Based in Rockford, Illinois, Sock Monkey Sound is a music and culture website. Notable guests on our podcast have included Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), Colin Hay (Men At Work), Eric Bachmann (Crooked Fingers/Archers of Loaf), Hutch Harris (The Thermals), David Bazan and Dan Deacon, as well as members of The Dandy Warhols, Built To Spill, The Dismemberment Plan, Tokyo Police Club and many more. We often discuss with our guests the state of music and culture in both our hometown and theirs, as to find a common link between (what we feel to be) the lack of art support in Rockford and what may be going on elsewhere in the country.
Our chats don’t just stop at the podcast, as we’ve interviewed Yoko Ono, Sharon Van Etten, Diplo and more in other features for the site, as well as featured several in-studio performances from The Felix Culpa, Into It Over It and others.
We continually cover Rockford (and surrounding area) artists, giving them an outlet to have their music heard or to discuss their craft themselves on the podcast. Rockford-based musicians Miles Nielsen and Dan McMahon, both previous podcast guests, recently wrote and performed the songs in Undefeated, the 2012 Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature, and that’s just a small taste of what our city can offer the world. Through our editorials, concert or album reviews, and general think pieces on the site, we hone in on what’s working in Rockford, and instead of harping on what’s not, we suggest what could.
Since our inception in 2009, we’ve added writers from Atlanta, Toronto, Colorado and Chicago. In 2011, USA Today’s Pop Candy blog named Sock Monkey Sound one of the ten best music podcasts in the country, aligning us with the likes All Songs Considered and Sound Opinions. We are both humbled and thrilled by this honor, and we aim to live up to it with every post.
We’re always developing new content, including the recent Andy & Reggie’s Songs About Stuff & Things Radio Hour – where our hosts spin songs relating to one central topic per episode – and The Geeks Were Right, a podcast debuting this summer tackling the worlds of film, tv, comics, and video games.
We welcome your feedback, questions, comments and suggestions. Here are some ways to contact us:
Email: sockmonkeysound@gmail.com
Voicemail: (815) 315-9552
Twitter: @sockmonkeysound
Facebook: facebook.com/sockmonkeysound
Contributing writers:
Chicago/Rockford: Andy Whorehall, Lindsey Bakker, Alex Danger Stewart, Jojo Wrinkles, Sam Gordon, Ryan Grove, Shelby Mongan, Kevin Schwitters, Dane Pennachi, Kevin Hein, Mark Jaeschke, and Joseph Goral. Head drunk bastard: Dave Pedersen Head drunk storyteller: Ray Tarte
Toronto: Sam Rashid, Rebecca Williams
Head drunk monkey: Francis the Macaque! Head drunk ad firm owning mob boss: Mister Meerasake!
