Bruce Adams Interview

Bruce Adams is the author of You're with Stupid: Kranky, Chicago, and the Reinvention of Indie Music. It’s a book he calls “a combination memoir/oral history/primer about the underground music scene in Chicago circa 1989-2002 as seen from my perspective as co-founder of an independent record label. Alternatively, you could call it a love letter to Labradford.” He’ll be touring the book around the United States this month.

How did you get to where you are today, professionally?

I was, as they say, “between positions,” and took a job at Schoolkids’ Records in Ann Arbor, Michigan to tide me over until a “real job” appeared. I met John Brannon and Larissa Strickland of the Laughing Hyenas at the store and roadied and sold merch for them. I sat in the band van clutching a baseball bat to protect the gear while the band made their CBGBs debut. When we were in Chicago, I met Corey and Lisa Rusk and decided to move to Chicago around 1987. I got a job at Kaleidoscope Distribution in Des Plaines working for the inimitable Nick “The Greek” Hadjis and worked nights at Touch & Go. Eventually, I took over the promotions work full time at T&G until 1991. While the label was operating out of the Rusk house I covered my desk and all important Rolodex with plastic every night. Otherwise, the cats would pee on it. I worked briefly at the Tower Records in Lincoln Park in Chicago, then settled at Cargo Distribution where (as detailed in the book) I met Joel Leoschke and we started kranky.

Can you please briefly describe the book?