Local multimedia collective FeelTrip started out in 2011, running a South Loop DIY venue in a loft supposedly once occupied by the band Disturbed. Since then the collective, now anchored by David Beltran and Diana Bowden, has become home to a wider variety of projects. FeelTrip makes eye-catching apparel, including excellent shirts printed with a mashup of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures cover and the Air Jordan Jumpman logo; it presents events, such as a monthly dance night at Slippery Slope called Reptilian; and it releases records, among them Paul Cherry’s debut album, Flavour, which came out a few months before the local indie-rocker played the 2018 Pitchfork Music Festival. As of last week, FeelTrip also has a brick-and-mortar record shop, No Requests. It’s in the Kilbourn Park area of Irving Park, at 3358 N. Karlov, and it celebrates its grand opening Friday evening.
“It’s also, I think, inspired by a gallery space,” Bowden says. “It’s highlighting different things, so, like, the audio equipment was definitely something we wanted to be a focal point. We love vintage audio.” Pretty much the only things on display that aren’t for sale are the potted plants.
“A big factor in that was we were busy with other things,” Bowden says. “We couldn’t just be here, like, 12 hours a day, hammering it out, because we had events.” Unforeseen overhead also slowed them down; late last year they launched an Indiegogo campaign to help cover those costs. Other FeelTrip enterprises continued to demand Bowden and Beltran’s time as well—the record label was growing thanks to the attention attracted by the Paul Cherry album, and they’ve been focused on a full-length by arty dance-pop trio Pixel Grip called Heavy Handed that’s due in April.
