The Chicago scene once seemed poised to take over the music landscape. From world chart-topping bands like The Smashing Pumpkins to local heroes Local H and Veruca Salt, Chicago once seemed ready to take over from Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York as the place where bands went to make it big.

Then, it all ended.

No one's quite sure what happened. Some of the legendary clubs (Double Door, The Vic, Shuba's) closed their doors, bands split, the fans moved on.

Now, a new scene seems to be taking hold. A small collective of younger musicians is trying to revive the old scene in Chicago, playing "guerilla" shows wherever they can, be it in old warehouses, on rooftops, or even in one of the few remaining clubs.

GranTurismo is one of the artist collectives spearheading this movement. Made up of two separate bands, Pressure Plate and The Experiment, as well as local club DJ Tim Strike, they've succeeded in creating some new buzz in the recording industry.

The most successful act in the collective, The Experiment, started as a punk side project for Pressure Plate keyboardist, Yumi Kazakawa, who plays guitar and fronts The Experiment. "We've played a lot of club shows recently around the city, and it seems like people really like our sound, which is very similar to classic punk bands like The Ramones. We definitely stay true to that ideal; simple, short songs, played hard."

Also joining The Experiment is Pressure Plate guitarist Bradley Ard, who not only occasionally joins them on guitar, but manages most of the acts within the GranTurismo collective. "It's a lot of fun. The Chicago scene had pretty much vanished, but now we're starting to get some recognition again, which will hopefully carry over to some of the other great bands here in town."

Look for upcoming EP releases from both The Experiment and Pressure Plate. Both bands are planning to enter the studio soon, and don't be surprised to hear some of the other members of the GranTurismo Collective making appearances on both bands' releases.

Ooc: Looks promising! Welcome to the forum :)