Bending Brains

#98 - Shlomo Franklin

Shlomo Franklin is an American singer/songwriter born on a small cow farm in upstate New York. Raised off the cultural grid, without music, television, or radio, his songs are strongly influenced by his cult-like religious upbringing. Shlomo released his debut album in 2019 which was produced by Grammy Award winner C Lanzbom and was followed by a double album from his now Nashville, TN home. Franklin has opened up for Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers and shared festivals with The Nude Party and The Bones of JR Jones. His songs seem just as comfortable in front of a crowd of two thousand as they are in a living room house concert. Shlomo sees himself as a bare bones troubadour and is stubbornly trendless.

#97 - Dr. Shannon Switzer, Au.D.

Dr. Shannon Switzer is the Director of the Sensaphonics Musicians’ Hearing Clinic in Chicago and is a featured audiologist in the MusiCares x Tuned partnership. A native Vermonter, she completed her Bachelor of Science at the University of Vermont and then moved to Chicagoland to earn her Doctorate of Audiology from Northwestern University. She provides hearing healthcare for the music industry through a variety of channels; the Sensaphonics clinic, concierge visits at music venues, hearing clinic residencies with orchestras around the country, and telehealth visits with musicians around the world. Dr. Switzer is passionate about promoting hearing health through public education and advocating for a collective effort to prevent sound-induced hearing injuries. She is a committee member of the WHO’s Make Listening Safe Initiative. As a lifelong clarinetist and avid concert-goer, she continues to be fascinated by the intersection of hearing and music for both work and play. 

 

NIOSH Sound Level Meter app: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/noise/about/app.html

MindEar app: https://www.mindear.com/

hearWHO app: https://www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/sensory-functions-disability-and-rehabilitation/hearwho

Can loud music damage your hearing? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R307w05iJc

 

 

#96 - Matt Muffin

Matt Muffin is the lead singer and guitarist for Chicago Thrashers Lollygagger as well as being a professional amp tech with 10 years experience.

#95 - Otruta

Otruta is a Ukrainian musician from Kyiv, Ukraine. He is a student at Columbia College Chicago studying audio production and music. Otruta produces music and performs as a DJ all over the world. He has put on a music festival in Kyiv, Ukraine and hopes to do more with music and education in Ukraine.

#94 - Beverly Rage

Beverly Rage (she/her in drag, he/him out of drag) is the singer, guitarist, and songwriter in Chicago’s all-original drag fronted punk rock band Bev Rage & the Drinks. Bev has been a musician for over two decades, nearly half of that fronting BR&TD, and a drag artist for 15 years. As a lifelong queer activist, Bev uses music as a way to empower folks to work outside of the expected to get their message out. When not playing music, she enjoys gardening, DIY projects at home, and going to the gay beach.

#93 - Mary Rose Gonzales

Mary Rose Gonzales, known as "Beef," is a Filipino American drummer from Chicago, making waves in the punk and garage rock scenes for over a decade. She currently plays with Bev Rage & The Drinks and will be reuniting with Mystery Actions for a special show at Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas in May 2025. When she’s not behind the drums, she works a 9 to 5 at a merchandising photo studio. Outside of music, she enjoys pickleball, playing pool, and fingerboarding.

#92 - Stephanie Robertson

Stephanie Robertson is a comedian from Chicago. You can find her producing and hosting a weekly showcase at The Vixen in McHenry, IL or at Zanies Comedy Club producing and hosting Roast Battle Chicago. Her most recent credits include opening for Rosebud Baker, Liz Koplitz, and Taylor Williamson.

#91 - Lillian Wong

Lillian Wong is a local Chicago musician who started her bass journey during the pandemic in 2020. She has a musical background from playing violin and oboe as a child, and always had dreams of playing music.  She began learning bass by watching videos on Youtube, and soon began posting her own covers online. In September of 2021, Lillian answered a Craigslist ad and officially joined her first band, Gnarly Gap, an indie punk band. Since then, she has joined two other bands: Wratheon (melodic death metal) and Hoverboard (aggressively dreamy alt-rock). She hopes to continue to grow in her music career, and to help inspire others in their own pursuits, no matter the age or dream.  

gnarlygap.bandcamp.com 

wratheon.bandcamp.com

overboardmp3.bandcamp.com 

youtube.com/@arugula666/videos

#90 - Katherrin Billordo

Katherrin is a first-generation American, multimedia visual artist from Chicago. Through paintings, sculptures, photographs, murals, and linocuts, she explores her Mexican-Argentine roots, colorful facets of everyday life, and philosophical concepts. She is motivated to create in hopes of portraying underrepresented perspectives, inspiring empathy, and establishing meaningful relationships.

At age 16, she founded the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Visionary Art Gallery. Seeking to provide more exhibition and networking opportunities for young visual artists, she independently organized four annual pop-up youth art galleries and hopes to expand them across the East Coast.

https://katherrinbillordo.com/

#89 - Emma Kleidon

Emma Kleidon is a piano technician who services instruments all around the Chicagoland area. On top of acoustic piano work, she also runs her own repair shop focusing on vintage electro-mechanical keyboards. You may have seen her online documenting rare and unusual instruments, along with the repair guides she posts on YouTube under Analog Emma. While most of her day is spent in front of keys, her primary instrument is the guitar, where you might have heard her in Crash Birmingham; a father-daughter garage rock duo from Plainfield, IL.