Drinks On Monday with The Strike Team

Today, we’ve got one from the vaults as Mike Vanderbilt talk with Chicago power pop luminary, John Pazdan. Pazdan was one of the founders of Oak Park’s premiere power pop act Pezband in 1971. Pazdan—primarily a bass player—played around town in numerous jazz, rock, and pop outfits including Chicago favorites Off Broadway. This interview was conducted in the spring of 2016 as Mike was preparing his Chicago Reader piece From Rockford To You An Oral history of Cheap Trick’s early years. Pazdan is currently playing with Pezband along side Mimi Betinis and Mick Rain and they will be appearing at The Arcada Theater Friday August 11th along side Dwight Twilley and Zion’s own Shoes. It was a fun chat and I hope you enjoy listening.  

The Strike Team is taking the summer off in this week's finale! Dan brings along some Seagrams Wine Coolers and High Life tall boys for this week's $10 Challenge. The team also discuss their favorite beef sandwiches in Chicago, Mike's french fry addiction, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 2, the latest from Old 97's and discuss their plans for summer vacation.

Mike and Dan are joined by Ashley from SERVICE INDUSTRY CONFIDENTIAL and Katie from REVENGE OF THE POD PEOPLE for a super podcast team up. The foursome partake in the Dan Lynch $10 Liquor Store Challenge. South Side Eats discuss Raising Caine chicken strips, Petey's Bungalow in Oak Lawn, and Katie recounts the pizza at the Outlook Hotel in Portland. STARCRASH as featured on MST3K is also on the table, but they really don't get that deep into it.

Mike and Dan are joined by Ashley from SERVICE INDUSTRY CONFIDENTIAL as they drink some of Mike's booze that he brought back from Costa Rica. The gang discusses Kings Of Leon's WALLS album, and the trailer for THE LAST JEDI.

Pat and friend of the podcast Stephen Hoover (You Are What You've Seen) sit down and rap with Sharknado franchise screenwriter Thunder Levin about Star Trek, Highlander, and working with Mario Van Peebles. Thunder also gives the boys some sage like advice about the value of applying constant pressure over an extended period of time and creating your own opportunities. Recorded live @ the Music Box Theater 3.14.2017

Mike & Pat are joined by bartender and shit-talker Carolyn as they discuss NEW JACK CITY and the Cash Me Ousside girl.

Pat's back in the basement and he, Mike and Dan are sucking down some fine reds from Cooper's Hawk. The boys also dive into their favorite new shows of 2017 including 24: LEGACY, LEGION, and RIVERDALE. They also review the latest record from Tommy Stinson and Bash & Pop.

Pat's off getting hitched so Mike and Dan are joined by Kamil, Kailey, and Kamil, the hosts of the brand new podcast, NEVER SEEN BEFORE. The Strike Team dives into erotic thrillers (BODY HEAT and AMERICAN GIGOLO) as well as JOHN WICK and BLURRYFACE from Grammy winners 21 Pilots.

Pat sits down one-on-one with local wise man Rob Bakker to talk about Chicago punk rock, Freemasonry, and the occult. Recorded live on location @ Emmit's Irish Pub (495 N. Milwaukee Ave) during the ass end of 2016. Be sure to check out Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig!

The Strike Team enjoys craft beers from Granite City while they discuss BEWARE THE SLENDER MAN, SPLIT, DEATH RACE 2050, and Sugar's COPPER BLUE.

The Strike Team enjoy Hard Luck IPA from Blue Island Beer, Co., discuss the 1984 cult classic REPO MAN, Blink-182's CALIFORNIA, and play Describe A Movie Horribly.

Dan, Pat, and Mike discuss their favorite films of 2016.

We wrap things up with the final episode of The Empire Strikes Back, Chapter X: The Clash Of Lightsabers

Drinks On Monday Presents The Empire Strikes Back, Chapter IX: Gambler's Choice

It's a freewheelin' show as The Strike Team are joined by friends of the show to discuss WEREWOLF: THE SERIES, RUNNING SCARED and play JAGOFF/NO JAGOFF and FUCK MARRY KILL.

Pat sits this one out as Mike, Dan, and Kristy discuss THE PURGE series and Green Day's REVOLUTION RADIO. The Strike Team also dives into the 2016 election as well as the Chicago Cubs and their World Series victory.

The Strike Team discuss the films CONTRACTED, THE EXORCISM OF MOLLY HARTLEY, and WE ARE STILL HERE. In the music section, Cheap Trick's ALL SHOOK UP and Lady Gaga's JOANNE are in the queue.      

The Strike Team is back again. This time they're in Mike's new kitchen and trying to get rid of some left over booze with a concoction they call Blue Island Iced Tea. The guys discuss Fantastic Fest and pussy grabbin'. Featuring music from Butch Walker.

Without adult supervision on hand Pat goes full Art Bell again and sits down to talk with local archeologist/barfly Erin "Jones" (not her actual last name because she IS an actual archeologist) about the fossil record, Great Flood myths, the evolution of mankind, and how the heck old is civilization anyways? Jameson Caskmates: Stout Edition is imbibed.

More nonsense from FANTASTIC FEST as Mike Vanderbilt and a cadre of jagoffs talk about their favorite (and less than favorites) films from the week. Very DoM; everyone's drunk, screaming over each other, and the episode is almost two hours long.

Mike is down in Austin, Texas this week covering 2016's FANTASTIC FEST for Daily Grindhouse. FANTASTIC FEST is the world's largest genre film festival and an all around good time. In this Shooter, Mike is joined by fellow writers and festival attendees to discuss the world premiere of PHANTASM RAVAGER as well as their favorite films of the festival

Dan sits this one out as Mike & Pat look back at the past four years of participating in the Chicago 48 Hour Film Project as well as delve into the making of this years film, the rock 'n' roll horror musical BLOODSPRAY!

The Strike Team is back again for the first time! Dan, Mike, and Pat tell us how they spent their summer vacations, their favorite movies of the summer, and how much they hated TERMINATOR: GENISYS. On the cocktail menu is a little '90s nostalgia as the boys suck down Crystal Pepsi with an assortment of terrible vodkas that Dan just want out of his house.

Now available for the first time on iTunes! The very first episode of Drinks On Monday! We've come a long way since August 4th, 2014...but really, its pretty much the same show. The guys drink too much Chivas Regal and discuss GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and some of their favorite summer releases. Just three strokes in a kitchen with shitty microphones.

The Strike Team plays airplane bottle roulette while talking about their plans for the show, gun control, Material Issue, and O.J. Simpson.  The Strike Team WILL return in August in "One More Drink For The Driver."

The Strike Team are joined by friends of the show Amy and Carrie (a Second City alum) to discuss the going on dates in Andersonville, the south side versus the north side, and how contacting new friends online has changed in the past fifteen years.

The kitchen is a little less crowded without Dan this week, but Mike and Pat's egos more than fill some space. The two long-time friends run a gamut of issues and offer their hot takes on the HALLOWEEN reboot, CIVL WAR, Nazi Captain America, HUSH, ShudderLabs, and their favorite subjects...themselves!

The Strike Team gets back to their roots when the trio of Dan, Pat, and Mike settle in around the kitchen table to compare and contrast moonshine from Orland Park, Illinois and Ft. Wayne, Indiana. The guys also delve into the works of Burt Reynolds.

This week on the Drinks On Monday Interview Mike chats with Chicago musician Jay Goepnner. Jay gained notoriety in the ‘80s around Chicago playing with Phil Angotti as the Beatle Brothers, Jay also fronted the   John Lennon tribute Instant Karma, The New Invaders, and most recently can be seen out and about Chicagoland playing with Backdated. Jay and Phil will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Beatle Brothers Saturday May 14th at Fitzgerald’s in beautiful downtown Berwyn. Jay shares stories of seeing Cheap Trick for the first time at Chicagofest and then eventually singing with them when they were doing their Sgt. Pepper shows in Las Vegas. Jay also talks about his Beatlemobile that ALMOST appeared on LOST IN TRANSMISSION, playing with his new classic rock cover band,  Backdated, hanging with Graham Nash at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, and it being Drinks On Monday, the subject of what high schools he and Mike attended.

Chicago filmmaker Jim Sikora stops by the kitchen to sample anarray of scotches with The Strike Team, from Cutty Sark to JohnnieWalker Platinum and everything in between.Sikora has been around the Chicago scene for sometime havingdirected music videos for Tar, members of Husker Dü, and PurpleApple. In the '80s and '90s, Jim wrote, directed, and edited twofeature lengths (WALLS IN THE CITY & BULLET ON A WIRE)featuring David Yow of Jesus Lizard as well as plenty of Chicagobarrooms familiar to The Strike Team including Liar's Club andPhylis's Musical Inn.The guys drink heavily and compare filmmaking notes, discuss howWicker Park has changed, and how dropping out of Columbia Collegechanged all of their lives for the better. It's a supersizedepisode this week, so sit back and enjoy!

Pat talks with Chicago writer turned NYC transplant Jason Diamond about growing up punk rock in the 90s and all things Fireside Bowl. Jason's work as appeared in the Men's Journal, Vice, The New York Observer, The Atlantic and the Chicago Tribune. His memoir "Searching for John Hughes" will be released by Harper Collins later this year. Jason likes the Blue Meanies more than Pat does, but otherwise he's a pretty cool dude.

This week on The Drinks On Monday interview, Mike chats with Mimi Betinis, singer/guitar player/songwriter from Oak Park power pop legends, Pezband. Mike and Mimi dig into the new Pezband EP, WOMEN & POLITICS as well as Pezband's days of playing the clubs around the Chicago suburbs throughout the '70s. 

Burlesque performer Shirley Blazen of Vaudezilla stops by the kitchen to talk about filmmaking, stand-up comedy, and her 4/20 show at Stage 773. Meanwhile, Ashley mixes up Sloe Gin Fizz's while Mike and Pat offer their thoughts on BASKIN and THE INVITATION.

A little something new from Drinks On Monday, a new one on one interview segment. Today, Mike talks with David Bash, the founder of the International Pop Overthrow Festival which stops in Chicago this week and will run from April 14th to April 23rd. Mike's band, The Romeros, will be closing the festival out as they've been doing for the past few years. Mike and Dave chat about the beginnings of the festival in Los Angeles as well as some of the other cities that the IPO stops off in. The two pop fans also talk about Cheao Trick, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Mike Love and David Bash's other project, the Power Pop Hall Of Fame.

This week's episode features The Strike Team sucking down a case of Special Export with members of Mike's band, The Romeros. Alex, Stephanie, and Andy sit in and discuss the ROUGE ONE teaser trailer, deleted scenes from THE FORCE AWAKENS as well as offering their takes on the new Cheap Trick record, BANG, ZOOM, CRAZY...HELLO. From there, Mike and Pat reminisce about the early days when they were first starting out in The Romeros. The Romeros will be playing this year's International Pop Overthrow Festival on Saturday night, April 23rd.

This week on Drinks On Monday, Mark and and Jeffery of These Old Men They Play Records stop by the kitchen to partake in some taste testing. Mark paired up craft beers from some of his favorite Illinois-based breweries with some classic Girl Scout cookies from Thin Mints to Trefoils. The guys share with Dan and Mike about how their DJing gig got started with the help of The Rock Island Public House and also share their thoughts on Record Store Day, local favorite Beverly Records, and "vinyls."

On this week's episode The Strike Team suck down those little bottles of liquor that you get when you fly Southwest and discuss New Orleans, online dating, and dick pics...business as usual for Drinks On Monday.

It's an election year and The Strike Team are never ones to stray away from pairing sex, religion, drinks and politics. On this week's episode, the Ashleys sit in. Team bartender, Ashley Kawasauce mixes up Moscow Mules and Pink Elephants using vodka from the Copper Still CD Distillery. Along the way, Pat regales the team with a tale of ordering food from The Sea Captain. The boys and girls also dive into the presidential primaries, discussing polices, favorite candidates, and how good looking Gavin Newsom is. Think of it as a drunker McLaughlin Group.

Dan is back in the fold for this week's super-sized episode! This week, the boys discuss their Valentine's Day weekends and the geeky gatekeeping surrounding the release of DEADPOOL. The guys touch on which R-rated movies that they saw at the show when they were way too young. On the menu this week are craft beers supplied by the Blue Island Beer Co. including their collaborations with Underground Communique Records and The Rock Island Public House. The Strike Team also discuss THE X-FILES reboot as well as some of their favorite episodes as well as KOLCHACK: THE NIGHT STALKER, Chris Carter's inspiration for his '90s take on conspiracies and the paranormal. The guys also discuss some of their favorite conspiracy theories ranging from the Kennedy assassination to the "cold envelope" theory that changed the NBA. On the paranormal end, a caller east of the Rockies chimes in with an out of body experience. Bust out your tin-foil hat, and listen at your own risk. The truth is in the kitchen. Featuring music from Mark Snow, Mike Donnelly, Icicle Works, Swag, and Ke$ha.

Enjoying El Rey's RIP YOUR HEART OUT MARATHON? Take a trip back to the halcyon days of 2014. It's the early days of Drinks On Monday: the fomat is not quite there, the music is different, the audio quality is worse. The guys suck down Jameson and Chicago's very own, fully krausened, Old Style. The Strike Team discusses Nicolas Cage in LEFT BEHIND, post-season baseball, and the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series. There is also a brief digression into the aborted "Win A Date With Mike Vanderbilt" contest.

Dan sits this week's episode out, but Ashley II and Niall Glass film in for him. The Strike Team is joined by Chicago Pro-Domme, Ms. Mara Mayhem in the kitchen. Prosecco is on the menu and Ashley II mixes up a few (Paul) Bellini's as the gang delves into Ms. Mayhem's college years, her time working in the sex industry and they even phone a friend.

The Strike Team sits down to talk with Katie Rife of The A.V. Club, Mr. Skin, Everything Is Terrible and The Jerry Springer Show in this super sized edition of Drinks On Monday! Katie is an Ohio native and brings with her some local beers from Rhingeist Brewing and Madtree Brewing. She also cooks up some Coney Dogs (with Skyline chili) as she regales the boys with tales from the front. It's the Kentucky bourbon that sends the show off the rails for the last hour as Mike, Pat, and Katie talk about how awesome they are while enjoying Bulliet Bourbon. Thanks, Jon Taffer.

The Strike Team along with house bartender, Ashley K, dissect the most recent break up brought to us by Bigshot.