Rich Conversations: 018. Nick McMillan
Show notes from episode 018 of Rich Conversations with Nick McMillan. Answers are cut down to fit into writing format.
How long have you lived in Chicago?
My whole life but, technically, twelve years. I grew up in Evanston, three blocks from the Chicago border.
What’s your neighborhood like?
Now I’m in I guess West Loop. It’s kind of no man’s land. It used to be called “The Patch.” I live by Racine and Grand. To me, it’s the old Italian part of town. There’s history all up and down the street. Serious history of organized crime in the area. That’s what I love about living here for a few years – the history.
If you have an open Saturday, how would you choose to spend it?
Definitely depends on what time of year. A lot of my Saturdays involve waking up and drinking coffee at a decent hour – 10 a.m. I have a practice space nearby where I’ll go play music. I don’t do it all the time, but I like to take a walk or something just to be outside and get my day aligned before I start. I try to get a clear moment. At night, catching music. If it’s nice out, I’ll get on my bike and just go ride somewhere. I’ll go dancing if I’m feelin’ good on a Saturday night. Danny’s is my dancing spot.
When you think of Chicago, what colors do you imagine first?
I Immediately two colors come to my head. The first –without a doubt – is the orange glow at night. If I’m ever gone for a while and come back, it’s comforting. Not that I like it, but it’s so signature to me. The other is slate blue – like a cold, terrible morning.
What’s your proudest moment as a Chicagoan?
This was a thinker. The first that came to my head was when Obama won – being in Grant Park. He was here in Chicago. He was our politician. In that moment, I felt so proud. For me, I get these moments of being proud. I’ll have a personal moment and think, “This is my home.” This is the land that I’m from. This is my lake. This is my climate. I think I have a stewardship towards this place because this is the air I breathe. I feel very proud to be a part of this fabric.
If someone were to visit you from out of town, what restaurant would you take them to?
We might be sitting in it! Uncle Mike’s Place. Every time you come here they make sure you’re full and treat you well. Another one would be D’Mato’s Bakery.
What’s your hidden gem in the city?
It’s actually There’s going to be two. Labagh Woods. That’s up north at like Foster and Sauganash. It’s forest preserve. You can definitely get all the way in and be surrounded by trees. The second would be the Lakeshore Bridge that’s the beginning of Lower Wacker. It’s right there by Navy Pier. It’s like Gotham City. That orange light is always on.
What sound do you most affiliate with Chicago?
Gotta be the train. You hear that rattling coming.
What music influenced you the most during your time in the city?
That’s such a beautiful question. It’s definitely all of the years of music history in this city. I’ve always had a passion for music and history. It’s a fascinating cornerstone of where my mind goes. Chicago has such a rich history of music. The electric blues from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Aretha, Muddy Waters, and Sam Cooke. Redefining this bluesy-church sound that was coming from the South and the American ghettos. I can’t not say Kanye West, growing up here in the 2000’s. Juke music blew my mind as a teenager. That footwork. I used to go to these intense dance parties in grade school. House music. Twista, GLC, ‘90s hip-hop.
What’s a common scene you see in your daily interaction with the city?
The common scene I see is peer-to-peer support. As a human being, I feel like the community here is so supportive. Actors, musicians, writers, everyone. I get a lot of respect and support from the people around me, and I try to give that back. It’s really cool.
If you were given secret information that Chicago were to be destroyed in one week, what’s one quality you would keep to rebuild the city?
It’s hard to say. It’s easy to generalize a whole place. If there’s something I’d like to keep, it’d be what we were just saying – that peer-to-peer support. People just want to build. They want to be vulnerable. They want to work on stuff. I find Chicago to be a very collaborative and supportive environment. This question is really something to think about. With the next century we’re looking at, we are going to have to get more creative. What do we want to hold on to and what do we want to get rid of?
What’s one small thing would you do to improve your neighborhood or the city as a whole?
Free public transportation. I guess that’s a big thing, but in the sense that it’s only two dollars a ride or two-fifty a ride. For any commercial society, you need to have all people represented. All thoughts and ideas.
When people learn you’re from Chicago, how do they respond and what’s your reaction?
In Europe – I’m Italian and I’ve visited family over in Italy a few times – they say, “Al Capone!” and they mime a machine gun. When I lived in New Orleans, people associated Chicago with gun violence. And I have to have conversations that it’s not my experience there, which is unfortunate. It makes me think about a lot of other things. Now days, people often affiliate Chicago with the music that’s coming out of it too.
When you feel overwhelmed or need a mental escape but can’t leave the city, where do you go to clear your mind?
I go to the lake. Anywhere on the lake if I have to. If it’s summer, I’m going to go to the 12th Street Beach. It’s like Meigs Field – Northerly Island. The access is through 18th Street Beach. Relatively, it’s pretty quiet there.
What’s something you’re curious about recently?
I’m curious about our future. How are we going to pivot from the world we’ve created for ourselves? How are we going to start to choose our future over our convenience? The last thing I’m doing is judging someone’s contribution to it because we’re all complicit. I’d like to think of myself as a mitigator among the difference of opinions when people are living in different climates and geopolitical atmospheres. I’m someone who thinks about it a lot. What can I do?
Within the past five years, what personal realization has improved your outlook on life the most?
That it’s just me in the end. I’ve gone all the way there and back. Thinking about love and positivity and having a good mindset. In the end, you can lean on people and you can trust people, but they can ditch you. What failed is not myself but my expectations of other people. I just started doing new things and challenging myself in different ways.
What’s something you’re excited or dream about in the future?
I gotta a lot of dreams, my friend. The one I’ll tell you: World Tour. I want to go somewhere outside the country with my music. It could even be a one-off. To be able to take the music that comes from my heart and the community where I’m from and share it with others. “This is what sound is like from where I’m from.” That would be special.