I Know Jon Cheese

NAME: Andy
LOCATION: A supremely bizarre party 35 stories up on Wacker.

So, who is Jon Cheese?

Jon Cheese is the manager of a band called Limbeck. [Andy can tell I have never heard of this and very kindly spells out the band's name.] L-I-M-B-E-C-K.

Tell me about that band.

I saw that band when I was working at the Iowa State M-Shop. That's the Iowa State University venue.

You were a student there at the time?

I was a student there.

And they were just a band that came through?

Yep. And I, uh, I mean I hung out with the band and their t-shirts were like fifteen dollars and this one was only ten. So I picked out the Jon Cheese shirt.

So do you personally know Jon Cheese?

I actually met Jon Cheese. And he looks identical to this photograph. Or, to this screenprint.

Is he as awesome as he seems from the shirt?

I don't know, how awesome does he seem from the shirt?

He seems pretty awesome, in my opinion.

He's pretty much the same. He's got the 'stache, he's got the fro-ey hair. It was pretty amazing.

The band sells this shirt as merchandise. But there's no way that this shirt would tell me anything about that band.

No, not really. Not that I know of. Unless we're missing something.

Has anyone ever come up and asked you about it and learned about the band - other than the guy curating the blog?

I actually don't wear this shirt very often. I haven't done laundry in like two months. So this is like the last stack. No, nobody's ever come and asked me about Jon Cheese. Just you.

The Robin and The Revolver

NAME: Fabrice
LOCATION: Cole's, Logan Square

This t-shirt is actually something that I found at a Buffalo Exchange and I picked it up because I had to do a poetry reading and I wanted something interesting and it had a multi-colored robin, and it looks decent. But I feel like the gun is so like large and almost imposing.

It's kind of a threat to the bird.

Yes. But at the same time, like, maybe the bird is not really threatened at all and so it implies a sense of coolness.

The bird is so cool, the bird's not even afraid of the gun.

I would think so actually. I think there's something pretty about it.


So for you, the t-shirt is about the bird, not the gun.

Oh, definitely about the bird, yeah.

But people notice that gun.

I think that people do, yeah. I didn't pick it out - I wasn't like, "Oh, look at that awesome gun." I literally was like, "Wow, that's a great like robin-ish looking bird that's multi-colored, followed by a gun."

Do you have any specific affinity for robins?

Um, the person that I am dating currently is really into those types of birds, so I guess when I saw it immediately I thought at first maybe she would like it. It's kind of weird, but yeah, that's what I thought.

And does she like it?

Yeah, she loved it.

Lucky Hookers

NAME: Andrew
LOCATION: Ricochet's, Lincoln Square

It wasn't always quite a pinkish hue. It used be more beige.

It got washed with some red shirts?

Something like that.

Tell me about what's on it.

Well, there's a fish on it and it says: "Lucky Hookers. Catch One Every Time. Guaranteed."

And where'd you get this shirt?

I got this as a Christmas gift a few years ago.

From who?

My mom.

So your mom has a sense of humor, or did she not get the joke?

Nah, she has a sense of humor.

And when you wear this, do you think of your mom?

No, not really.

telephone

NAME: Cody
LOCATION: house party, Wicker Park

[Cody's shirt was given to him for free by the apartment complex he lives in, called "The Automatic Lofts". Allegedly, the building was formerly either a telephone company or a telephone factory of some kind. Cody had a lot to say about wearing a shirt that was on the one hand an advertisement for a company he has no stake in but on the other hand is a very cool-looking shirt that doesn't necessarily appear to be an advertisement for anything. Unfortunately, a very loud argument was taking place in the next room and completely drowned out our voices on my recorder. The interview was then cut short by that argument escalating into a spectacular fist fight. It was a very exciting evening but an unfortunate loss for the T-Shirt Project. Thanks, Cody, for your time.]