Vocalo

ayana

Ayana was the host of Chicago Public Radio's Global Overnight. She developed the music and later served as program director for a radio station in Macomb, IL. Ayana also contributed to our project during the critical development phase (the Secret Radio Project). A DJ and music historian, her passion is collecting records (LPs & 45s) and sharing the stories behind them, especially those recorded locally.

bibiana

The Doctress-- is a clinical/community psychologist and personal coach. She launched a personal coaching service for bicultural professionals seeking to expand their personal and professional potential. Bibiana was born in Medellín, Colombia, and has lived in the US for the past 22 years. She's still very Colombian!

brian

Brian - In the comedy world he's known as Brian Babylon, and host a bi monthly stand-up show in Bronzeville. He's also an experienced media director.I LOVE HIP HOP+MAKIN BEATS+MAKIN JOKES+ROCK N ROLL+WORLD TRAVEL+YOU!

Chris

Chris is a veteran musician/composer. He writes and produces out of The Factory at VOCALO
and Vanedawg Studios. Based in Chicago, Chris manages to freelance at various
studios and venues. Clinician and product specialist
for Warwick Basses and Amps.
Notable projects are: Kick the Cat, Crawl, Drop Q, Amazing Headgear, LOTC. A Multi instrumentalist (primary a bassist/singer), CC also play bass fiddle, geetar, keys, drums
and perc. Contributing composer for HARPO Studios.Music. Music instructor for Day Jams Chicago. Currently working on a Masters in Music at DePaul.

dan

Dan is an award-winning journalist, and has also worked as a performer and a teacher. He's written for the Chicago Reader, Crain's Chicago Business and other publications, and he taught journalism for several years at Columbia College Chicago. (Ask him about the class where students pulled campaign-finance information about local politicians. Did you know that Chicago Alderman Willam Banks drives a Jaguar? Hey, it's a campaign expense, apparently. Year-round.) Dan, a Chicago native, also started Redmoon Theater's School Partnership Program and serves on the board of the Albany Park Theatre Project.

darlene

Darlene Jackson – is an internationally celebrated DJ/Producer and owner of the record label, D'lectable. She has been featured in Billboard, Spin and International DJ among others. In addition, Darlene is a freelance writer who has written for The Chicago Tribune, Rockpile, Urb, Venus and Metromix.com. An active member of NARAS (the Grammy's), Darlene works closely with the Chicago Chapter.

jesse

Jesse first got on the mic of a community radio station in 1993 and has been hooked ever since. She has been on the airwaves of WBEZ and KQED, and brought home an Associated Press Award while serving as News Director at WVFS. Her interest in radio has grown to an interest in sound art, and she now works with both recorded sounds and kinetic sound sculpture. You can check out her work here and at Favorite Chicago Sounds, an online archive she created of the favorite sounds of Chicago residents. The daughter of a Japanese mother and a Caucasian-American father, Jesse grew up at Disney World (aka Orlando), and has lived in Tokyo, Yokohama, San Francisco, and Chapel Hill, where she got a Master's degree studying Asian American identity in documentary video. Jesse has always wanted to live in Chicago, but never thought she'd make it thru the winters. She was happy to discover that she could survive, with the help of a good pair of ski pants.

kabuika

LadyTwist

LadyTwist *AkA* Rico J. or Twizzle (as she's called by fans) is an up and coming Hip Hop artist/Comedian from the South Shore area of Chicago's southeast side. When she's not "getting her Vocalo on" she's either in the studio making music, reading Sidney Sheldon novels, teaching her miniature Dachshund to perform human feats or daydreaming about her Grammy acceptance speech. A Journalism student, LadyTwist is a fun-loving and outgoing person who has yet to perfect the ability to interact with human beings without smiling or provoking laughter. You can get a full uncensored dose of her on Egotrip's Miss Rap Supreme airing every Monday night at 10/9PM Central on Vh1 ...

lloyd

lloyd (lloydski) is just this substitute host who fills in now and then. at least that's what he'd like everyone to think. truth is he's the boss of all hosts. he got the job mostly by working hard and growing old. previous jobs lloyd has held: house painter, office clerk, teacher, musician, director of an off-campus arts program. for fun he hangs around home with his wife and dog, plays in a band called funkadesi, and works as a stringer for the obscure news. he lives in the burbs and enjoys it immensely.

Luis

Luis is an award winning Chicago actor, producer, and filmmaker. Born of mixed Latino parents (Puerto Rican father, Colombian mother) and raised in Chicago's northside (Rogers Park, Albany Park, Humbolt Park). Somewhere along the way he became facinated with watching the urban surroundings change around him first hand. After directing and producing the legendary Chicago Hip-Hop freestyle battle documentary known as Rhyme Spitters, Luis brings his talents and abilities to Vocalo.org to learn, along with the rest of us, what are Northwest Indiana (NWI)and Chicagoland stories, what is NWI and Chicagoland music, and oberve first hand the media revolution of the new millenium.

navraaz

 

After wandering around the world as a nomad, Navraaz is back in the suburbs of Illinois with her family. She is the lead singer for the Chicago based band, Funkadesi, and enjoys being able to reflect on her experiences within her music. There is a great sense of comfort in returning home for her as she is now able to appreciate certain nuances of the American life (and life in general) that she had not noticed before. She looks forward to her experiences with Vocalo and hopes that she will be able to provide opportunities for the communities to speak of themselves and their lives. Thus, providing herself and the Vocalo community the ability to embrace infinite expressions of vast minds.  

Robin

Robin is an artist and radio producer based in Chicago. Much of her work, including the hour-long documentary Reconstructing Providence, deals with the complex lives of post-industrial cities. Prior to joining :Vocalo.org Robin was a producer for the public radio show Open Source in Boston and an artist-in-residence at AS220 in Providence, Rhode Island.

 

sarah.e.lu

Sarah is an intern. When she's not learning as much as she can from her radio mentors at Vocalo, she teaches rock climbing. Before joining Vocalo, she interned with WBEZ's Soundmarks program. Sarah recently graduated from Grinnell College, where she got her start in radio as a DJ on KDIC 88.5 fm.

Shantell

Shantell is a radio junkie who likes crab legs and hot tea. She really loves food and good conversation. Shantell truly enjoys learning about new and interesting people. Stemming from a life of boredom, she co-founded and managed University of Missouri's first diversity publication where she graduated last year. When she's not on the air, she's probably making your sandwiches at the Panera Bread downtown.

steve

Steve Walsh is an award winning print journalist from Northwest Indiana. The Post-Tribune in Gary sent him to Iraq in 2003 and again in 2005. He covered the Indiana Statehouse through three governors. His full-time career began with the Vidette-Messenger in Valparaiso, IN.

Tom

Tom is an actor, musician and filmmaker. His comedies have appeared at the Chicago Outdoor Summer Film Festival and the Chicago Short Comedy Film and Video Festival. He has played in Clint Eastwood, Meat the Head, Three Monks and Who Am I, and other bands, including Sweaterhead and Orange Pokey. He is an ensemble member at the Piven Theatre.

usama

Usama was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1969 and spent his formative years living between United States and the Middle East. His work in film and video has been screened at numerous film festivals and venues across the globe. He is the recipient of a generous 2005 grant from the Creative Capital Foundation for the Arts and a Playboy Foundation Award, as well as the winner of the Creative Promise Award at Tribeca All Access in NYC. An interview with Usama appears in Studs Terkel's book Hope Dies Last. Feature articles have been written about his work in such places as the Chicago Tribune, Time Out, and Variety, and he has made appearances on various television and radio news programs. In early 2004 Usama and his wife returned to his birthplace in Iraq to shoot his first feature documentary titled Nice Bombs. Usama is also a life long painter and illustrator working in watercolors and inks.   

Vanessa

Comedienne/Actress Vanessa Fraction puts on display the “beauty of comedy.” Vanessa performs in clubs and venues across the country and internationally. She has been a finalist in the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition and was chosen for NBC’s Standup for Diversity Showcase. Vanessa is featured in the hit movie BarberShop 2 and performs on Martin Lawrence Presents, “1st Amendment Standup” (STARZ), Bill Bellamy’s, “Who’s Got Jokes” (TVONE), and the new season of Russell Simmons’ “Def Comedy Jam” (HBO).Her wit serves as a platform to entertain all, she will tickle your funny bone and touch your heart