Leor Galil became smitten with altweeklies in the late-90s when he first picked up a copy of the Washington City Paper in his hometown, Bethesda, Maryland. After graduating from Brandeis University and completing a year as an AmericCorps volunteer, Leor moved to the midwest in 2009, where he earned his Master’s in journalism at Northwestern University. In 2010, Leor made his Reader debut as a freelancer, and in 2012 he joined the paper as a staff music writer. “Working at the Reader affords me the ability to write detailed, holistic stories about local artists while simultaneously arguing for their importance, which is a rare opportunity in the dwindling culture media ecosystem bent towards covering the best-known musicians with the most power,” he says. By championing local music in all its forms and documenting the city’s musical legacy, from its biggest innovations down to its most esoteric subcultures, the Smash Mouth fan and Scorpio has become a Chicago “All Star” in his own right—and not just in the mortal realm. He’s been voted among Chicago’s five best pizzas in three of the Reader’s “Best of Chicago” issues, and he’s broken the top three twice. In 2020, Leor celebrated his first decade with the paper by publishing a collection of his writing, Chicago Pop Stars, Hardcore Heroes, and House Legends: Ten Years of Chicago Reader Music Features. We’re already looking forward to a part two, but in the meantime, we’ll look for Leor at his favorite Chicago hotspots, which include the Harold Washington Library, the Hideout, Hyde Park Records, Intuit Gallery, and Logan Square ice cream joint The Freeze
Twitter: @imleor | Instagram: @therealimleor
