By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
May 27, 1999
Bassist Ted Ansani never wanted a solo career.
As one-third of the Chicago-based power pop band Material Issue, Ansani was content to leave the spotlight to extroverted singer-guitarist Jim Ellison.
But after Ellison committed suicide three years ago, Ansani and drummer Mike Zelenko found themselves in a predicament. Ellison had been their singer, songwriter and spokesman.
“We never thought about trying to carry on without him,” Ansani said. “It was his songs that made us so good. Neither Mike nor I could write like that. Everyone knew his voice, and we certainly couldn’t sing like that. And to replace him, well, that was never an option. There wasn’t another Jim.”
So Ansani quietly stayed in the background. Rather than concentrate on his career, he chose to spend some time with his wife and two children at their Chicago area home. He produced a few bands, toured with some others and found plenty of work as a session musician.
And he also tackled something he never did in Material Issue: He started writing songs.
“After Jim died, Mike and I were on our own,” said Ansani, 31. “And it was frightening because we had done our jobs in the band, but it was all pretty much based around Jim’s ideas. So it was time to scramble and think about what we wanted to do. Neither of us wanted to front our own bands (at the time), and for a while, I was perfectly content to go in and work for someone else, play whatever they wanted and then collect my check.
“But I grew more confident as I started concentrating on songwriting and working on my singing ability. Then about a year ago, I bought an eight-track digital recorder so that I could record near-studio quality material on my own at home. And that’s pretty much when I got the idea to record `Throttle and Pistons.’ ”
On this day, Ansani is dressed in a black turtleneck, matching trousers and a pair of well-worn Cuban-heeled Beatle boots. As the interview begins, his 3-year-old daughter, Christine, peers out of her room and looks startled to see a visiting reporter and photographer monopolizing her dad’s time. She returns to the security of her room.
“It was great to be able to spend time with my family and then just head down to my basement to record whenever I had time,” Ansani said after checking on his daughter. “I think having that eight-track here just made everything really convenient and easy. It wasn’t like work. It was really a lot of fun to record.”
“Throttle and Pistons” is available at some local record stores. It also may be ordered online (www.tedansani.com).
“Ted is just testing the waters with this record,” said Richard Milne, who hosts “Local Anesthetic,” a showcase for Chicago’s best artists on WXRT-FM (93.1). “(He) is so musically knowledgeable that it all came pouring out here. He does need to hone some of it. But anyone would have been overwhelmed writing material after having worked with such a terrific songwriter like Jim. I think he demonstrated a lot of heart tackling this.
“If he found the right group of guys to back him up and just took the helm as the lead vocalist, he could be on to something really good. I’d really like to see him in a band.”
“Yeah, Richard keeps telling me to put a band together,” Ansani said. “At first I really didn’t want to, because I feel I work a lot better on my own. But I’m kind of looking forward to it now.”
Ansani, who played most of the instruments on “Throttle and Pistons,” said that getting a group together is his next project. But he said he and Zelenko won’t be playing together anytime soon. Each wants to establish his own identity.
Just as important, Ansani said he’s ready to delegate responsibility.
Currently guiding his own career, he’s actively seeking a manager to handle his day-to-day events. He’s also very interested in doing some work on film_both as a musician and actor.
“I’m starting to notice now that I learned a lot from watching what Jim did_from the way he wrote songs to how he handled the business aspects of Material Issue,” Ansani said. “He took the initiative and just went out and did it. He had no fear. And you really can’t in this business. It’s all about going out and taking chances.”
Back in the day, Material Issue was the band that was supposed to put Chicago on the rock ‘n’ roll map again. Signed to Mercury Records in 1990, the trio released its critically acclaimed major label debut “International Pop Overthrow” the following year.
“Yeah, I’d hear people talking about how great the Smashing Pumpkins are, and they’re surprised when I mention that the Pumpkins opened up for us a couple times at Metro,” Ansani said. “We were one of the first bands out of the gate and it was just cool. But the Pumpkins and Urge Overkill, who were all friends of ours, were doing as well and then eventually better than we were. But there was never an animosity thing. It was great for these guys, and we’d go and cheer them on.
“You can be bitter about the way things turn out or you can try to take what you have and make the most of it. I would never trade the experiences I had for anything.”
