Features Jonathan Schang District 97 and its one-of-a-kind drummer/bandleader steer modern progressive rock to some very unlikely places. Of course, it never hurts one’s sense of adventure when a couple of classic-prog heroes offer their emotional—and vocal—support. Story by Will Romano Photos by Gene Ambo Chicago-based District 97, led by thirty-one-year-old drummer Jonathan Schang, puts the lie to conventional wisdom that progressive rock is more for the mind than the body, and it may be unlike any modern prog band you’ve ever heard. Metallic-tinged compositions from the Kickstarter-funded In Vaults, the group’s latest studio recording, brim with vitality and boast shifting feels, clearly delineated melodies, and, of course, head-bobbing if at times complex grooves tattooed by the sting and ping of Schang’s throaty snare. District 97 also possesses a sense of social consciousness, a trait not commonly attributed to prog acts. Although the band has provided social commentary in the […]

September 2015 Issue