If you live in Chicago, you’ve probably heard about or seen Steve Krakow roaming about town, listened to his radio show on WGN or heard his band, Plastic Crimewave.  In addition to being a talented musician himself, Krakow possesses a wealth of musical knowledge which he’s parlayed into the making of several comic strips (for which he does the writing and illustration). STOP SMILING is proud to count itself among his publishers, along with Drag City, the Chicago Reader, Arthur magazine and others. 

Together with Drag City, STOP SMILING hosted a performance and reading spear-headed by Krakow to celebrate the release of a new issue of his Galactic Zoo Dossier, a hand-drawn and hand-written magazine for psychedelic and unheard music. Drag City has long been a supporter of his and has published the zine since 2001. For this ear-splitting performance, Krakow enlisted the help of Michael Yonkers, a musician who, since the Sixties, has made some very impressive (and psyched-out) music.

To see pictures from the event, click here.

Recorded Friday, July 27, 2007 at Stop Smiling Storefront.