Art in Other Forms: Music (Part 2 of 2)

Part of Pilsen’s appeal to local, independent musicians is its sheer number of recording studios, stages, and other venues for meeting musicians, producing, and playing music. The community's openness to new sounds, and its tight-knit DIY vibe makes this the ideal place to meet and work with like-minded folks in the music industry. Below is a sampler of some of those places. Check out the map for more listings!

ApeTrax Recording Studios--Located on the corner of 18^th and South Peoria, ApeTrax is a recording studio which caters to a wide variety of sounds. While their web page has not been updated recently, the images of their newly updated studio are impressive, as is their list of past clients. ApeTrax specializes in “providing artists with excellent quality audio in an affordable and relaxed environment.”

Mariachi Mexico Vivo—formed in 2005, this Pilsen-area group of eight gives a nod to the neighborhood’s Mexican roots. As their name suggests, Mariachi Mexico Vivo specializes in traditional mariachi music, an energetic and upbeat style native to Mexico. They have played for a number of events and at concerts, including a 2008 appearance with Gloria Trevi, a Mexican pop-rock musician, at the Congress Theater.

Miller Street Studios--Specializing in urban music and hip hop sound, Miller Street Studios heralds itself as offering the “highest quality recording capabilities for the lowest rates in Chicago.” They are active in social media, and their blog (managed by the owners and interns) is used not just to promote artists at the studio, but to discuss musical genre, aesthetics, and what makes "good" sound.

Click on the map below to see more studios, stores, and music venues!

Katherine H.

Art in Other Forms: Music (part 1)

It goes without saying that the term "Art" is not just limited to paintbrushes and sculpting clay. In the last few weeks alone, the Pilsen Project has profiled artists who use everything from cardboard to live-action sports to children's games as part of art.  And now, we will look at art that is pleasing not to the eye, but to the ear: music!

Pilsen is no stranger to music. Take a walk down any street through the neighborhood's center and chances are you will hear it drifting out of any one of the establishments that line the sidewalk. It's an interesting blend of sound and culture: the myriad lyrical sounds of Pilsen's Mexican heritage mixed with the punk and jazz of present-day Chicago. It is a sound that embraces old and new, tradition and the modern.

In October of last year, during Chicago Artist's Month, WBEZ's Catalina Maria Johnson wrote a profile on Pilsen's vibrant and thriving indie music scene, which was prominently featured in Pilsen's ninth annual 18th Street Pilsen Open Studios. Open Studios got its start in 2004 as an artist-run series of events which showcased artists and musicians from the Pilsen area and beyond.

In the article, Johnson's interviewees--including musicians, producers, singers, and art gallery curators--credited the neighborhood's willingness to come together, as well as their openness to newcomers, with the success of the indie music scene (and indeed the arts in general) in Pilsen. 

Visual artists and musicians often work together to promote each others work, whether sharing space for shows or collaborating on combined visual/audio projects. Music has grown up alongside visual art in Pilsen and, in many ways, the two have influenced each other.

One artist and musician, Victor Montañez, said it to Johnson best: “Pilsen is not a geographic location, it’s a state of mind, it’s a state of heart, it’s a state of art."

Katherine H.