I have really fond memories of growing up in Chicago, and I always love going back. I still have a lot of really good friends from high school that I go to dinner with. It's kind of become a tradition when I go out there to do a show to give a few friends a call, tell some funny stories about high school and walk down memory lane.
It is nice to go down the memory lane and remember who I am and what my roots are.
For Alkaline Trio, Chicago is our hometown. The band started there. Even though we all live in different cities now, we still call Chicago home, and it's always really exciting to come back and play for our best crowd.
I know that James Brown recording where he sings about Chicago. I think he sings, like, 'Chicago, my hometown!' That's what I think of when I think of Chicago. And I think of Chicago Bulls.
I want to do 'Chicago P.D.' for as long as it's on the air. I love the show; I love the Dick Wolf family. I think he's created something genius with the crossovers and having everyone on these shows inhabit the same universe as far as 'Chicago Med' and 'Chicago Fire' and 'Chicago P.D.'
I created my lane. No one can ever run my lane because it's mine. I'm the Michael Jackson of my lane. And you know, nobody was as great as Michael. I love Prince, but he's not Michael.
There are definitely some folks in my hometown who are unhappy with the way I portrayed my hometown... But I think most folks realize I wrote this book not to disparage the hometown but to really try to understand why so many kids who grew up like I did struggled.
I originally wanted to stay in Chicago as long as I could. I love Chicago. I don't love L.A. I don't want to leave Chicago.
I was listening to a lot of really early house music tracks. Like Chicago house and Detroit. And Marshall Jefferson has a track probably from 1980 - somewhere around there - that doesn't actually have any electronic instruments, no drum machines, nothing. Just a drummer and a piano player and they're playing this house music, but they're actually playing it. I really love that aesthetic and wanted to bring that into the album.
In my hometown of Chicago, I'm kind of a medium deal.
Mom and I are playing fictionalized characters of ourselves in 'Masaba Masaba.' The series is a slice of our lives, and reliving key moments, even though fictionalized, took me down memory lane.
I had a band when I was 14, and we would play around in my hometown of Middlesbrough, and we'd go to the club afterwards, which was the Purple Onion then. There would be live bands playing, and in between that, the DJ would be playing records.
Every time I open the drawer, it's a trip down Memory Lane, which, if you don't turn off at the right exit, merges straight into the Masochistic Nostalgia Highway.
Chicago is my hometown and will always have a special place in my heart.
It feels good when your hometown supports you, and Macon's always done that with us. Every time we come here, it's an event - which is nice.
I love Chicago - absolutely love Chicago. I mean, I'd much rather go to Chicago and do a play or a musical than New York, honestly. Because just probably for reasons that are obvious to you. It's just a little bit - it's a nicer, easier city.