About Tansmission
Transmission is the music section of Gapers Block. It aims to highlight Chicago music in its many varied forms, as well as cover touring acts performing in the city.
Editor
Sarah Brooks, Music Editor - Transmission
Sarah is a native Chicagoan who graduated from DePaul University in 2012 with a degree in Communication and Media Studies. Raised on The Beatles and learning the violin at age nine, Sarah's passion for music began early on in life. Her musical obsessions include Wilco, Andrew Bird, Otis Redding, and The Tallest Man on Earth, to name a few. Feel free to follow her on Twitter.
Staff
Mike Bellis
Mike is a former cross country captain from the wilderness of Chicago's north side, where he can be seen shooting darts and otherwise wearing flannel. As a Sagittarius, he prefers temperate climate to the mountains. He is an avid Diet Coke drinker and writes liner notes to fake albums in his spare time.
Zach Blumenfeld
Zach Blumenfeld is happy to be back in his hometown after honing his music tastes in Nashville at Vanderbilt University, where he was a DJ and staff music writer for campus radio station WRVU. While he can be convinced into liking any type of music, he's a sucker for catchy synth leads, emotional guitar solos, and Geddy Lee's bass lines.
Abigail Covington
Abigail Covington is a local freelance writer and editor. She has slung words for CoverMe and the AV Club and is currently a freelance copy editor at the RedEye. In her free time she plagues her friends inboxes with nostalgic and rockist arguments about Fleetwood Mac's brilliance and ponders the ubiquity of Beyonce. You can follow her low-brow musings here and read some of her published works here.
Stephanie Griffin
Stephanie grew up in one of those small suburban towns two hours away from the city where the residents still considered themselves Chicagoans. Having now lived in Chicago proper for five years, she feels she is finally gaining some street cred. She is a science fiction and Scrabble enthusiast and embraces all things nerd. Her lifelong goal is to acquire the perfect avocado. You can usually find her reading underneath a tree, sipping vodka and cranberry at a dive bar, or dancing horribly at concert venues around the city.
Katie Hovland
Katie Hovland attended Columbia College where she received a BA in Art & Design with a concentration in Photography. She fell in love with music at an early age going to punk shows at the Fireside Bowl. Her favorite Chicago bands are The Alkaline Trio, The Lawrence Arms, and The Arrivals. Her music photography has appeared in publications such as SPIN, Razorcake, Venus Zine, AMP, Time Out Chicago, Alternative Press, Rampant Rock, and Outburn Magazine. You can check out her portfolio at katiehovland.com.
Andrew Huff, Editor & Publisher
Andrew works deep into the night at his West Ridge two-flat, writing and editing and playing with the cats. He spends more time online than is healthy; follow along at me3dia.com. Email him at ah@gapersblock.com.
Celeste Mallama
Celeste Mallama came to the great city of Chicago five years ago from Maryland, and she considers herself to be home. During the day she can be found in the lab being bested by science, in the evening she can be found either at a concert or curled up with a library book, and at night she can be found getting her eight hours of sleep (it's her favorite part of the day). She firmly believes that if heaven exists it looks like the balcony of Lincoln Hall.
Emily Ornberg
Emily is a music geek from Minnesota who loves making magazines and drawing pictures of Elvis Presley. You can find her moshing at hip-hop shows, writing about said hip-hop shows or eating peanut butter milkshakes at Margie's Candies. Read some of her reviews & profiles on local subcultures here.
Julian Ramirez
Julian is natural born Chicagoan and UIC graduate, leading a mostly sleepless life under the thunderous flight paths of Midway Airport. This leaves him with plenty of time to indulge in everything and anything. You name it; he probably knows a little something about it. His musical tastes are as diverse as his interests, jumping from Chet Baker to Joanna Newsom to TV on the Radio, all on his trusty turntable. You can check out his writing and podcast at orgasticfutures.com.
Kirstie Shanley
A photographer covering Chicago shows in the area for the past three years, Kirstie Shanley is just as excited about the music as she is about capturing the live experience. You can check out her portfolio that also includes theater, street, and experimental photography at kirstiecat.com or on flickr.
Chris Sienko
Chris' earliest musical memory was hearing "Lady Madonna" by the Beatles emanating from his parents' wood-paneled console turntable. He has no idea what happened from that point to the where he is now, writing about the most unusual and difficult "music" to be found in Chicago. Like the witnesses at the scene of the crime always say, he seemed like a regular guy — nobody really saw this coming.
Colin Smith
Colin S. Smith freelances in Chicago and records psychedelic pop music, including with his band called King Median. He occupies his time by reading essays, watching Seinfeld, making great (aka bad) puns, finding new music on BandCamp, and scribbling poems while riding the L."
Erin Vogel
Erin Vogel does a lot of different things, mostly on the internet. She lives in Ukrainian Village and works at a social work nonprofit. She also writes for A.V. Club and Pop 'stache and makes music and comedy for pretty much anyone who will listen to her. You can find her at @eringejuice.
James Ziegenfus
James Ziegenfus moved to Chicago on a whim and now lives in Ravenswood. He spends entirely too much time digging for records wherever Odessey & Oracle and The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady could be hiding.
Contributors
Anne Holub, Music Editor - Transmission
Anne, a native Virginian, still considers herself a southerner even though she moved to Chicago from Montana. During the daylight hours she clickity clacks on the interwebs, and sometimes she writes poems for no money at all. At night, she enjoys knitting and roving with The Crafty Ladies. Email her at anne@gapersblock.com.
Dan Snedigar
Dan grew up in the West, drifted around for a while, and somehow ended up in Chicago several years ago. He enjoys sunsets and long walks on the beach, and thinks that the free Honky/Nebula show at the Bottle in '05 was the best show ever.
J.H. Palmer
J.H. Palmer is a secret writer who has lived in Chicago since 1992. She was born in Boston, but you'd never know it. Notable moments in her life include a brief stint as a census taker, writing copy for a hangover chaser, and a temp job at a catheter factory. She lives on the Northwest Side with three cats and a man. When she's not catching up on cable TV shows on Neftlix, she enjoys biking, eating, and writing about her life in her blog, Buttered Noodles.