Why We Stay: Winter with Scott Lucas of Local H and The Married Men
By Michele Lenni in Miscellaneous on Jan 19, 2011 7:00PM
Image via thebadpennyblog
Moving forward in our Why We Stay series, in which we talk to notable Chicagoans about what they love about winter in Chicago and why they stay in the coldest months of the year, we talk to one of Chicago's most prolific and hardest working musicians, Local H frontman Scott Lucas (also of Scott Lucas and the Married Men).
"I think I just like winter in general. My favorite movies always seem to have winter scenes in them - and those scenes end up being my favorite parts. There's something about that black and white quality that winter in the city seems to have - I love it. It's like an Ansel Adams photo or something. It's blinding.
"I like downtown in the wintertime a lot more. It seems like everything is clearer and quieter. Even the skyline looks better. I like getting expensive drinks in high rise hotel bars and looking outside at the snow. The bar in The Wit has a great view of State Street - especially around Christmas. The bar at the top of the Hancock, obviously. These places can be asshole petri dishes, of course. But the snow and the winter scenery seems to make it all a little bit better.
"I don't know what is so attractive to me about Chicago in winter exactly. It's not as cold as Minneapolis. It's cold here, but not as crazy batshit cold as it could be. It's just bearable enough, as far as I'm concerned. What else? We've got the lake. That looks great in the winter. I love walking the dogs around Wicker Park. It seems like there's less muggings when it's cold. I love when it snows REALLY hard and everyone stays home. The streets get empty and you can walk right down the middle of them; and it gets real quiet. It seems like the city belongs to only you, for just a little while. Then you hear somebody walking out of a bar singing that douchebag song by Kanye West at the top of their lungs and you realize you've got to share it again.
"When people complain about the winters I say, well, ummm, 'have fun in L.A.?' I can sort of understand it, I guess. I mean, it gets cold; let's not kid ourselves. Sometimes I wonder, like, what am I doing? What do I need this character forging weather for? My character is FORGED, right? I'm not getting any better. I might as well be warm. I don't know... I guess I'd miss the snow; actually, I know I would."