About Me
The HISTORY of SIN:The Good Ol' Fashioned Sinners is an entourage of freinds/musicians in the NW Illinois and Chicago area who collaborate in all kinds of ways to play out the sounds they have had in our heads for years. It all started when guitar player, Matt (DJ Wisconsin) Wenzel,was introduced to drummer Brandon (Crazy Cochise) Lipford in the spring of 2004. The two started playing just for kicks once or twice a month or whenever they could get together. The sessions were largely focused on improvisational rock music with burst of noisy flavor. The two recorded some demo songs at a rap studio in Chicago, IL on July 4th, 2004. These songs layed the groundwork for ideas to expand in the coming year. In the winter of 2004, CC and DJ W got to playing with an experimental keyboardist/slide guitar player by the name of David (Big Daddy Dave) Hirsch. DJ Wisconsin had met BDD at a previous job that they both held for a short period of time and hit it off pretty well. Dave brought the whole element of layering soundscapes in their music to the table.Meanwhile, DJ Wisconsin was ecstatic to learn that in the fall/winter of 2004, a childhood friend from back home was scheduled to move to the city. The lady's name is none other than Heather (H.M. Rizzle) Rice. She has abundant musical training in the areas of viola, piano, guitar, bass, accordian, etc. H.M. Rizzle was the perfect adition to their lineup with her versatlity on any intstrument. Also during this time, DJ Wisconsin and The Rizzle teamed up as a duo to record a five song E.P. for a project they call "The Pockets" which is currently available for 3 dollars upon rerquest.In the winter of 2004, the group sporadically started holding jam sessions in Dekalb, Illinois where an old acquaintance of DJ W goes to school. His name is none other than Andy (Fingers) Heiden. He majors in stand up bass performance at NIU and added a new level of musicianship to the group. Fingers' schedule is extremely busy due to his work and school schedule, but whenever he manages to be around it is a magical time had by all.During the springtime in 2005, Chris (Sorensonian) Sorenson moved back to Chicago after an extended leave of absence to Minnesota. DJ W had met Sorensonian at a recording studio they had both worked at for a brief period of time. Chris was more than helpful in letting the group record at his home studio setup on Belmont and Sheffield (Shelmont Studios). He also helped produce and mix the recordings in addition to doing backing vocals. The songs recorded were much more structured and accessible than the previous months of noodling jam sessions. The songs that came about were largely folk influenced with some funky rock grooves thrown in to spice it up. The list of musicans who helped make it possible is exhausting with everyone taking songwriting credits on different tracks. The album has just recently been finished topping out at a 16 song record and available upon request. Three of the songs from the album are posted on this site in addition to a live jam (with Fingers on bass) recorded on a four track in a friend's apartment (Extrapolated Conversation).By later that Fall, the group had finally settled on a name: The Good Old Fashion Sinners. It was in reference to a very right wing religious video that outlined the dangers and sins of enjoying rock and roll music. The Group was growing, too. The band recorded an album through the winter of 2005 enlisting help from a variety of friends and musicians with which they had recently (or not so recently) come in to contact. The idea of the group began growing. They started apush for the impression of a musical collective rather than a straight forward band. Improv would be key. Everyone in the band would write songs. Since the conception of the band at large came from the idea of just having a good time, that philosophy stayed primary.Fast Forward to Summer 2006By now, the Sinners have been tossed out of their humble home in lakeview, had the cops called on a regular basis, getting known for their drunken crazy "tag the wall" gatherings, insane late night freak outs, and son on and so on. It seemed there was no way to contain the force of the Sinners. The managed to avoid total breakdown and, in turn, actually saw an oppurtunity to sew the seeds they had already planted. They have acquired a somewhat more than adequate residence on the north side of chicago which tripled as a recording studio/venue/home. Their prayers had been answered.The live line up of the group had also changed. The survivors from the previous year's work ended up with H.M. Rizzle, Big Daddy Dave, Crazy Cochise, and D. J. Wisconsin. Fingers had just been to busy and too far away to play consistently in Chicago, so they rounded up some help from DJ Wisconsin's co-worker Ryan ( The Mellow Fellow) Burke. The string section expanded to include Dave (STELLAR) Keller, Rokus, and Phred (Chairman POW!) Beattie, all of whom are amazing songwriters and composers in their own right. Brian (BCUM) Kahn become the in house DJ/MC. The talent was coming together.Since then, there has been abundant recordings from the Sinners: A two disc set compiled by Crazy Cochise featuring a SLEW of guests, A FULL length Pockets album by HM Rizzle and DJ Wisconsin, Big Daddy Dave's 1/24 speed drone album (sounds like 42 minutes of a B-52 bomber!), and more! There's plenty of more sounds in the works with live shows to boot.Summer of 2007:The Good Old Fashioned Sinners (or what has become of them i.e. Dave, Brandon, Matt, Ryan, and Phred when he feels like it) left their humble abode in Chicago (The Treetop) back in February due to lack of funds and a shitty landlord. The moved to beautiful Colorado in June to live with semi co-founder, Zach Khan. Zach introduced Cochise and the DJ back in the day, so it was only appropiate that it all comes together here. Zach and his partner Ben run a non profit recording studio called Alphabet. The Sinners will be recording their first ever actual studio album this winter at Alphabet. It should be ready just in time for Febtoberfest 2008. The band also released a CD-R album recorded at the Colorado homestead this past summer titled "Tethered Spells of Wisdom." Lots of new tracks are currently being recorded at the homestead as well. Keep an ear out for new stuff coming soon... 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