RFC Interview: Califone

As much as we hate to admit it, we can no longer call Califone all our own in Chicago. A couple of years back, after living here all of his life, Califone ring leader Tim Rutili packed his bags and moved to Los Angeles. While he still finds time to come back to Chicago to record and play with his old mates, these days Tim is a full-fledged California man who enjoys hanging out by the ocean and munching on a tasty fish burrito. Rather than doing yet another who/what/when/where and how interview, we thought we'd do a joint feature with our SoCal brothers at Radio Free Silver Lake and have Tim weigh the pros and cons of life in L.A. vs. Chicago.

After much deliberation, here's Tim's top 5 best and worst things about each city:

L.A. = Great

1. Fish Burritos
2. December, January, February(oh so beautiful)
3. Monterey Park Chinese food with Jason and Gina almost anytime.
4. The Pacific Ocean!
5. Hills!

Chicago = Great

1. My bandmates, co-conspirators and friends...
2. Midwest Buy and Sell (one of the better guitar/pawn shops) and better thrift stores overall.
3. September, October, May
4. Clava/4deuces recording studio
5. The Hideout

L.A. = Sucks

1. Too much driving
2. Malls (too many)
3. One million unnecessary facial surgeries/ironic hipster moustaches(tied)
4. EVERYTHING costs more money here!
5. This can be the most lonesome crowded delusional town on earth sometimes

Chicago = Sucks

1. This can be the second most crabbiest, hopeless town on earth sometimes.
2. The traffic, the police, the city government, parking tickets, the boot.
3. December, January, February(frozen spit)
4. One million un-ironic Ditka moustaches/fearless rats(tied)
5. Wrigleyville almost anytime

Watch: Califone - "Spider's House"

Download: Califone - "The Orchids"