NOTES FROM ARTIST (GREG):

There is a lot of history behind this stellar night at Mississippi Studios. Portland natives Chris Slusarenko and his brother Nate were in a band called Sprinkler back in 1992. Some friends and I had been reading about a certain music scene, so we rented a car and drove up to the Pacific Northwest just to see what all the fuss was about. It became an epic road trip through San Francisco, Ashland OR and Portland. It was fateful that I saw these brothers play that October at the Crocodile in Seattle. They had just released an album on Sub Pop called More Boy Less Friend, recorded at Smart Studios in Madison WI by Doug Olsen (The Fluid/Tad). I was extremely lucky to be there, and went from not knowing anything about this band to being their biggest fanboy by the end of the night. After the show I got their attention by buying them some beers, and then Chris and I started what became a thirty-year-long friendship. We kept in touch as pen pals during the 90’s, trading cassettes and band posters. Chris became a band-leading indie rock veteran with his band Svelt, and then later he joined up with Guided By Voices and Boston Spaceships.

I was keeping up my end with my bands, the 1990s Ferdinand and the 2000s Rough Church, but these trains didn't have the luck to meet up until J. and I started Man’s Body in 2016. Chris and Nate came to our show in Portland at a record store in 2019. There was a planned Los Angeles show with Eyelids in March 2020 that was scuttled at the last minute due to the outbreak of COVID. Eventually Chris rescheduled us to do these two shows with Eyelids in Portland in March 2023, and again in April in San Pedro CA. It was epic in my life because of all of the history I have with Chris. The trains finally did meet. Then you add in the fact that Peter Buck is playing guitar with Eyelids for only a handful of shows, and we are opening! The cherry on top is when J. is asked by Peter to sign the book he wrote about R.E.M’s debut album Murmur for the 33 1/3 series, and what we have here is a huge and truly bona fide miracle of sorts. So here we are now with this great Man's Body musical artifact, our live show, recorded from that night, and it is beyond my wildest dreams. I feel lucky I guess, but maybe more than that given what J. and I have been through to stay in this crazy game. It is a hard won victory for us. We are indebted to Chris forever.

All respect and love to our band members, Andy, Kaitlin, Goose, and Marc, and to the cities of Chicago, LA and Portland we extend our deepest gratitude. It makes cosmic sense that Portland is where it all came together. And always a big thanks to label boss Renee Travis, my mom Rose Ann Hall, my wife Michelle Davis, who puts up with all of this, and to all of our families.

[Greg Franco | April 2024]


NOTES FROM ARTIST (J.):
Forgive my immodesty for saying that on the night of this show we kicked ass. We were primed and ready: rehearsals in LA and Portland, with the knowledge we’d be playing with Eyelids in their hometown for their record release show, at the storied venue Mississippi Studios, for what was looking to be a sold-out show. True enough, Eyelids packed the place, due in part to their special guest sitting in for the night: R.E.M.’s Peter Buck. I for one was especially geeked – this is the person who made me want to start playing guitar back when I was about fourteen years old. Some of you know I’m a big R.E.M. fan going way back – I did write a whole book about their debut album. But the hero of the show, in large part, was Chris Slusarenko, singer/guitarist/songwriter of Eyelids. He was kind enough to offer us two West Coast shows opening for them, both with Peter Buck on auxiliary Rickenbacker, in Portland and San Pedro. We’ve been a fan of Chris’s music for decades, and were honored to be invited onto such a wonderful bill.

The set list was drawn mostly from our second album, A Set of Steak Knives, as well as a few staples from Put Your Family In It. During soundcheck I got Peter Buck to sign my Murmur LP, and gave him a copy of my book, to which he replied, “Oh, you’ll have to sign this for me!” Mississippi Studios was considerate enough to record the entire show from the mixing board directly to multitrack. Our old studio compadre Mike Hagler mixed the show back in Chicago and did a stellar job. Our deepest love and thanks to the rest of the band that night: Andy Creighton, Kaitlin Wolfberg, Marc Doten and Goose Giese. These folks turn mine and Greg’s goofy dreams into reality.

[J. Niimi | April 2024]


CONTACT

MAN'S BODY
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/mansbodychicago
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/mansbodychicago
TWITTER: twitter.com/MansBody2

NOCTURNALSOL
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/NocturnalSol
INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/nocturnalsol_records/
TWITTER: twitter.com/SolNocturnal

CONTACT:
marketing: speedbmp@earthlink.net
booking/merch: jniimi@gmail.com
publishing/licensing: hey@heydaymediagroup.com