100 Words Or Less: The Podcast

In this episode, we sit down with Dave from Chicago’s Slow Mass to trace the band’s path from early DIY roots to becoming one of the city’s most quietly adventurous heavy bands. We talk about growing up in the Chicago scene, how projects like School of Rock shaped his relationship to music and community, and the long arc of Slow Mass finding its own voice—balancing melody, noise, and emotional weight in a way that feels both intimate and expansive.Dave also gets into the idea of “reclaiming sleep music,” using atmosphere and dynamics not just for aggression but for comfort, reflection, and late-night listening, and how that mindset has influenced the band’s writing and recording. Along the way, we dive into some great scene history, including the story of booking Ethel Cain’s very first show and what it was like to witness an artist at the very beginning of what would become something massive.Slow Mass, formed in Chicago in the mid-2010s, have built a reputation through a run of releases that blur the lines b