Traditionally, American musicians who want to reach the masses gravitate to Los Angeles or New York, where the big record labels and artist-management companies are headquartered. However, pop music tends to have a regional pedigree, and with the rise of truly independent labels in the 1980s musicians no longer had to relocate; or, if they did, they didn't have to relocate as far.

Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt have been making music professionally since the late 1980s, mostly in and around Chicago. As cohorts, they are mainly known as members of the art-rock quartet The Sea and Cake, but the nature of their music, not to mention the nature of the local music scene that has thrived in Chicago for the past 15 years, has allowed them to branch out into solo projects that are every bit as vital and every bit as remunerative.

"We do pretty well," Prekop says as he puts away a plate of spaghetti in a restaurant in Akasaka. "I haven't had to take another job for nine years. All my income has been from music."