Bending Brains

#78 - Will Stephan

Will Stephan is a Chicago born Skateboarder and founder of Sapient Skateboards. Will builds skateboards from scratch and gives skateboarding lessons at Sapient Skateboards. Will also puts on Skateboarding events around Chicago. www.sapientskateboards.com

#77 - Friday James, Part 2

Introducing Friday James, a gifted songwriter originating from Nashville, Tennessee. Relocating to Chicago in November of 2021, Friday swiftly immersed herself in the local music scene, enthralling audiences with her mesmerizing performances. Her artistic essence is centered around a profound appreciation for lyricism and poetic depth, artfully weaving true events from her own life into poignant and relatable musical narratives.

#76 - Sean Neumann

Sean Neumann is a musician and sports reporter from Chicago, Illinois. He’s currently on tour with his band Ratboys. As a reporter, Sean works for People Magazine, GQ, and other entertainment magazines. seanneumann.us has any info you might need!

#75 - Rob Joynes

The Eastern and Western halves of Washington can seem like two different states; one dry and pastoral, the other overcast and lush. Rob Joynes is a singer-songwriter who's music captures these two contrasting landscapes. Raised on the East side of the Cascade Mountain Range, Joynes often invokes his home town of Spokane directly in his lyrics. Pairing themes of queer identity, abjection, family and aging with piano driven melodies and sentimental guitar riffs influenced by artists like Red House Painters, Jason Molina, Carissa's Wierd and Kath Bloom. Joynes presently resides in Seattle and contributes to bands Sunnyland and Fell Off. robjoynes.bandcamp.com felloff.bandcamp.com sunnyland.bandcamp.com IG : @rob_joynes

#74 - Julian Fontaine

Julien Fontaine is french-canadian percussionist, drum teacher and now certified public accountant from Montréal. Firstly a passionate music lover and compulsive record buyer, he went on completing an interpretation jazz drumming diploma in Québec before making a complete change of path into obtaining a CPA licence. Music, arts and business are now coexisting in an unorthodox amalgam the showed him that creativity and rational thinking can be express simultaneously.

#73 - Joe Gaspar

Joe Gaspar is the owner and founder of 2 Bici Bicycle shop in Willow Springs, IL.

#72 - Hannah Bess Ross

Hannah Bess Ross is a Chicago based illustrator and writer. She lives in a little house with a blue door and an orange cat, but dreams of the woods and the waves of rocky seas far, far away. She likes telling stories about everyday magical things like bugs and stars. She also loves puppets, folk art, and silly word-play. Hannah mostly makes art for a children's market. https://www.hannahbessross.com/

#71 - Karen Mooney

Karen is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Chicago. She is tirelessly curious about all forms of creative expression, and her work includes illustration, sculpting, print making, video editing, songwriting, and sewing. Her tenure in the Production Art space has also provided her with a deep appreciation for graphic design. Primarily, she works with local bands and businesses to collaborate on merch design, posters, and album art.

#70 - Josh Jones

My first memory is of hitting everything in sight at 2 years old. From playing in the church from the age of 5 to performing with the Percussion Scholarship Group, (PSG), starting in 4th grade, I have had many valuable experiences and lessons that have brought me to where I am today.

Directed by Patricia Dash, percussionist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and her husband Douglas Waddell, percussionist with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Percussion Scholarship Group is where my formal training began. During my time there I was featured on radio and television with From the Top, The TODAY Show, and Chicago Tonight was awarded the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award and received second place in the Chicago Symphony Youth Auditions. Thanks to them I was fortunate to be accepted to all colleges that I auditioned for in 2010 and I chose to go to DePaul School of Music to continue my training.

While at DePaul I was able to develop quickly resulting in being added to orchestra sub-lists, advancing in Civic orchestra auditions, attending the National Repertory Orchestra Festival, and eventually winning the Detroit Fellowship in 2014. With the help of my mentors, the percussion section, the principal trombonist, and the remaining members of the symphony, I was able to begin advancing in major auditions as well as further my technique and knowledge of this particular business. After finishing the fellowship there, I applied for and was hired as a fellow of the Pittsburgh Symphony. This was cut very short because of my success in the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra audition, where I worked as the Principal Percussionist for 2 years and was layered tenured. I now serve as the Principal Percussionist of Grant Park Orchestra. I always hope that with each degree of progress I make in my life that I can somehow help someone else do the same. 

#69 - Molly Compton

Molly Compton is a singer-songwriter, visual artist, amateur baker and founder & resident bleeding heart at Ur Mom Records. She thinks everyone deserves a good mom and everyone can be a good mom.