Photo: Courtesy of Justin Lehmann
The only times Weinberg freshman Justin Lehmann isn’t listening to music are when he’s eating, sleeping, or in class. To be fair, music is his life—literally.
Lehmann is the co-founder of Squeegie Sounds, a music blog that receives around 2,200 hits a day and commands over 200 followers on the popular MP3 blog aggregate, the Hype Machine. Lehmann counts seven staff writers and one administrator—not bad for a blog they started six months ago.
Wearing Alife sneakers and headphones around his neck, Lehmann took a break from his tunes to talk to NU Intel about his blog, the shortcomings of the music industry, and the inspiration he draws from Team Donkey Goggles.
When did you first get serious about music?
Probably my junior year of high school. My friends and I organized the fifteen-minute dance periods at school, which got us thinking about ideas for a charity show. We wanted to raise money for the arts programs in Chicago Public Schools. So in seven or eight months, we were able to raise all the money through fundraising to offset costs, travel expenses and renting out the space for the concert. It was called CAPE’s Summer Blowout.
Who performed?
We ended up getting Kidz in the Hall, Hollywood Holt, Sammy Bananas and the Hood Internet there. That’s when I started getting a handle on the music business. I realized some in the business are huge dicks and others aren’t, but I also got to meet a lot of artists and form relationships with them.
What got you to start blogging about music?
The concert opened up a lot of opportunities for me. I was approached by Hot Biscuits, a really popular music blog (actually one of the most popular ones) and was asked to contribute for them. I wrote for them for about eight months until I began brainstorming with my friends about starting our own blog. And that’s when we came up with Squeegie.
Around that same time, I also started DJing and making some mixes of my own. I only have two mixes out right now, but I’m coming out with some more stuff soon.
How do you decide which music goes up on SqueegieSounds?
There are three different ways of deciding what music to post on the blog. One is, we listen to a song and decide if its good enough. That’s the easiest. The second way we get music is through a “back-and-forth” with certain artists that I’ll approach and ask for new stuff. And the third way we get our music is from artists who submit their stuff. We get a shitload of submissions, usually about 10 submissions a day, and around 75 a week. Of course, we don’t listen to all of it.
Where do you see SqueegieSounds going in the future?
Hopefully it stays as it is, a vehicle to promote great music from established as well as up-and-coming artists. We’ve had a huge upsurge lately, mainly because the group of us who write for the blog go to different colleges. Squeegie has more of a national audience now.
Who are your favorite artists and songs right now?
I idolize Diplo. There’s a poster above my bed of him and I pray to him every night. I like Crookers, MF Doom, basically good electronic and hip-hop. Two songs I’m listening to a lot are “Go-Go-Gadget” by Rusko, which I saw live in New York City, and “Swagga” by Excision. ["Swagga"] is so crazy—the bass is heavy enough that you can actually hear your ribcage trembling.
What sorts of activities have you gotten involved in at NU?
I’m apprenticing under a DJ at WNUR Streetbeat. Hopefully, I’ll be able to have my own show there sometime soon. I’m also president of Bobb Hall. And I’m hoping to do concerts for A&O Productions, maybe.
What would you say NU’s typical music taste is?
Mainly top 40 songs, some acoustic, indie, and popular hip-hop. But I think people are open about their music here. When I DJed the Bobb Hi-liter party, I could see people were willing to try music they never danced to [before]. There’s definitely less people requesting shitty songs here than other colleges, I think.
Do you want to pursue music as a possible career?
I get that question from friends and people a lot. I’d say right now I don’t see myself going into music professionally. But I’d be perfectly comfortable working in the industry, which is a notoriously tough one.
Why do you think that is?
The business model is flawed. I think record companies are going to have to realize that their records don’t really matter anymore. Music is starting to become more about word of mouth and buzz and record labels don’t provide that enough anymore. Record companies shouldn’t worry about giving away their music for free—most of the money comes through concert sales anyway.
What’s been the craziest or most surprising moment for you at NU so far?
The [Bobb's] Donkey Goggles IM win in football. [Laughs] That’s my inspiration.
you’re so fucking hot
for the record, the REAL stanky armpit did not write that. i was passed out at 2 Am. thank you.all that aside, JL is cool.
cat sound to infinity and beyond.
shit is that mikul wing? how don’t i know you
that is, indeed, mikul wing. who are you g?