Local unsigned artist prepares for Lollapalooza set

Each year Lollapalooza lines up some of the biggest bands in the land, but the festival also offers small-time up-and-comers a spot on the same stages.

For 45 minutes Saturday, Joe Pug will have a chance to bend the ears of fans of Tool and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Pug, an unsigned folk-rocker, has been making his own way in the Chicago music scene for the past three-plus years. His self-released "Nation of Heat" EP has earned him a fan base, but he will take the stage as a relatively unknown artist at the three-day festival, which takes place in Chicago's Grant Park starting Friday, Aug. 7, and running through Sunday, Aug. 9.

"That's the level that I'm at right now," he said. "A lot of the places that I'm going, people are hearing these songs for the first time."

Pug, 25, is spending his summer touring the United States and Canada, playing at many folk festivals as well as larger ones such as Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. It is not unusual for Pug to have a full summer schedule, but his customary tour vehicle has had to sit in park as he flies from stop to stop.

Going from, say, Happy Valley, Ore., to Newport, R.I., in one day is more than the minivan can handle.

While he is getting plenty of festival experience under his belt this summer, he is still figuring out how to give the big stage some intimacy.

"That's something that I'm still learning how to do," Pug said. "You learn how to play these songs, but playing outside in a festival atmosphere is something different."

He may be more at home during his official Lollapalooza aftershow Saturday night at The Hideout, a smaller venue at 1354 W. Wabansia in Chicago.

Pug did not always know he would take on music as his full-time job. Not too long ago he was a playwright student at the University of North Carolina. He left the East Coast for Chicago before finishing school.

Making a living as a carpenter, Pug spent his nights transforming ideas he had for a play called "Austin Fish" into songs on his "Nation of Heat" EP.

Now the music is his day job, and he has not looked back to the glamorous life of a carpenter.

"There's nothing cool about waking up at six o'clock in the morning and carrying lumber around," Pug said.

Making it in the music industry is no easy task either, but Pug described it as a labor of love. He is nearly finished with his full-length debut, which he plans to release himself. Recording this album had a different feel than the "Nation of Heat" EP.

"My first record I barely even knew I was making it, I didn't really consider myself a musician, but for this one, I know this is what I'm doing now," he said.

He has tested out some of the new material live and said the festival crowds have responded well. He finds it encouraging that people have been receptive to hearing new songs as well as old classics.

Until his new album comes out, fans can download a free five-song EP by signing up for his mailing list at joepugmusic.com. The "In The Meantime" EP features songs recorded during the "Nation of Heat" sessions.

Pug plays on Lollapalooza's BMI stage at 3 p.m. Saturday and later that night at The Hideout with The Low Anthem at 10 p.m.