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Get into the swing of things with a classic Chicago collective. You'll get it eventually.

Friday Mar 05, 2010.     By Centerstage Chicago Staff

Music Feed

Follow Friday is a weekly interview series in which each Chicago artist we talk to recommends a fellow local act.

This week's guest: Model Citizens Big Band
Recommended by: Jeff Wichmann

The brainchild of local musician Brian O'Hern, the Model Citizens Big Band does not take easily to categorization. Swing? Sure. Psychedelic? Sometimes. Rock? You bet it does. If you really want to know about it, our best advice is to check out a show and experience the strange magic for yourself. But don't take our word for it; let O'Hern convince you...

Describe your sound in 140 characters or less.
I write music as Salvadore Dali painted; building a world for folks to visit. During an MC show we play many different genres of music but it all sounds like Brian O'Hern music.

Where and when was your first show - and what was it like?
Our first show was in 1996 at Martyrs' on Lincoln Avenue. It was late March and it snowed. There's four original members from that night though a lot of the guys have been in the band for many years.

Name three of your favorite Chicago spots (bars, restaurants, venues, parks - whatever).
I don't go out to eat much these days because I don't have a girlfriend or much money. The Gallery Cabaret is home away from home. We perform there every third Monday of the month. The Green Mill is a classic good hang. Lastly, the Mecca Supper Club is a really cool place on the Northwest Side. Good food and spirits.

What Chicago artist/band should we interview next and why?
The Sabertooth Jazz Quartet has been the late-night house band at the Green Mill since the early nineties. Pat "Flash" Mallinger is not only a member of that group but is also the original lead alto player in the Model Citizens as well as other projects of his own.