Jim DeRogatis

About me:

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the year the Beatles arrived in America, Jim DeRogatis began voicing his opinions about rock ’n’ roll shortly thereafter. He is the pop music critic at the Chicago Sun-Times, and together with Greg Kot, he co-hosts Sound Opinions, the world’s only rock ’n’ roll talk show, originating from Chicago Public Radio and syndicated nationally via American Public Media. DeRogatis is the author of several books: Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma’s Fabulous Flaming Lips (Broadway Books, 2006); Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock (Hal Leonard, 2003); Milk It! Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the ’90s ( Da Capo, 2003), and Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America’s Greatest Rock Critic (Broadway Books, 2000). Together with his wife, Carmél Carrillo-DeRogatis, he also edited an anthology entitled Kill Your Idols: A New Generation of Rock Writers Reconsiders the Classics (Barricade Books, 2004), and he has written for numerous magazines, including Spin, Guitar World, Modern Drummer, Penthouse, and GQ, in addition to serving as an assistant editor at Request and, briefly, Rolling Stone. DeRogatis jokes that he is not a musician, but he is a drummer, and he has nevertheless done time in numerous indie-rock bands dating to the early ’80s, including Airlines, Speed the Plough (visit its Web site), the Love Pushers, the Mandrakes, the Wahinis, and the Ex-Lion Tamers, though current band, Vortis, is by far his favorite. In his spare time, he is an avid history buff, a military modeler, and a member of the Military Miniature Society of Illinois. His next book, Sheperd Paine: The Life and Work of a Master Modeler and Military Historian, is due in the Spring of 2008 from Schiffer Books. He lives on the North Side of Chicago with his wife, Carmél, and near his daughter.