Browse Culture Stories

Motor City Cribs: The view from Jason Stollsteimer's Ferndale attic

By Doug Coombe

Published: 2/3/2010

Types: Culture, House & garden

It seems fitting that the roar from the Hounds Below should be a stone's throw from Ferndale's Alcoholics for Christ meetings. The band is, you'll note, Von Bondies' frontman Jason Stollsteimer's new band, and they rehearse in the attic of the bungalow he just moved into a couple of months ago. Stil...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: Anthony "Shake" Shakir and his home studio

By Doug Coombe

Published: 1/27/2010

Types: Culture, House & garden, Interior decorating

Even futuristic techno isn't immune to the march of time — Juan Atkins' pioneering Metroplex label is having its 25th anniversary this year. And the (tongue-in-cheek) "janitor" of Metroplex, Anthony "Shake" Shakir, is celebrating the 15-year anniversary of his own Frictiona...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs

By Doug Coombe

Published: 1/13/2010

Types: Culture, House & garden

It's fitting that multi-instrumentalists Ryan Gimpert and Scott Michalski live in a 1920s American craftsman-style house. Both are genre-straddling musicians who are responsible for crafting an inordinate amount of worthy, ear-bending Detroit music. Both play in the country-rock Volebeats (Gimpert ...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: A look back on the best of that gritty guide to creative spaces

By Doug Coombe

Published: 1/6/2010

Types: Culture, House & garden

MT photographer Doug Coombe has covered a lot of musical real estate under the heading of Motor City Cribs & Rides in the last year. He's hung out in the Ferndale bungalow-rehearsal spot-studio of Chad Thompson, keyboardist and vocalist for Johnny Headband. He's hung out in the Go bassist-guitar...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: Chris Breest's studio in a former Plymouth church

By Doug Coombe

Published: 12/23/2009

Types: Culture, Work

You can trace a lot of music straight back to the church. And any good frontman has a little bit of a preacher in him. So how could you go wrong setting up a recording studio in an old church? That's exactly what BandB vocalist and guitarist Chris Breest has done. Along with partners, local produce...[MORE]

Motor City Rides: The makers and their cupcake car

By Doug Coombe

Published: 12/9/2009

Types: Culture, Lifestyle

Just within the last few years there's been a countrywide explosion in the crafting movement. Your typical craft fair offers everything from T-shirts to posters to housewares to accessories that are way cooler than anything you're going to find at Urban Outfitters. Imagine if the aesthetics of the D...[MORE]

Motor City Rides: The story behind Ty Stone's bitchin' Camaro

By Doug Coombe

Published: 11/25/2009

Types: Culture, Lifestyle

Ty Stone has been a Detroit star-in-waiting for nearly three years. With Kid Rock's help, Stone landed a contract with Atlantic Records. Since then he's recorded enough songs to put out a box set, and he supported Kid Rock on his arena Rock N Roll Jesus tour. As you read this, someone at Atlantic is...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: Black Milk's home-away-from-home at Studio 1

By Doug Coombe

Published: 11/11/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden

Technically, Black Milk's home is in Wixom. But if you factor out sleep, the prolific hip-hop producer and emcee practically lives in Tommy Hoffman's Studio 1 in Livonia. About a stone's throw from the roar of I-96, tucked in a nondescript cinderblock industrial park, Milk's beat lab strikes a perfe...[MORE]

Motor City Rides: Honky-tonkin': Whitey Morgan and the 78s tour in Econoline style

By Doug Coombe

Published: 10/28/2009

Types: Music, Country

Lately Detroit appears to be on the verge of becoming Nashville North. To add to our impressive soul, rock, jazz, hip hop, blues, techno and noise scenes, there's now a honky-tonk and outlaw-tinged country music scene drawing inspiration from the hard-working blue-collar towns in our midst. Downrive...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: He's just one of the artists coming to Hex Murda's aid

By Doug Coombe

Published: 10/14/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden

Driving past Guilty Simpson's cute little Dearborn Heights bungalow with flower pinwheels in the front lawn, the last thing you would guess is that its resident is about ready to take Detroit hip hop to a new level. But barely a year after the release of his classic debut LP Ode to the Ghetto, Byron...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: A peek inside Jim Diamond's Ghetto Recorders

By Doug Coombe

Published: 10/7/2009

Types: Culture, Work

If you were looking to set up a recording studio — one where a chunk of culture-changing Detroit music would be created — you probably wouldn't choose the former Feltus Poultry site downtown behind the Fillmore.  The live room at producer Jim Diamond's Ghetto Recorders is a spacious, co...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: Will Sessions' basement studio

By Doug Coombe

Published: 9/23/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden

Will Sessions is one of Detroit's best new bands. Since its debut last Halloween, it has recorded with Slum Village and neo-soul phenom Mayer Hawthorne, and re-created hip-hop tracks and live samples as a roots-inspired big band with Black Milk, Phat Kat and Guilty Simpson. If you like your hip hop ...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs

By Doug Coombe

Published: 9/9/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden

Bobby Emmett is your basic pop-obsessed jazz musician who earns a living playing country music. His debut solo album, Learning Love, drops soon. (And it's one the best Detroit records this year, though it sounds straight outta of '74.) Most of you know Emmett as the former Hammond B3 organ player f...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: Tad Weed's Ypsilanti garage studio

By Doug Coombe

Published: 9/2/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden

For all that talk of Detroit "garage rock" bands, I have never seen a Detroit band that actually practiced in a garage. Pas/Cal comes the closest for having recorded much of its brilliant pop (and very un-garage) music in vocalist Casimer's former garage. But as far as truly rocking the ga...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: Johnny Headband's Ferndale bungalow

By Doug Coombe

Published: 8/19/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden

Much like Andrew "Party Hard" W.K., Detroit geeks Johnny Headband mix metal, dance and an unabashed sense of frolic in a highly choreographed and aerobic workout on stage — with no hipster sense of sarcasm or irony about it. And much like Andrew W.K., Johnny Headband leaves a physica...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs : Hip-hop vet 5 ELA and his Elements gallery in Corktown

By Doug Coombe

Published: 8/5/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden

In part inspired by their Osborn High School classmate Esham, who started releasing records at age 13, and by mixtapes from New York’s underground — handed to them by DJ Kevo — Thyme and Mudd took to the mics. Consisting of Mudd, Thyme, Proof (who hosted the Shop’s open mics) and J Dil...[MORE]

Motor City Rides: Custom-crazy Len Puch's wild creations

By Doug Coombe

Published: 7/29/2009

Types: Culture, Lifestyle

A lot of great artists have a bit of the mad scientist within. They do ridiculous and amazing things that most people wouldn't consider trying — just because they can. New Boston metal artist and motorcycle and hot rod customizer Len Puch is a perfect example of this. We all get crazy and ins...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: A glimpse of Mike E. Clark's getaway up in the northern reaches of the Lower Peninsula

By Doug Coombe

Published: 7/22/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden

You know you're "Up North" when instead of guiding you to your destination, your GPS sends you down a two-track road in a national forest, and, when you call your host for directions, you discover there's no phone service, but maybe beer. Welcome to the not-so-old days!    Insane Clown Po...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: Michael Zadoorian's basement bar mixes up style

By Doug Coombe

Published: 7/15/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden, Interior decorating

Three things are immediately clear in author Michael Zadoorian's basement lounge: He loves pop-culture schmaltz and ephemera, his sense of humor rattles, and his thrift-store skills kill. His basement's filled with skillfully placed tiki mugs, Michigan artifacts, taxidermy (a jackalope even!), woode...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: Inside Mike Emmett's Depot Town tattoo parlor

By Doug Coombe

Published: 7/8/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden, Interior decorating

Visiting Mike Emmett's Ypsilanti tattoo parlor in Depot Town is like stepping back into a few different eras of classic Americana. Depot Town's architecture harks back to the 1800s and all the little towns that sprang up in Michigan along the Detroit-Chicago rail corridor; the interior that Emmett d...[MORE]

Motor City Rides: 'Hayley Jane' Nickerson's 1994 Dodge Intrepid, nicknamed 'Tabitha'

By Doug Coombe

Published: 7/1/2009

Types: Culture, Lifestyle

Petite and charming 18-year-old dynamo and Pennsylvania Amish country transplant Kate "Hayley Jane" Nickerson doesn't seem at all like she's from Detroit. Yet she definitely belongs here. Not many other cities can let you delve into so many forms of expression on a shoestring budget. The ...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: A shrine to soul has a home with Felton and Ida Williams

By Doug Coombe

Published: 6/24/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden, Interior decorating

There's nothing much on the outside of Felton and Ida Williams' modest Ecorse home to distinguish it from other look-alikes on the block. But what does set it apart, no doubt, is the treasure trove of gospel recordings stored in his basement. Inside, the tastefully decorated house is a veritable met...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: Northwest Detroit's Lafayette Watson can pimp out your Olds

By Doug Coombe

Published: 6/17/2009

Types: Culture, Lifestyle

Back in 2002, Motor City emcee and producer Ohkang ran into a whole lot of trouble getting the carburetor in his classic 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham fixed. He went to seven different mechanics and nobody could fix it.  That's when his musical co-conspirator Blackreign recommended his n...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: Jim Roll's recording studio — in a former chicken coop

By Doug Coombe

Published: 6/10/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden

Ann Arbor used to be a town in the country — but not anymore. But out on Jackson Road, on the town's far west side, you'll find a little reminder of the A2 that once was. There, tucked in the woods is Backseat Productions, Jim Roll's recording studio for the last two years, in a building that ...[MORE]

Motor City Cribs: How Stoopz and Breeze time-traveled their way to the top — of the Pontch

By Doug Coombe

Published: 6/3/2009

Types: Culture, House & garden

The online bio of Detroit hip-hop artists Stoopz and Breeze is implausible. Bob Stoopz, the duo's producer, was "raised by wild German shepherds on the streets of Farmington Hills [and] had to learn how to play the keytar at a young age to make ends meet." Drew Breeze, the duo's emcee, was...[MORE]