The idea for Underground Underdogs originally came to me as I was laying on my bed, aimlessly staring at the misshapen ceiling of my dorm room. I had been following artists on SoundCloud for years, and always was on the hunt for new and exciting artists that I haven’t heard of yet. I’ve been infatuated with music as long as I can remember, going to basement shows and hole-in-the-wall venues to find fresh acts. If I liked a song, I’d text my friends a link out of the blue. I’ve loved underground music for a very long time, so when I got the opportunity to host a college radio show, it only seemed right that I broadcast SoundCloud artists on the Chicago airwaves. Underground Underdogs was born.
Since I wanted the artists that I broadcasted to listen to what I had to say about them, I recorded our shows live and then uploaded them on SoundCloud. I didn’t think much of it as I uploaded our first episode late at night, but the next morning I already had a couple hundred listens. Underground Underdogs continued to gain a small following to my surprise, and I realized it could really go somewhere. I got the idea to make it into a music blog a couple episodes in.
“But who the fuck reads music blogs?” I started to ask myself after a while. I was doubting what I was getting myself into, since there’s already hundreds of established music blogs, and many great ones at that. I was getting discouraged since I felt like Underground Underdogs was just another shitty music blog. But I realized I was far from right.
Underground Underdogs is important because we offer anyone a platform, albeit a small one. We are not just another pay per article blog. We want to provide an objective view on music that does not let money nor personal biases interfere. We genuinely care about the music we are sharing, and want to share quality content that very possibly would go unrecognized. But the journey has just begun.
Underground Underdogs will continue to cover and interview artists that deserve to have their voices heard. There are artists out there that have significant followings yet have been criminally ignored by music blogs and interviewers alike. Underground Underdogs is going to change that. Why do we matter?
We matter because we cover the Underdogs of the Underground.