him to create.
What is overlanding exactly? Well, as E-Six aka Emilio Abadia describes it, overlanding is about self-reliance and getting away from the noise of city life...and doing it in a big truck. In this episode, we drink champagne with the DJ and music pro and talk about his love for overlanding and how sometimes the journey is the most important part of the trip.
To say that feminism is a hot topic during this election year would be an understatement as vast as as the toupee jokes I want to make right now. Although feminism represents a virtue, ideal and basic human right that I believe is always in style, we're currently seeing a lot more main stage and open debate about whether women are capable of public or personal positions of power.
In this episode, host Ana Fernatt drinks champagne with recording artist Skela and discusses what feminism means to her and how it shows itself in her life and art. We also get a sneak peak of her newest single Always, Always before it's official release tomorrow, October 14.
Skyler Mendoza, also known as KillSkyler, is a Chicago-born DJ now living the dream of non-sucky Mondays in LA. In this episode of Champagne & Snark, Skyler and host Ana Fernatt talk about Skyler's lifelong love of skateboarding and Ana's decades long career as an occasional skateboard poser.
We just celebrated our one-year anniversary! in this episode, Chicago rapper SaintMillie and host Ana Fernatt talk about their love of food and eating. Don't listen to this one on an empty stomach.
SaintMillie's recent mixtape Adderall is a huge hit on SoundCloud with each track having more than 45K listens. Tracks for the mixtape are highlighted in this episode of Champagne & Snark, but you can also listen to the whole thing here. He also was the music guest on my inaugural live show!
Musician Sir The Baptist has quite the life story already. Growing up in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood as a kid of an influential preacher, he lived that PK life. From an early age, he saw things that were flawed and acted with love and empathy. In this episode, Sir drinks champagne and talks about his involvement with human rights, how he works it into his music and how he carries it out in his non-stage life.
Colin Rebey, also known as PHNM, is a Chicago-based DJ and half of the innovative duo Light 'Em Up. He's played Lollapalooza, has a weekend residency at Underground and has opened for some of the biggest musical acts out...and he's only been doing this for five years. Dude is talented.
Sometimes, talent isn't enough, especially in the competitive, creative world. You need to have dedication and you need to be willing to risk it all. In this episode, PHNM and I talk about gambling, his secret life as a Vegas high roller and the gambles he's taken to get where he is today.
Maggie Kubley is half of the sexy, fun and upbeat electropop duo Celine Neon. She also has been sober for two years and counting. In this episode, Maggie talks about what led her to seek sobriety, how that has played into her creative process and where that journey has brought her today.
Andrew Barber is the founder of Fake Shore Drive, the Midwest's premiere voice of rap, hip hop and urban music. A key to his phenomenal success is a deep-rooted passion for music that started way before most of us even had a favorite radio station. This passion has driven him through eight years of running Fake Shore Drive and grown the company from music blog to multi-faceted media company. The man is impressive. If you have a passion that needs to breathe, give this show a listen.
G.o.D. Jewels is a Chicago-born rapper with a passion for movies. After following him Snapchat for a couple months, I invited the jack of all trades emcee into the Champagne Room to toast to his upcoming single and talk about what it means to be a movie nerd.
BONUS: G.o.D. Jewels debut single, produced by Grammy-nominated producer Million $$ Mano, is being released on Friday, January 16, and we've got an exclusive sneak peak clip at the end of this episode following the interview. Take a listen and check out Resume in its entirety on January 16.
Matt Roan started deejaying the year that I moved to Chicago. I'm not saying that it is connected, but I am saying that good things seem to all happen at the same time. Roan's career has only increased since then and include playing multiple times at Lollapalooza. Recently, Matt Roan has taken on a new role as dad to a baby girl. In this very heartwarming episode, Ana Fernatt drinks champagne with DJ Matt Roan and talks to him about his musical career and new role as a dad. It's the kind of episode that'll make you feel like there is still a lot of good stuff in the world.
As an added holiday bonus, this episode contains a special 20% off coupon code for the Chicago Reader's 2015 choice of best mens' and womens' clothing designer, Anna Hovet. Listen to this episode to get the code!
Jaime Black has been running Dynasty Podcasts for 10 years, exactly one day longer than NPR. He also has a new roommate, Alice Hayes, for the first time in nearly as many years as his podcast has been around. In this episode, Ana Fernatt talks with Jaime Black about his new home life with a roommate, what changes that has brought and DynastyNext, the new face of Dynasty Podcasts launching on iTunes.
Michael Heidemann is a producer at WGN Radio and co-host of the music podcast Sound Sessions. He's also the type of person who expresses gratitude over not having to wait in line at Dunkin Donuts or the walk signal changing just as he gets up to it. In other words, he is a beacon of positivity and keeping a positive mental attitude.
In this episode, host Ana Fernatt drinks champagne with Michael and talks about PMA, while trying to maintain a positive attitude with my accidental co-host Figaro's clear man-crush on Michael.
This is our very first Halloween special! Leyla Royale is a talented musician and trapezist who is gaining notoriety for her work as DeadInChicago.com, a blog that chronicles the many strange and macabre deaths in Chicago history. For this episode, we talk about Chicago's spooky past and, in more recent history, how Leyla's parents knew John Wayne Gacey.
Emily Arazu Nejad is one half of the buzzworthy band Celine Neon. She is also a very talented cake maker. So talented, in fact, that she has recently launched her own cake making company, Bon Vivant. In this episode, Emily and our host Ana Fernatt drink champagne and talk about cakes, family dinners and general champagne babble.
KYWO, formerly known as Kid Color and always known as Kyle Woods, is a DJ, producer and, as we found out in this show, a film buff. In this episode, Ana Fernatt and Kyle drink champagne, talk about movies, taking creative risks and realize they probably would have been in the same high school friend group.
Gzus Piece is a Chicago rapper, half of the rap duo White Gzus and member of Treated Crew. He's also hilarious. Gzus Piece and Ana Fernatt sit down in the Champagne Room to talk about internet randomness in one of the more unguided episodes of Champagne & Snark. This is a fun one!
Stick around until the end for the EXCLUSIVE first listen of White Gzus' track State of the Black Union.
Mic Terror, co-founder of Treated Crew, is a Chicago-based rapper and an important fixture in the Chicago music community. He joins Ana Fernatt to talk about astrology, the ways that certain personality types interact based on the stars and, of course, drink champagne.
Matthew Santos is a singer-songwriter with the voice of a sultry cherub. He has an impressive solo career, paired with Lupe Fiasco on the hit song Superstar and has now joined forces with Chicago-based bands Hey Champ and Gemini Club to form Monakr. Matthew and Ana drink champagne and talk about their experiences with travel, how it effects their creative processes, being middle children and the adventures they've had.
