A couple years ago Vaya front man Jeff Kelley and baritone guitarist Kevin Claxton were talking about the unrecognized players and pockets of Chicago’s ever-changing, nebulous music scene when they came up with an idea. “We were trying to think about, ‘How could we—and I know this is a huge buzzword, but, like, curate bands for people to listen to where they wouldn’t know what they’re gonna get, but they will know it’s gonna be rad,’” Kelley says. That conversation helped start Chicago Singles Club, a site designed to champion local musicians through an in-depth documentation—part of which includes newly recorded singles, which the CSC team handle in-house. CSC officially debuted in April 2013 with a profile of pop songwriter and singer KSRA, and the site’s been steadily expanding with one feature on a new act each month. The site passes a new milestone Friday night at the Whistler with the listening party for Volume 2: 2014-2015, a compilation of recordings from its second year; ShowYouSuck, Me Jane, Glass Lux, Moritat, Radar Eyes, Meat Wave, and Absolutely Not are among the acts who’ve contributed tracks to the compilation.
It helps that CSC also throws shows with the bands they’ve worked with (or wants to work with in the future) and can see the connections in person—like at a showcase the site hosted at a DIY space this past weekend. “Meat Wave and ShowYouSuck had never heard each other but they were tweetin’ back and forth, like, ‘You guys are awesome, we gotta play another show together,’” Kelley says. “That kind of cross-pollination is a really, really awesome outcome from our point of view. It’s something we really hope happens more often.”
