Fig Dish

In the wake of grunge's Pacific Northwest breakthrough, Chicago saw a flurry of alternative-band signings as labels hunted for the next Seattle. The city already fielded Liz Phair, Smashing Pumpkins, and Urge Overkill, making it a logical target. Fig Dish coalesced in the early 1990s once guitarists Blake Smith and Rick Ness exited their previous groups to team up. They enlisted drummer Andy Hamilton and bassist Mike Willison, settled on the name Fig Dish, and began circulating homemade singles steeped in Replacements-esque rock.

As an experiment, the quartet mailed demos to major-label A&R contacts with an attached note reading, "Hey (fill in the blank): I caught these guys last weekend, and they were amazing. Check 'em out! Your pal, Steve." Several embarrassed executives recounted their friend Steve's supposed endorsement before a Polydor A&R man found the singles independently and signed the band. Within three weeks of inking the deal, Fig Dish recorded That's What Love Songs Often Do; the album surfaced in 1995 and triggered a string of tours.

While the single "Seed" gained alternative-rock airplay, a blizzard in Nebraska destroyed the band's van and gear. That same night, still reeling at their hotel, a shell-shocked Hamilton announced he was quitting to study law. The following year the remaining members returned to the studio for When Shove Goes Back to Push, yet they felt deeply dissatisfied with their circumstances. Polydor released the album with zero promotion, so the group began seeking another label. Instead they chose to dissolve Fig Dish and start fresh projects: Willison and Smith formed Caviar, while Rick Ness launched a band simply called Ness.