Music With Meaning 7

30 shows in 30 days with over a hundred bands rocking the city. Sounds interesting - but what is it? Another reality show from VH1? Pitchfork Media’s latest live music attempt? Not quite. Who could pull off such a feet - lining up 30 eclectic musical events from Bridgeport to Lincoln Square, featuring sounds ranging from free-jazz to industrial? Meet The Machine Media, a fresh-on-the-scene magazine with one publication under its belt and a newly designed website, all neat and tidy. The Machine Media is hosting this years Music With Meaning 7, the eclectic festival that will stretch 30 events across the 30 days of June.

Music With Meaning is a project that was conceived six years ago in Oak Park by Brandon Wetherbee, then a musically-obsessed high school student with a vision beyond his years. The first Music With Meaning was held at the Ernest Hemingway Museum in Oak Park on money that his mom had fronted him from their rent. Wetherbee made just enough money to pay her back and gain ample knowledge helping to keep the event running for the next six years. But never has the festival taken on such an ambitious tone.

Can 30 events in one month really come off with out a glitch? Wetherbee thinks so. Building off his past Music With Meaning endeavors and working countless hours to lineup bands, venues, sponsors, readings and hosts, commercial success has taken a back seat to the love of music. In the early stages his Music With Meaning events were a potpourri of bands thrown together with no regard to the flow of the individual show, but later Music With Meaning events focused more on having a successful turnout.
“I learned early on that I don't like the most commercially successful bands so after the first go at it I booked bands I didn't necessarily want to hear. Music with Meaning 6 and 7 are different because I've been booking bands I like again,” explains Wetherbee.

With a festival as extensive as this almost everyone can find an event with acts they like. Music With Meaning 7 features over 105 bands, readings from local music writers and an independent film night. The schedule features diverse sounds from local and national acts and venues range in size from small rooms to large clubs.

Setting up such a massive event may seem daunting, but Music With Meaning 7 is not only an impressive event set to showcase distinctive music while helping a great cause, it might be the first event of its kind in Chicago.
“To my knowledge,” claims Wetherbee, “no one has been dumb enough.”

Dumb or not. Music With Meaning is shaping up to be a month that won’t soon be matched. With festivals like Lollapalooza, Intonation and Pitchfork garnering the majority of the press for summer Indie-fests, Music With Meaning might not get the ink, but it will certainly bring the energy. There isn’t really a choice, you got to be energized to rock 30 plus events in 30 days.

Updated by Avant/Chicago