Netherfriends:::::::Lincoln Hall:::::Empty Bottle:::::The Whistler::::::::2010
Netherfriends is:
Shawn Rosenblatt: absolutely everything under the sun good times.
There are other guys performing live who do things good too.
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It all started right before I became an intern at Biz3. I was going to Columbia College and had just started this band what(!) shall remain nameless for many reasons. I met with Biz3 publicist, Dana, one brisk morning in 2009 to go over some ideas for publicizing the group and get some much needed career advice. I was with my brother, Jeff, and my dear friend, Kyle.
Hungover yet totally looking really good, we hobbled into the offices of the Portfolio Center and were greeted by some counselor guy named David. Now, I had heard of Netherfriends before. I mean, I was going to Columbia College, of course I knew who they were but this guy would not stop talking about them. He showed me every page on their website, their press kit, their family photos, the .GIF animations they made of their puppies and put on Stumbleupon, well, no he didn’t but you get my point… So here we are in the Portfolio Center and I’m all like, “Netherfriends Shmetherfriends, my band is way cooler than those Animal Collective spawn. You guys should be showing my awesome stuff in the Portfolio Center.” That was about the time I realized I didn’t have anything to show and up to that point had never done anything remotely cool with life, the universe, or anything. I kept my mouth shut until my time came.
Inside the office, Dana was sitting at a desk smiling politely. She introduced herself. Kyle and I froze like idiots and Jeff did all the talking. Like I said, we looked particularly dapper that morning despite the icky hangover sweat and apparently vacant motels that were our brains. Dana said she thought we were cute and then, since we had nothing interesting to show for ourselves… started talking about Netherfriends too. Ha! I was blown away. How in the world has this Netherfriends guy made so many friends? It wasn’t until about a year and a half later that I got to ask Shawn Rosenblatt, Netherman extraordinaire, that very question.
A bunch of time and many more Netherfriends encounters later as seemingly the entire city of Chicago was falling in love with them, including me…
It was fall, 2010, slightly raining. I was walking into Reckless Records on Milwaukee with Kyle when, who do I run into but my old music school buddy, Shawn. We locked eyes, smiled, shook hands, gave quick meaningless updates on life and our estranged music school brethren. Then, Shawn said something that made me cough on my own spittle, “My band, Netherfriends.”
Me, utterly shocked, “Holy shit, I just saw you guys! I didn’t even recognize you. Ha! You guys are blowing up. Oh my goodness, I can’t believe you’re in Netherfriends. That’s crazy!” Turns out he is Netherfriends practically and was even doing it, touring and recording, while I was in sightsinging class with him and I never had a clue. I remember him from those days (2006-07?) as being a sharply dressed yet impossibly shy hipster music nerd. I always wanted to jam with him too but never asked. How stupid am I? Music school was complicated, so competitive. We ended up exchanging numbers and I went to see his show the following Tuesday at the Empty Bottle because, hey, it’s free and Netherfriends, I had come to understand, were completely fucking awesome. I have since come to understand that Shawn is completely fucking badass at pretty much everything and that, apparently, is the key to success.
The show at the Empty Bottle rocked. The place was packed. I was with Kyle, again (Kyle, get out of my stories!). I ran into Thomas, Biz3 publicist and front man of Chicago’s Heartichoke. He told me that Shawn and his friend were roommates and the world shrunk again yet was still infinitely gigantic. Shawn had given me a download of his newest album, Barry and Sherry. My favorite track is “Bret Easton Ellis Novel.” He closed with it. Kyle even liked it which, trust me, never happens. His words, “This band is truly exceptional.”
A week later I went to see Netherfriends again at the Whistler in Logan Square. Same story only I went with my friend, Jolie, this time. She used to hang out at a gallery that he used as a rehearsal space. This show was phenomenal as well. Shawn’s drummer is a prodigy. His songwriting is world class. His work ethic is intense. His voice is found. He needs more fans and a major record deal.
Check out their blog for fun stories and videos:
I was given this interesting link for you all to lose yourselves in, a brand new, very atypical, album recorded over Christmas week 2010!:
(The album is free. Type “0” in the name your price section)
