Champaign Is Also A Band

Champaign Is Also A Band

One songwriter, one song. Podcast about stories & songs of Champaign-Urbana music. In each episode Sven sits down with a person from the C-U music scene to hear the story & the background of a favorite song they’ve written.

Episodes

January 23, 2026 53 mins

Sven chats with Sean Wilkinson (He/Him) of sorry forever about his song "sugar" off of the EP "learning to be," the CU music scene, and his favorite non-musical thing(s).

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CW: Mentions SA

Sven chats with Ocean Thoreau (They/Them) of sorry forever about their song "thirteen" off of the EP "learning to be," the CU music scene, and their favorite non-musical thing(s).

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Sven chats with Sam Layton, He/Him (guitar) (EP123), Quenton Bian, He/Him (bass), Jaz Wilkins, She/Her (vocals), and  Zach Slade, He/Him (drums) (EP123) about their band The Meantime and their recently released album "Beat of Abyss" 

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Sven chats with Karl Kuehn (He/Him) about his song "Love for Fun" off of the upcoming album "Gay Meat LP," the Champaign-Urbana music scene, and his favorite non-musical thing. 

Photo: Nick O'Reilly

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November 7, 2025 67 mins

Sven chats with Rebekah Mangles (They/Them) at the KCPA about their song "May Day" off of the album "Live from Coffeehouse," moving to Champaign-Urbana, and their favorite non-musical thing.  Photo by: Ryan McCauley 

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Sven chats with Where Are The Flamingos? (He/Him) about his song "Tiki Head," the CU music scene, and his favorite non-musical things 

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Sven zooms with Bryce Hays (He/Him) of Withershins to talk about his song "Eternal Return" off of the album "MT FUJI IN BLUE," things he misses about the CU music scene, and his favorite non-musical things.

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September 26, 2025 63 mins

Sven chats with Caspian June (She/They/It) in the lobby of the KCPA to talk about her song "Spirit," the Peoria and CU music scene, her podcast Ideal Angle, and her favorite non-musical things. 

YouTube Page for Caspian June and Ideal Angle Podcast

LULA in Peoria 

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Sven chats with Sebastian Kelle (He/Him) and Bob Owens (He/Him) of Starcruiser about their song "Germany" off of the album "Autopilot," the Champaign-Urbana music scene, and their favorite non-musical things.

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Sven chats with Jon Hoekstra (He/Him) about his song "My Dog Says" of of the album "Little Grassy," the CU music scene, and his favorite non-musical thing. 

List of CU music opportunities mentioned in the episode:

Slow Jam (Mondays, 7-9 PM, Lincoln Square) - https://sites.google.com/view/slowjam Songs in Progress - songwriter's feedback circle - email dochoekstra@gmail.com CU Bluegrass Jam (Tuesdays, 7-9 PM, Lincoln Square): cublue...
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Sven chats with Micah Boyce (He/Him) of White Lucy about his song "Melee" of of the upcoming album "The Paradise," (dropping 8/15/2025) the CU music scene, and his favorite non-musical thing. 

That FX tool that Brok uses on Micah's voice for the outro: Chroma Console

 

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June 27, 2025 64 mins

Sven chats with Patrick Lyke (He/Him) about his song "Army Surplus," the CU music scene past and present, and his favorite non-musical thing.

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June 13, 2025 52 mins

Sven meets up with roseli (She/Her) at KCPA for a chat about her song "spit ends," the CU Music Scene, and her favorite non-musical thing 

Photo: Kandy Delgadillo 

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Sven chats with Robert Hirschfeld (He/Him) of Common Loon about his song "Automatic Skin," the CU music scene past and present, and his favorite non-musical thing.

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May 16, 2025 43 mins

Sven meets up with Sierra Sikora (She/Her) at KCPA to talk about her song "Jade" off of the EP "Confessions" the CU music scene, and her favorite non-musical things.

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Sven chats with Andrew Simek (He/They) about his song "Pocket Song," the local CU Music Scene, being the Piano Man, and their favorite non-musical things!

Info on the Piano Man : https://canopyclub.com/piano-man/

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Sven chats with Patrick (He/HIm) and Noah (He/Him) of Castle Finn to talk about their song "Velvet Fangs" off of the "On The Vine (EP)."

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Sven chats with James Mauck (He/Him) of Forebeat about his piece "Currents" off of the album "Stages of Growth," old and new CU venues, house shows, and his favorite non-musical thing.

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Sven chats with Juli Sherry (She/Her) of Pretzle Records about working with Doug Hodge (BEP23) to create the record label, supporting the local music scene, and plans for the future.

Pretzle Records Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pretzlerecords/

Pretzle Records Website: https://www.pretzlerecords.com/

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Sven zooms with Tim Reynolds (He/Him) of Horrible Things about his song "A Million Times," off of the album "Everybody Else" the CU music scene 10+ years ago, and his favorite non-musical thing.  

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