What's the scene like in central Illinois?

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Mon Feb 23, 2004 2:11 pm

So it looks like I'm going to be moving to central Illinois at the end of the summer, so I was curious to hear about the scene from anyone who lives there or who has lived there. I've been a hermit in New Hampshire for two years, so any kind of live and/or recording scene would be a nice change of pace...
thanks for any input...

tateeskew · Post by **tateeskew** » Wed Feb 25, 2004 3:57 pm

central illinois as in ???? champaign? charleston? springfield? effingham?

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Wed Feb 25, 2004 5:30 pm

Yeah, I guess it's a big state...I'll be somewhere near the Normal/Bloomington area, but am interested in the region as a whole.

XXGABEXX · Post by **XXGABEXX** » Wed Feb 25, 2004 8:20 pm

You're leaving NH/VT?? But it's so gorgeous up there. I was actually hoping to end up there some day. Somewhere like Portsmouth maybe. Is it no good?

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 11:06 am

Portsmouth is a cool town, and not far at all to Boston. I'm on the other side of the state, and came up for grad school. It's beautiful, but if you don't like cold weather (and I don't), it might not be the place for you. Not much of a music scene outside of Boston, though Manchester and Burlington have some things going on.

XXGABEXX · Post by **XXGABEXX** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 12:22 pm

I think I'm the opposite of you then. I love the cold and I'm in FL.

oyrgawd · Post by **oyrgawd** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 11:32 am

Champaign-Urbana is a beautiful place. Lots of good studios (Private Studios, Pogo Studios, Great Western Record Recorders, Bit Riot!) and some good/great bands (www.posterchildren.com). The best little Thai restaurant in the world is there, the Y Eatery. Parasol distributing is based there. There's even a local music online mag/forum: www.openingbands.com. That said, I moved away from there. You can get tired of it. Particularly when you grew up there.
I don't know nothin about Bloomington-Normal except that there are two colleges there, and some venues.
Springfield has a few venues and good Thai food. I dunno.
Effingham sucks. I know that.
So where you movin?
o

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 7:48 pm

I'll most likely be in Bloomington, but possibly Normal or somewhere thereabouts. I'm amazed at how cheap housing is out there, but then again, I'm living in one of the most inflated markets in America right now.

I'm hoping to find Illinoisians to do some collaberating with, but who knows...

spyglasslane · Post by **spyglasslane** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 8:35 pm

Weird - this is the first time I've gone to the Tape Op boards and I see someone asking about the relatively small town I call home. So, I decided fate was telling me to jump in and give my lame first post...

Sadly, the Bloomington-Normal scene isn't that great. As someone else mentioned, there's two universities, so I think there's the potential for something. It usually losses out to Champaign-Urbana because of the much larger and well known University of Illinois. It's also 3 hours to St. Louis or Chicago, so there's no real reason for nationally touring bands to play a show here.

That being said, it's a cool town. It has a weird appeal to it. Basically, there's just enough going on to be interesting. A fair amount of my friends are former college students from much more "happening" (can't think of a better term) areas but ended up sticking around for whatever reason. Maybe it's the water. Or the chance to see police cars that say "Normal Police."

I hope that helps at least a little. Anyway, fate is calling again. No, wait - that's the dryer.

--david

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Fri Apr 02, 2004 4:51 am

Yeah, it doesn't appear to be that big of a town, but from where I'm coming from (western New Hampshire) B-N looks like a metropolis. If we can buy a house or find one to rent, I'm hoping to do some soundproofing and devote space for a small studio. With any luck, maybe I can find some other musicians and actually play, too...

judecca · Post by **judecca** » Wed May 12, 2004 3:12 am

peoria is 30 miles west of bloomington, and is where my studio is. www.tonelabstudios.com anyway, the scene here is always trying to get off the ground and be influential...but struggles quite a bit. i've worked in chicago and can say that the local scene is much more down to earth here and there are some quality people. all in all, you'll find zero attractions and quality human beings here. feel free to e-mail me if you need to meet some audio dorks when you get to tha area. judeccastudios@yahoo.com

ryan

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Wed May 12, 2004 4:57 am

Great...I'll send an email when I'm in town, which should be early August. I was out there all last week. Very flat, really nice people, and Steak n Shakes galore. I think it'll be a decent place to live. I'll be living in a big townhouse on the outskirts of Bloomington, near the airport, where I'll turn the basement into some kind of recording space. Can't wait, actually...
scott.

jzahos · Post by **jzahos** » Tue May 18, 2004 10:01 am

Scott!

I'm in Champaign, IL. Like someone mentioned above, there's some good stuff going on here. I study music (percussion) at the University of Illinois - But between local theatre, university classes (unfortunately no degree program in audio), the local AES chapter and Pogo studio (where I gain my inspiration and occasional work from), there's enough going on to really have a practical education in recording/audio. There are people doing interesting things here.

You should do a couple things in this town while you're around Central IL- Tour the Experimental Music Studios <ems.music.uiuc.edu> in the music dept. at Illinois (very well equipped, historically important studios), and hear a concert in the Great Hall at Krannert Center. <www.krannertcenter.com>.

You might also check out Pogo Studio and Mark Rubel - I'm partial to this studio because I know Mark, but he's got a great collection of vintage and rare gear, instruments, etc. in use in a very cool space... He's on a couple panels at Tape Op Con, so if you're going you could meet him there and get a heads up on the Cent. IL area (he's been here his whole life).

OK, there you go - my 8 cents-
Jeff Z.

If you need a drummer, I'll be around. For all types of players - there's no shortage of excellent instrumentalists in B-N and Champaign-Urbana.

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Tue May 18, 2004 11:07 am

Great, thanks! How long are you going to be in the area? I'll be moving there next August, and will be around at least three years. Are there any good local bands in the B-N, Champaign, Peoria, or Springfield areas I should know about?

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Tue May 18, 2004 11:11 am

Holy crap...was just checking out the Pogo website and learned that Hum's Downward is Heavenward was recorded there. That is an unreal album...one of my favorite big guitar albums of all time.
Very nice...

Message Board

What's the scene like in central Illinois?

What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Re: What's the scene like in central Illinois?

Who is online