Last Saturday, Chicago’s Bottom Lounge came alive with ICE OUT: a powerful showcase of Chicago’s vibrant music scene united in solidarity with Minnesota after the murder of Renée Good, a Minneapolis resident brutally murdered by an ICE agent in January 2026. The lineup featured local punk & rock legends, including Deanna Belos of Sincere Engineer, Josh Caterer of the Smoking Popes, and Stuhby Pandav / Pat Gilroy of Lucky Boys Confusion & OneLife.

I sat down with Deanna, Josh, and Stuhby to talk ICE before the benefit show, where we grew to share our thoughts about Chicago, rock music, and how the recent events in Minneapolis are a testament to how we must all come together in trying times.

When asked what the opportunity to play this show meant to them, Caterer explained that standing in solidarity with Minneapolis felt like extending an arm to a Midwest neighbor. Something so horrible happening so nearby felt so personal, and this show was the amalgamation of all of those feelings.

“My father was invited over after the Civil Rights Act passed in the 60s,” Pandav recounted. “What [the government] did was they cherry-picked people from China, India, and the Philippines, and those were the first people to come over. And my father was a part of that. So growing up in the 80s in all of this, it was real tough.”

We spoke more about the hypocrisy of the Trump Administration’s approach to immigration, where Pandav went on to say, “Back then, I remember there being a lot of ‘go back to your own country,’ and I remember thinking… ‘you fucking invited us’.”

I asked if there was any hesitation in accepting this opportunity, like the idea that social media comments might turn into real-life hate at this show, to which Belos said, “Honestly, saying yes was a no-brainer. I’m happy to do my part – our part – in something that feels more than just yelling online.”

I asked about the context of Belos, Caterer, and Pandav’s music in reference to the present, or ultimately, whether or not performing these songs that were written in the past became a different experience in the context of the current political and social climate. To which Caterer replied, in perhaps breaking news to the fans of the Smoking Popes (or at least to the room I was in), revealing that “Simmer Down” off of the 2016 EP Simmer Down was written about the excitement surrounding Bernie Sanders’ campaign. 

He went on to explain that he had never written a political song until that song was released, noting that the results of the 2016 election certainly played a part in his motivation. We spoke about how the 2016 presidential election changed the political climate entirely, eventually just snowballing into the calamity that ensues daily in the United States, including but not limited to the death of Renee Good.