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From The Desk Of Battleme’s Matt Drenik: Skyline Chili (Cincinnati, Ohio)

The name might suggest some kind of internal struggle, but Battleme tries to keep things intuitive, says bandleader Matt Drenik. “Other people have these interpretations of the name: ‘Are you trying to battle yourself with your pop songs and your loud songs?’“ Drenik jokes from his home in Portland, Ore. “I’m like, ‘Not really. I don’t know what I’m doing.’” When listening to Battleme’s latest, Future Runs Magnetic (El Camino Media), the idea that Drenik doesn’t know what he’s doing sounds far-fetched, with his bedroom-pop sensibilities somehow finding common ground with the record’s brasher rock songs. But the first Battleme tracks were very different. While still a member of Austin stoner-rock band Lions, Drenik recorded some country/folk songs under the Battleme moniker for Sons Of Anarchy. Drenik will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand-new feature on him.

Skyline

Drenik: So do you think you can handle the most delicious and sloppy combination of ground meat, onions, cheese and spaghetti piled high on a plate? And no, this isn’t a trick question.

I’m dead serious.

If there’s one thing that any kid who spent the majority of his childhood growing up in the weeds of Cincinnati knows, it’s that there’s no better slop than Skyline Chili. And no one takes greater pride in this than the kids who grew up eating it.

I remember watching Anthony Bourdain do an episode on this sacred place, and it kind of bummed me out. He got it all wrong. First off, he treated it more like an novelty than a ritual. And secondly, he filmed it in one of the Cleveland locations! Man, that really burned me. Come the fuck on! That’s like rooting for the Browns if you grew up in Cincinnati, knowing full well that there’s no greater sin. Now, if Bourdain woulda ventured into that first Clifton location and gotten someone like Jerry Springer to sit in (yes, he was the mayor when I was a kid and eventually got tossed out of office over a bounced check to a hooker) to explain the difference between a three way, four way and five way, well, that would’ve at least been entertaining.

But in all seriousness, if you want to taste the real soul of one of most bland Republican-leaning cities in the country, walk in to any Skyline and order a three way with two cheese coneys all in. Bob Pollard would be proud, even though he’s from Dayton.