Closing out the Empty Bottle with Astrachan

^{Article and interview by Leanna Nasrallah}

On Saturday night, the Empty Bottle in Ukranian Village was overflowing with music lovers. Three artists—benten, Headband Henny, and Astrachan (pronounced Astra-can)—lit up the stage, each bringing their own vibe. The legendary dive, with its sticker-plastered walls and grungy charm, has hosted bands since the ‘90s. That night, Ben Astrachan closed it out and left the crowd wanting more.

When he got up to perform, Ben was joined by a full band—friends filling in on bass, keys, guitar, and drums. Each member dressed in their own style, the drummer in a dad robe and slippers.

His set was a mix of songs off his most recent rock album, Cleaner than Clean, his self-titled album Astrachan, and several others. Ben, involved in multiple projects, leans into folk rock, pulling influence from both his minor obsession with Jesus Christ Superstar and legends like Cat Stevens (details of which are discussed an interview linked here).

Ben's style of performing is best described as chaotically passionate. While performing his up-beat rock, he was playing guitar and headbanging so hard that his glasses nearly fell off. The energy in the room reached a peak during his last two songs, first because of a wardrobe malfunction and then because his closing song had the room jumping. In his second to last song, an audience member pointed out a hole in Ben's pants.

There were two options. Keep rocking with a small hole OR keep rocking with an entire pant leg nearly torn off. Rather than hesitate, he bent down, grabbed the tear, and ripped. He kept ripping. By the time he was done, his left pant leg was mostly gone (to an appropriate length) (pictured below). This took the energy from 10 to 12. Which is good because his final song was played with so much enthusiasm that the room was roaring for an encore.

Saturday in Chicago was alive in every corner of the city. But nowhere else had three unique artists, singalongs, torn jeans, and the kind of night that sticks with you long after the last song plays.

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B: I am Ben Astrachan, based in Chicago, ben here for over five years now. 

Originally from Connecticut. East Coast guy, went to school at Brandeis in Boston, and then right after that moved right to Chicago. 

L: Why Chicago?

B: Great music scene, you know. A lot of good a lot of good musicians, great bands, great community. Yeah. 

L: I agree. I'm from Cleveland. I don't know if you ever been. It's a pretty cool place. 

B: I’ve been, I like Cleveland. 

L: It gets a ton of hate. 

B: That’s where Mahall’s is?

L: Have you played there? 

B: Played there once in a band and there's a great art museum there. Like a sick one. 

L: And it’s free, unlike here, yeah, I moved to Chicago a couple years ago for school. and I love it. like I don't wanna go back. As much as I love Cleveland and I will defend it until the day I die, cause it gets so much hate, like this I love Chicago. It's so cool, it as everything. 

L: Okay. I mean, I have some like basic ones, so just bear with me. Okay, when did you start making music? What instruments do you play and are you self-taught? 

B: Yeah, okay. The classics.

L: And I feel like everyone needs to know, everyone's dying to know. 

B: I started making music when I was… like writing my own music when I was 16, probably. I've been like singing my whole life then I was in choir since I was like eight. 

Yeah, so then, been a part of music since I was a child. I used to think my grandpa was Frank Sinatra. 

L: Did he tell you that? 

B: He would always sing Frank songs, So I would always call him Frank, Frankie.

L: It must have been disappointing to realize or it must have been really exciting during the time you thought he was Frank Sinatra. 

B: It was exciting and then I realized he wasn't, but yeah, that's how it goes with with Santa as well, Tooth Fairy. Not everyone's grandpa is Frank Sinatra. So, yeah, writing music since I was 16, wrote some terrible songs. I didn't start writing good songs until I was like 19, probably, the songs that I was like, oh, yeah, these I like. And I started writing songs that I really liked, probably when I was like 21. And what instrument do I play? I play a lot of instruments. I am all self-taught, so maybe have like a lesson or two for guitar here with this guy Ben Tint. Great teacher, he was a classical player, rock and roll band. But only took a few lessons from him when I was a kid and then, uh became like hyper obsessive with BB King. and I would just like watch video of his solos and really just like blues artists, like BB King, Albert King, Freddy King, the three Kings, I was like so obsessed with. I was obsessed with Santana, and would just watch videos of them, so I learned through YouTube, really. And keys, I was self-taught, and when I record music, I typically record all myself recently, I've been bringing my drummer and friend Zach Taylor. into my bedroom studio. He'll lay down drums because I'm not the best at drums, but he's a monster.. 

L: is he gonna be here today? 

B: Yeah, he's playing tonight.

L: So, I’ve listened to almost your entire discography. and I've been getting a bunch of different vibes. like it's a fusion, so I wanna know how you would describe like, obviously your Spotify bio has one thing, but like what would you say it is and where do you get your inspiration from? 

B: So I would say my like trifecta inspiration trifecta is Cat Stevens. Jesus Christ Superstar

and specifically the stuff Tim Rice did. And probably George Harrison, but that’s a little maybe older. I think right now it's very much like Cat Stevens and Jesus Christ Superstar. And I'm obsessed right now with this new band called Geese. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Geese. They're  amazing. Their performances are amazing, the vocals are amazing and it's like other world. So really trying to bring in the essence of that. 

L: Bring in the essence of geese. Who doesn't want the essence of geese in their music?

Okay, and then also notice you've got a bunch of different projects, like a ton. So, would you say you prefer the creative freedom of being a solo artist to being able to like share ideas with your several projects? Or, what's your deal there? 

B: It's like it's like it's like the what's it called? The nutrition dot, you know, like oh, you need your vegetables, your I forgot. What is it? Yeah, it's a triangle. 

L: The pyramid of… pyramid of… survival?

B: Pyramid of nutrition, nutritional pyramid whatever. I think I need it all. I like started off exclusively collaborated in a project called Berta Bigtoe. and then slowly Austin Koenigstein, who is the other person in Berta Bigtoe started a project called Smushie, and then I started my project called Astrachan, um just it's like separate recording projects. Not for any particular reason we were just like, we love recording and let's like do it ourselves. And obviously with any band, you have you have infighting, whatever, but um but it's been so special doing Berta Bigtoe stuff and it's so fun it's so fun collaborating with like your best friends. 

L: Do you live with the same people that you record with, or do you just live with other musicians? 

B: I live in other musicians and sometimes they'll record with me. Actually my buddy Ivan who's not playing tonight, but typically plays in the Astrachan. He and I are working on this like 20 song album of just like minute long songs, just to like just shit stuff out, you know? But yeah, I love collaborating. We like to call us the Bertaverse. 

L: Where does Berta come from from? 

B: Well, Berta Bigtoe comes from my ex who was a puppeteer, or is a puppeteer, but was my ex. Is my no, is my ex. She is a a puppeteer, still a puppeteer. and we were really high one night, me and Austin watching her give a puppet show and she said that the character's name was Berta and she had a big toe. That was like the whole bit, and we were so high and they were like, oh, my God, that's crazy, that should be our band name. And we were toying around with a bunch of band names so that one stuck, but Bertaverse is like I don't know. It's what I use. I think it's funny. 

L: I like it I like Berta verse. Does Berta know, she's the inspiration of Bertaverse? 

B: Berta knows. Berta knows. 

L: Okay, that's good. I think it'd be hard for Berta not to know where it is now. 

B: That was years ago, that was that was like six years ago. Seven years maybe even seven years ago. 

L: That's even worse than six years. 

B: It's worse. 

L: Okay. um oh, do you have a favorite place to perform? Like a favorite venue, a basement, maybe? 

B: For sure. I'm stoked to play the Empty Bottle never played here. It's a cool place, and it's legendary. It's a great spot, amazing bands coming through, last night one of the uh main guys for Black Middy played here. I don't know but yeah, they get some great acts here, so trying to trying to fill those shows, but my favorite spot it’s a good question. You know, there is this basement that, I'm gonna put them on blast because. They're also not in Chicago, it’s in Kalamazoo. It's called Club Sandwich. They frickin rule, and actually we're playing with the band where like a bunch of them lived there from headband henny, we’re playing with them tonight. They’re awesome they always pack the room. It's always like 200 people. It's just a crazy time. It's crazy time. 

L: That sounds like an awesome basement to be in. Rare sentence. Do you have, because you mentioned like a couple artists that you love, but do you have a specific song that made you fall in love with music? Because I think some people do, I do. 

B: Yeah. Fall in love music? 

L: Or an artist, I guess. I think it's different for everyone. 

B: I mean, it's funny, listen, I'm not Christian. I'm Jewish, but I love Jesus Christ Superstar and the song on Jesus Christ Superstar, the last Supper where Judas and Jesus get into a fight. But it's like they're fighting and singing over each other and it's in five-four and it's like crazy groove, highly recommend this musical. Highly. I studied theater in college. 

So, I was I was a big theater guy. I mean the thing about Jesus is kind of a Judas apologist. Judas was is considered kind of like well when you say someone's a Judas, they wronged you in some way. They're a traitor, but in the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, Judas is the voice of reason to Jesus the whole time. And he kind of he kind of you know, he fucks up Jesus’s life, but Jesus says, you know, God's will, so I don't know, I don't know what to tell you. It wasn't Judas’s fault. 

L: I was gonna say where your song ideas come from? Like, do you write about people you know? Do you write about ideas? Do you write about things you experienced? Or is it just sort of like you separate yourself from it? 

B: I like to write a lot about in in the past, my first record, I was writing a lot about people and nature. I was on a William…I can't remember, but I was on a nature kick. I love writing that nature, but um now I'm really writing a lot about God, I find myself thinking very deeply about God. I don't know if I believe in God, um, but I think that guy causes a lot of problems and he makes me feel really good sometimes. and I'm saying he, but we say they, it doesn't it doesn't matter to me.God or whatever, the universe, but, I I love thinking about it, and I love the tests. I love the stories. I love tradition. 

So, I've been thinking a lot about that, and a lot of my songs that I've been writing for this new record and this past record a lot them are about God. I don't know if you know about Cat Stevens. He's really cool. He actually converted to Islam and his name is Yusuf Islam now and he recently started making music again, but he wasn't for the time that he was like very, very observant of Islam. But he was writing all about Buddha, about Jesus, about whatever. Really interesting guy. One of my favorite songs by him is called Jesus, actually. I-I love Jesus. 

L: I'll I'll look into him. I'm curious. 

B: He's a cool guy. 

L: Do you know what a Like a version is? 

B: Like a version? 

L: Yeah, do you know on Spotify or yeah, I think it's on Spotify. It's called triple J Like a version. It's where they take artists and they're like you get to cover any song you want and we'll post it on our Spotify and usually they like blow up or whatever. Like you know how recently Hozier did a cover of an Arctic Monkeys song? 

B: No.

L: Tik Tok is freaking out over that. I don't know if you're on TikTok but. So everyone's like this cover is so good, although a lot of Arctic Monkeys fans are like how dare you like this diluted cover of arctic monkeys? Whatever. But if you had to cover your own, Like a version, any song, and they're gonna blow it up no matter what.

B: Or any album.

L: Yeah, or any album. 

B: I would do Jesus Christ Superstar.

L: I should have known that. 

B: I'm like obsessed. I sing it every every Passover with my family. I do it every year. And I'm trying to put on a performance of it. Like I really wanna do a revue of it. I have, this is so uninteresting probably for anyone listening, but I'm I'm obsessed with Jesus Christ Superstar, so. 

L: Okay, yeah. All right, that's a good answer. 

B: But any song? No, actually specifically there is a song that I cover sometimes called I Don't Know How to Love Him. It's Mary Magdalene singing. 

L: You just love biblical things.

B: I love biblical things. It's so interesting. Like my family, like in the way past they're all orthodox Jews. so you know, this stuff would like run in our veins, you know.

L: Who sings that? I don't I don't know love him.

B: It’s sung by Mary Magdalene. The person who sang it in the original Broadway show? I don’t know but it's this song about Mary Magdalene, like essentially for prostrating her love for Jesus and I think it's really powerful when a man sings it. So I really I love singing that. 

L: Are you gonna do it tonight? 

B: Not doing it tonight, but I'm playing another show at The Hideout. on February 21st it's like a duo night, so I'm playing with my buddy Jeff, Jeff Baki. who I'm also in a project with called No Lonesome.

L: Again, so many projects 

B: So many projects. We're doing a duet and we're gonna sing I don't know how to love him. Watered down. 

L: Of course, because you're no Mary Magdalene. I hate to say it. Okay. I feel like I kind of got to some of these. All right, I have two more things. One, a rapid fire of really random things. And two, well, we'll get to two. Favorite meal. 

B: Oh my God. 

L: Is it Jesus related?

B: Okay I'm not I'm not like obsessed with Jesus just Jesus Christ Superstar. Please put that disclaimer in. Okay, my favorite food is seven layer cake. 

L: What is that? 

B: Okay, so it's a sponge cake, it's like an Ashkenazi thing. It's a sponge cake, mocha, filling, sponge cake, mocha filling, seven times and then a chocolate ganache on top. But they make it in a loaf. It's like you get it at Kosher delis. It's really cheap. 

L: Never heard of that. That sounds like the exact thing that I would love. Okay, wait, so, so it's a dessert, your favorite meal is a dessert. I respect that. Okay. Favorite Word. 

B: Lugubrious. Sorry, I'm gonna take this back. Lachrymose. 

L: Oh, okay, what does that mean? 

B: Teary eyed. 

L: Okay, word. Oh, Puccini’s studio. What does it mean? 

B: Puccini’s my cat. For over five years. He's always lived in co-op style housing with me, but he's been many people's cats, and me and my best friend Jackson were splitting custody of him, but he's now living with me. Who knows what'll happen the future, but he's my cat. 

L: Okay, my next question was cats or dogs

B: Cats, used to be dogs. But now it's cats for sure. 

L: That's the right answer. A movie that makes you cry. Not a play.

B: Not a play. Makes me cry. Wow, I’m gonna sound like such a loser for this but Life of Pi. 

L: Dream collab. You have a lot of collabs going.

B: I have a lot of collabs, it’s dreamy to play with my friends, but it would be fun to play with someone that I'm not friends with. Maybe my enemy. Maybe my dream collab should be my enemy. 

L: Who's your enemy?

B: I don’t have any enemies. Maybe I would. Dream collab. That's a good question. 

I love Pink Floyd. I grew up obsessed with Pink Floyd. would be really cool to work with someone like Roger Waters, same caliber. I love Roger Waters. 

L: So, let's say Roger Waters. Uh, Ooh, okay. Design your dream venue to perform at. 

What does it look like? Who is there, maybe? What's on the walls? Is your cat there? 

B: Yes, my cat is there, but he's safely out of, he's at a safe distance so we don't hurt his ears, he does not like drums. I mean honestly, I think the Empty Bottle is the perfect venue. I think it's the perfect venue. I think the sound is good. The vibe is great. 

I love that the bar is in the venue. A lot of people have trouble with that because of talking, but I mean, if you're a rock band, and I play rock music, it's to me it's not a problem. I just want people to party and dance, you know, so, I'm not I'm not playing quiet music where I need people to listen, I just want people to have a good time. 

L: So if you could pick the Empty Bottle up and move it city to city 

B: Yeah. move it city to city. Yeah, I go on tour with the Empty Bottle. 

L: That sounds pretty fun. You should ask them to make it a mobile bar. Oh, do you have a favorite piece of clothing? And if so, what does it look like? 

B: So my housemate, friend and now bassist, Meredith Nesbit, project called Shoulderbird. um she gave me a hat recently that I might even wear it tonight, and I've just been obsessed it's just a wool hat and I typically don't wear hats because I'm a curly haired guy and hats kind of fuck with my curls, but I love this hat. 

L: Outside of music, what are your hobbies? That was the last rapid fire. 

B: Hobbies. I am a baker. I love baking. I love cooking. I game. I'm a big backpacker. I haven't backpacked in a minute. I've spent a lot of time in the Himalayas. I studied abroad in Nepal, studying Tibetan diaspora and learning the language Tibetan. It's a great time. 

L: Sound awesome. The last thing was do you want to tell me about upcoming projects? 

I don't know if you have more, and then tour dates, new music, you have coming out. 

B: Yeah, so me and Austin from Smushie but Berta Bigtoe together, it's very confusing so many bands. 

L: I would love a map.

B: Well, I could that would be fun. We did an album, uh, like a number of months ago called Imagination, Love and Courage. And we essentially recorded it, wrote it, performed in everything in six days. We just wrote it when we got to a cabin and just recorded it all to a tape machine. And we worked really well together because we've known each other for so long, so we wanna do that every year or try our best to get together and record an album over the course of a week, that we haven't thought of at all, just kind of poop it out. I'm working on an Astrachan record now. Hopefully that would be out by summer. I have a project called Latchkey Kids with my buddy. 

It's like a hip hop project, and we wanna do a country album, we think that would be really funny. Tour dates I’m hoping to do some Artificial South by Southwest shows this year. I did them last year, but had a great time. I'm signed with this label called Happen Twice, they're based out of Austin, so I'm going there and some Smushie dates coming up, playing some No Lonesome shows. Music Music Music. I didn’t even tell you about what I do for work. 

L: And I was gonna ask. How do you pay the bills? 

B: Um, I work as a counselor to folks with eating disorders. The name is like behavioral health counselor, but I think the closest thing that maybe someone would have heard of would be tech, behavioral health tech. Like, opening doors and checking in with patients. 

L: Do you like it? 

B: I love it. I've been there for five years now. It's a great place. The work is good.