11.6K
Downloads
230
Episodes
AMPLIFYING WISCONSIN MUSICIANS WMPodcast interviews local Wisconsin musicians on their journey from their first group, solo endeavor, hired studio work, local community groups, and more, to their present day activities in the local music scene. We will also talk with music businesses and music organizations. We’ll talk about their origin story, what their influences are, what they do to hone their talents and their skills to be where they are today. What they feel is not only suffocating the local music scene, but, better yet, what they feel is helping push the local scene into the limelight. Also hear about gigs they’ve played that made an impression on them and why. . . and much more.
Episodes
Tuesday Jun 11, 2024
Tuesday Jun 11, 2024
WISCONSIN MUSIC PODCAST
WMP Linktree: https://linktr.ee/WI_Music_Podcast
AMPLFYING WISCONSIN MUSIC
Episode 145
CARMEN NICKERSON
Welcome to a captivating new episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast with your host, Zach Felt. In this episode, we are treated to an exclusive discussion with indie artist Carmen Nickerson whose music crafts soul-stirring melodies and insightful lyrics. Carmen's debut solo studio album, 'Room to Grow', a collaboration with esteemed musician Willie Porter, is a musical masterpiece that stirs deep feelings and ignites the imagination.
Coming from rural Iowa, Carmen's music is a savory blend of various genres, leaving an enduring impact on her audience. 'Room to Grow' represents her artistic flowering, encapsulating genuine stories from her farm life upbringing and her vision for unity in her piece 'Ascension'. Delve into Carmen's captivating background, from early piano lessons to choir performances throughout her schooling and her breakthrough into songwriting in LA.
In this engrossing narrative, Carmen covers the exhilarating roller coaster of her musical career, starting from her duo album, 'Bonfire to Ash', to exhilarating national tours, and the recording of her latest album. She sheds light on the vital role of networking in the industry, her prolific collaborations, and the varied genres she's explored. Carmen stresses the importance of supporting musicians, encouraging listeners to purchase CDs and contribute to crowdfunding initiatives.
Have an insider's perspective of Wisconsin's music scene through Carmen Nickerson. Proving that talent, dedication, and passion can ignite a luminous musical career, Carmen's story is an inspiring tale for all. Learn more about her work and her views on the ever-changing music industry in this insightful episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
Monday Jun 03, 2024
Monday Jun 03, 2024
Welcome to the new season of the Wisconsin Music Podcast! In this special introductory episode, join us as we embark on an exciting journey filled with fresh starts and new adventures. Our host shares personal anecdotes about a recent move to a charming new home in Racine, Wisconsin, detailing the unique architectural features that make this house truly special.
But the real highlight? The transformation of the finished basement into the brand-new ZTF Studios, a hub for all future podcast recordings and musical creations. Relive the nostalgia as we hear about the early days of ZTF Studios, built with love and craftsmanship by our host and his father.
Stay tuned for a sneak peek into what's in store for Season 5, including a shoutout to the wonderful listeners, past guests, and collaborative podcasts that have been part of this incredible journey. Get ready to meet our first guest of the season, Cameron Nickerson, and dive into the rich musical landscape of Wisconsin.
Don't miss this heartfelt thank you episode that sets the stage for an amazing season ahead. Tune in next week and be part of the story!
Tuesday Apr 30, 2024
Tuesday Apr 30, 2024
WISCONSIN MUSIC PODCAST
WMP Linktree: https://linktr.ee/WI_Music_Podcast
AMPLFYING WISCONSIN MUSIC
Episode 144
ELMER AND THE CERAMIC TREES
http://facebook.com/elmerandtheceramictrees https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwcLKmkvxCUtUAD712Nej9Q
http://elmerandtheceramictrees.bandcamp.com/
Conceived in the summer of 2012 by Janesville, Wisconsin singer-songwriter Robbie Haas, Elmer and the Ceramic Trees blend the lush melodies of bands like The Beatles and Big Star with the doom-and-gloom pop of The Cure and Echo and The Bunny Men, the driving rhythms of New Order, and the big choruses of classic Bowie to form a style of indie pop that is at once harrowing and gorgeous.
In this gripping episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast, host Zach Fell engages in an engrossing conversation with Robbie Haas, the lead vocalist of the local band Elmer and the Ceramic Trees. Esteemed for its innovative take on timeless classics, the band is celebrated for its unique melodies and rhythms that harmonize perfectly with Wisconsin's vibrant music scene.
Haas lifts the curtain on his musical voyage, providing a glimpse into his transformative creative process, the evolution of his musical taste, and the birth of Elmer and the Ceramic Trees. He discusses his meticulous approach to album construction, the struggle to establish a distinct identity in Wisconsin's rich music landscape, and the triumph of finally creating an inimitable sound.
Explore the intricacies involved in bringing music to life as Haas shares insights into the intersection between his personal life and professional commitments in the challenging realm of music. Also, learn about the influences of technology on his modern music production and his innovative approach to curating immersive experiences for the audience.
In this episode, Haas uncovers his journey of embracing his unique musical style, his struggle with imposter syndrome, and involvement in local farmer's markets. Additionally, he glances over his anticipation for the 2024 Big Beat MKE Beat Battle Tournament. Among the highlights of this conversation is his detailed exploration of the band’s newest album, 'We Were Beautiful in August', which perfectly encapsulates the vibe of sprawling summer and melancholic autumn.
Robbie also opens up about his journey from being a novice at open mic sessions to being a seasoned professional, how a live performance by The Cure reignited his passion, and how he continues to nurture his penchant for creating and promoting new music. Discover Robbie's insightful thoughts on the future of his music career and the growth of his band in an industry studded with challenges.
Tuesday Apr 23, 2024
Tuesday Apr 23, 2024
WISCONSIN MUSIC PODCAST
WMP Linktree: https://linktr.ee/WI_Music_Podcast
AMPLFYING WISCONSIN MUSIC
Episode 143
The Rezzonators
On the latest episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast, we take you on an immersive journey into the world of Milwaukee's rock sensation - The Rezzonators. Known for their unique mix of catchy riffs and groove-laden soundscapes, this rock and roll powerhouse shares an insider's view of their musical journey. From their humble beginnings playing cover gigs to releasing a double album recognized the world over, The Rezzonators narrate their climb to nearly 100,000 Spotify streams.
Dive deep into the stories behind their top tracks like "Everyday", "Panic Button", and "Highway Nights". Explore how they navigated the challenges of the pandemic, slowly regaining their live audience. Experience their tenacity and passion, as narrated by host Zach Fell in his conversation with band members Robert and Barry.
Gain insights into The Rezzonators' songwriting process and inspirations. Understand the stories behind fan-favorite songs such as "The Edge" and "Dream River". Learn how their unique approach to songwriting generates music inspired more by fictional tales than everyday experiences.
Join us in this deep dive into the life and times of The Rezzonators. Learn about their work-life balance, their memorable concert experiences, and how they've gone from local cover band to releasing their own albums. Get the inside scoop on their future plans, where to find their music online, and a sneak peek into their personal dreams for the band's future.
Do not miss this opportunity to delve into the captivating journey of The Rezzonators - a band whose passion for music clearly resonates with their ever-growing audience.
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
WISCONSIN MUSIC PODCAST
WMP Linktree: https://linktr.ee/WI_Music_Podcast
AMPLIFYING WISCONSIN MUSIC
Rob Marnocha
EPISODE 143
Discover Wisconsin's flourishing local music scene in this riveting episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast, featuring guest Rob Marnocha. As the creative force behind 'Into the Music', Rob masterfully amplifies the unique voices of artists hailing mostly from Northern part of Wisconsin. Get an insight into his varied journey, from the great interviews that he creates and hosts.
'Into the Music' is not just a podcast but a platform where the unsung heroes of Northeast Wisconsin come to shine. It's a convergence of personal experiences, grueling struggles, performance insights, and interview discussions. We delve into Rob's experiences and future plans for his engaging podcast, spotlighting independent artists from Green Bay to Oshkosh.
In our conversation, we underline the vital role community support and live performances play in the growth and evolution of the original music scene in Wisconsin. We focus on the vitality of music podcasts and radio stations, notably Max Inc. Radio, Fox City's Core, and WAPL Homebrewed in nurturing local talent and keeping Wisconsin's music scene vibrant and pulsating.
Switching towards a broader canvas, we talk about the impact of worldwide podcast streaming in giving local Wisconsin artists much-warranted international recognition. The episode highlights the meticulous process of producing a podcast, from setting up intriguing interviews to ensuring engaging outputs. It wraps up with a shared mission of boosting Wisconsin's music and fostering a tight-knit network between content creators and musicians.
Stay engaged until the end as we delve into the personal influences shaping Wisconsin's music landscape and a special tribute to the 'surf' genre. Don't miss out on the next 'Into The Music' episode where our roles are reversed, and I become the interviewee. Join us in this enriching journey and show your support for Wisconsin music!
Tuesday Apr 09, 2024
Tuesday Apr 09, 2024
WISCONSIN MUSIC PODCAST
WMP Linktree: https://linktr.ee/WI_Music_Podcast
AMPLFYING WISCONSIN MUSIC
Michael "MD" McNally
https://linktr.ee/MDMcNally
EPISODE 141
Join us on this episode as we delve deep into the musical journey of MD McNally, tracing his evolution from the soft, psychedelic ballads of 'The Marvelous' to the dynamic fusion of folk and blues in his latest EP, 'Crimes'. Discover the creative process behind his captivating sound, the influence of his heartland roots, and the confidence he brings to his songwriting. Tune in for an insightful exploration of an artist finding his voice and pushing musical boundaries.
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
WISCONSIN MUSIC PODCAST
WMP Linktree: https://linktr.ee/WI_Music_Podcast
AMPLFYING WISCONSIN MUSIC
Nuke Plant Chickens
https://linktr.ee/nukeplantchickens
EPISODE 140
Welcome to a stirring episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast featuring the distinct sounds of Kenosha-based band, Nuke Plant Chickens. Born in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown, these young music enthusiasts have grown into a seasoned band with a powerful synthesis of various music genres, offering a unique, homegrown energy with every performance.
The diverse group shares their exceptional journey, discussing their music inspirations, from King Gizzard and his Lizard Wizards to Black Sabbath. They reveal their band philosophy, revolving around enjoyment rather than strict professionalism, and the exploration of a wide variety music genres.
They delve into the challenges and triumphs of forging a path in the bustling music scenes of Chicago and Milwaukee. Get a peek into the band’s DIY recording process: a journey centered on raw, authentic music creation and problem-solving equipment issues, song selection, and balancing gig schedules.
Nukeplant Chickens not only discuss the release of their four finished singles, but also offer a glimpse into the stories imbedded in their music. They candidly share their experiences of attending influential performances and their appreciation of their supportive community. Above all, they light the beacon on their ambitious future plans.
We invite fans, fellow musicians, or those simply curious about the eclectic music scene to immerse themselves in this compelling episode. Join us as we reveal all this and more about Nuke Plant Chickens, the band that’s lighting up Wisconsin's music scene.
------------------------------------------
Transcript
1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,600
Music.
2
00:00:11,994 --> 00:00:14,654
Ladies and gentlemen, music enthusiasts and podcast listeners,
3
00:00:14,754 --> 00:00:18,314
welcome to A Sonic Journey Like No Other on the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
4
00:00:18,554 --> 00:00:22,194
I'm your host, Zach Fell, and we're here to amplify Wisconsin music.
5
00:00:22,294 --> 00:00:26,254
In this episode, we're diving into the eclectic and electrifying world of Nukeplant
6
00:00:26,254 --> 00:00:29,694
Chickens, a band hailing from the charming town of Kenosha, Wisconsin.
7
00:00:30,214 --> 00:00:34,574
Prizing a remarkable ensemble of talent, Nukeplant Chicken weaves a mesmerizing
8
00:00:34,574 --> 00:00:39,094
tapestry of sound, leaving no genre untouched. Get ready to immerse yourself
9
00:00:39,094 --> 00:00:42,834
in the music of Newt Plant Chickens, where every note is an adventure,
10
00:00:43,054 --> 00:00:44,214
every rhythm is a heartbeat.
11
00:00:44,394 --> 00:00:48,374
Join us in exploring the sonic landscapes crafted by this extraordinary band
12
00:00:48,374 --> 00:00:53,414
as we unravel their musical journey in this special podcast episode on the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
13
00:00:53,794 --> 00:00:56,554
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for joining me here on the podcast.
14
00:00:57,214 --> 00:01:04,994
Thank you. So why don't we get a quick synopsis of each one of your music origins story.
15
00:01:05,014 --> 00:01:07,734
How did you get started? it i'm jeff i'm the
16
00:01:07,734 --> 00:01:11,014
singer and i i started
17
00:01:11,014 --> 00:01:13,794
taking piano lessons when i was seven and i'm
18
00:01:13,794 --> 00:01:17,534
23 now so that's 16 years ago and
19
00:01:17,534 --> 00:01:24,534
yeah i i can't remember why i started doing piano lessons but yeah okay i really
20
00:01:24,534 --> 00:01:33,094
liked guitar hero as a 12 year old so who are you oh my name is uh my name is
21
00:01:33,094 --> 00:01:35,054
ethan i'm I'm a guitar player sometimes.
22
00:01:35,494 --> 00:01:39,854
Awesome. Yeah, I really liked playing Guitar Hero, and that stuff is,
23
00:01:39,894 --> 00:01:44,414
like, the first stuff I learned, so that's a working story there.
24
00:01:45,214 --> 00:01:52,094
Cool. My name is Chloe. I started on bass in middle school, actually.
25
00:01:52,134 --> 00:01:53,914
My dad convinced me to play.
26
00:01:54,014 --> 00:01:57,594
He would show me Talking Heads footage,
27
00:01:57,754 --> 00:02:03,494
and Tina Weymouth basically played for Tango, to, which I'm happy about it,
28
00:02:03,534 --> 00:02:08,354
but I started on bass and then I started guitar after bass and that would have
29
00:02:08,354 --> 00:02:09,674
been also middle school.
30
00:02:10,234 --> 00:02:17,374
And then recently, you know, drums and all of that, but like I play guitar in this group.
31
00:02:19,574 --> 00:02:21,834
But yeah, I've just been playing forever since middle school.
32
00:02:21,874 --> 00:02:25,054
And my dad wanted me to. Cool. Very cool.
33
00:02:25,694 --> 00:02:31,034
Max, I play the drums. And for my fourth birthday, I got a drum set.
34
00:02:31,354 --> 00:02:33,314
I don't know why I didn't ask.
35
00:02:35,174 --> 00:02:37,754
But yeah, I've been playing ever since. I was happy about that.
36
00:02:37,754 --> 00:02:38,774
It's never stopped. Yeah.
37
00:02:40,594 --> 00:02:48,514
Camera. Sorry. Eight. Fourth or fifth grade. when I played trumpet for Mrs.
38
00:02:48,674 --> 00:02:52,394
Ripley in the KUSD school.
39
00:02:53,314 --> 00:02:56,654
Shout out to Mrs. Ripley. Yeah, shout out to Mrs. Ripley. Hi.
40
00:02:58,874 --> 00:03:03,794
You all basically started at a young age and grew through music and decided
41
00:03:03,794 --> 00:03:05,754
on the instruments you're playing in this group.
42
00:03:05,994 --> 00:03:10,654
So what is kind of like your philosophy as a group?
43
00:03:10,874 --> 00:03:17,054
What's your goals? And what makes you guys become this group of musicians and
44
00:03:17,054 --> 00:03:20,114
going out on stage and playing these types of songs that you play?
45
00:03:20,734 --> 00:03:22,834
Well, I'll say whatever sounds good.
46
00:03:24,414 --> 00:03:27,334
Whatever sounds good. Sounds good. Get it to sound better. I don't know.
47
00:03:27,814 --> 00:03:29,054
At least that's my philosophy.
48
00:03:29,814 --> 00:03:33,794
I think we all love being able to have fun. Yeah. Goof around,
49
00:03:33,954 --> 00:03:38,774
you know, whatever feels right, I guess. A lot of goofing around on stage.
50
00:03:39,554 --> 00:03:43,534
Yeah, it's a lot. We're not very professional. No, which is what's good about
51
00:03:43,534 --> 00:03:47,194
it. Which is why, I mean, that's why I did it. You know what I mean? If I'm being real.
52
00:03:48,174 --> 00:03:52,914
If we were going anywhere, Chloe would not be here. Absolutely not.
53
00:03:53,774 --> 00:03:58,834
So, yeah. Just enjoy it. You know, it's not taking things too serious.
54
00:03:59,754 --> 00:04:03,494
You know, that whole thing. Because it's not that serious. Make sure everyone is granted.
55
00:04:04,351 --> 00:04:07,551
Oh absolutely yeah yeah like these guys they're all my brothers and
56
00:04:07,551 --> 00:04:14,311
then so much as far as
57
00:04:14,311 --> 00:04:17,651
philosophies we actually have on the wall a list
58
00:04:17,651 --> 00:04:20,591
though that i wrote a few years ago called the
59
00:04:20,591 --> 00:04:23,331
jam commandments and the the number one rule the
60
00:04:23,331 --> 00:04:26,491
most important rule of the jam commandments no assholes
61
00:04:26,491 --> 00:04:30,091
so that's maybe the philosophy gotcha excellent
62
00:04:30,091 --> 00:04:33,151
so what kind of groups out there would you
63
00:04:33,151 --> 00:04:36,631
say inspire what you guys do well i
64
00:04:36,631 --> 00:04:39,971
mean the biggest one i'd say the one collective is
65
00:04:39,971 --> 00:04:43,291
king gizzard yeah and the lizard wizard okay and
66
00:04:43,291 --> 00:04:47,751
why is it why is that have you
67
00:04:47,751 --> 00:04:52,011
heard them brother come on yeah but
68
00:04:52,011 --> 00:04:55,991
there's listeners out there that haven't so probably helps them kind of grab
69
00:04:55,991 --> 00:05:00,051
an idea of what you're you're about they've done it all and they'll continue
70
00:05:00,051 --> 00:05:06,051
to do more and that's what keeps me i'm not limited to one genre the variety
71
00:05:06,051 --> 00:05:10,711
yeah yeah and it doesn't matter how many albums they release they'll all be good.
72
00:05:11,831 --> 00:05:14,491
Okay cool well it's good that you know to
73
00:05:14,491 --> 00:05:18,511
have that kind of inspiration in your life to be able to have something that
74
00:05:18,511 --> 00:05:24,271
you can kind of follow and go these are the kind of people that we like to you
75
00:05:24,271 --> 00:05:28,711
know follow in their footsteps basically right and always like individual people
76
00:05:28,711 --> 00:05:34,151
we all have different things which is why it's hard to find collective yeah like I,
77
00:05:35,071 --> 00:05:41,291
don't I'm not into like King Giz like all of these guys are I will say I'm not a nerd but,
78
00:05:42,251 --> 00:05:47,771
yeah I'm not you know I have a much more I mean not that King Giz we're all
79
00:05:47,771 --> 00:05:51,231
into OC's yeah we do like OC's OC's are great.
80
00:05:53,731 --> 00:05:58,851
Ween to ween to the stone age Okay.
81
00:05:58,991 --> 00:06:01,131
Well, it's like Black Sabbath, but that's like in a different way.
82
00:06:01,251 --> 00:06:03,671
Pink Floyd, we all really like.
83
00:06:03,691 --> 00:06:08,011
Dice Fits, even though that's in a different realm. They're like my favorite band of all time.
84
00:06:08,571 --> 00:06:13,031
Dice Fits. Everyone looks like Chippewa. Them Crooked Vultures, too. Yeah.
85
00:06:13,951 --> 00:06:20,791
Awesome. So it's an eclectic collection of individuals plus what you all are
86
00:06:20,791 --> 00:06:25,231
together enjoying at the same time, which is what creates the difference of
87
00:06:25,231 --> 00:06:27,671
what you are from other type of bands out there.
88
00:06:29,540 --> 00:06:35,640
So what made you guys decide to have horn players in your shows as well we knew them.
89
00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,040
They were they were our friends maddie was the first
90
00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,880
and she was just a she was a a friend of
91
00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,920
mine from a long time ago i met her through a band
92
00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,660
that i used to be in and uh she just
93
00:06:48,660 --> 00:06:54,800
kind of stuck around and jammed with us and yeah yeah yeah and when she when
94
00:06:54,800 --> 00:07:02,500
she was out of town we had a couple more shows so we asked Finn to play in Kirstead
95
00:07:02,500 --> 00:07:06,760
who's basically family with us. Like literally.
96
00:07:07,180 --> 00:07:13,620
Yeah. So when you guys do a live show are they with you all the time or just for special shows?
97
00:07:14,140 --> 00:07:19,460
Whenever they can. Whenever they can. Okay, cool. How long have you guys been together as a group?
98
00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:24,960
As the five piece with everybody in here right now since February February,
99
00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:29,700
March, it would have been after the live stream.
100
00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:34,840
There's like other stuff that goes way back. Yeah. Like I'm the last to join and I.
101
00:07:36,020 --> 00:07:39,360
Okay. So why don't you give the listeners like a little bit of the history of
102
00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:41,960
how this group grew and became what it is today?
103
00:07:42,700 --> 00:07:46,280
Our show. Our very first. We got to go back to the jam. Yeah.
104
00:07:47,060 --> 00:07:50,860
First of jam. Yeah. Oh, yeah. The COVID jams.
105
00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,600
That's where it started was COVID. Okay. it
106
00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,920
was a pandemic and we were all bored and the
107
00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:00,900
old band that i was in i got kicked out
108
00:08:00,900 --> 00:08:08,840
of because i'm a i'm a bad guy and i needed a new band and well we we also can't
109
00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:15,180
forget that max ethan and cameron yeah we're in a band together a metal band
110
00:08:15,180 --> 00:08:19,160
starting in 2020 yeah 2021 21,
111
00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,300
24, 2020. Okay.
112
00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:27,900
Well, me, Cam, and Jeff are all blood related. So that's how far in the back of that goes.
113
00:08:29,340 --> 00:08:34,780
And the first glimpse of the new plant chickens, I guess you could say,
114
00:08:34,820 --> 00:08:38,900
was my and Max's first band. It was called Floodplain.
115
00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:45,880
And we started playing together in November of 2019 or something like that. Wow.
116
00:08:47,454 --> 00:08:54,954
Yeah, COVID hit, and we got bored and started jamming with a bunch of other people. So I don't know.
117
00:08:55,394 --> 00:08:58,854
We kind of just grabbed anyone we could and brought them in the basement.
118
00:08:59,854 --> 00:09:04,754
Just played for hours. I mean, I think we... How big was the biggest one?
119
00:09:04,954 --> 00:09:08,674
The biggest jam that we were... I don't know if you were at the biggest jam.
120
00:09:09,154 --> 00:09:12,374
I think I was. It was the one. It was David, Logan.
121
00:09:12,994 --> 00:09:16,154
That one was pretty big, but we had another one out. we
122
00:09:16,154 --> 00:09:18,894
had these jams of like the most was probably
123
00:09:18,894 --> 00:09:26,234
like 13 or 14 people in the room and like at like many many guitars sometimes
124
00:09:26,234 --> 00:09:32,134
two drum kits yeah and i think one time we had two basses hooked up and everybody
125
00:09:32,134 --> 00:09:37,134
else was like either playing wind instruments or like rapping or vocals yeah.
126
00:09:37,794 --> 00:09:40,794
And we would just i mean we would go from like 7
127
00:09:40,794 --> 00:09:44,414
p.m to mid yeah let's play and then
128
00:09:44,414 --> 00:09:47,234
this was we the people in the band are just
129
00:09:47,234 --> 00:09:50,634
the people that remained from those jams gotcha
130
00:09:50,634 --> 00:09:53,514
wanted to keep playing because everybody else kind of has a life or
131
00:09:53,514 --> 00:09:56,714
moved on right right okay so this
132
00:09:56,714 --> 00:10:00,634
is what kind of glued you guys together was this jam and you guys met each other
133
00:10:00,634 --> 00:10:04,654
i mean you said three of you are blood related but then you guys kind of became
134
00:10:04,654 --> 00:10:09,554
friends and kind of created this this group that you are so where did the name
135
00:10:09,554 --> 00:10:15,654
come from it's a simple story that i could draw out a lot but But basically, I worked at a beach,
136
00:10:15,834 --> 00:10:18,034
the Illinois State Beach in Zion,
137
00:10:18,254 --> 00:10:20,494
which is just down the road from Kenosha.
138
00:10:20,794 --> 00:10:28,634
And my boss was a very nice man, very funny guy, but he was not the most educated man.
139
00:10:29,014 --> 00:10:35,714
Okay. And at the beach, there were some sandhill cranes that were,
140
00:10:35,854 --> 00:10:37,674
you know, they hung around the water.
141
00:10:37,794 --> 00:10:41,714
And he didn't know they were sandhill cranes, though, because he didn't know
142
00:10:41,714 --> 00:10:43,894
anything about birds. And.
143
00:10:44,799 --> 00:10:48,219
Right next to the beach as well, weird detail, but it's true.
144
00:10:48,299 --> 00:10:52,799
Right next to the beach is a defunct nuclear power plant.
145
00:10:53,139 --> 00:10:56,979
Anyways, all these elements coming together. On my first day of work at the
146
00:10:56,979 --> 00:11:00,579
beach, my boss pointed to some sandhill cranes,
147
00:11:01,499 --> 00:11:07,559
and he said, guests and visitors ask me all the time what those birds are called,
148
00:11:07,759 --> 00:11:09,379
but I don't know what they're called.
149
00:11:09,619 --> 00:11:14,579
So I tell them that they are chickens who wandered too close to the nuke plant.
150
00:11:16,239 --> 00:11:20,959
And the light bulb light bulb just went off there you go there you go awesome,
151
00:11:22,179 --> 00:11:24,959
producers and beat makers of milwaukee it is time for the
152
00:11:24,959 --> 00:11:28,459
2024 big beat mke beat battle tournament taking
153
00:11:28,459 --> 00:11:31,659
place at the jackalope lounge at the wicked hop in milwaukee's third
154
00:11:31,659 --> 00:11:34,519
ward on thursday nights between april 25th and june
155
00:11:34,519 --> 00:11:37,359
13th producers are going to go head to head in
156
00:11:37,359 --> 00:11:40,319
three one minute rounds to determine who is going to move on
157
00:11:40,319 --> 00:11:43,359
to the next round of the tournament with some amazing prizes
158
00:11:43,359 --> 00:11:46,099
from some great sponsors don't forget that you
159
00:11:46,099 --> 00:11:49,219
can submit your beats today at breaking and entering.net through march
160
00:11:49,219 --> 00:11:53,379
31st so when
161
00:11:53,379 --> 00:11:56,439
you guys perform out live what's the reaction from
162
00:11:56,439 --> 00:11:59,219
from the audience most of
163
00:11:59,219 --> 00:12:07,119
it most of them are friends so far so it's people who who even if we played
164
00:12:07,119 --> 00:12:11,579
i hope i hope we play good but people who if even if we played bad they'd be
165
00:12:11,579 --> 00:12:17,999
they still oh it's a great job at least not me I haven't gotten a lot of,
166
00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:25,719
people coming up to me who just didn't know how to I saw some people at the
167
00:12:25,719 --> 00:12:29,699
last show some strangers who were people I didn't know who were filming.
168
00:12:31,419 --> 00:12:34,199
That feels nice like a stranger who doesn't
169
00:12:34,199 --> 00:12:36,979
know us wants to look back at us later
170
00:12:36,979 --> 00:12:39,999
people want us to play rooster every single
171
00:12:39,999 --> 00:12:42,859
time every single time drunk people
172
00:12:42,859 --> 00:12:45,739
want us to play rooster that's a good reaction i feel like
173
00:12:45,739 --> 00:12:49,119
we spark a lot of curiosity people don't
174
00:12:49,119 --> 00:12:51,899
really know what what's gonna go on oh
175
00:12:51,899 --> 00:12:58,999
yeah it's gonna happen what we're gonna do right so so are you guys like mostly
176
00:12:58,999 --> 00:13:04,099
covers or do you add some originals in there on top of it we're actually like
177
00:13:04,099 --> 00:13:10,299
all it's like all we do almost no covers i mean we we we played a three hour set. Yeah. To fill time.
178
00:13:11,119 --> 00:13:13,619
There's like 26 songs. Okay.
179
00:13:14,599 --> 00:13:17,679
So where do you guys usually perform? Where's like your home base?
180
00:13:17,739 --> 00:13:20,859
I mean, you say you're in Kenosha, but like, is there a certain place that you
181
00:13:20,859 --> 00:13:24,479
play that you would call home or is you guys kind of spread it all over? Yeah.
182
00:13:26,144 --> 00:13:29,084
Rustic road definitely and let's get the kenosha
183
00:13:29,084 --> 00:13:33,104
creative space okay two places definitely one's
184
00:13:33,104 --> 00:13:37,744
a bar one's just like a community center and they're on the same block and they're
185
00:13:37,744 --> 00:13:42,784
they're right next to each other yeah so downtown kenosha basically okay and
186
00:13:42,784 --> 00:13:47,344
you guys said so you're not really taking this super serious so what are kind
187
00:13:47,344 --> 00:13:52,204
of like some of your main goals with this this group over the next maybe three to four years.
188
00:13:53,424 --> 00:13:57,104
Records. Yeah, a couple of records, probably. I mean, I personally just want
189
00:13:57,104 --> 00:14:00,764
to be able to play out and more than just downtown.
190
00:14:00,884 --> 00:14:05,984
I mean, I'm like thinking to like different live stuff for like like our first
191
00:14:05,984 --> 00:14:08,844
show of the summer that we created in space.
192
00:14:09,084 --> 00:14:12,804
That was one of the best like like times I've ever fucking heard.
193
00:14:15,984 --> 00:14:18,764
Yeah, it was just so fun. fun and it because there
194
00:14:18,764 --> 00:14:22,184
was so many people our age yeah there yeah
195
00:14:22,184 --> 00:14:25,044
and people that like maybe
196
00:14:25,044 --> 00:14:27,824
like all of us collected we didn't know and it was just
197
00:14:27,824 --> 00:14:30,484
it was really fun and it was packed and it was
198
00:14:30,484 --> 00:14:34,824
just it was so great i just want to play more shows like that but get out of
199
00:14:34,824 --> 00:14:41,904
the city too yeah i would really eventually yeah of course but you know i it's
200
00:14:41,904 --> 00:14:45,764
just this is like to be able to play that kind of stuff in Kenosha would be
201
00:14:45,764 --> 00:14:49,264
really and I know that's asking a lot. That would be really fun.
202
00:14:50,624 --> 00:14:54,344
So Wisconsin being mainly a cover band, that's usually what you're going to
203
00:14:54,344 --> 00:14:57,184
see mostly in Wisconsin bars and everything like that.
204
00:14:57,264 --> 00:15:02,724
You guys being mostly original, do you find it hard to get gigs or is it pretty
205
00:15:02,724 --> 00:15:05,584
decent to find gigs for an all original band like yourselves?
206
00:15:06,104 --> 00:15:10,984
It's not hard to get gigs because we're not a cover band.
207
00:15:11,164 --> 00:15:16,044
It was pretty hard at first. it's hard getting your foot in the door with some.
208
00:15:16,044 --> 00:15:23,264
Of these because they're busy they don't have time sometimes it's just it's hard because,
209
00:15:24,424 --> 00:15:29,004
especially in venues in Chicago and like Milwaukee where they haven't heard
210
00:15:29,004 --> 00:15:35,704
you they won't take you into consideration unless you played gigs in the area
211
00:15:35,704 --> 00:15:40,024
before you kind of gotta be there yeah you gotta be active in the scene that's
212
00:15:40,024 --> 00:15:41,844
kind of what's hardest about it,
213
00:15:42,384 --> 00:15:45,124
how is it that to get in the scene if you
214
00:15:45,124 --> 00:15:48,364
can't get into the scene right yeah so do
215
00:15:48,364 --> 00:15:51,884
you find that like it's not hard anymore really to get gigs why is that is it
216
00:15:51,884 --> 00:15:56,344
because you have now played so many shows or what's what's kind of like the
217
00:15:56,344 --> 00:16:00,924
secret for you yeah you play shows make connections yeah and we always make
218
00:16:00,924 --> 00:16:05,464
friends also go and see these venues in person because that will help a lot
219
00:16:05,464 --> 00:16:07,904
People talk, our owners talk,
220
00:16:08,044 --> 00:16:12,624
they talk among each other, really that's a great, great.
221
00:16:13,715 --> 00:16:16,935
Way to sprint yeah absolutely networking and making
222
00:16:16,935 --> 00:16:19,915
sure that you're not like you said earlier bylaws not
223
00:16:19,915 --> 00:16:23,475
to be an asshole right yeah yeah yeah so
224
00:16:23,475 --> 00:16:26,435
be kind you know be helpful be
225
00:16:26,435 --> 00:16:29,315
you know be positive so the local scene
226
00:16:29,315 --> 00:16:32,395
for you guys it seems to be a positive experience is
227
00:16:32,395 --> 00:16:35,455
there anything in the local scene of your area that
228
00:16:35,455 --> 00:16:40,115
you would wish was stronger sometimes people
229
00:16:40,115 --> 00:16:42,875
get egos i wish it wasn't that
230
00:16:42,875 --> 00:16:49,435
strong but i wish like people would build more bills together you know there
231
00:16:49,435 --> 00:16:55,495
was there was a lot of gatekeeping in the scene before yeah that's kind of coming
232
00:16:55,495 --> 00:16:59,695
down a little bit yeah a lot of people i mean like i had said people taking
233
00:16:59,695 --> 00:17:01,915
it seriously and i mean i don't mean like.
234
00:17:03,195 --> 00:17:07,955
Having boundaries within groups and like oh and you know planning out and things
235
00:17:07,955 --> 00:17:11,355
like that because Cause that's whatever, but I mean, taking things too serious
236
00:17:11,355 --> 00:17:13,775
and like professionalism are like two different things in life.
237
00:17:13,935 --> 00:17:18,215
You know, like you can be a professional and not be like an asshole. Right.
238
00:17:18,435 --> 00:17:24,895
Exactly. Which is the problem that majority of people here have because whatever.
239
00:17:25,535 --> 00:17:26,835
Yeah. It's just.
240
00:17:30,180 --> 00:17:33,540
No, that's good. That's good. Now, earlier you kind of talked about hopefully
241
00:17:33,540 --> 00:17:35,500
making some recordings.
242
00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:39,200
Have you done any of that yet? Yeah, we got a record.
243
00:17:39,660 --> 00:17:44,180
Yeah, for finished singles out there. So take them through the journey of the
244
00:17:44,180 --> 00:17:47,280
start, the process, and getting those out there to them.
245
00:17:47,740 --> 00:17:51,000
Actually, this just came up in my year ago today from Snapchat.
246
00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:53,340
We started recording. Really? Yeah.
247
00:17:54,260 --> 00:17:57,440
Like the other day. What is it? The 21st? Yep.
248
00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:06,940
So the 19th. So two days ago. We started recording because I finally got Ableton on my computer. Okay.
249
00:18:07,300 --> 00:18:12,260
And we just, I mean, we picked what songs we had, I think.
250
00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:17,460
It wasn't what ones we had. It was just, you know, what we wondered, what we felt we could do.
251
00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:23,840
Oh, yeah. But I mean, the songs mostly come from me, and Ethan writes some of them.
252
00:18:24,380 --> 00:18:28,040
But I think of the four, they're mostly like old.
253
00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:30,860
I'd like wrote them a couple years ago when
254
00:18:30,860 --> 00:18:33,820
i was in the other band and then they never wanted to play them
255
00:18:33,820 --> 00:18:37,720
okay you know i don't
256
00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:41,900
know how we picked the four singles it's the one are they the ones that just
257
00:18:41,900 --> 00:18:47,920
got one yeah yeah okay so the the first four they got finished now you you had
258
00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:51,240
mentioned that you just got ableton about a year ago on your computer so So
259
00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,360
I'm understanding that this is a DIY project.
260
00:18:55,020 --> 00:18:59,400
Yeah. So kind of, was this like done in like a living room?
261
00:18:59,500 --> 00:19:02,860
Did you do it at separate places? Kind of like how did the whole thing come
262
00:19:02,860 --> 00:19:03,840
together for the recording?
263
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,220
Where was it done? Just my basement.
264
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:08,980
And it's just like where I'm as I let go.
265
00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:14,040
Okay. So what are some of the things that you've learned over time when you were recording?
266
00:19:16,220 --> 00:19:20,980
If you have to EQ too much, then you need to re-record it. Okay.
267
00:19:22,735 --> 00:19:27,395
Buy guitar plugins if you don't know how to mic and amp and don't be afraid
268
00:19:27,395 --> 00:19:35,295
to spend money on equipment good it's a good investment yeah i still i still
269
00:19:35,295 --> 00:19:37,055
have a lot of stuff on this thing,
270
00:19:37,595 --> 00:19:41,555
so for better recording yeah so the
271
00:19:41,555 --> 00:19:44,415
did you like put blankets up or anything around
272
00:19:44,415 --> 00:19:47,475
the room or is it like sound bouncing off
273
00:19:47,475 --> 00:19:50,155
cylinder blocks or whatever your walls are made out
274
00:19:50,155 --> 00:19:53,075
of it's mostly just it's about
275
00:19:53,075 --> 00:19:55,855
as raw and real as you can get it i mean
276
00:19:55,855 --> 00:19:58,915
we mic up each of the each of
277
00:19:58,915 --> 00:20:01,655
the drums but there's no like for for the
278
00:20:01,655 --> 00:20:07,415
most part there's no like sound cancellation okay there's a lot of that what
279
00:20:07,415 --> 00:20:10,775
a lot of that reverb gets filtered out through these mics anyway because they're
280
00:20:10,775 --> 00:20:17,195
i don't because they're condensers which is which is really nice yep cool and
281
00:20:17,195 --> 00:20:20,315
now you guys got four four songs finished, you released them.
282
00:20:20,355 --> 00:20:23,935
Let's talk a little bit about each one of those songs and maybe pick a few that
283
00:20:23,935 --> 00:20:25,795
you would like the listeners to hear on the podcast.
284
00:20:28,895 --> 00:20:33,375
I'd go for the first one. I'd go for Police State. The first one we released
285
00:20:33,375 --> 00:20:34,875
is called Police State Disco.
286
00:20:35,455 --> 00:20:37,895
Which is not fun. Not a disco.
287
00:20:39,455 --> 00:20:47,315
It's the only one that has Maddie fully on it. Like a solo, like a feature.
288
00:20:47,655 --> 00:20:50,715
The saxophone. And it's amazing.
289
00:20:51,095 --> 00:20:54,735
And is there a certain story behind the song? Or is it just...
290
00:20:55,435 --> 00:20:59,795
You want the listeners to make their own decision about what it's about?
291
00:21:00,495 --> 00:21:04,175
Yeah, yeah. I like that. Let them decide.
292
00:21:05,840 --> 00:25:32,240
Music.
293
00:25:32,702 --> 00:25:36,962
Would be another song that you would like them to hear on the podcast for there's
294
00:25:36,962 --> 00:25:40,262
one there's one there's one for each each people
295
00:25:40,262 --> 00:25:43,082
those who like upbeat stuff there's one called
296
00:25:43,082 --> 00:25:46,422
party wazo and those who like stoner metal
297
00:25:46,422 --> 00:25:49,282
there's one called way on three and the other people
298
00:25:49,282 --> 00:25:52,402
for the other people who like guns and roses ripoffs
299
00:25:52,402 --> 00:25:55,882
yeah there's one for you cool very
300
00:25:55,882 --> 00:25:58,862
cool so of those four do you
301
00:25:58,862 --> 00:26:01,862
want me to put all four on there or do you want me to put two or three on
302
00:26:01,862 --> 00:26:04,542
the podcast for them to hear that's up to me i
303
00:26:04,542 --> 00:26:10,562
mean up to you at least why not okay so after they hear this they want to hear
304
00:26:10,562 --> 00:26:13,562
it again and not listen to the podcast again they want to actually just listen
305
00:26:13,562 --> 00:26:17,342
to the songs in row obviously you guys are probably on most streaming sites
306
00:26:17,342 --> 00:26:23,282
do you guys also have a band camp site or are you not on that yet no we're not on so no we did not okay,
307
00:26:23,762 --> 00:26:29,262
i would say spotify and are you on whether it's reverb nation i think you guys
308
00:26:29,262 --> 00:26:33,202
are on as well where else can they go and hear your music online,
309
00:26:34,482 --> 00:26:39,182
anywhere you can we have some live recordings on YouTube.
310
00:26:40,862 --> 00:26:44,002
That's on your YouTube site okay cool we
311
00:26:44,002 --> 00:26:47,542
have to watch the first show we don't
312
00:26:47,542 --> 00:26:51,142
have ever we have the
313
00:26:51,142 --> 00:26:58,642
most not the most recent show but we have Octoberfest in Bloomingdale the only
314
00:26:58,642 --> 00:27:03,842
full show we have is one we played at a place called Moose Lodge in Kenosha
315
00:27:03,842 --> 00:27:10,082
it was an event called Blue Bands yeah that was a charity it was a charity event but yeah.
316
00:27:11,762 --> 00:27:15,782
Excellent as we're coming down to the end of this when
317
00:27:15,782 --> 00:27:18,482
do you think your next single is going
318
00:27:18,482 --> 00:27:22,542
to release or are you going to do like multi-song ep release yes
319
00:27:22,542 --> 00:27:25,522
so so the the
320
00:27:25,522 --> 00:27:29,302
goal is is because we've got a couple more shows coming
321
00:27:29,302 --> 00:27:36,622
up and the big plan is because it's such a pain in the ass to set up all this
322
00:27:36,622 --> 00:27:41,362
recording and then tear down for shows it's it's such a hassle so So our plan
323
00:27:41,362 --> 00:27:46,442
is to play the shows and then for the winter,
324
00:27:46,582 --> 00:27:51,542
because we don't have any booked then, to record during the winter so that we
325
00:27:51,542 --> 00:27:53,822
can get the same sound, same sonics, same everything.
326
00:27:53,982 --> 00:27:59,402
Kind of like a regular recording process for an album. Cool. Very cool.
327
00:27:59,862 --> 00:28:03,682
But we don't have one in the pipes? We do. We do. Which one is it?
328
00:28:03,782 --> 00:28:07,842
I have a one-tone drum. So that one's finished and ready to go, basically.
329
00:28:09,222 --> 00:28:15,062
Very soon, maybe. be so soon yeah so if you guys let me know when that might
330
00:28:15,062 --> 00:28:20,162
happen we could probably coordinate where this episode comes out around the
331
00:28:20,162 --> 00:28:25,262
same time that single comes out to kind of help you promote that so yeah just
332
00:28:25,262 --> 00:28:27,562
shoot me an email when you think that's going to happen and then,
333
00:28:28,142 --> 00:28:33,382
we'll we'll try to get this all together at the same time for the last question
334
00:28:33,382 --> 00:28:38,162
i have for you guys is there any gigs that you have been at that made a major
335
00:28:38,162 --> 00:28:40,162
impression on you either as As a performer.
336
00:28:40,702 --> 00:28:43,622
Or as an audience member. Watching someone perform.
337
00:28:44,082 --> 00:28:49,562
Are you talking like local scene shows. Or just like. Overall just experience doesn't matter.
338
00:28:50,582 --> 00:28:53,662
Well I. I'm a big fan of.
339
00:28:55,631 --> 00:29:02,331
I hate this word like punk rock shit and the funny thing I'm in this band something
340
00:29:02,331 --> 00:29:05,791
that kind of stick out like slits off but I you're a girl.
341
00:29:07,631 --> 00:29:16,111
We're so right I but I went to I've gone to so many shows like that and that's where I,
342
00:29:16,891 --> 00:29:19,871
just love that environment of like
343
00:29:19,871 --> 00:29:23,091
just people playing their little hearts out that's
344
00:29:23,091 --> 00:29:26,231
just so cute and I love it so much and I
345
00:29:26,231 --> 00:29:29,171
just like loud okay and like I went to
346
00:29:29,171 --> 00:29:31,931
a band I've gone to so many shows with
347
00:29:31,931 --> 00:29:35,071
my dad we've seen a band called the circle jerks okay
348
00:29:35,071 --> 00:29:38,171
one of my favorite bands of all time um I've
349
00:29:38,171 --> 00:29:41,051
seen them twice and the way that they play
350
00:29:41,051 --> 00:29:44,151
and their entire philosophy is
351
00:29:44,151 --> 00:29:47,131
like what I want to do it's just so much they
352
00:29:47,131 --> 00:29:50,411
just never grew up and they're like an 80s punk band
353
00:29:50,411 --> 00:29:53,531
right cool cool cool anybody else
354
00:29:53,531 --> 00:29:56,311
i mean me and you went to go see king diz
355
00:29:56,311 --> 00:29:59,811
over the summer yeah man man like
356
00:29:59,811 --> 00:30:06,171
it's just just go go go the whole time it's just their stage presence is just
357
00:30:06,171 --> 00:30:11,851
unmatched the sound quality was amazing i will say though i saw we saw them
358
00:30:11,851 --> 00:30:16,611
in june in chicago and that was great and And they've put out a lot of music.
359
00:30:17,311 --> 00:30:19,231
But I saw them in 2019.
360
00:30:19,951 --> 00:30:24,851
And I didn't have any fucking clue who they were. And I had never listened.
361
00:30:24,931 --> 00:30:27,511
Or I had listened to one album called Fishing for Fishies.
362
00:30:27,851 --> 00:30:34,051
But I barely knew who they were. I didn't know anything about them. And that was better.
363
00:30:35,131 --> 00:30:37,651
I like that. I like that one better. Because that was my first.
364
00:30:37,691 --> 00:30:39,411
You saw them on the Rat's Nest tour, right?
365
00:30:39,491 --> 00:30:43,171
I saw them a week after they released Infest the Rat's Nest.
366
00:30:43,391 --> 00:30:44,631
Though I had not heard it.
367
00:30:45,451 --> 00:30:49,091
It had just come out and they were, they were finally starting to play it. Cool.
368
00:30:50,151 --> 00:30:51,291
That's that's my view.
369
00:30:53,353 --> 00:30:56,933
I would say for a show that we played, for me and you at least,
370
00:30:57,013 --> 00:31:00,793
I would say that first creative show we did in a club playing.
371
00:31:00,953 --> 00:31:04,653
Oh, you're talking about Green Park. That made a big impact.
372
00:31:05,013 --> 00:31:11,713
My bad. That made a big impact on you too. Just the rush you get from playing that.
373
00:31:12,613 --> 00:31:16,753
I mean, I've seen I saw the OCs live.
374
00:31:17,193 --> 00:31:20,873
I've seen them twice now. And again, just like the go, go, go.
375
00:31:21,073 --> 00:31:24,093
Just balls to the walls for two hours and there's
376
00:31:24,093 --> 00:31:26,953
again stage presence lights sound quality
377
00:31:26,953 --> 00:31:30,153
and i'm a big polyphia fan
378
00:31:30,153 --> 00:31:33,813
and i just i went to go see them wednesday in
379
00:31:33,813 --> 00:31:40,333
milwaukee and then thursday in chicago but just the the amount of musicianship
380
00:31:40,333 --> 00:31:45,733
and the amount of talent in that band it really inspires me and the community
381
00:31:45,733 --> 00:31:51,133
too it just inspires me to be a better person what's the last thing that you
382
00:31:51,133 --> 00:31:53,233
you want the listeners to know about like your social media,
383
00:31:53,313 --> 00:31:57,313
where can they find you and things of that nature? Find us Instagram, Spotify.
384
00:31:58,113 --> 00:32:03,353
Those are the main two that we're on and give our songs a list. Yeah.
385
00:32:04,333 --> 00:32:08,193
That's all we can really ask. Awesome. Well, thank you guys so much for being
386
00:32:08,193 --> 00:32:09,393
on the Wisconsin music podcast.
387
00:32:09,553 --> 00:32:13,933
It was cool to hear about how you guys started, what you're working on and your
388
00:32:13,933 --> 00:32:15,893
future stuff. So thank you so much for being on the show.
389
00:32:16,393 --> 00:32:21,313
Thank you. Yeah. This was fun, man. Cool. We'll be right back.
390
00:32:21,200 --> 00:36:47,920
Music.
391
00:36:47,764 --> 00:36:50,784
Episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast. Once again, I'm Zach Fell,
392
00:36:50,864 --> 00:36:54,544
your host and creator of the Wisconsin Music Podcast, where I love to amplify
393
00:36:54,544 --> 00:36:57,964
the great sounds coming out of the Wisconsin State.
394
00:36:58,024 --> 00:37:01,464
We have great talent here, great support, great listeners.
395
00:37:01,904 --> 00:37:07,384
Thanks to Fox City's Indie Radio for syndicating this on Thursdays and Sundays,
396
00:37:07,464 --> 00:37:08,984
along with their other great programmers.
397
00:37:09,024 --> 00:37:11,784
So make sure you check out the Fox City's Indie Radio.
398
00:37:12,004 --> 00:37:17,124
And thanks to this week's guest, Nuke Plant Chickens, for being on the show.
399
00:37:17,764 --> 00:37:21,844
Check out their music on streaming and on Reverb Nation.
400
00:37:22,204 --> 00:37:26,944
And check out their gig coming up this Friday at McAuliffe's in Racine, Wisconsin.
401
00:37:27,584 --> 00:37:32,404
If you'd like to be on the show, just go to wisconsinmusicpodcast.com,
402
00:37:32,484 --> 00:37:37,344
fill out the guest request form up at the top, ask for your email and your name,
403
00:37:37,424 --> 00:37:41,184
and then I'll send you an auto email asking you for more information.
404
00:37:41,604 --> 00:37:45,764
If you are enjoying these episodes, please consider donating to the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
405
00:37:46,304 --> 00:37:50,484
Donations help pay for the website and putting the podcast up on streaming services
406
00:37:50,484 --> 00:37:55,104
and also getting our name out there to all Wisconsinites and others that are
407
00:37:55,104 --> 00:37:57,504
interested in our great music here in Wisconsin.
408
00:37:58,044 --> 00:38:01,924
Donations are secured through PayPal and Stripe. All you have to do is go to
409
00:38:01,924 --> 00:38:04,804
the website and click on Donate to WMP.
410
00:38:05,544 --> 00:38:09,624
You can also head over to our Instagram and Facebook pages and like us there.
411
00:38:09,864 --> 00:38:15,084
Leave some comments. Also, go to the podcast review section of your podcast
412
00:38:15,084 --> 00:38:17,504
player and leave a five-star review. It would be great.
413
00:38:18,204 --> 00:38:21,924
You can also head over to YouTube and watch the interviews and leave comments
414
00:38:21,924 --> 00:38:25,124
there as well. Have a great week, everybody, and we'll see you next time.
Tuesday Mar 19, 2024
Tuesday Mar 19, 2024
WISCONSIN MUSIC PODCAST
WMP Linktree: https://linktr.ee/WI_Music_Podcast
AMPLFYING WISCONSIN MUSIC
Elysian Stew
EPISODE 139
Welcome back to another riveting episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast, where we unveil Wisconsin's vibrant musical landscape by showcasing its numerous talents. Today, we host the captivating instrumental guitar virtuoso, Pat Zyduck, also known as Elysian Stew. Renowned for his unique blend of diverse musical elements, Pat melds the old and new, crafting a captivating auditory tapestry.
Join us on a fascinating journey, charting the course of Pat's musical saga—from his first encounter with the guitar, the eccentric teaching methods of his father, his hiatus in military service, to his enthralling return to the music scene. He further shares his intriguing experiences of transforming life's adversities into potent musical inspiration and the compelling backstory behind his album's title.
Along with dipping into Pat's musical voyage, get set to delve into the compelling narrative behind his favorite song, 'Low-Flying Owls,' and the unconventional circumstances that bestowed it with its peculiar name. Candid discussions about maintaining work-life harmony as a musician, arranging gigs that complement his instrumental style, and dealing with harsh criticism provide a comprehensive picture of a musician's life.
Pat shares valuable insights into his influences, musical explorations, and recording studio experiences, and talks about the crucial role played by his wife, his ongoing projects, and his plans for future performances. Tune in to unravel the artistry of Elysian Stew, understand his musical style better, and discover the vibrancy of Wisconsin's music scene.
"I've always been drawn to the raw honesty of music. It's a way to express emotions that words alone can't capture," reflects Elysian Stew, offering listeners a glimpse into the soul of his artistry.
"There's something magical about tapping into the essence of a moment and translating it into music. It's like capturing lightning in a bottle," he muses, his words resonating with the universal language of music.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcript:
1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,280
Music.
2
00:00:11,749 --> 00:00:14,789
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Wisconsin Music Podcast,
3
00:00:14,949 --> 00:00:19,129
your go-to destination for discovering the incredible musical tapestry woven
4
00:00:19,129 --> 00:00:20,989
by the talented artists of the Badger State.
5
00:00:21,109 --> 00:00:24,329
Today we have a special treat for your ears as we sit down with the master of
6
00:00:24,329 --> 00:00:28,809
the instrumental guitar, none other than the enigmatic Pat Zydek,
7
00:00:28,949 --> 00:00:33,349
better known on stage as the sonic storyteller Elysian Stew.
8
00:00:33,769 --> 00:00:36,769
Did I say all that correctly so far? You did, yeah. Excellent. in
9
00:00:36,769 --> 00:00:40,089
this episode we'll delve into the artistry of
10
00:00:40,089 --> 00:00:43,269
pat zidek a musician who skillfully combines fragments
11
00:00:43,269 --> 00:00:46,829
of musical influences to craft his sonic stew that is
12
00:00:46,829 --> 00:00:51,169
both nostalgic and contemporary with a mission to invoke emotions each composition
13
00:00:51,169 --> 00:00:55,429
is a journey through the forest of feelings a testament to the profound impact
14
00:00:55,429 --> 00:01:00,049
music can have on our souls but wait there's more pat zidek has just released
15
00:01:00,049 --> 00:01:04,729
a brand new album and it's titled driving the desert to burn a million dollars.
16
00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:53,040
Music.
17
00:01:10,349 --> 00:01:16,689
© transcript Emily Beynon.
18
00:01:51,749 --> 00:01:54,789
You can find this captivating musical experience on
19
00:01:54,789 --> 00:01:57,689
all major streaming platforms youtube itunes and more so
20
00:01:57,689 --> 00:02:00,669
get ready to immerse yourself in the enchanting melodies and
21
00:02:00,669 --> 00:02:03,649
tales of elysian stew do stay tuned to the wisconsin music
22
00:02:03,649 --> 00:02:06,589
podcast where we celebrate the sounds that make our steak
23
00:02:06,589 --> 00:02:10,129
unique one artist at a time so pat welcome
24
00:02:10,129 --> 00:02:13,109
to the wisconsin music podcast thank you
25
00:02:13,109 --> 00:02:15,949
thank you thank you very much for having me this is quite an honor i
26
00:02:15,949 --> 00:02:18,889
appreciate it well thank you so much for being on so let's
27
00:02:18,889 --> 00:02:21,729
get listeners introduced to you kind of give them a summary of
28
00:02:21,729 --> 00:02:25,289
your music origin story yeah so
29
00:02:25,289 --> 00:02:28,489
basically i've been playing guitar most of
30
00:02:28,489 --> 00:02:32,009
my life my father was was a professional musician so he
31
00:02:32,009 --> 00:02:35,749
started me when I was four okay pretty much
32
00:02:35,749 --> 00:02:38,569
had hopes and dreams of you know making it big and everything
33
00:02:38,569 --> 00:02:41,409
and those were dashed at the age of
34
00:02:41,409 --> 00:02:44,749
17 thanks to my father which is an interesting story I
35
00:02:44,749 --> 00:02:48,669
wasn't wasn't done maliciously it was done to let me realize that I wasn't good
36
00:02:48,669 --> 00:02:55,269
enough okay and at that point it was okay now I have to come up with a plan
37
00:02:55,269 --> 00:02:58,589
b because I didn't have a plan b before I was just it was going to be music
38
00:02:58,589 --> 00:03:01,369
or nothing and and realized that music wasn't going to work.
39
00:03:01,449 --> 00:03:03,049
So I came up with a plan B, joined the military.
40
00:03:03,509 --> 00:03:05,629
I got to travel the world for a number of years.
41
00:03:06,109 --> 00:03:10,589
Met a girl, got married, settled down, had a family. Music kind of fell by the wayside.
42
00:03:11,355 --> 00:03:17,395
Fast forward 20 years, that marriage ended, and my sister, who is probably one
43
00:03:17,395 --> 00:03:21,455
of my biggest fans, told me that I needed to start playing again, basically.
44
00:03:21,715 --> 00:03:26,035
A year later, I released my first album, and it was all songs written while
45
00:03:26,035 --> 00:03:28,775
I was going through a divorce, so they were very angry songs.
46
00:03:30,355 --> 00:03:33,555
A few years after that, well, about a year and a half after that,
47
00:03:33,595 --> 00:03:39,115
actually, I released a second EP entitled Tuwache Vida, which was songs I had
48
00:03:39,115 --> 00:03:40,995
written about genocide in Africa.
49
00:03:41,455 --> 00:03:43,755
Something that was pretty near and dear to my heart.
50
00:03:44,655 --> 00:03:48,655
And then I joined a band. I was hired gun guitar player,
51
00:03:48,775 --> 00:03:53,215
played with them for about six years and I was having a blast and everything,
52
00:03:53,315 --> 00:03:56,695
but it got to be a little much, you know, everybody in the band was working
53
00:03:56,695 --> 00:04:01,255
full-time day jobs and the band was starting to have a little bit of success,
54
00:04:01,335 --> 00:04:03,735
but not enough that any of us could quit our jobs.
55
00:04:04,035 --> 00:04:08,555
Okay. So, so I said, I was getting a little burned out. So I said basically
56
00:04:08,555 --> 00:04:10,875
that I needed a brief hiatus.
57
00:04:11,355 --> 00:04:15,575
And that hiatus actually, which was going to originally be a month or two,
58
00:04:15,615 --> 00:04:17,555
turned into 12 years. Oh, wow.
59
00:04:17,915 --> 00:04:19,975
Yeah, yeah. Pretty, pretty surprising.
60
00:04:20,535 --> 00:04:26,595
But then the pandemic happened and my full-time day job, I was out and about.
61
00:04:26,675 --> 00:04:29,235
I worked through a whole pandemic, which was pretty stressful.
62
00:04:29,755 --> 00:04:34,435
And when things started coming out of that, I realized I was in kind of a bad place mentally.
63
00:04:34,895 --> 00:04:38,795
So I decided I was going to start playing music again, just for my own personal
64
00:04:38,795 --> 00:04:42,455
therapy. You know, just it was something I enjoyed, something I loved,
65
00:04:42,455 --> 00:04:46,555
and it was something that took my mind off of everything else that was going on.
66
00:04:46,755 --> 00:04:50,815
And so I had absolutely no intention of getting back into the scene.
67
00:04:51,295 --> 00:04:55,475
But as I started playing, you know, and I was playing when we're kids,
68
00:04:55,655 --> 00:04:59,015
we play for the pure enjoyment and for the innocence of it, you know.
69
00:04:59,215 --> 00:05:02,455
So that was kind of the mindset I was going to bring into it this time.
70
00:05:02,695 --> 00:05:08,795
And I was I was playing for just for the pure enjoyment. And but before long, my muse showed up.
71
00:05:09,275 --> 00:05:11,975
And kind of smacked me in the back of the head and said oh
72
00:05:11,975 --> 00:05:15,435
welcome back i got a whole bunch of songs for you to write now and
73
00:05:15,435 --> 00:05:18,475
i started creating and i
74
00:05:18,475 --> 00:05:21,275
realized well what good are these songs if
75
00:05:21,275 --> 00:05:25,115
nobody's ever going to hear them i was really proud of them and decided all
76
00:05:25,115 --> 00:05:29,375
right well i guess i'm going to release an album and here we are back in the
77
00:05:29,375 --> 00:05:33,955
scene a lot a lot deeper than i had planned on going but yeah of it you know
78
00:05:33,955 --> 00:05:39,175
excellent so what what was what is your muse that made you really get back into this.
79
00:05:39,775 --> 00:05:41,335
Well, it's funny, but she just
80
00:05:41,335 --> 00:05:45,795
kind of showed up one day and I don't know who she is. I call her a she.
81
00:05:45,955 --> 00:05:48,715
I've never seen her or anything, but it's just.
82
00:05:49,723 --> 00:05:53,603
It's kind of a cliche when we talk to certain musicians about,
83
00:05:53,683 --> 00:05:57,963
they say, oh, well, the song was just floating in the universe and it just found
84
00:05:57,963 --> 00:06:00,023
me and filtered itself out through me.
85
00:06:00,203 --> 00:06:03,923
But a lot of the songs on this record, that's kind of the way they came.
86
00:06:04,203 --> 00:06:08,383
Just started noodling in the studio, playing around and all of a sudden the
87
00:06:08,383 --> 00:06:10,923
melody came and I'd build off of that and build off of that.
88
00:06:11,023 --> 00:06:12,243
And next thing I knew, I had a song.
89
00:06:12,663 --> 00:06:19,403
There are a couple on the album that were written for a specific purpose, like Russian warship.
90
00:06:19,483 --> 00:06:24,863
That one was, I don't know if you're familiar with the story of the Ukrainian
91
00:06:24,863 --> 00:06:26,643
soldiers on Snake Island, Ukraine.
92
00:06:27,123 --> 00:06:32,903
After Russians invaded Ukraine, a Russian warship basically told them they needed
93
00:06:32,903 --> 00:06:35,223
to surrender or they would be attacked.
94
00:06:35,663 --> 00:06:39,923
And the Ukrainians, in no uncertain terms, told the Russians where to go.
95
00:06:40,483 --> 00:06:46,883
So I wrote that song with trying to envision some of the emotions that the ukrainian
96
00:06:46,883 --> 00:06:50,563
soldiers were feeling while they were waiting for the russians to attack,
97
00:06:51,123 --> 00:06:54,823
gotcha that's that's where that song came from okay but
98
00:06:54,823 --> 00:06:58,203
like unquiet ghost i was just rehearsing to
99
00:06:58,203 --> 00:07:00,983
do a show and this melody just popped
100
00:07:00,983 --> 00:07:03,743
into my head and i started playing it and inside of 10
101
00:07:03,743 --> 00:07:06,443
minutes i had the song and there's there's a
102
00:07:06,443 --> 00:07:09,343
line in a josh ritter song called the bone
103
00:07:09,343 --> 00:07:12,363
of song where the song is basically about finding
104
00:07:12,363 --> 00:07:15,443
a bone in the woods and there are lyrics engraved on
105
00:07:15,443 --> 00:07:18,163
the bone and if you find the bone and put it back it will give you a
106
00:07:18,163 --> 00:07:23,043
song but there's a line in there it says lucky are you who finds me in the wilderness
107
00:07:23,043 --> 00:07:28,083
for i am the only unquiet ghost that does not seek rest and i wrote this song
108
00:07:28,083 --> 00:07:31,963
and it was like where did that come from it's like i have no idea where it came
109
00:07:31,963 --> 00:07:37,763
from but i figured the unquiet ghost brought it to me so that's what i titled it was unquiet ghost.
110
00:07:38,640 --> 00:09:46,000
Music.
111
00:09:46,464 --> 00:09:51,184
Cool. Very cool. So do you think some of this has to do with your military experience?
112
00:09:52,264 --> 00:09:58,984
This particular record? Probably not. No. A lot of these were just songs that
113
00:09:58,984 --> 00:10:00,984
just kind of came to me as I was playing around.
114
00:10:01,224 --> 00:10:04,944
And it's like, ooh, what was that? I'd build off of it and things like that.
115
00:10:04,964 --> 00:10:09,244
Nothing on the album is specifically related to my military experience,
116
00:10:09,244 --> 00:10:14,464
because that was a long time ago so kind
117
00:10:14,464 --> 00:10:17,224
of diving back into a recap of everything that you've
118
00:10:17,224 --> 00:10:20,284
said so far you said back when you were 17 your dad
119
00:10:20,284 --> 00:10:24,924
basically kind of showed you that in his own way that he felt that you weren't
120
00:10:24,924 --> 00:10:28,844
able to become a professional musician as this was going to become your profession
121
00:10:28,844 --> 00:10:34,144
as listeners are out there what do you think your dad was right about that made
122
00:10:34,144 --> 00:10:36,504
sure that that was the actual path
123
00:10:36,504 --> 00:10:39,424
for you to take was not to become a professional musician at that time?
124
00:10:39,764 --> 00:10:42,964
Well, it's not that he didn't want me to be a professional musician.
125
00:10:43,204 --> 00:10:47,384
He knew I wasn't good enough at that point. And the way he drilled that into
126
00:10:47,384 --> 00:10:51,064
my head was I came home from school one day and he said to me,
127
00:10:51,124 --> 00:10:53,664
he said, so what's your plan? You're not doing great in school.
128
00:10:53,844 --> 00:10:56,744
You're probably not going to go on to college. So what is your plan?
129
00:10:56,884 --> 00:11:00,024
And I said, well, I'm going to go to Nashville. My dad was big in the country
130
00:11:00,024 --> 00:11:02,584
music world. And he said, do you think you're good enough?
131
00:11:02,804 --> 00:11:05,524
And I said, yeah. My dad was the guy on the side of the stage,
132
00:11:05,644 --> 00:11:06,764
the hired gun and guitar guitar player.
133
00:11:06,964 --> 00:11:10,084
He played with some of the biggest names in country music in the 70s.
134
00:11:10,104 --> 00:11:11,704
And that's who I wanted to be.
135
00:11:11,844 --> 00:11:14,964
And he said, okay, cool. And he got up and walked out of the kitchen.
136
00:11:15,084 --> 00:11:18,984
And the next day I came home from school and there was an envelope on the table.
137
00:11:19,064 --> 00:11:23,164
I opened it up and there was $500 cash, Greyhound bus ticket,
138
00:11:23,264 --> 00:11:25,264
and a list of names and phone numbers.
139
00:11:25,584 --> 00:11:28,164
And he said, you're going to Nashville this weekend. And he said,
140
00:11:28,284 --> 00:11:32,064
all I want you to do is just spend the weekend walking up and down 16th Avenue,
141
00:11:32,224 --> 00:11:35,804
which at the time was the street all the major recording studios were on.
142
00:11:35,804 --> 00:11:38,964
And so I did that, you know, that was back in the days when you could send your
143
00:11:38,964 --> 00:11:42,804
17 year old boy off to a different state and not really have to worry about it too much.
144
00:11:42,924 --> 00:11:46,944
It didn't take me long to realize that these guys playing for change on the
145
00:11:46,944 --> 00:11:51,304
street corners weren't good enough to get jobs and they were a lot better than me.
146
00:11:51,424 --> 00:11:54,944
So it was kind of my dad's way of making me figure it out myself.
147
00:11:55,224 --> 00:11:58,964
So that's when I came home and said, well, I got to come up with a plan B.
148
00:11:59,624 --> 00:12:04,544
And and my i fully intended on pursuing music but you know life gets in the
149
00:12:04,544 --> 00:12:10,144
way a lot of times and things like that right okay no that that's a really interesting story it's like,
150
00:12:10,699 --> 00:12:13,619
Like you said, you know, if he would have just said, no, you're not good enough,
151
00:12:13,759 --> 00:12:16,999
you probably would have not listened to one word he said and,
152
00:12:16,999 --> 00:12:18,319
you know, fought against it.
153
00:12:18,499 --> 00:12:23,919
But your own experience, you went, okay, well, am I going to be dedicated enough
154
00:12:23,919 --> 00:12:25,259
to become better than these people?
155
00:12:25,379 --> 00:12:27,759
Yes or no. And obviously you made that decision.
156
00:12:28,339 --> 00:12:32,499
Yeah. Gotcha. Okay. Well, and he didn't, he didn't want to see me go down to
157
00:12:32,499 --> 00:12:35,059
Nashville and then, you know, be living on the street starving.
158
00:12:35,599 --> 00:12:40,239
Right. Exactly. When no parent wants to see that happen. They want to see their kids successful.
159
00:12:41,299 --> 00:12:44,179
Now, obviously, you were in the military.
160
00:12:44,419 --> 00:12:48,759
Did you do anything musical in the military, or was it something in a different
161
00:12:48,759 --> 00:12:52,639
branch of the military that you were a part of? Well, no, I was in the Coast Guard. Okay.
162
00:12:53,019 --> 00:12:56,099
And my first duty station was Kodiak Island, Alaska.
163
00:12:56,899 --> 00:13:01,499
And while I was there, I met a fellow banjo player. So we formed a little group
164
00:13:01,499 --> 00:13:03,539
and we did a cassette tape.
165
00:13:03,899 --> 00:13:07,539
We didn't know anything about vinyl pressing or anything at that time.
166
00:13:07,619 --> 00:13:08,939
So we went into the studio and
167
00:13:08,939 --> 00:13:12,979
recorded, I think, seven or eight songs and put them on a cassette tape.
168
00:13:13,499 --> 00:13:16,299
And it was just bluegrass covers, that kind of a thing.
169
00:13:16,339 --> 00:13:19,539
It was just guitar and banjo. and during that experience
170
00:13:19,539 --> 00:13:22,339
in the studio it was like okay i want to do more of this
171
00:13:22,339 --> 00:13:25,259
this was fun yeah you know we played played
172
00:13:25,259 --> 00:13:28,239
some shows on the base and there wasn't a whole lot to
173
00:13:28,239 --> 00:13:33,539
do in the city of kodiak it's a city of 5 000 people and probably 4 000 of them
174
00:13:33,539 --> 00:13:37,539
are commercial fishermen and so you know the the bars get kind of rowdy when
175
00:13:37,539 --> 00:13:43,299
the guys are in right yeah so there wasn't a whole lot of opportunities to play
176
00:13:43,299 --> 00:13:47,059
but we played some shows on the base at the officers club the enlisted men's
177
00:13:47,059 --> 00:13:48,119
club and things like that.
178
00:13:48,639 --> 00:13:51,859
And then from there, I got transferred to Two Rivers, Wisconsin,
179
00:13:52,419 --> 00:13:55,979
where I had joined a country band. I grew up country.
180
00:13:57,168 --> 00:14:01,388
I didn't even realize anything but country existed until I was 12 when my cousin
181
00:14:01,388 --> 00:14:05,108
played Here Comes the Sun for me by the Beatles and blew my mind. Yeah.
182
00:14:05,648 --> 00:14:11,568
But came back from Alaska, formed a country cover band, and did that for a little while.
183
00:14:11,728 --> 00:14:16,168
And then met a woman, got married, had a family, and wife kind of got in the way.
184
00:14:16,248 --> 00:14:21,328
So that was my first hiatus from music, which lasted almost 20 years.
185
00:14:21,548 --> 00:14:27,168
Yeah. And then around, if I'm figuring this out correctly, going backwards from
186
00:14:27,168 --> 00:14:28,008
what you talked about before,
187
00:14:28,788 --> 00:14:36,508
about mid-2000s, between 2000 and 2010 is when you started your back to music
188
00:14:36,508 --> 00:14:38,328
with a band. Was that around that time?
189
00:14:39,348 --> 00:14:44,908
Yeah. Yeah. Let's see. What would that have been? Yeah, right around mids. Yeah. Yeah.
190
00:14:45,488 --> 00:14:49,688
And I started, you know, I started, I wrote my, my album, which is titled,
191
00:14:49,928 --> 00:14:53,448
I never want to meet another you. That's the one I wrote after I got divorced. Right.
192
00:14:53,948 --> 00:14:58,008
Gotcha. And the guy that owned the studio that I recorded that in,
193
00:14:58,068 --> 00:15:02,048
we ended up becoming really good friends and he invited me to join his band
194
00:15:02,048 --> 00:15:03,948
kind of as a hired gun guitar player.
195
00:15:04,348 --> 00:15:07,768
And I did that. It was a band out of Sheboygan called Icarus Drifting,
196
00:15:07,868 --> 00:15:13,128
which is the band is still around. They're called the Bellwether now. Oh, okay.
197
00:15:13,508 --> 00:15:18,128
Sure. Yeah. Yeah, Eric Cox and Thea, Marissa, and Corey.
198
00:15:18,468 --> 00:15:24,388
But yeah, so after Icarus kind of fell apart, Eric reformed Icarus into the bellwether.
199
00:15:24,528 --> 00:15:27,608
But I played with Eric and Icarus Drifting for about six years.
200
00:15:28,428 --> 00:15:33,648
And that's during that time I released my second album. And then we released an album as Icarus.
201
00:15:34,368 --> 00:15:39,308
Okay. So let's talk a little bit about this newest album that you recently released.
202
00:15:39,308 --> 00:15:43,668
Based um kind of give the listeners kind of like a the summary of from beginning
203
00:15:43,668 --> 00:15:48,408
to end how it started where you recorded it things you kind of learned from
204
00:15:48,408 --> 00:15:54,468
that process and the release story behind it yeah so i wrote these songs that
205
00:15:54,468 --> 00:15:57,628
you know over the course of about 16 or 18 months.
206
00:15:58,968 --> 00:16:03,548
And a friend of mine i live in fond du lac and a friend of mine owns a studio
207
00:16:03,548 --> 00:16:08,068
it's not a pro that's not his business but he you know he has a studio on the
208
00:16:08,068 --> 00:16:12,848
side he's a music teacher and things like that and he offered to record it for
209
00:16:12,848 --> 00:16:16,108
me so I took him up on it and just kind of,
210
00:16:16,628 --> 00:16:20,828
laid out the songs that I did and then you know picked the sequence that I wanted
211
00:16:20,828 --> 00:16:25,788
to put him in and one of the reviews that I got on the record said it's it's
212
00:16:25,788 --> 00:16:30,588
it's a journey going through the desert and seeing almost every single different
213
00:16:30,588 --> 00:16:34,788
terrain a desert would have to offer which is It's pretty interesting.
214
00:16:35,208 --> 00:16:38,228
The songs were not written to be grouped together.
215
00:16:38,688 --> 00:16:41,808
They weren't written specifically for this album.
216
00:16:41,868 --> 00:16:45,728
I would just write a song and log it. And then pretty soon I realized these
217
00:16:45,728 --> 00:16:49,348
songs all kind of go together with a little bit of variation.
218
00:16:49,488 --> 00:16:51,628
So they don't all sound the same. Right.
219
00:16:52,857 --> 00:16:57,877
And the title came from something a woman said to me after a live show one time.
220
00:16:57,937 --> 00:17:02,177
She said, your music just makes me feel so carefree, like I want to drive through
221
00:17:02,177 --> 00:17:03,757
the desert to burn a million dollars.
222
00:17:03,917 --> 00:17:07,017
And I went, oh, I got to write that down. Yeah, definitely, definitely.
223
00:17:07,497 --> 00:17:10,597
Very catchy, very thought-provoking title.
224
00:17:11,277 --> 00:17:15,577
Now, the tunes that you had mentioned earlier, Russian and Ghost,
225
00:17:15,697 --> 00:17:16,657
are those part of that album?
226
00:17:17,137 --> 00:17:20,717
Yes, they're both on this album. Okay. It's Russian Worship,
227
00:17:20,837 --> 00:17:27,017
and there is another part to the name of that song, but it's got a bad word in it. Okay, gotcha.
228
00:17:28,377 --> 00:17:32,017
And then the other one is called Unquiet Ghost. Unquiet Ghost.
229
00:17:32,637 --> 00:17:37,857
My favorite song on the album is Low-Flying Owls, which was one of those songs.
230
00:17:37,857 --> 00:17:39,297
That just kind of came to me.
231
00:17:39,377 --> 00:17:45,897
I just wrote it one day, and I played it for my wife, and we're trying to come up with a title for it.
232
00:17:46,717 --> 00:17:49,537
Because a lot of times, you know, it's instrumental, there's no
233
00:17:49,537 --> 00:17:52,457
story right sometimes there's a story behind it but
234
00:17:52,457 --> 00:17:55,857
it may not be obvious to the listener because there's no words right
235
00:17:55,857 --> 00:17:59,937
so i try to either name
236
00:17:59,937 --> 00:18:04,177
the song after a feeling that the song may evoke or i go the complete opposite
237
00:18:04,177 --> 00:18:09,297
direction and just name it something really offbeat and off the wall and this
238
00:18:09,297 --> 00:18:12,777
one yeah i'd written the song and she said well let's just marinate on it for
239
00:18:12,777 --> 00:18:17,977
a few days and see if something doesn't come to us and we actually saw a road sign sign.
240
00:18:18,337 --> 00:18:22,357
And you know, those yellow diamond shaped signs like a deer crossing sign.
241
00:18:22,677 --> 00:18:26,097
And it said, caution, low flying owls.
242
00:18:26,757 --> 00:18:32,017
And my wife turned to me and looked at me and I had the song recorded and she's like, play that song.
243
00:18:32,357 --> 00:18:35,257
So I played it and she went, Oh my God, that's it. It's low.
244
00:18:35,397 --> 00:18:38,977
And she says, I just envisioned an owl just kind of soaring through the woods
245
00:18:38,977 --> 00:18:42,577
with its wings stretched out. And so that's what I titled it.
246
00:18:43,920 --> 00:21:37,840
Music.
247
00:21:37,688 --> 00:21:41,428
Obviously multiple different states and
248
00:21:41,428 --> 00:21:44,288
venues what can you kind of tell the listeners
249
00:21:44,288 --> 00:21:47,988
about your experience of the local attitude that
250
00:21:47,988 --> 00:21:50,768
you have experienced over the years that you have played out live
251
00:21:50,768 --> 00:21:53,668
good and bad well the the
252
00:21:53,668 --> 00:21:56,668
bad is the typical and i'm sure almost every musician out there
253
00:21:56,668 --> 00:21:59,388
will will agree with me when you know
254
00:21:59,388 --> 00:22:02,448
you show up to a gig and there's five people there and
255
00:22:02,448 --> 00:22:06,648
four of those five people are talking right
256
00:22:06,648 --> 00:22:09,368
you know and that's just part of it
257
00:22:09,368 --> 00:22:12,588
right but you know that it's there's that one person
258
00:22:12,588 --> 00:22:16,108
standing there paying attention and that's
259
00:22:16,108 --> 00:22:19,488
you know you got to bring your stadium show your a-game even if it's just one
260
00:22:19,488 --> 00:22:26,828
person you know well the good stuff is is far outweighs the bad of course but
261
00:22:26,828 --> 00:22:31,928
it's it's like one of the best experiences that ever happened to me after a
262
00:22:31,928 --> 00:22:34,688
live show and during a live show actually is i have a song,
263
00:22:35,428 --> 00:22:41,408
i wrote called river of souls and it's about genocide in africa it's a pretty dark heavy song.
264
00:22:42,228 --> 00:22:48,668
But i was playing a small coffee shop in cheboygan and i saw a woman in the
265
00:22:48,668 --> 00:22:53,588
audience just happened to notice she was crying i mean i'm like you know bawling
266
00:22:53,588 --> 00:22:56,888
ugly crying and we made eye eye contact.
267
00:22:57,168 --> 00:23:00,428
And she got up and ran into the bathroom while I'm on stage playing the song,
268
00:23:00,608 --> 00:23:03,128
looking at her husband who was sitting next to her thinking,
269
00:23:03,308 --> 00:23:04,648
well, you jerk, what'd you say to her?
270
00:23:04,768 --> 00:23:09,328
You know, and finished out the show.
271
00:23:09,408 --> 00:23:13,888
And she came up to me after the show and she says, I've never been moved so
272
00:23:13,888 --> 00:23:16,228
much in my life as I have from that song.
273
00:23:16,748 --> 00:23:19,948
And I said, you were crying because of my song. She goes, yes.
274
00:23:20,328 --> 00:23:22,528
And I was like, okay, I can retire now.
275
00:23:23,568 --> 00:23:26,388
It's like I touched somebody that deeply that
276
00:23:26,388 --> 00:23:29,248
i made her ugly cry right right i mean
277
00:23:29,248 --> 00:23:32,428
that's that it's a highlight for
278
00:23:32,428 --> 00:23:36,208
sure right it's it's something that an artist wants some
279
00:23:36,208 --> 00:23:39,028
kind of emotion evoked from something
280
00:23:39,028 --> 00:23:42,868
that they're doing either from a painting or a picture or a musical composition
281
00:23:42,868 --> 00:23:48,268
just know that they can you know touch somebody with a human emotion with what
282
00:23:48,268 --> 00:23:51,348
they're doing then that lets them know that they're on the right track of what
283
00:23:51,348 --> 00:23:56,348
they're trying to accomplish well even the negative stuff, you know, is okay a lot of times.
284
00:23:56,428 --> 00:24:00,188
I had a song on my first record called why, and it was rather political and,
285
00:24:01,112 --> 00:24:04,372
And I was playing it one day, and apparently this gentleman in the audience
286
00:24:04,372 --> 00:24:06,732
had an opposite political opinion of mine.
287
00:24:07,152 --> 00:24:10,472
And he got up, and he gave me the finger, and he walked out.
288
00:24:10,572 --> 00:24:11,912
And it's like, okay, that's fine.
289
00:24:12,252 --> 00:24:16,052
And then a woman came up to me afterwards, and she said, I'm sorry that you
290
00:24:16,052 --> 00:24:18,772
had to deal with that. I said, I'm not. She goes, well, why not?
291
00:24:18,852 --> 00:24:19,912
I said, it's perfectly fine.
292
00:24:20,132 --> 00:24:22,052
My song elicited a reaction.
293
00:24:22,352 --> 00:24:26,012
I would rather get a negative reaction than no reaction. Right.
294
00:24:27,272 --> 00:24:29,972
At least he was listening. Yeah, exactly.
295
00:24:31,432 --> 00:24:34,772
Told me a lot right exactly so we've
296
00:24:34,772 --> 00:24:38,732
talked about the local scene we've talked about your current project now
297
00:24:38,732 --> 00:24:42,492
obviously you talked about being divorced but it also sounds like you're remarried
298
00:24:42,492 --> 00:24:47,032
is your wife now is she a musician as well or is she just a really good music
299
00:24:47,032 --> 00:24:53,352
lover she's a music lover she is an artist but she's a graphic designer so which
300
00:24:53,352 --> 00:24:57,952
is great because she does does all the artwork for my albums, everything like that.
301
00:24:59,392 --> 00:25:04,132
So yeah, kind of a built-in art director. But no, she's a music lover for sure.
302
00:25:04,352 --> 00:25:10,932
And we go see a lot of shows together and pretty diverse as far as our tastes.
303
00:25:11,352 --> 00:25:15,632
You know, like two weeks ago, we were in Milwaukee at Pfizer to see Tool.
304
00:25:15,932 --> 00:25:21,912
And then the very next night, we were in Madison to see a Ukrainian folk band called Daka Bruka.
305
00:25:22,872 --> 00:25:28,192
Fantastic, fantastic. Yeah, it's good to explore all the different types of
306
00:25:28,192 --> 00:25:30,692
music out there, especially when, like you.
307
00:25:31,873 --> 00:25:34,213
Where you just started out, you didn't think there was anything besides country
308
00:25:34,213 --> 00:25:35,073
out there till you were 12.
309
00:25:35,553 --> 00:25:38,593
Now you're exploring all this different kinds of music. And I think it just
310
00:25:38,593 --> 00:25:41,853
makes you a better, not just a better musician, but just makes you a better
311
00:25:41,853 --> 00:25:45,333
person overall, just to experience all these different kinds of music out there.
312
00:25:45,553 --> 00:25:49,673
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And, you know, and I draw a little influence from certain things.
313
00:25:50,093 --> 00:25:53,613
I was just playing the other day in the studio and I have a loop pedal that I play with.
314
00:25:53,713 --> 00:25:57,173
I don't do a lot with it live, but just started this little riff and it was
315
00:25:57,173 --> 00:26:00,193
like, that sounds kind of tool-like. So I just built off of it.
316
00:26:00,413 --> 00:26:03,473
Nice. you know and it's just had i
317
00:26:03,473 --> 00:26:06,333
not been exposed to that music i probably never would have done that right
318
00:26:06,333 --> 00:26:09,473
yeah i like to expose myself to a lot of different styles and
319
00:26:09,473 --> 00:26:12,653
genres now one of
320
00:26:12,653 --> 00:26:16,113
the questions i ask is about like work life balance you haven't really said
321
00:26:16,113 --> 00:26:20,973
you're retired or not but do you have like a work life balance difficulty or
322
00:26:20,973 --> 00:26:25,413
is it kind of pretty much you're you got a good balance going there i think
323
00:26:25,413 --> 00:26:31,573
it's it's probably it's pretty decent i mean it's work Work definitely is the predominant.
324
00:26:31,573 --> 00:26:35,613
I do have a day job predominant factor in my life right now.
325
00:26:35,933 --> 00:26:41,553
I work 10 hour days and I have a almost hour drive to and from work.
326
00:26:41,673 --> 00:26:44,853
So I've got, yeah, I live in Fidelac. I work in Appleton.
327
00:26:45,313 --> 00:26:48,553
So it's 47 miles from my house to my job.
328
00:26:48,973 --> 00:26:55,433
So I do spend a lot of time in work mode. You know, I come home and try,
329
00:26:55,573 --> 00:26:59,633
you know, like Mondays and Tuesdays, I'm done earlier than I am on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
330
00:26:59,633 --> 00:27:04,373
So I have time to play after work and things like that on Wednesdays and Thursdays,
331
00:27:04,373 --> 00:27:08,793
I get a little bit of time in the morning to play, but my wife does work Fridays.
332
00:27:08,893 --> 00:27:10,853
So Friday is kind of my day.
333
00:27:12,293 --> 00:27:16,533
It's my day to just do what I need to do and what I want to do and things like that.
334
00:27:16,613 --> 00:27:19,113
And then come the weekend, if we don't have anything going on,
335
00:27:19,133 --> 00:27:23,493
then I go into studio and, you know, play some more or it's,
336
00:27:23,533 --> 00:27:27,853
it's pretty rare that we don't have something going on. at least one of the days on the weekend.
337
00:27:28,795 --> 00:27:34,015
Are you going out and still performing with the new album? Are you getting good
338
00:27:34,015 --> 00:27:36,315
feedback? What's the deal on that?
339
00:27:36,595 --> 00:27:42,495
Yeah, I'm in booking mode right now. I've got a show booked at Oak Brewing in West Allis in April.
340
00:27:42,635 --> 00:27:46,115
It's one of the Amplified Artist Sessions that they do there.
341
00:27:46,835 --> 00:27:51,335
And right now, I'm... So being an instrumental artist, you know,
342
00:27:51,375 --> 00:27:57,895
I'm definitely not a bar scene kind of a guy. So my stuff just is not made for
343
00:27:57,895 --> 00:27:59,815
that particular type of venue.
344
00:28:00,175 --> 00:28:06,035
So I'm trying to find, you know, wine bars or maybe smaller places to play there.
345
00:28:06,415 --> 00:28:10,275
My wife and I happen to love the Door County areas and there's a lot of places
346
00:28:10,275 --> 00:28:12,275
up there. So I'm doing some bookings up there.
347
00:28:12,615 --> 00:28:15,435
There are some places in Sheboygan, you know, I'm trying to,
348
00:28:15,435 --> 00:28:19,755
trying to stick within an hour or two of my house, maybe two and a half if it's,
349
00:28:19,755 --> 00:28:20,955
if it's a really cool place.
350
00:28:20,955 --> 00:28:23,775
Uh but that's not to say i wouldn't take
351
00:28:23,775 --> 00:28:26,915
a you know if somebody booked me a great show in minneapolis or
352
00:28:26,915 --> 00:28:29,855
chicago i'd definitely jump all over it right right
353
00:28:29,855 --> 00:28:32,735
but yeah i'm i'm in i'm in hardcore booking mode right
354
00:28:32,735 --> 00:28:35,395
now and then is there
355
00:28:35,395 --> 00:28:39,535
any gigs i mean you talked about some gigs where you know you had some great
356
00:28:39,535 --> 00:28:44,695
emotional reaction from the audience was there one where you went and saw someone
357
00:28:44,695 --> 00:28:50,635
perform and had a great impression on you yeah so one of my wives and my both
358
00:28:50,635 --> 00:28:53,675
favorite artist is a guy out of Ireland named Damien Rice.
359
00:28:54,776 --> 00:29:00,416
He's a singer-songwriter, you know. I'm kind of reluctant to always say he's
360
00:29:00,416 --> 00:29:03,156
from Ireland because that immediately conjures up the image of,
361
00:29:03,236 --> 00:29:06,816
oh, he does Irish music, but he does not. He isn't a singer-songwriter. Right.
362
00:29:07,376 --> 00:29:09,036
But we've seen him a couple times,
363
00:29:09,216 --> 00:29:12,156
and we're actually going to see him in Chicago on the 1st of December.
364
00:29:12,956 --> 00:29:17,976
But he played the Auditorium Theater a few years ago, walked out on that stage,
365
00:29:18,016 --> 00:29:21,716
and I don't know what the capacity of the theater is. It's probably 6,000 or 8,000.
366
00:29:22,136 --> 00:29:24,936
But he walked out on that stage solo, solo just an
367
00:29:24,936 --> 00:29:28,096
acoustic guitar and that place fell silent
368
00:29:28,096 --> 00:29:31,336
for two hours i mean it was amazing
369
00:29:31,336 --> 00:29:34,616
i don't know how you do that one guy in acoustic guitar i'm
370
00:29:34,616 --> 00:29:41,016
working on figuring it out just yeah it's just like you're just mesmerized by
371
00:29:41,016 --> 00:29:46,256
someone that can go up there just them and an instrument and just control your
372
00:29:46,256 --> 00:29:48,076
attention for that amount of
373
00:29:48,076 --> 00:29:53,836
time it's just exactly yeah it's awe-inspiring and and And he's just so,
374
00:29:54,036 --> 00:29:57,416
I don't know if you're familiar with his music at all, but it's pretty deep, too.
375
00:29:58,036 --> 00:30:02,916
It's the type of music that you really should listen to. And most of his fans
376
00:30:02,916 --> 00:30:04,896
realize this, so most of them do.
377
00:30:05,696 --> 00:30:07,956
They're all in. Yeah.
378
00:30:09,416 --> 00:30:13,016
And that's definitely one of our favorites. And I would love to be able to figure
379
00:30:13,016 --> 00:30:15,556
out how to do what he did with that size audience.
380
00:30:16,916 --> 00:30:19,556
Yeah, you would think it's like a lot of
381
00:30:19,556 --> 00:30:22,556
those songs you would think that that artist does it means
382
00:30:22,556 --> 00:30:26,716
something to a lot of different people each one of those songs and it just everybody's
383
00:30:26,716 --> 00:30:32,456
there to experience that in a live setting right right well it's like dave growl
384
00:30:32,456 --> 00:30:36,996
the fool fighter said one time he said you can sing a song to 85 000 people
385
00:30:36,996 --> 00:30:42,436
and they will sing it back to you for 85 000 different reasons yep exactly exactly.
386
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:47,440
I'm pretty much out of questions. I mean, you've given us a lot of stuff to
387
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,320
ponder and think about and reflect on.
388
00:30:50,420 --> 00:30:54,000
Is there anything that you would like the listeners to know about before I let you go?
389
00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:57,680
Just check out the album. You know, it's available on most of the streaming
390
00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:02,560
platforms, Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music. It is on YouTube as well.
391
00:31:02,820 --> 00:31:07,560
If you don't have any, I'm finding a lot of my fans are of my age and a lot
392
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,120
of them don't have Spotify and things like that.
393
00:31:10,660 --> 00:31:13,540
So it's up on YouTube as well. but yeah just
394
00:31:13,540 --> 00:31:16,380
go check it out if you like it hop on over to
395
00:31:16,380 --> 00:31:19,420
itunes and you know click that old buy button that
396
00:31:19,420 --> 00:31:22,600
would be great there you go are you on um bandcamp as
397
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,580
well yep okay so i will put all
398
00:31:25,580 --> 00:31:28,860
your links into the description of this episode
399
00:31:28,860 --> 00:31:31,740
so people can just click on that and then go right to that
400
00:31:31,740 --> 00:31:34,440
and you know hopefully you know support you by
401
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:37,580
buying you know your music like you said on itunes or
402
00:31:37,580 --> 00:31:40,620
over at bandcamp so yeah yeah it
403
00:31:40,620 --> 00:31:43,760
is all of the socials and it's all under the elysian
404
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,560
stew okay that's yeah that's one
405
00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:49,340
more thing i was going to ask you but i forgot it's like where did that name come
406
00:31:49,340 --> 00:31:55,700
from so elysian means blissful or delightful which hopefully people will find
407
00:31:55,700 --> 00:32:02,200
my music and stew comes from a lot of my influences growing up i've taken little
408
00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,260
little bits and pieces and kind of all throwing them in the pot to come up with
409
00:32:05,260 --> 00:32:06,900
my own little stew of a style.
410
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:11,060
And I figured by doing that also, if I ever work with any other musicians,
411
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,060
they will just be added ingredients in the stew.
412
00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:18,640
Wonderful. Wonderful. Well, Pat, thank you so much for being on the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
413
00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:22,580
Like I said, it's been a pleasure talking with you, learning about your journey
414
00:32:22,580 --> 00:32:25,860
through music, and I hope the listeners enjoyed hearing this as well.
415
00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:29,660
Yeah, I do too. Thank you so much for having me. I greatly appreciate it.
416
00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:33,220
It's awesome what you do to help support Wisconsin musicians. That's great.
417
00:32:33,999 --> 00:32:38,739
And then that's it. So I'll do this stuff post editing and everything.
418
00:32:38,919 --> 00:32:42,019
And then I will let you know when this will go live. It'd probably be like,
419
00:32:42,519 --> 00:32:44,559
I'm thinking not till the early
420
00:32:44,559 --> 00:32:47,859
new year, like January, February is when this will probably come out.
421
00:32:47,939 --> 00:32:51,739
So, and like you said, you mentioned a gig in April. So people will catch that
422
00:32:51,739 --> 00:32:53,519
way before that happens.
423
00:32:53,699 --> 00:32:55,699
And then they can, you have a website.
424
00:32:56,259 --> 00:33:02,639
I don't have a website. No, I've just got, I've got the Instagram and my Facebook is under my name.
425
00:33:02,859 --> 00:33:08,999
Okay. I tried changing the name to Elysian stew and all these people kept sending
426
00:33:08,999 --> 00:33:10,779
me messages. Who are you? How do I know?
427
00:33:12,419 --> 00:33:15,519
Cause I have a lot of followers on Facebook and I thought it would be easier
428
00:33:15,519 --> 00:33:17,639
just to change my name and it will be to start over.
429
00:33:17,859 --> 00:33:23,339
Right. By that I realized that didn't work. So I just changed it back to my name. Gotcha. Okay.
430
00:33:23,799 --> 00:33:27,419
Well, Pat, once again, thank you so much for being on and looking forward to
431
00:33:27,419 --> 00:33:30,159
putting this all together for you and letting you know when it's ready to go.
432
00:33:30,479 --> 00:33:33,479
Sounds good. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Yep. Have a great evening.
433
00:33:33,679 --> 00:33:37,219
Thank you. You too. Well, thanks again for tuning in to another episode of the
434
00:33:37,219 --> 00:33:38,179
Wisconsin music podcast.
435
00:33:38,539 --> 00:33:42,339
Once again, I'm Zach Foe, your host and creator of the Wisconsin music podcast,
436
00:33:42,379 --> 00:33:47,019
where I love to amplify the great sounds coming out of the Wisconsin state.
437
00:33:47,059 --> 00:33:50,519
We have great talent here, great support, great listeners.
438
00:33:50,959 --> 00:33:56,399
Thanks to Fox cities, indie radio for syndicating this on Thursdays and Sundays,
439
00:33:56,479 --> 00:33:58,019
along with their other great programmers.
440
00:33:58,059 --> 00:34:02,239
So make sure you check out the Fox cities, indie radio. Thanks to our great
441
00:34:02,239 --> 00:34:06,439
guest this week, Elysian Stew, also known as Pat Zydek.
442
00:34:06,779 --> 00:34:11,519
Make sure you check out his newest recording, Driving Through the Desert to
443
00:34:11,519 --> 00:34:16,259
Burn a Million Dollars, available on most streaming sites and Bandcamp.
444
00:34:16,599 --> 00:34:21,439
If you'd like to be on the show, just go to wisconsinmusicpodcast.com,
445
00:34:21,539 --> 00:34:26,379
fill out the guest request form up at the top, ask for your email and your name,
446
00:34:26,479 --> 00:34:30,219
and then I'll send you an auto email asking you for more information.
447
00:34:30,839 --> 00:34:34,799
If you are enjoying these episodes, please consider donating to the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
448
00:34:35,319 --> 00:34:39,539
Donations help pay for the website and putting the podcast up on streaming services
449
00:34:39,539 --> 00:34:44,119
and also getting our name out there to all Wisconsinites and others that are
450
00:34:44,119 --> 00:34:46,539
interested in our great music here in Wisconsin.
451
00:34:47,059 --> 00:34:50,959
Donations are secured through PayPal and Stripe. All you have to do is go to
452
00:34:50,959 --> 00:34:53,839
the website and click on Donate to WMP.
453
00:34:54,559 --> 00:34:58,659
You can also head over to our Instagram and Facebook pages and like us there.
454
00:34:58,879 --> 00:35:04,459
Leave some comments. Also go to the podcast review section of your podcast player
455
00:35:04,459 --> 00:35:06,539
and leave a five-star review. It would be great.
456
00:35:07,219 --> 00:35:10,979
You can also head over to YouTube and watch the interviews and leave comments
457
00:35:10,979 --> 00:35:14,119
there as well. Have a great week, everybody, and we'll see you next time.
Tuesday Mar 12, 2024
Tuesday Mar 12, 2024
WISCONSIN MUSIC PODCAST
WMP Linktree: https://linktr.ee/WI_Music_Podcast
AMPLFYING WISCONSIN MUSIC
dak duBois
https://linktr.ee/dakdubois
EPISODE 138
Embark on a rhythmic journey with Milwaukee's own Dak Dubois on this latest episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast, hosted by Zach Felt. Known for his eclectic mix of indie pop, 70s funk, soul, and snippets of 60s and 70s psychedelia, Dubois has been creating exciting ripples in the music scene.
In this illuminating podcast episode, delve deep into the musical world of Dubois as he shares the stories behind his acclaimed self-titled album and dynamic performances with 'Doc Dubois and Company'. Gain insights into his creative process, musical roots, on-stage energy and the magic that unfolds with each performance.
Uncover the man behind popular anthems like 'Seaside' and 'Portland'. From harmonious soundscapes to Dak's shift to focusing full time on music, explore everything from his multicultural musical influences to the pivotal role of books in shaping his career. This episode promises a melodious adventure through the upbeat world of Dak Dubois that you simply can't afford to skip.
Landscape through the retro-modern universe of tunes Dak Dubois crafts, colored with classic rock and roll inspirations from The Beatles and Led Zeppelin and a psychedelic zest inspired by The Grateful Dead. Gain a unique perspective on Dak's journey, gigging experiences, industry transformations over the years and inspiring words for emerging artists.
Immerse yourself in the enlightening world of Dak Dubois, an inspiring figure in music balancing life's nuances while striking an engaging note with listeners. Join this melodious sporting adventure with Dak by tuning in to the Wisconsin Music Podcast and following him @DakDubois on Instagram for the latest updates on his musical journey.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Transcript:
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.800
Music.
2
00:00:10.643 --> 00:00:14.683
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
3
00:00:14.783 --> 00:00:18.043
I'm your host, Zach Felt, and today we have a special treat for you,
4
00:00:18.083 --> 00:00:20.603
for all you music enthusiasts out there.
5
00:00:20.743 --> 00:00:26.323
And before I continue, hopefully I will say your name correctly. Is it Dak Dubois?
6
00:00:27.523 --> 00:00:31.003
Dak Dubois. Dak Dubois. Okay. Dubois, yeah.
7
00:00:31.703 --> 00:00:36.003
Just like Marge Simpson's last name. Sure, yeah. Okay.
8
00:00:36.823 --> 00:00:40.863
Our guest on the show today is none other than Dak Dubois, The Milwaukee-based
9
00:00:40.863 --> 00:00:44.223
artist who's been making waves with his unique blend of modern indie pop,
10
00:00:44.483 --> 00:00:47.943
70s funk and soul, and a touch of 60s and 70s psychedella.
11
00:00:48.043 --> 00:00:51.483
His self-titled album, a testament to his multifaceted talents,
12
00:00:51.763 --> 00:00:54.023
was entirely crafted in the comfort
13
00:00:54.023 --> 00:00:58.663
of his own apartment-turned-studio and was released in April of 23.
14
00:00:59.123 --> 00:01:05.463
What makes Doc truly exceptional is his live performances. He's not alone on stage.
15
00:01:05.643 --> 00:01:09.323
He's joined by a rotating cast of talented local musicians, collectively known
16
00:01:09.323 --> 00:01:11.943
as Doc Dubois and Company.
17
00:01:12.183 --> 00:01:17.123
Their shows are a fusion of funk-driven, jammy vibes and captivating crowd engagement,
18
00:01:17.323 --> 00:01:19.343
promising an unforgettable experience.
19
00:01:19.823 --> 00:01:24.103
One of his standout singles, Portland, even premiered on Radio Milwaukee,
20
00:01:24.343 --> 00:01:30.203
and his album has been lauded as an imaginative, colorful exercise by Milwaukee breaking and entering.
21
00:01:30.203 --> 00:01:34.003
If you're eager to dive into his world of music, you'll be delighted to know
22
00:01:34.003 --> 00:01:37.463
that his latest album is available on all major streaming platforms.
23
00:01:38.203 --> 00:01:42.463
So stay tuned as we dive into a conversation exploring the intricate stories
24
00:01:42.463 --> 00:01:45.423
behind his music, the vibrant energy he brings to the stage.
25
00:01:45.823 --> 00:01:48.803
This is an episode you won't want to miss, so let's jump right in and discover
26
00:01:48.803 --> 00:01:52.983
the magic of Doc Dubois. So welcome to the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
27
00:01:54.323 --> 00:01:59.003
Cool. Thanks for having me, man. Cool. Cool. So let's get the listeners a little
28
00:01:59.003 --> 00:02:01.983
bit more in depth about your music origin story.
29
00:02:02.083 --> 00:02:05.743
How did you get started in the music and how did you land where you are today?
30
00:02:06.826 --> 00:02:11.226
Yeah, for sure. So, I mean, I started learning guitar when I was like 11 years old.
31
00:02:11.726 --> 00:02:17.326
I really enjoyed the sound of like the 60s and the 70s and a lot of different
32
00:02:17.326 --> 00:02:19.566
like kind of alternative and indie sounds too.
33
00:02:20.166 --> 00:02:24.746
29 years old. So at the time, like early Arctic Monkeys, Strokes,
34
00:02:24.866 --> 00:02:28.006
Flaming Lips, stuff like that. A lot of that really got me into music.
35
00:02:28.446 --> 00:02:32.786
I started learning guitar at like 11, played a lot, you know,
36
00:02:32.786 --> 00:02:33.846
throughout my teenage years.
37
00:02:34.086 --> 00:02:36.866
I had a stepdad who was a drummer and he would bring me out to
38
00:02:36.866 --> 00:02:39.506
all of these open jams and so i started
39
00:02:39.506 --> 00:02:42.206
playing with a bunch of like blues guys and stuff once i
40
00:02:42.206 --> 00:02:45.026
was about 16 and interesting to start playing in
41
00:02:45.026 --> 00:02:47.826
bars at that age too but yeah you know over
42
00:02:47.826 --> 00:02:50.786
the years i just kind of crafted more and more of
43
00:02:50.786 --> 00:02:53.566
myself as a musician and figured out how
44
00:02:53.566 --> 00:02:56.546
to sing better and play all the other instruments too
45
00:02:56.546 --> 00:02:59.386
and but yeah still guitar is kind of like my main love
46
00:02:59.386 --> 00:03:02.566
but yeah i love getting to do everything thing and kind of write it all out
47
00:03:02.566 --> 00:03:07.906
so wonderful wonderful so you said and other instruments so what other instruments
48
00:03:07.906 --> 00:03:13.466
do you play besides guitar yeah so i play i play drums i play keys i play bass
49
00:03:13.466 --> 00:03:19.166
pretty much anything that has strings on it i feel like i can kind of get down pretty quickly.
50
00:03:19.926 --> 00:03:23.286
So like mandolin ukulele kind of
51
00:03:23.286 --> 00:03:26.066
stuff like that a little banjo but yeah yeah
52
00:03:26.066 --> 00:03:29.166
pretty much anything thing with strings i'll try ripping so cool
53
00:03:29.166 --> 00:03:32.146
very cool have you ever tried like the non-fretted instruments
54
00:03:32.146 --> 00:03:35.746
like violin cello and in the such no no
55
00:03:35.746 --> 00:03:38.626
i don't think i came from that uh that level of prestige as
56
00:03:38.626 --> 00:03:41.326
a child so no i haven't tried but i
57
00:03:41.326 --> 00:03:44.086
understand they're just tuned differently they're tuned in fourths instead
58
00:03:44.086 --> 00:03:46.926
of fifths so right right i feel like that'd be pretty easy
59
00:03:46.926 --> 00:03:50.086
i play slide guitar so kind of used to not using frets
60
00:03:50.086 --> 00:03:53.806
with that so cool cool very cool and have
61
00:03:53.806 --> 00:03:57.446
you implemented let it slide into any of your songs i actually
62
00:03:57.446 --> 00:04:00.206
haven't no i've done it a couple of
63
00:04:00.206 --> 00:04:03.146
times with live i know last night we had a show at
64
00:04:03.146 --> 00:04:06.286
oak and at one point i grabbed one
65
00:04:06.286 --> 00:04:09.586
of my drummer's drumsticks and started playing slide guitar with that so that
66
00:04:09.586 --> 00:04:15.286
was pretty cool it's just on my sg too and i have an sg that's awesome for playing
67
00:04:15.286 --> 00:04:20.126
it sucks for slide but it somehow sounded okay last night so i haven't really
68
00:04:20.126 --> 00:04:23.866
heard anybody using a wooden drumstick for for a slide.
69
00:04:24.579 --> 00:04:27.459
Must be an interesting setup it was the first time i
70
00:04:27.459 --> 00:04:30.739
ever tried it so yeah we had a two-hour set we had
71
00:04:30.739 --> 00:04:33.499
to stretch it out and gotcha you know i looked at the boys i
72
00:04:33.499 --> 00:04:37.679
was like we're gonna get weird you know so we got weird people
73
00:04:37.679 --> 00:04:40.379
like it when we get weird so yeah right i was gonna say i bet the
74
00:04:40.379 --> 00:04:43.999
audience was enjoying it i bet for sure yeah definitely cool
75
00:04:43.999 --> 00:04:47.119
so how long has this has this group
76
00:04:47.119 --> 00:04:50.119
been kind of like together i know it's mostly you when you have this rotating
77
00:04:50.119 --> 00:04:53.179
set set of musicians but as this entity how
78
00:04:53.179 --> 00:04:58.119
long has this been going on just six months so i launched the album six months
79
00:04:58.119 --> 00:05:02.159
ago and that was kind of my first time doing this before that i was kind of
80
00:05:02.159 --> 00:05:05.539
a journeyman like guitarist i would just play guitar in a lot of different bands
81
00:05:05.539 --> 00:05:10.439
whether you know kind of a lot of across a lot of different genres but i moved
82
00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:12.979
down to milwaukee from the fox cities back.
83
00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:16.579
About a year a little over a year ago and started working
84
00:05:16.579 --> 00:05:20.179
on this album and knew that i kind of of wanted to like squeak out
85
00:05:20.179 --> 00:05:23.379
in this scene down here and and just try
86
00:05:23.379 --> 00:05:26.439
something new with it so really glad i did it's been really successful
87
00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:29.379
so far and people have taken taken it really nicely so
88
00:05:29.379 --> 00:05:32.459
excellent so kind of one of my questions is talking
89
00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:36.719
about the local scene so it seems like you're getting a positive reaction from
90
00:05:36.719 --> 00:05:40.379
the scene which is great what are some other positives that you've been kind
91
00:05:40.379 --> 00:05:45.419
of noticing about the local scene for you oh man i got so many homies in the
92
00:05:45.419 --> 00:05:49.459
scene And it's been crazy to just really be in a new place and get to meet all of them.
93
00:05:50.039 --> 00:05:54.419
Yeah. I've gotten to collaborate with quite a few different artists and I think
94
00:05:54.419 --> 00:05:59.059
getting to do recording stuff is great too, but I just love how diverse the scene is.
95
00:05:59.119 --> 00:06:03.359
Honestly, there's so many talented people from so many different like genres
96
00:06:03.359 --> 00:06:09.379
and sub genres that I think it makes, it makes it such an intricate scene in Milwaukee here.
97
00:06:09.919 --> 00:06:13.979
And I love getting to see it, man. man. There's just so much talent and people
98
00:06:13.979 --> 00:06:17.139
are just incredible songwriters and players in general. Yeah.
99
00:06:17.459 --> 00:06:21.699
It's a lot of great talent out there in the Milwaukee and outing areas,
100
00:06:21.799 --> 00:06:24.859
all the way throughout Wisconsin. There's just a lot of great musicians out here.
101
00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:28.659
What are some of the struggles that you've kind of seen in the local scene,
102
00:06:28.739 --> 00:06:32.979
though, that maybe needs help to help it make it stronger? Yeah.
103
00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:39.239
I don't know. I guess I haven't really experienced a lot of struggles necessarily. necessarily.
104
00:06:39.259 --> 00:06:42.739
I feel like selling merch is kind of hard, but I feel like that's kind of,
105
00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:44.639
everybody has that right situation.
106
00:06:45.159 --> 00:06:48.879
I also know that we're like in an interesting financial situation as far as
107
00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:50.179
like the world's concerned right now.
108
00:06:50.239 --> 00:06:53.899
So I'm not going to be like luring that over anybody's head. No.
109
00:06:54.619 --> 00:06:59.059
Yeah. I don't know. I feel like everybody's really cool and it doesn't feel
110
00:06:59.059 --> 00:07:01.379
grossly competitive or anything like that. Like.
111
00:07:02.434 --> 00:07:06.334
Yeah i don't know i guess i think i
112
00:07:06.334 --> 00:07:08.954
wish that the hip-hop and r b scene had a little
113
00:07:08.954 --> 00:07:11.934
bit more support from some of the some of the faces that
114
00:07:11.934 --> 00:07:15.394
i kind of see in the circles that i play in and stuff yeah because i love getting
115
00:07:15.394 --> 00:07:19.354
to play across you know different scenes and work with other people and i mean
116
00:07:19.354 --> 00:07:23.314
they definitely have a lot of support but i feel like it's there's just so much
117
00:07:23.314 --> 00:07:26.974
untapped talent there that i wish that we could almost support those people
118
00:07:26.974 --> 00:07:30.354
a little bit better but but that's honestly my only gripe.
119
00:07:30.934 --> 00:07:33.454
I mean, we're supposed to be a melting pot of everything, right?
120
00:07:33.914 --> 00:07:35.694
Yeah, totally, man. Right, exactly.
121
00:07:36.934 --> 00:07:40.374
Now, talking a little bit about this new album that came out in April,
122
00:07:41.474 --> 00:07:44.394
we're at the end of October with this recording of this interview,
123
00:07:44.574 --> 00:07:46.434
so it's been, like you said, about six months.
124
00:07:46.994 --> 00:07:48.734
So why don't we talk to the listeners
125
00:07:48.734 --> 00:07:53.194
through the journey of creating this project. How did you get started?
126
00:07:53.754 --> 00:07:57.754
How did you put the things together, like your recording equipment and things of that nature?
127
00:07:57.754 --> 00:08:00.774
Year how did it go being in an apartment is the drums
128
00:08:00.774 --> 00:08:03.394
you said you're a drummer so are these live drums or are
129
00:08:03.394 --> 00:08:07.254
these program drums can i talk about all the details of this album yeah definitely
130
00:08:07.254 --> 00:08:14.034
man yeah so in i have a studio in our apartment here and yeah i just sound dampened
131
00:08:14.034 --> 00:08:18.414
a ton of it you know just added a ton of foam and stuff but i live track i live
132
00:08:18.414 --> 00:08:22.674
tracked all the drumming usually i'll I'll do like an eight mic setup on the kit.
133
00:08:23.094 --> 00:08:29.774
I'll do like a mono overhead. I'll individually mic up the hi-hat and like the ride cymbal.
134
00:08:29.794 --> 00:08:32.574
So pretty much just the crash is coming through on the overhead as well as like
135
00:08:32.574 --> 00:08:33.914
the overall blend of all the drums.
136
00:08:35.014 --> 00:08:38.894
I just single mic the kick, double mic the snare, one on top, one on bottom.
137
00:08:39.554 --> 00:08:42.794
Tom's individually. And that's kind of like the general thing.
138
00:08:43.074 --> 00:08:47.134
I think having your mic placement's the best way to go because you don't want
139
00:08:47.134 --> 00:08:50.554
things to be out of phase or to like not come through sounding right. Right, right.
140
00:08:50.914 --> 00:08:54.514
So that kind of took me a little while to figure that out because this is like
141
00:08:54.514 --> 00:08:57.454
my first time really like recording to this capacity. So.
142
00:08:58.293 --> 00:09:02.073
I just had to keep messing stuff up. Even on that album, when I listened to
143
00:09:02.073 --> 00:09:07.693
it, I'm like, yeah, definitely, I've been doing things differently since I recorded that album.
144
00:09:08.273 --> 00:09:13.893
But yeah, I feel like I started recording it because I had played in a lot of
145
00:09:13.893 --> 00:09:17.293
other bands, and I was like, I think I could do this all by myself,
146
00:09:17.553 --> 00:09:22.693
and I wanted to take that on as a little bit of an experience thing,
147
00:09:22.913 --> 00:09:25.533
and I'm really glad I did because it really taught me.
148
00:09:25.533 --> 00:09:29.693
I think it made me a lot better of a guitarist in general, getting to really
149
00:09:29.693 --> 00:09:35.913
look at every single instrument and what it does to add to like the general sound of something.
150
00:09:35.993 --> 00:09:40.453
And I think that, you know, the end result is always what's the most important thing. Right.
151
00:09:40.873 --> 00:09:45.013
That being said, we live above like a venue too.
152
00:09:45.153 --> 00:09:49.673
So yeah, I got to really learn a lot about noise gates.
153
00:09:50.253 --> 00:09:53.513
And I also learned a lot about retracking. So yeah.
154
00:09:53.553 --> 00:09:56.533
And then there's a church across the street that's very old
155
00:09:56.533 --> 00:09:59.753
and it just it rings bells like hell man yeah
156
00:09:59.753 --> 00:10:02.673
crazy yeah so did you sample
157
00:10:02.673 --> 00:10:05.753
any of that and put it in your songs i actually didn't know
158
00:10:05.753 --> 00:10:08.493
i had a friend that i was playing and i had him as a rhythm
159
00:10:08.493 --> 00:10:12.093
guitarist for like a few shows and every time he'd come over to like jam and
160
00:10:12.093 --> 00:10:15.133
stuff he'd always be like oh dude the bell's going off i gotta go record this
161
00:10:15.133 --> 00:10:18.653
and he'd like run outside and record it and he actually used it in one of his
162
00:10:18.653 --> 00:10:22.633
songs and i thought that that was really interesting so very cool yeah he was
163
00:10:22.633 --> 00:10:25.833
more nerdy about it than i was i was just i I always see it as a nuisance.
164
00:10:26.073 --> 00:10:32.653
I'm like, I don't need that bell, you know? So the only bell I want is off of a ride.
165
00:10:32.873 --> 00:10:36.693
Yeah, I hear you. I hear you. Now, you said you live above a venue.
166
00:10:36.773 --> 00:10:41.373
Do you have other neighbors or is it just the venue below you and you're sitting up on top of it?
167
00:10:41.653 --> 00:10:46.293
Yeah, it's just the venue below us. We're on top. And I have a lot of sound equipment here.
168
00:10:46.453 --> 00:10:49.853
So when it comes nights to jamming, I usually try
169
00:10:49.853 --> 00:10:52.553
to do two jams a month where I bring
170
00:10:52.553 --> 00:10:55.473
in different artists and just like you know just mess around like see
171
00:10:55.473 --> 00:10:58.293
whatever happens which has been really great too to
172
00:10:58.293 --> 00:11:01.033
like get to meet a lot of different people in the scene and just like having that
173
00:11:01.033 --> 00:11:03.773
space and you know having people in for
174
00:11:03.773 --> 00:11:06.713
that is just honestly like the coolest thing to do yeah but
175
00:11:06.713 --> 00:11:09.513
uh yeah a lot of times we're pretty loud and they're
176
00:11:09.513 --> 00:11:12.573
pretty loud and our our bedroom and
177
00:11:12.573 --> 00:11:15.373
our living room are like on top of it so
178
00:11:15.373 --> 00:11:18.593
we have a third floor and that's where that is so it's pretty you got
179
00:11:18.593 --> 00:11:21.193
like a whole barrier it's never too bad sometimes you'll have
180
00:11:21.193 --> 00:11:24.513
some djs come through with like and bring like you know
181
00:11:24.513 --> 00:11:28.313
more subs or whatever right and you could feel it in like the whole house it's
182
00:11:28.313 --> 00:11:31.533
crazy but yeah it's it's like getting your back massaged when you're sleeping
183
00:11:31.533 --> 00:11:38.913
so it's not bad man it's not bad cool very cool so you're doing this recording
184
00:11:38.913 --> 00:11:41.493
by yourself so what kind of.
185
00:11:42.395 --> 00:11:45.795
For the people out there that are interested in, like, the recording aspect
186
00:11:45.795 --> 00:11:50.835
of it, like, what are you using for, like, your DAW and your interfaces and stuff like that?
187
00:11:50.875 --> 00:11:54.715
Is it all in one, or is it, like, outboard stuff? What kind of,
188
00:11:54.775 --> 00:11:55.555
what are you doing with that stuff?
189
00:11:56.115 --> 00:12:02.875
Yeah, so I have, I just have, like, a big Scarlett, like, the Focusrite, the 18-input one.
190
00:12:03.095 --> 00:12:05.935
Okay. Just, like, the massive box. and so I
191
00:12:05.935 --> 00:12:09.115
use that for pretty much all my drumming and then I do have like
192
00:12:09.115 --> 00:12:14.355
how to look a universal audio just like a volt I just use that on the separate
193
00:12:14.355 --> 00:12:18.435
side of the space so I don't have to like unplug anything and I'll just if I'm
194
00:12:18.435 --> 00:12:21.415
doing like quick vocal touch-ups or if I'm just like single micing something
195
00:12:21.415 --> 00:12:25.955
I'll use that because that's like where I have my desk and stuff and then.
196
00:12:26.535 --> 00:12:29.195
Yeah and then I also have reel-to-reel as well
197
00:12:29.195 --> 00:12:31.995
and I haven't really got no ton of chances to to
198
00:12:31.995 --> 00:12:34.935
mess with that yet but eventually what i'm
199
00:12:34.935 --> 00:12:37.875
going to do is i think like pre-mastering once i
200
00:12:37.875 --> 00:12:40.635
have my mixes i'll run it through there kind of catch
201
00:12:40.635 --> 00:12:43.455
some some of the you know tube warmth that you get off
202
00:12:43.455 --> 00:12:46.355
of it and stuff because it's just a four track it's not
203
00:12:46.355 --> 00:12:49.495
anything crazy but it's enough to run your stereo mixes
204
00:12:49.495 --> 00:12:52.775
through and kind of add that bit extra or
205
00:12:52.775 --> 00:12:55.355
even just do it on an instrumental basis like if i have a
206
00:12:55.355 --> 00:12:58.195
guitar and i want it to get really trippy put it through there
207
00:12:58.195 --> 00:13:00.835
and then just kind of like casually grab the tape as it
208
00:13:00.835 --> 00:13:03.775
comes through to kind of like wobble and slow it a little bit right yeah
209
00:13:03.775 --> 00:13:06.915
i've been really busy and i have i
210
00:13:06.915 --> 00:13:10.075
probably have like another 10 12 songs
211
00:13:10.075 --> 00:13:12.875
recorded right now and i plan on releasing an
212
00:13:12.875 --> 00:13:16.215
ep at the end of december oh okay cool
213
00:13:16.215 --> 00:13:19.715
which is gonna be cool and that one's gonna be a bit different because i'm gonna
214
00:13:19.715 --> 00:13:25.315
try to so the first album was all just me by myself on everything but i'm trying
215
00:13:25.315 --> 00:13:30.015
to get a bunch of different features from the city of milwaukee on that ep which
216
00:13:30.015 --> 00:13:33.355
is gonna be cool because like my friend wave chapelle is gonna be on it i have
217
00:13:33.355 --> 00:13:35.815
a couple of other artists that i've been working with too,
218
00:13:36.415 --> 00:13:40.095
and then i'd love to get like another rapper on it or like
219
00:13:40.095 --> 00:13:42.935
r&b singer or something and i got a few friends that i've definitely
220
00:13:42.935 --> 00:13:48.535
had in mind but yeah just kind of feel it out you know yeah definitely so let's
221
00:13:48.535 --> 00:13:51.715
kind of go back to the one that you just released in april and kind of talk
222
00:13:51.715 --> 00:13:55.255
about some of the songs on there are there some songs that you'd like the listeners.
223
00:13:55.255 --> 00:13:58.535
To kind of to hear on the podcast so they can go and check it out on band camp
224
00:13:58.535 --> 00:14:01.195
or other streaming sites? Yeah, for sure, man.
225
00:14:02.115 --> 00:14:06.555
It's, it's kind of a, it's, it's like a concept album too. So the whole thing
226
00:14:06.555 --> 00:14:09.695
like front to back kind of tells a story and it really goes through the motions.
227
00:14:10.315 --> 00:14:15.035
So to like name out one specific song I think would be a little, a little crazy.
228
00:14:15.055 --> 00:14:19.875
I know the most popular songs off that album are like Seaside and Portland.
229
00:14:22.480 --> 00:18:01.360
Music.
230
00:18:01.202 --> 00:18:04.202
So i feel like that's kind of like a good little surface level place to
231
00:18:04.202 --> 00:18:06.982
get into with it okay but the album like front to
232
00:18:06.982 --> 00:18:10.302
back it's only eight songs and it's like 36 minutes or
233
00:18:10.302 --> 00:18:13.742
something like that so it's pretty easy to get through it's really digestible
234
00:18:13.742 --> 00:18:20.102
the music on it is i wanted to make sure that it would be something that has
235
00:18:20.102 --> 00:18:23.842
a lot of moments where like the ear candy kind of hits you you know and you
236
00:18:23.842 --> 00:18:29.482
got good hooks good overall feel i feel like in my playing i i kind In my writing,
237
00:18:29.542 --> 00:18:33.422
I feel like I emphasize a lot of minor seven chords and stuff,
238
00:18:33.542 --> 00:18:37.522
so it really gives you that classic alternative indie sound.
239
00:18:37.842 --> 00:18:41.622
But then it's pretty imaginative and really jumps across a lot of different
240
00:18:41.622 --> 00:18:46.042
cultures as far as music's concerned, whether it be more of an Eastern sound
241
00:18:46.042 --> 00:18:48.582
or adding more of a Latin feel on something.
242
00:18:48.802 --> 00:18:55.522
And then all of the rhythm section stuff is super funky, so it's really easy
243
00:18:55.522 --> 00:18:59.022
to get into. Yeah, so you call this basically a journey album.
244
00:18:59.202 --> 00:19:02.922
So what is the journey that this album is supposed to take the listener through?
245
00:19:02.922 --> 00:19:10.522
Oh man, I think I just wanted it to resonate with any kind of like feeling of coming of age,
246
00:19:10.702 --> 00:19:16.602
you know, and really just kind of when everything kind of starts clicking as
247
00:19:16.602 --> 00:19:20.222
you know, we're adults and our brains kind of start forming a little bit more.
248
00:19:20.722 --> 00:19:24.522
I wanted to kind of go over that and the things that we grieve with,
249
00:19:24.682 --> 00:19:27.222
but also the things that we can be excited about too.
250
00:19:27.342 --> 00:19:31.602
And that's kind of the place that I was in when I wrote and recorded all of it.
251
00:19:31.602 --> 00:19:34.442
And yeah and i feel like it definitely can
252
00:19:34.442 --> 00:19:37.182
be or you could just put it on when you got some homies over and you're
253
00:19:37.182 --> 00:19:40.802
hanging out you know and it's it's just easy listening so excellent excellent
254
00:19:40.802 --> 00:19:43.982
so i'll put a few of those on there is there
255
00:19:43.982 --> 00:19:46.722
any ones that you really want me to put on the podcast or should i just
256
00:19:46.722 --> 00:19:49.482
randomly pick a few yeah i feel
257
00:19:49.482 --> 00:19:52.582
like seaside portland those two are pretty cool okay
258
00:19:52.582 --> 00:19:55.242
definitely usually i feel like those kind of get a lot of
259
00:19:55.242 --> 00:19:58.382
play soul mill is really cool too it's an instrumental it's
260
00:19:58.382 --> 00:20:01.102
the opener for the album too but it yeah that
261
00:20:01.102 --> 00:20:06.322
one's just really interesting it's got a lot of like phrygian scale usage but
262
00:20:06.322 --> 00:20:12.122
it's pretty light and it really sticks to kind of more like funky kind of minor
263
00:20:12.122 --> 00:20:17.342
like pentatonic box kind of feel stuff too from like a bass perspective right
264
00:20:17.342 --> 00:20:18.742
it's really nice and easy going.
265
00:20:19.920 --> 00:22:21.360
Music.
266
00:22:21.205 --> 00:22:25.505
Producers and beatmakers of Milwaukee, it is time for the 2024 Big Beat MKE
267
00:22:25.505 --> 00:22:29.505
Beat Battle Tournament taking place at the Jackalope Lounge at the Wicked Hop
268
00:22:29.505 --> 00:22:33.865
in Milwaukee's Third Ward on Thursday nights between April 25th and June 13th.
269
00:22:34.305 --> 00:22:37.965
Producers are going to go head-to-head in three one-minute rounds to determine
270
00:22:37.965 --> 00:22:41.825
who is going to move on to the next round of the tournament with some amazing
271
00:22:41.825 --> 00:22:43.325
prizes from some great sponsors.
272
00:22:43.805 --> 00:22:48.905
Don't forget that you can submit your beats today at breakingandentering.net through March 31st.
273
00:22:51.245 --> 00:22:54.745
Yeah phrygian's kind of known as like the happy major sound
274
00:22:54.745 --> 00:22:57.945
because it's got that raised fourth in it so it's it's
275
00:22:57.945 --> 00:23:00.765
a very cool scale can be used over a lot of
276
00:23:00.765 --> 00:23:04.205
different things and a lot of great songs in the over the
277
00:23:04.205 --> 00:23:07.305
years have over the decades have been using that that that mode
278
00:23:07.305 --> 00:23:10.145
a lot so very cool yeah yeah it's cool it's definitely one
279
00:23:10.145 --> 00:23:13.385
of my favorites especially with like being a
280
00:23:13.385 --> 00:23:16.245
little bit more of a psychedelic artist too you know it really gives it that like
281
00:23:16.245 --> 00:23:19.345
kind of gypsy spanishy middle eastern
282
00:23:19.345 --> 00:23:22.145
feel to it too so what would be like some
283
00:23:22.145 --> 00:23:25.085
influences of yours that would be in
284
00:23:25.085 --> 00:23:27.785
that kind of genre that other that the listeners
285
00:23:27.785 --> 00:23:30.665
would be kind of understanding where that's coming from
286
00:23:30.665 --> 00:23:36.205
yeah i feel like from a modern perspective i'd say like krungbin i would say
287
00:23:36.205 --> 00:23:42.305
like peach pit the band crumb and then i have a lot of like kind of old school
288
00:23:42.305 --> 00:23:47.745
funky feels in it too so i think like funkadelic even like a little herbie hancock
289
00:23:47.745 --> 00:23:49.845
like like Headhunters album, you know? Right, right, right.
290
00:23:51.445 --> 00:23:54.605
And I would say like a little bit of Jimi Hendrix. It definitely,
291
00:23:54.845 --> 00:23:59.005
it's some of the tonalities are like throwback feel stuff for sure.
292
00:23:59.445 --> 00:24:03.705
But it's like hard to beat the 60s and 70s out of you when it's like so imprinted
293
00:24:03.705 --> 00:24:05.365
in your brain, you know? Right, right, right.
294
00:24:06.065 --> 00:24:10.585
So if I remember right, you said you're like in your mid 20s now and you started when you were 11.
295
00:24:11.045 --> 00:24:15.645
So that was like early 2000-ish, I would think.
296
00:24:15.805 --> 00:24:20.305
Is that, am I thinking that right? Yeah, for sure. I started playing in 2006.
297
00:24:20.685 --> 00:24:24.105
I'm 29. Yeah. Okay. So, yeah. So 2006.
298
00:24:24.425 --> 00:24:28.845
So when you were 11, what would be like some of the music that was influenced
299
00:24:28.845 --> 00:24:30.485
you at that young of an age?
300
00:24:30.765 --> 00:24:34.745
Oh, man, it was just Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and...
301
00:24:35.798 --> 00:24:38.758
Black sabbath you know kind of all of that stuff in
302
00:24:38.758 --> 00:24:41.578
general that was i remember hearing that music and
303
00:24:41.578 --> 00:24:44.598
just being like this is insane and then eventually once i
304
00:24:44.598 --> 00:24:47.478
got an acoustic and i was like 13 14
305
00:24:47.478 --> 00:24:51.558
i really became obsessed with nirvana i feel like everybody has to go through
306
00:24:51.558 --> 00:24:57.218
a nirvana phase and that was my nirvana phase and i i loved learning all their
307
00:24:57.218 --> 00:25:02.298
music because it was simple enough for me to play it and say with it yeah that
308
00:25:02.298 --> 00:25:05.918
that kind of where it was where it was at And then eventually as I got older,
309
00:25:06.018 --> 00:25:08.458
my taste kind of expanded out from there.
310
00:25:08.538 --> 00:25:13.098
And I really started listening to a lot of like jazz and funk and fusion and
311
00:25:13.098 --> 00:25:17.118
stuff like that. And a lot of different, like there's still all these elements
312
00:25:17.118 --> 00:25:21.498
of like psychedelia, but it wasn't as like prominent in it. Gotcha.
313
00:25:21.558 --> 00:25:23.438
Yeah, definitely all that stuff.
314
00:25:23.598 --> 00:25:27.358
And then a lot of like West Coast indie stuff I really started getting down
315
00:25:27.358 --> 00:25:28.918
on probably about 10 years ago.
316
00:25:28.978 --> 00:25:32.598
And I feel like I really haven't ever lost that. So wonderful. Wonderful.
317
00:25:32.758 --> 00:25:37.478
It's great to hear about musicians that start somewhere and they expand out
318
00:25:37.478 --> 00:25:42.558
and just try to search out everything that they can that really helps them become
319
00:25:42.558 --> 00:25:45.158
a better musician. For sure. Yeah. Yeah.
320
00:25:45.698 --> 00:25:51.258
As I'm getting closer to the end here with these questions, one of them is a work-life balance.
321
00:25:51.438 --> 00:25:56.258
So we haven't really talked much about what else you do. Are you doing music full-time?
322
00:25:56.378 --> 00:26:01.738
Do you have a side job or a day job that kind of conflicts with you making making
323
00:26:01.738 --> 00:26:03.018
music? How does that work for you?
324
00:26:03.278 --> 00:26:08.298
Yeah, I actually just left my full-time job a couple of weeks ago to really
325
00:26:08.298 --> 00:26:10.378
launch into this music thing full-time.
326
00:26:10.538 --> 00:26:16.558
And yeah, it was really hard to record and just play a lot of gigs too.
327
00:26:16.658 --> 00:26:17.718
I think over the summer, I probably
328
00:26:17.718 --> 00:26:22.798
played maybe like 30 some gigs with a full-time job and that was a ton.
329
00:26:23.018 --> 00:26:28.938
So yeah, I'm definitely kind of glad I'm making this decision right now.
330
00:26:29.058 --> 00:26:31.918
I'm not broke yet, so I feel like I'm still glad.
331
00:26:32.558 --> 00:26:35.738
But once that hits, I think then I'll be a little bit scared.
332
00:26:35.818 --> 00:26:39.378
But I just wanted to take a couple of months and really dive into it,
333
00:26:39.418 --> 00:26:43.998
work on content and kind of just see what I can do as far as getting the word
334
00:26:43.998 --> 00:26:46.138
out there on what I'm doing and stuff.
335
00:26:46.458 --> 00:26:49.398
And yeah, so the balance is really hard for
336
00:26:49.398 --> 00:26:53.218
sure i think having full-time job
337
00:26:53.218 --> 00:26:56.038
too and you know the demands that come with
338
00:26:56.038 --> 00:27:00.738
a full-time job it's really hard to balance those things out so but yeah definitely
339
00:27:00.738 --> 00:27:06.038
eventually it caught up to me so but yeah definitely just trying to look at
340
00:27:06.038 --> 00:27:11.418
music full-time and see what i can make of it you know and right exactly not
341
00:27:11.418 --> 00:27:15.738
30 yet so i feel like this is a good decision i still have six months until I'm 30.
342
00:27:15.898 --> 00:27:19.858
So this is kind of my mess around era right now. So, right.
343
00:27:20.684 --> 00:27:24.224
Now, in the past, I've interviewed Emily White. I don't know if you know who
344
00:27:24.224 --> 00:27:25.864
that is. Yeah, she's amazing.
345
00:27:26.144 --> 00:27:30.924
Yeah. So, and she's got that great resource, the how to build a sustainable
346
00:27:30.924 --> 00:27:32.904
music career, collect all revenue streams.
347
00:27:33.324 --> 00:27:36.564
Have you, have you dived into any of that and tried to? Absolutely.
348
00:27:36.624 --> 00:27:39.564
Yeah. Yeah. My, my girlfriend was the one that my girlfriend,
349
00:27:39.624 --> 00:27:40.864
Nora turned me onto that book.
350
00:27:41.244 --> 00:27:44.284
And my girlfriend, Nora is a much better reader than I am.
351
00:27:44.384 --> 00:27:48.244
So that's pretty tight because she made all of these notes on how to do all
352
00:27:48.244 --> 00:27:49.424
these different things. And
353
00:27:49.424 --> 00:27:52.964
that was, it really came in handy when it was time to launch this project.
354
00:27:53.404 --> 00:27:56.724
So shout out to Emily white, man. I mean, she's got in. Yeah.
355
00:27:56.804 --> 00:28:00.224
She knows what she's doing, man. And you can read through it a million times,
356
00:28:00.244 --> 00:28:01.684
that book and listen to her podcast.
357
00:28:01.764 --> 00:28:05.424
And it's just the amount of knowledge that you can absorb. It's just crazy.
358
00:28:05.524 --> 00:28:09.144
And yeah, big props to her, man. She seems like an awesome person too.
359
00:28:09.284 --> 00:28:12.904
And I know a lot of people that I know in the scene of nothing but amazing things
360
00:28:12.904 --> 00:28:14.164
to say about her. So yeah.
361
00:28:14.524 --> 00:28:18.684
Yeah. It's, it's, it's great to have. And then she's from Wisconsin as well. So it's just great.
362
00:28:18.744 --> 00:28:23.384
All these great Wisconsinites are doing all these great things for the local scene and beyond.
363
00:28:23.584 --> 00:28:25.604
So awesome. Very awesome. Hell yeah.
364
00:28:26.064 --> 00:28:33.444
The next thing is a gig that you have performed at or seen that has made a big impression on you.
365
00:28:33.964 --> 00:28:43.164
Oh, man. As far as gigs I've seen, I feel like every gig I go to, I'm just always in awe.
366
00:28:44.224 --> 00:28:48.964
Especially bigger names, but even locally, man, it's cool to see people on their grind.
367
00:28:49.564 --> 00:28:54.524
I think my favorite artist to see in the Milwaukee area is Classic.
368
00:28:54.804 --> 00:28:57.404
He's a really good friend of mine, too, so I'm not just being biased.
369
00:28:57.404 --> 00:29:02.564
But I wholeheartedly think he's the most talented guy I've ever gotten to see do anything.
370
00:29:02.784 --> 00:29:07.244
So he's amazing. If you haven't seen him live or had a chance to talk to him
371
00:29:07.244 --> 00:29:08.504
or anything, let me know.
372
00:29:08.544 --> 00:29:12.784
I'd love to link you guys up because he's the reason why he's won like every
373
00:29:12.784 --> 00:29:13.944
award in the city of Milwaukee.
374
00:29:14.084 --> 00:29:16.344
As far as music goes, he's just amazing.
375
00:29:16.684 --> 00:29:20.684
And he's easily one of the most kindhearted and just awesome people to,
376
00:29:20.784 --> 00:29:22.364
you know, like having your circle too.
377
00:29:22.484 --> 00:29:26.584
So very cool. yeah definitely and then as far as shows i've played that have
378
00:29:26.584 --> 00:29:27.904
made a lot a big impression.
379
00:29:29.461 --> 00:29:33.641
Yeah, I'm not really sure. I mean, I've really enjoyed every show that we've
380
00:29:33.641 --> 00:29:36.881
played as a full band and that I've done as like a loop artist too.
381
00:29:37.501 --> 00:29:40.841
But yeah, I don't know. I mean, we just played at Oak Brewing last night.
382
00:29:40.901 --> 00:29:42.241
It's our second time playing there.
383
00:29:43.161 --> 00:29:47.581
That's an amazing venue. I love seeing what they've done with their stage setup
384
00:29:47.581 --> 00:29:50.241
and like their sound dampening as well as like the lights.
385
00:29:50.781 --> 00:29:54.441
They've really put a lot into that place. And I feel like, yeah,
386
00:29:54.501 --> 00:29:56.621
it's probably one of the best stages to play around.
387
00:29:56.881 --> 00:30:00.781
So and where's that? That's in Milwaukee, right? It's in West Allis.
388
00:30:00.801 --> 00:30:03.281
Oh, West Allis. Okay. Yeah. Just 20 minutes away.
389
00:30:03.521 --> 00:30:07.201
Yeah, there you go. Everything's 20 minutes away from Milwaukee, right? Yeah, totally.
390
00:30:08.521 --> 00:30:12.681
And if you had a time machine, you could go back and talk to your younger self,
391
00:30:12.761 --> 00:30:14.301
any advice you'd give yourself.
392
00:30:15.221 --> 00:30:19.481
Yeah, man. I would just tell myself to keep messing up because the more you
393
00:30:19.481 --> 00:30:21.381
mess up, the better of a musician you become.
394
00:30:21.701 --> 00:30:25.041
And yeah, you just got to mess up, man. You just got to keep messing up and
395
00:30:25.041 --> 00:30:28.361
don't take it personally, just get it over with.
396
00:30:28.501 --> 00:30:34.061
And as you continue to work on all of these things, like you eventually just get a lot better.
397
00:30:34.081 --> 00:30:37.001
So just keep messing up and, you know, keep your chin up through it.
398
00:30:37.681 --> 00:30:41.601
Absolutely. Yeah, that's great advice because, you know, I tell my students,
399
00:30:41.641 --> 00:30:46.361
I'm a band director at the high school and I tell them failure is just stepping stones to success.
400
00:30:47.241 --> 00:30:51.141
Eventually it's going to click and eventually you're going to become better
401
00:30:51.141 --> 00:30:52.121
at what you're working at.
402
00:30:52.867 --> 00:30:56.547
Yeah, totally. No, I couldn't agree with that more. I think even if you're self-taught
403
00:30:56.547 --> 00:31:01.867
or if you're taught at a higher level, you got to get your 10,000 hours in there
404
00:31:01.867 --> 00:31:04.067
before you can really just start crushing stuff.
405
00:31:04.407 --> 00:31:08.487
And yeah, you just got to keep messing up, man, because that's what makes all the difference.
406
00:31:08.927 --> 00:31:12.947
Exactly. Exactly. Is there anything that you want the listeners to know before I let you go?
407
00:31:13.627 --> 00:31:19.307
Follow me on Instagram at Dak Dubois. It's just D-A-K-D-U-B-O-I-S.
408
00:31:19.307 --> 00:31:26.707
So yeah that's pretty much it i know yeah i plan on doing a tour here in a few months probably.
409
00:31:27.547 --> 00:31:30.307
Yeah and wherever whatever city you're at you know check out
410
00:31:30.307 --> 00:31:33.827
the music and check out instagram because i'm really good at making sure that
411
00:31:33.827 --> 00:31:37.607
i stay up on content you can kind of get a little bit more feel for what the
412
00:31:37.607 --> 00:31:42.107
live shows are like and they're definitely crazy i just want to make sure everybody
413
00:31:42.107 --> 00:31:48.507
has an incredible night anytime they come out and see us so yeah excellent and
414
00:31:48.507 --> 00:31:49.647
And I'll put all the links down.
415
00:31:49.727 --> 00:31:53.267
I'll put your link tree down in the details of the show so people can just click
416
00:31:53.267 --> 00:31:57.107
on that and go right to all your social media and your website.
417
00:31:57.307 --> 00:32:00.207
So, Doc, thank you so much for being on the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
418
00:32:00.387 --> 00:32:03.207
It's been great talking to you, learning about all your music stuff.
419
00:32:03.367 --> 00:32:04.927
And just thanks so much for being on.
420
00:32:05.247 --> 00:32:07.587
Yeah, thanks for having me, man. I really appreciate it, too.
421
00:32:08.007 --> 00:32:11.407
Well, thanks again for tuning in to another episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
422
00:32:11.947 --> 00:32:15.587
Once again, I'm Zach Fell, your host and creator of the Wisconsin Music Podcast,
423
00:32:15.727 --> 00:32:18.787
where I love to amplify the great sounds coming out
424
00:32:18.787 --> 00:32:22.407
of the wisconsin state we have great talent here great
425
00:32:22.407 --> 00:32:27.847
support great listeners thanks to fox city's indie radio for syndicating this
426
00:32:27.847 --> 00:32:31.767
on wednesdays and sundays along with their other great programmers so make sure
427
00:32:31.767 --> 00:32:37.127
you check out the fox city's indie radio thanks to dr for being on this week's
428
00:32:37.127 --> 00:32:41.567
show check him out all links are in the episode descriptions he has two.
429
00:32:41.680 --> 00:33:06.320
Music.
430
00:33:06.452 --> 00:33:10.312
For more information. If you are enjoying these episodes, please consider donating
431
00:33:10.312 --> 00:33:11.752
to the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
432
00:33:12.292 --> 00:33:16.512
Donations help pay for the website and putting the podcast up on streaming services
433
00:33:16.512 --> 00:33:21.092
and also getting our name out there to all Wisconsinites and others that are
434
00:33:21.092 --> 00:33:23.492
interested in our great music here in Wisconsin.
435
00:33:23.760 --> 00:33:29.360
Music.
436
00:33:24.052 --> 00:33:27.912
Donations are secured through PayPal and Stripe. All you have to do is go to
437
00:33:27.912 --> 00:33:30.792
the website and click on Donate to WMP.
438
00:33:31.552 --> 00:33:35.632
You can also head over to our Instagram and Facebook pages and like us there.
439
00:33:35.632 --> 00:33:41.072
There leave some comments also go to the podcast review section of your podcast.
440
00:33:37.520 --> 00:33:45.840
Music.
441
00:33:41.072 --> 00:33:45.072
Player and leave a five-star review would be great you could also head over
442
00:33:45.072 --> 00:33:49.292
to youtube and watch the interviews and leave comments there as well have a
443
00:33:49.292 --> 00:33:51.072
great week everybody and we'll see you next time.
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
WISCONSIN MUSIC PODCAST
WMP Linktree: https://linktr.ee/WI_Music_Podcast
AMPLFYING WISCONSIN MUSIC
Bruce Humphries
and the Rockabilly Rebels
EPISODE 137
Join us in the latest episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast as we unravel the musical journey of the incredible Bruce Humphreys, frontman of the Rockabilly sensation,
Bruce Humphreys and the Rockabilly Rebels!
🎸 Known for his distinctive blend of hillbilly and rock and roll, Bruce has conquered the rockabilly scene, from high school drumming days to headlining major festivals and opening for big-name artists.
🔥 Dive deep into Bruce's experiences as an original artist, exploring the highs and lows of the music industry and the band's innovative marketing strategies.
🚀 Discover their unique approach to music releases, featuring multi-sensory physical albums with 3D artwork and custom-made glasses.
😢 The episode takes an emotional turn as Bruce pays a heartfelt tribute to John Steffes, the band's bass player, who recently lost his battle with cancer.
🌟 Bruce's passion for vinyl records adds a nostalgic touch, providing a fascinating dimension to the conversation.
👨👩👧👦 Get a glimpse into Bruce's personal life and how he balances family, work, and his musical passion.
🎧 The episode features tracks from his recent album, each with a unique narrative.
🌟 Wrap up the experience with Bruce as he shares remarkable gig experiences, from witnessing The Stray Cats live to the thrill of opening for Setzer.
🤘 These memories unveil his influences and profound love for music.
🎉 Tune in and Amplify Wisconsin Music! 🎶 #WisconsinMusicPodcast #AmplifyWisconsinMusic
--------------------------------------------------------
Transcript:
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.760
Music.
2
00:00:11.777 --> 00:00:16.797
Welcome to the Wisconsin Music Podcast. This week we have Bruce Humphreys,
3
00:00:16.817 --> 00:00:18.877
and he belongs to the group.
4
00:00:18.917 --> 00:00:22.417
Bruce Humphreys and the Rockabilly Rebels. He has opened for major acts like
5
00:00:22.417 --> 00:00:28.697
the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Hazel Atkins, Hank Thompson, Rosie Flores, and much, much more.
6
00:00:28.997 --> 00:00:33.457
He has sold music worldwide and has played some major rockabilly festivals like
7
00:00:33.457 --> 00:00:37.777
the Coney Island Rockabilly Fest in Brooklyn, Franklin, Uno Go-Go in Chicago,
8
00:00:37.997 --> 00:00:43.577
Illinois, and Wisconsin's own S-Y-M-C-O, Simcoe, and Northern Roundup.
9
00:00:43.697 --> 00:00:45.717
Bruce, welcome to the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
10
00:00:46.177 --> 00:00:48.337
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Glad to be here.
11
00:00:48.817 --> 00:00:52.737
So, for the listeners, why don't you kind of give them your music origin story.
12
00:00:52.837 --> 00:00:56.317
How did you get started in the music and kind of how it got you to where you are today?
13
00:00:57.077 --> 00:01:01.157
Oh, I started playing music, well, I wouldn't consider it music back then,
14
00:01:01.217 --> 00:01:05.417
but in high school I started. I wanted to play drums and wasn't a very good
15
00:01:05.417 --> 00:01:07.677
drummer. And so I wanted to be more upfront.
16
00:01:07.937 --> 00:01:11.837
I didn't want to be sitting in the back. So I switched over to guitar and just
17
00:01:11.837 --> 00:01:15.137
kind of messed around on that and was in cover bands, you know,
18
00:01:15.137 --> 00:01:19.677
like alternative cover bands playing Ramones, Violent Femmes, Cramps.
19
00:01:20.157 --> 00:01:26.317
I then started writing my own stuff. And 30, 40 years later,
20
00:01:26.317 --> 00:01:32.517
I'm still playing, which is pretty amazing because, you know, you're a musician,
21
00:01:32.717 --> 00:01:35.237
you have lots of ups and downs and it takes a while.
22
00:01:35.397 --> 00:01:38.757
And a lot of people just kind of give up and quit and move on to something else.
23
00:01:38.797 --> 00:01:41.517
But for some reason it stuck with me.
24
00:01:41.577 --> 00:01:47.257
So yeah, here I am playing same kind of music and maybe a little bit calmer.
25
00:01:49.617 --> 00:01:52.657
So what kind of drew you to the rockability
26
00:01:52.657 --> 00:01:58.737
genre yeah well you know i i think it was about eight years ago i turned 50
27
00:01:58.737 --> 00:02:02.797
and i started kind of reflecting on you know my life and how i ended up getting
28
00:02:02.797 --> 00:02:08.397
where i am and that includes the music and i realized that i was really big
29
00:02:08.397 --> 00:02:09.657
into the the Beatles when I,
30
00:02:09.697 --> 00:02:13.277
you know, back in the early seventies, nine,
31
00:02:13.497 --> 00:02:14.997
10, 12 years old.
32
00:02:15.577 --> 00:02:19.477
And I didn't really put it together until years later that they were playing
33
00:02:19.477 --> 00:02:25.957
a lot of rockabilly songs from Carl Perkins, Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry,
34
00:02:26.177 --> 00:02:27.917
all that kind of stuff. Okay.
35
00:02:28.277 --> 00:02:34.237
And then the eighties came and there was the punk, punk new wave movement that
36
00:02:34.237 --> 00:02:38.497
included the Stray Cats, the Neo Rockabilly revival.
37
00:02:39.457 --> 00:02:46.857
And yeah, so that kind of started off a huge love for rockabilly and that old
38
00:02:46.857 --> 00:02:48.937
school kind of rock and roll.
39
00:02:49.697 --> 00:02:55.977
And also, I had been collecting Swing records from thrift stores for a while, so I knew about Swing.
40
00:02:57.365 --> 00:03:00.905
Yeah. Yeah. So that's kind of what, what started that.
41
00:03:00.985 --> 00:03:04.525
I just never thought about really playing it. I was much better at playing two
42
00:03:04.525 --> 00:03:07.785
finger power chords, doing Ramones kind of thing.
43
00:03:07.865 --> 00:03:12.725
Okay. And eventually said, well, let's start a rockabilly band, see what happens.
44
00:03:13.185 --> 00:03:18.465
Gotcha. And for listeners that maybe haven't really experienced what rockabilly
45
00:03:18.465 --> 00:03:23.925
is, what would, what would be your best description of what that genre encompasses?
46
00:03:23.925 --> 00:03:29.065
Compasses i think i think they say it's the bastard son of the blues so it's
47
00:03:29.065 --> 00:03:36.945
old school country hillbilly music and combined with some rock and roll so early early early elvis.
48
00:03:38.125 --> 00:03:43.805
Elvis presley everybody knows elvis so that that would be my description what
49
00:03:43.805 --> 00:03:47.505
it is if somebody was asking me what the heck is rock and roll which they do
50
00:03:47.505 --> 00:03:50.065
a lot because people just don't know you know,
51
00:03:50.065 --> 00:03:54.265
kind of hillbilly music with some rock and roll in it.
52
00:03:54.425 --> 00:03:59.265
And what's the basic instrumentation for like a rockabilly group?
53
00:03:59.825 --> 00:04:03.825
Well, for a true rockabilly band, it will probably be an acoustic guitar,
54
00:04:04.145 --> 00:04:08.645
lead singer, upright bass, and a drummer with a stripped down drum set.
55
00:04:09.065 --> 00:04:13.965
But then, you know, and you're playing songs kind of like Elvis Presley.
56
00:04:13.965 --> 00:04:18.685
And then there's, you know, other genres that kind of came off of that, like psychobilly,
57
00:04:18.865 --> 00:04:22.745
which is mixing the punk is a little bit closer to the punk rock,
58
00:04:22.785 --> 00:04:26.705
you know, adding punk rock influences to that neo rockabilly,
59
00:04:26.825 --> 00:04:33.005
which adds a lot more newer production in the studio, more players.
60
00:04:33.005 --> 00:04:36.085
Players so currently we have four players
61
00:04:36.085 --> 00:04:38.965
in our band it's me playing rhythm guitar on
62
00:04:38.965 --> 00:04:42.645
electric and sometimes on acoustic a lead player a
63
00:04:42.645 --> 00:04:47.065
bass player and drummer gotcha so what
64
00:04:47.065 --> 00:04:53.385
is the local scene attitude towards your group like the positives of it yeah
65
00:04:53.385 --> 00:04:58.945
we've gotten great response it's pretty amazing because i grew up in indiana
66
00:04:58.945 --> 00:05:03.185
went to school in kentucky and kansas lived in texas lived in Tennessee,
67
00:05:03.485 --> 00:05:07.625
lived in Philadelphia, and I've played music at all those places.
68
00:05:07.805 --> 00:05:12.285
But usually you're just kind of like the backing soundtrack to something.
69
00:05:12.405 --> 00:05:14.665
People are sitting at the bar watching television.
70
00:05:14.905 --> 00:05:18.565
You're playing music to backs of heads. Right.
71
00:05:18.885 --> 00:05:23.505
So it's been pretty amazing up here. It's like people are really into going
72
00:05:23.505 --> 00:05:28.905
out and seeing music and seeing music and not just having it as the background noise. Right.
73
00:05:30.071 --> 00:05:34.151
And plus, you know, rockabilly and beer kind of go hand in hand.
74
00:05:34.511 --> 00:05:37.131
And I've been told there's a lot of beer drinkers up here.
75
00:05:38.091 --> 00:05:44.191
And Harley, the Harley Davidson crowd, you know, motorcycles and rockabilly.
76
00:05:44.271 --> 00:05:47.791
It's just that it kind of goes hand in hand also. Yeah.
77
00:05:48.231 --> 00:05:53.031
Lifestyle there. The music that I'm writing fits in perfect with that.
78
00:05:53.071 --> 00:05:55.331
And I get a really good response.
79
00:05:55.411 --> 00:05:59.191
I've gotten a great response up here at festivals, at fairs, clubs.
80
00:06:00.211 --> 00:06:04.991
And it's kind of odd. It definitely made me reflect back and, you know, why is that?
81
00:06:05.031 --> 00:06:09.171
Why is all these other places that I've played like that?
82
00:06:09.231 --> 00:06:15.111
And why is Milwaukee, Wisconsin in general, you know, different from all those other places?
83
00:06:15.831 --> 00:06:20.091
I don't know if I've actually figured it out, but, you know, I'm not complaining.
84
00:06:20.411 --> 00:06:25.591
Life is good. Good. Good. That's good. Is there any struggles you've seen in
85
00:06:25.591 --> 00:06:30.511
the live scene that just seems to be a hindrance or something that could be
86
00:06:30.511 --> 00:06:35.471
activated to help if it was turned around would help the scene for you?
87
00:06:35.471 --> 00:06:43.011
I think it's just the support of original music acts is kind of the main hurdle.
88
00:06:43.171 --> 00:06:48.071
And I feel like, you know, I've got two agents, three agencies that I work with.
89
00:06:48.571 --> 00:06:55.011
And the two of those, the majority of the acts seem to be cover bands.
90
00:06:55.011 --> 00:07:01.631
And so I feel very lucky to be a part of that crowd to be able to get booked
91
00:07:01.631 --> 00:07:07.551
from those agencies because we play a majority is original music.
92
00:07:07.551 --> 00:07:12.351
Now, if we're playing a three or four hour set, then we throw in covers from
93
00:07:12.351 --> 00:07:17.331
Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, of course, all those.
94
00:07:18.271 --> 00:07:24.731
Excuse me. But yeah, it's just kind of getting recognized as an original artist
95
00:07:24.731 --> 00:07:28.551
because cover bands, that's where it's at.
96
00:07:28.731 --> 00:07:32.191
You know, cover bands are going to make a heck of a lot more money than what
97
00:07:32.191 --> 00:07:36.651
we're pulling in. Gotcha. People want to go out and hear things that they recognize.
98
00:07:37.551 --> 00:07:39.211
Which I totally get. I understand that.
99
00:07:40.387 --> 00:07:45.587
But again, for the response that we've been getting, playing my originals,
100
00:07:45.607 --> 00:07:47.947
you know, I think we're pretty blessed.
101
00:07:48.847 --> 00:07:54.427
Nice, nice. So with being a mostly original band, what do you do to help promote
102
00:07:54.427 --> 00:07:59.647
like your shows and other things of that nature to keep people to notice your group?
103
00:07:59.907 --> 00:08:04.847
Yeah, social media. And I'm not social media savvy at all.
104
00:08:05.147 --> 00:08:10.407
Pretty much none of the guys in the band are. We're all at least in our 50s
105
00:08:10.407 --> 00:08:15.207
at this point, pushing 60, if not, I think actually someone is in their 60s.
106
00:08:16.187 --> 00:08:20.807
We're old school. We used to hang up flyers on telephone poles.
107
00:08:20.987 --> 00:08:22.087
We don't do that anymore.
108
00:08:22.307 --> 00:08:27.227
I'm on social media promoting it on all these different Wisconsin,
109
00:08:27.707 --> 00:08:30.787
our Milwaukee music, Facebook pages.
110
00:08:31.867 --> 00:08:35.547
I try to do some video of our songs.
111
00:08:35.547 --> 00:08:38.507
Like so with this new album instead of dropping all the
112
00:08:38.507 --> 00:08:41.367
songs dropping the whole album at one time
113
00:08:41.367 --> 00:08:44.647
and having it get lost in the shuffle we're releasing a
114
00:08:44.647 --> 00:08:49.767
single at a time so like every month i'll release another song i'll make a video
115
00:08:49.767 --> 00:08:55.667
for it we'll post it all over social media in hopes that it will generate more
116
00:08:55.667 --> 00:09:01.007
interest and kind of keep our name out there because our first album And we
117
00:09:01.007 --> 00:09:02.567
just kind of, we just put it out there.
118
00:09:03.047 --> 00:09:07.187
And, and then of course, three months later, COVID hit. Not that it would make
119
00:09:07.187 --> 00:09:10.827
any difference, but I figured the, the, the worst thing that could happen by
120
00:09:10.827 --> 00:09:12.927
releasing them via singles,
121
00:09:13.087 --> 00:09:18.587
I'm losing 0.0003 cents a stream online.
122
00:09:18.767 --> 00:09:23.307
And, you know, the fact is we're not getting that many streams no matter what. So, yeah.
123
00:09:23.487 --> 00:09:27.827
If you are enjoying these episodes, please consider donating to the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
124
00:09:27.827 --> 00:09:32.487
Donations help pay for the website and putting the podcast up on streaming services
125
00:09:32.487 --> 00:09:37.327
and also getting our name out there to all Wisconsinites and others that are
126
00:09:37.327 --> 00:09:39.747
interested in our great music here in Wisconsin.
127
00:09:40.287 --> 00:09:42.907
Donations are secured through PayPal and Stripe.
128
00:09:43.836 --> 00:09:47.056
Do is go to the website and click on Donate to WMP.
129
00:09:49.656 --> 00:09:53.656
So you just mentioned your newest recording. Why don't you kind of give the
130
00:09:53.656 --> 00:09:56.956
listeners a little journey from the beginning to the releases?
131
00:09:57.156 --> 00:10:00.056
You know, how did you start the project? Who's involved?
132
00:10:00.556 --> 00:10:04.316
Not only the musicians, but on the other side of the glass as well.
133
00:10:04.416 --> 00:10:06.936
Was it a DIY or did you go to a studio?
134
00:10:07.096 --> 00:10:12.516
Things of that nature yeah so our drummer has a home studio you know i've always
135
00:10:12.516 --> 00:10:16.876
i've always wanted to go into a studio but if i'm going to spend that much money
136
00:10:16.876 --> 00:10:22.316
it makes more sense to buy the equipment and i'll have the equipment and do
137
00:10:22.316 --> 00:10:25.156
it ourselves now of course it's not going to sound the same.
138
00:10:26.216 --> 00:10:30.176
But we'll save a lot of money and you know maybe the next album or the next
139
00:10:30.176 --> 00:10:34.816
album will will be expensive studio quality.
140
00:10:35.636 --> 00:10:42.896
So we started this almost two years ago. We recorded the basics in our drummer's basement.
141
00:10:43.356 --> 00:10:47.896
I brought the files home. I started building a studio at my house,
142
00:10:47.916 --> 00:10:50.076
so I started putting it together here.
143
00:10:50.776 --> 00:10:54.756
It would not have taken, it just was released this summer, it would not have
144
00:10:54.756 --> 00:10:59.796
taken as long if I went somewhere and paid a lot of money or if I knew how to
145
00:10:59.796 --> 00:11:02.296
run the software that I was editing it on.
146
00:11:02.376 --> 00:11:04.816
So there's a lot of trial and error, lots of error.
147
00:11:05.836 --> 00:11:09.256
But it was rewarding in the process.
148
00:11:09.636 --> 00:11:14.896
But yeah, so I got Lorenzo Rapani on lead guitar, John Steffes on bass,
149
00:11:15.136 --> 00:11:19.456
Kurt Weber on drums, and I'm on guitar and singing.
150
00:11:19.476 --> 00:11:21.836
I do play some piano on one song.
151
00:11:22.916 --> 00:11:27.076
Unfortunately, we lost John Steffes earlier this summer.
152
00:11:27.356 --> 00:11:34.936
To cancer, but was very grateful to have him on this album and kind of,
153
00:11:34.936 --> 00:11:37.796
you know, he helped out so much with the process.
154
00:11:38.056 --> 00:11:44.216
As far as, you know, other people, we did a Kickstarter campaign and I honestly
155
00:11:44.216 --> 00:11:49.016
did not think because we're older, we don't have a big social media presence.
156
00:11:49.236 --> 00:11:54.176
I did not think we would make our goal, but people really stepped up and we,
157
00:11:54.236 --> 00:12:01.216
we made it And I was able to release it on a real CD, release it on vinyl,
158
00:12:01.376 --> 00:12:03.296
you know, get a good recording and.
159
00:12:04.649 --> 00:12:10.369
Well, the artwork for the CD and the vinyl are all both in 3D.
160
00:12:10.609 --> 00:12:14.829
Oh, cool. And the glasses come with it. So they're custom made glasses.
161
00:12:15.449 --> 00:12:20.109
So it's kind of a fun, different release. I'm trying to kind of come up with
162
00:12:20.109 --> 00:12:23.389
different ways of releasing something to generate interest.
163
00:12:23.689 --> 00:12:29.209
Yeah. You know, it's not just an audio experience. It's a visual experience too.
164
00:12:30.149 --> 00:12:34.569
So I was really excited that that all turned out. On a side note,
165
00:12:34.649 --> 00:12:40.669
I've heard that getting vinyl from sending them your music to receiving the
166
00:12:40.669 --> 00:12:42.629
album back takes multiple months.
167
00:12:42.689 --> 00:12:45.409
How many months did it take for you to get that turnaround?
168
00:12:46.149 --> 00:12:50.669
That's what I heard too. In fact, I was told basically plan on it taking a year.
169
00:12:51.109 --> 00:12:53.429
So I was expecting it to be done in March.
170
00:12:53.909 --> 00:12:58.809
It came in the mail almost a month and a half, maybe two months ago at this point.
171
00:12:59.509 --> 00:13:02.449
So it took about six months, if that.
172
00:13:02.969 --> 00:13:07.249
Okay. It was quick considering what I was told. Right.
173
00:13:07.489 --> 00:13:10.949
You know, six months is definitely a long time, but you know,
174
00:13:10.949 --> 00:13:15.969
when you're expecting something a year later and it comes in half the time, you know.
175
00:13:16.529 --> 00:13:21.629
That's pretty cool. Yeah. There's hope for people that want to release something
176
00:13:21.629 --> 00:13:26.429
in a relatively short amount of time, half of a year.
177
00:13:26.809 --> 00:13:32.189
At least the company I went with, you know, I don't know what other companies.
178
00:13:32.449 --> 00:13:35.389
Are like but right and how
179
00:13:35.389 --> 00:13:39.449
many did you have made did you like a thousand run or half of that or what was
180
00:13:39.449 --> 00:13:45.369
it half of half of that we i think the total count was 245 that came in okay
181
00:13:45.369 --> 00:13:52.609
so yeah it's very limited run we'll see how this one sells this one has tricolor vinyl.
182
00:13:53.729 --> 00:14:00.269
The next printing if we actually are lucky enough to have to do that will just
183
00:14:00.269 --> 00:14:02.589
be either one color or just black.
184
00:14:03.649 --> 00:14:07.729
I don't think I'll have custom glasses made so that this first piece.
185
00:14:08.871 --> 00:14:12.851
Pressing might be a little bit more, I don't want to say valuable,
186
00:14:13.031 --> 00:14:14.811
because I don't think it will ever be valuable.
187
00:14:15.291 --> 00:14:18.771
I'd like for it to be, but you never know. Chances are it won't be,
188
00:14:18.851 --> 00:14:21.751
but it will be a special edition.
189
00:14:22.571 --> 00:14:29.511
Cool. Yeah, it's nice to see that some of this music being reproduced back onto
190
00:14:29.511 --> 00:14:31.551
vinyl has had a comeback.
191
00:14:31.751 --> 00:14:37.851
It's very cool, because I think vinyl has a very, it's not just a nostalgic niche thing,
192
00:14:37.851 --> 00:14:40.831
but it actually has a cool vibe to it of its
193
00:14:40.831 --> 00:14:43.651
own you know yeah absolutely yeah i've
194
00:14:43.651 --> 00:14:46.911
always i've always loved vinyl i obviously if
195
00:14:46.911 --> 00:14:50.231
you see behind me there's a small collection just
196
00:14:50.231 --> 00:14:56.891
just a small yeah yeah if someone asked you what were your i don't want to say
197
00:14:56.891 --> 00:15:01.071
your top or your favorites but if you wanted to show them or have them hear
198
00:15:01.071 --> 00:15:05.631
three great examples of songs off that album And what would it like be the three
199
00:15:05.631 --> 00:15:09.191
that you would like to pick and maybe we'll have put them on the podcast for you.
200
00:15:09.511 --> 00:15:17.011
The three songs would, first one would be coming down hard in my backyard would
201
00:15:17.011 --> 00:15:22.211
be another one and probably leave the lights on if I had, I mean,
202
00:15:22.211 --> 00:15:23.151
that's hard to pick three,
203
00:15:23.251 --> 00:15:26.251
you know, yeah,
204
00:15:26.391 --> 00:15:30.491
I would probably say those three because well, coming down hard,
205
00:15:30.571 --> 00:15:33.611
it's just a rocker it's opens the CD.
206
00:15:33.840 --> 00:17:09.680
Music.
207
00:17:09.529 --> 00:17:14.369
In my backyard, I wrote during COVID. Well, I started writing before COVID.
208
00:17:14.509 --> 00:17:15.769
I finished it during COVID.
209
00:17:16.469 --> 00:17:19.709
I always joke that it was, well, it's not a joke.
210
00:17:19.849 --> 00:17:23.569
It was a really depressing, sad time, and we needed happy songs.
211
00:17:23.709 --> 00:17:27.409
And I ended up writing a song about growing old, falling apart, and dying.
212
00:17:28.669 --> 00:17:33.589
A lot of my songs have humor in it. So that's in my backyard.
213
00:17:33.589 --> 00:17:36.589
Ours just talks about, you know, getting older and, you know,
214
00:17:36.589 --> 00:17:38.589
the issues health-wise.
215
00:17:39.589 --> 00:17:42.709
I'll save the rest for you guys just to listen to.
216
00:17:42.960 --> 00:19:12.560
Music.
217
00:18:03.589 --> 00:18:15.349
Hell came of me it hurts to wake up in the morning and in the middle of the night i've got a pee,
218
00:18:16.729 --> 00:18:30.469
no one ever said it easy no one ever said it could get this hard Just put me in a coffin,
219
00:18:30.709 --> 00:18:35.069
and bury my ass in the backyard.
220
00:18:43.749 --> 00:18:47.729
Well, that's what I get for daydreaming.
221
00:18:48.629 --> 00:18:52.769
The problem is that I never woke up.
222
00:18:53.869 --> 00:19:02.469
Now it's growing out of strange places and velcros replacing the laces,
223
00:19:06.449 --> 00:19:16.729
and then leave the lights on is just a special song because my mom when we were
224
00:19:16.729 --> 00:19:21.209
younger she said that she'd always leave the porch light on no matter what her kids were doing.
225
00:19:21.649 --> 00:19:26.129
So basically, if we got sent to prison, not that that would happen,
226
00:19:26.229 --> 00:19:31.049
and this is a drastic experience example, but if we got sent to prison,
227
00:19:31.229 --> 00:19:35.449
she'd always have the porch light on and welcome us back home.
228
00:19:35.569 --> 00:19:40.189
So no matter what happened, what the kids were doing, there'd always be a light.
229
00:19:40.349 --> 00:19:43.289
And so that kind of stuck with me. So I wrote that.
230
00:19:43.709 --> 00:19:49.149
The title inspired me. The lyrics themselves don't necessarily reflect that experience.
231
00:19:49.680 --> 00:21:45.200
Music.
232
00:21:45.043 --> 00:21:51.083
The Light Song is definitely a line that's stuck with me for 20, 30 years. Great.
233
00:21:52.223 --> 00:21:57.023
And yeah, that's amazing. So I'll insert those songs in there for you,
234
00:21:57.063 --> 00:22:00.223
and then the listeners can take a listen to that, and they can draw their own
235
00:22:00.223 --> 00:22:03.963
conclusions if they want to, and then go and see you play. Yeah.
236
00:22:03.983 --> 00:22:04.723
You and your group. Yeah.
237
00:22:06.103 --> 00:22:09.963
So speaking, you said you released this on CD and also on vinyl,
238
00:22:10.103 --> 00:22:12.743
but where can people see or hear this digitally?
239
00:22:12.943 --> 00:22:15.643
Do you have band camp? I mean, are they on the streaming sites?
240
00:22:15.763 --> 00:22:17.423
Where else can they hear this?
241
00:22:17.663 --> 00:22:22.263
Yeah, I think you could actually hear all the songs on Bandcamp, now that you mention it.
242
00:22:22.443 --> 00:22:27.163
Spotify, we have five singles from the album on there now.
243
00:22:27.863 --> 00:22:32.223
You can go to my website at brucehumphries.com. We have videos,
244
00:22:32.383 --> 00:22:40.483
links to all the YouTube and Instagram and all that, obviously come out to the shows.
245
00:22:40.483 --> 00:22:43.323
Shows so right now we have the vinyl and
246
00:22:43.323 --> 00:22:46.563
the cd we've been selling at shows we just don't not releasing
247
00:22:46.563 --> 00:22:50.383
them all online right and then there's uh four local
248
00:22:50.383 --> 00:22:53.543
record stores in town that you can pick them
249
00:22:53.543 --> 00:22:57.803
up at a record head bullseye records lily
250
00:22:57.803 --> 00:23:01.403
put and rush more cool so
251
00:23:01.403 --> 00:23:04.563
listeners out there if you want to go get your your hard
252
00:23:04.563 --> 00:23:07.463
copy of that you go see them at a show or go to
253
00:23:07.463 --> 00:23:10.663
to those record shops and check them out there or online like
254
00:23:10.663 --> 00:23:13.703
bandcamp.com where artists get a majority
255
00:23:13.703 --> 00:23:16.683
of what you spend on their music goes
256
00:23:16.683 --> 00:23:19.863
right back to them so that's definitely a good thing we're streaming
257
00:23:19.863 --> 00:23:27.963
unfortunately you get 0.001 of a penny on the dollar basically yeah where can
258
00:23:27.963 --> 00:23:33.703
they see you play yeah we've got a in february i believe i don't have the date
259
00:23:33.703 --> 00:23:38.943
in front of me We're playing at OPE O-P-E Brewery Okay That's in,
260
00:23:39.483 --> 00:23:44.163
West Allis Okay I believe It's right over there Near State Fair Park.
261
00:23:45.710 --> 00:23:52.470
We have been asked back for the Port Washington Fish Fry Festival.
262
00:23:52.930 --> 00:23:56.450
I don't have the dates for that, but you can go to my website,
263
00:23:56.570 --> 00:24:00.570
BruceHumphreys.com, and you can check out the dates that we have.
264
00:24:01.150 --> 00:24:03.450
Kind of in the middle of booking for next year.
265
00:24:04.510 --> 00:24:08.510
So listeners, go to this website when this airs, once you hear this,
266
00:24:08.530 --> 00:24:11.050
and go see when they're playing and go check them out.
267
00:24:11.150 --> 00:24:15.410
Because Rockabilly is an experience in and of itself, for sure.
268
00:24:16.030 --> 00:24:17.310
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
269
00:24:18.270 --> 00:24:21.530
As we're winding down here, there's a couple more questions I have for you.
270
00:24:21.570 --> 00:24:23.390
One of them is work-life balance.
271
00:24:23.630 --> 00:24:27.030
Is that, I know you've talked about you're now, you know, in your,
272
00:24:27.090 --> 00:24:29.070
close to your 50s or early 50s.
273
00:24:29.250 --> 00:24:33.330
You've been playing a long time. Is it a struggle still or you kind of got a
274
00:24:33.330 --> 00:24:34.790
good control over the balance?
275
00:24:35.630 --> 00:24:39.950
I wish I was almost 50 or in my early 50s. I'm 58, so I'm pushing 60.
276
00:24:40.270 --> 00:24:47.090
Okay. It could be a challenge because, well, you're getting older and you're
277
00:24:47.090 --> 00:24:52.050
not as, you don't have the energy like you had when you were younger.
278
00:24:52.410 --> 00:24:57.010
So I've realized that I need to go and do more aerobic workout exercises,
279
00:24:57.450 --> 00:25:01.710
you know, during the week so that I can catch my breath when I'm playing.
280
00:25:01.870 --> 00:25:07.650
Because there are definitely times when I get winded from running around there
281
00:25:07.650 --> 00:25:14.190
on stage or into the audience. And yeah, so that's a big hindrance.
282
00:25:14.350 --> 00:25:19.910
I do have an 11-year-old and a wife, so that could be challenging,
283
00:25:20.110 --> 00:25:25.010
especially in the summer because weekends are the time to go camping and all that.
284
00:25:25.110 --> 00:25:31.990
And so we're trying to find ways to be able to do that and do family stuff while
285
00:25:31.990 --> 00:25:35.810
I do the band stuff. because, you know, we don't play a lot in the winter and
286
00:25:35.810 --> 00:25:38.270
winter's obviously not a good time to go camping.
287
00:25:39.090 --> 00:25:42.770
My 11 year old daughter does get up and sing with me on stage from time to time.
288
00:25:42.830 --> 00:25:44.990
So that's a whole lot of fun. Very cool.
289
00:25:46.250 --> 00:25:51.090
Yeah. What else? Yeah. So, you know, as far as other work goes,
290
00:25:51.190 --> 00:25:53.410
I mean, I'm teaching guitar lessons.
291
00:25:53.590 --> 00:25:56.910
I just was recently hired to do a
292
00:25:56.910 --> 00:26:01.450
song for a soundtrack for an art video project that
293
00:26:01.450 --> 00:26:04.410
a local artist is working on you know i
294
00:26:04.410 --> 00:26:08.830
do ebay stuff so i mean it's just my life is insane nothing's
295
00:26:08.830 --> 00:26:13.810
i don't make anything simple for me you know if i make a cd i've got to have
296
00:26:13.810 --> 00:26:17.710
it in you know 3d so i got to figure out the 3d process and then figure out
297
00:26:17.710 --> 00:26:22.690
the getting the glasses from china to the printing company so they can put it
298
00:26:22.690 --> 00:26:24.550
in you You know, it's just like, why not?
299
00:26:24.590 --> 00:26:27.470
I just simplify and just make it normal.
300
00:26:27.850 --> 00:26:31.130
Yeah. I can't, I know I've never been that way. So. Gotcha.
301
00:26:31.690 --> 00:26:36.390
Cool. Yeah. But, but it seems like, you know, you have at least a decent control
302
00:26:36.390 --> 00:26:39.450
over, over the balance of most of the things that you're doing. It seems.
303
00:26:40.831 --> 00:26:41.931
Sure. Sure.
304
00:26:44.011 --> 00:26:47.771
As long as it appears that way. Your wife hasn't kicked you out of the house yet?
305
00:26:48.231 --> 00:26:52.791
Not yet, no. Yeah. No. The last question I ask is, gigs that have made an impression
306
00:26:52.791 --> 00:26:58.831
on you as an artist and even as an audience member, is there some experiences
307
00:26:58.831 --> 00:27:02.691
that just blew your mind that you could tell the audience?
308
00:27:03.091 --> 00:27:07.391
For my shows or just any shows? It could be a show that you performed at,
309
00:27:07.491 --> 00:27:09.291
shows you've seen, things of that nature.
310
00:27:09.291 --> 00:27:14.911
Sure well you know with the with the rockabilly thing since i've got a lot of rockabilly influence.
311
00:27:15.711 --> 00:27:18.611
So i bought the stray cats album when i
312
00:27:18.611 --> 00:27:21.311
was a kid and uh i listened to it and i'm
313
00:27:21.311 --> 00:27:24.051
like yeah it's okay you know it wasn't something that blew
314
00:27:24.051 --> 00:27:27.051
me away and then i saw them in concert
315
00:27:27.051 --> 00:27:29.971
and watching you know the bass player
316
00:27:29.971 --> 00:27:33.411
run around with his upright bass on his shoulder chasing guitar
317
00:27:33.411 --> 00:27:36.291
player and the drummer getting up and standing on top of
318
00:27:36.291 --> 00:27:38.951
his drums and jumping off and the guitar guitar
319
00:27:38.951 --> 00:27:41.671
player getting up on the drums it was just such a
320
00:27:41.671 --> 00:27:44.771
show yeah it was so high energy
321
00:27:44.771 --> 00:27:48.551
and it was life-changing and then
322
00:27:48.551 --> 00:27:51.311
you know on the opposite of that we went to go see
323
00:27:51.311 --> 00:27:58.031
the cars before rick okasik passed obviously because yeah and he's never been
324
00:27:58.031 --> 00:28:02.011
one to really move around on stage and he was a big influence when i was a kid
325
00:28:02.011 --> 00:28:07.591
also so you know it's just kind of like watching Imagine a band stand there,
326
00:28:07.611 --> 00:28:09.571
play their songs. Not real exciting.
327
00:28:10.011 --> 00:28:15.031
I'm thankful I saw them, but it's like, I want to go see a show that's high
328
00:28:15.031 --> 00:28:19.691
energy, that they're into it, they're moving around, they're doing something.
329
00:28:19.751 --> 00:28:24.231
So it's not just audio experience, it's a visual experience also.
330
00:28:25.806 --> 00:28:30.546
You know, so I try to incorporate that into our shows.
331
00:28:31.306 --> 00:28:36.906
And, you know, we did open, you know, the other life changing or the great experience
332
00:28:36.906 --> 00:28:42.686
was opening for Setzer for a few shows on the East Coast when he was doing his orchestra.
333
00:28:43.526 --> 00:28:46.986
Yeah, I mean, that's kind of a little bit longer story. And,
334
00:28:46.986 --> 00:28:54.646
but yeah, it was very surreal to be up on stage at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic
335
00:28:54.646 --> 00:28:57.826
City with Setzer standing to the side, watching us play.
336
00:28:57.906 --> 00:29:02.986
And, you know, I was a guitar player for someone that I was very much into when
337
00:29:02.986 --> 00:29:07.826
I was a kid and somehow it ended up playing with him and, you know,
338
00:29:07.826 --> 00:29:12.086
and then the next day I'm back home raking leaves in the front.
339
00:29:12.086 --> 00:29:17.646
I can't be playing a sold out show at the Trump Taj Mahal and then raking leaves.
340
00:29:17.866 --> 00:29:22.506
Yep. Yep. But I learned so much from those experiences over there that,
341
00:29:22.506 --> 00:29:30.106
you know, that I apply to the band now, you know, my, yeah, just so much, so many influences.
342
00:29:30.706 --> 00:29:34.426
Wonderful. Wonderful. Is there anything you'd like to add for the listeners
343
00:29:34.426 --> 00:29:35.926
to know about before I let you go today?
344
00:29:36.246 --> 00:29:40.146
Um, I can't, I can't really think of anything right off except for,
345
00:29:40.146 --> 00:29:44.646
you know, if you do Do pick up our CD, you know, with the glasses.
346
00:29:44.666 --> 00:29:49.866
There's a QR code on the side that will take you to our secret web page on my
347
00:29:49.866 --> 00:29:51.626
website that has more 3D images.
348
00:29:52.486 --> 00:29:58.826
So, you know, it's just trying to make this more of an experience for people
349
00:29:58.826 --> 00:30:03.386
that, you know, it's not just getting something and listening.
350
00:30:03.506 --> 00:30:08.866
You can, you know, find these things and go explore other places and hear our
351
00:30:08.866 --> 00:30:14.726
stuff. And yeah, support the band, support local music, support original music.
352
00:30:15.486 --> 00:30:18.626
Excellent. Bruce, thank you so much for being on the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
353
00:30:18.846 --> 00:30:22.426
It's been a pleasure talking with you, learning all about you and your music
354
00:30:22.426 --> 00:30:25.126
and the things you've been doing. So thank you so much for being on the show.
355
00:30:25.406 --> 00:30:27.486
Yeah, I appreciate you having me. Thanks, man.
356
00:30:31.155 --> 00:30:34.695
Well, thanks again for tuning in to another episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
357
00:30:35.155 --> 00:30:38.815
Once again, I'm Zach Fell, your host and creator of the Wisconsin Music Podcast,
358
00:30:38.975 --> 00:30:43.615
where I love to amplify the great sounds coming out of the Wisconsin state.
359
00:30:43.655 --> 00:30:47.115
We have great talent here, great support, great listeners.
360
00:30:47.535 --> 00:30:53.035
Thanks to Fox City's Indie Radio for syndicating this on Wednesdays and Sundays,
361
00:30:53.095 --> 00:30:54.575
along with their other great programs.
362
00:30:54.655 --> 00:30:59.335
So make sure you check out the Fox City's Indie Radio. Thanks so much to Bruce.
363
00:31:00.515 --> 00:31:02.215
For being on the show this week.
364
00:31:04.115 --> 00:31:08.955
If you'd like to be on the show, just go up to wisconsinmusicpodcast.com,
365
00:31:09.055 --> 00:31:13.875
fill out the guest request form up at the top, ask for your email and your name,
366
00:31:14.495 --> 00:31:17.755
and then I'll send you an auto email asking you for more information.
367
00:31:18.055 --> 00:31:22.195
If you are enjoying these episodes, please consider donating to the Wisconsin Music Podcast.
368
00:31:22.735 --> 00:31:26.915
Donations help pay for the website and putting the podcast up on streaming services
369
00:31:26.915 --> 00:31:31.515
and also getting our name out there to all Wisconsinites and others that are.
370
00:31:31.515 --> 00:31:33.935
Interested in our great music here in Wisconsin.
371
00:31:34.475 --> 00:31:38.355
Donations are secure through PayPal and Stripe. All you have to do is go to
372
00:31:38.355 --> 00:31:41.215
the website and click on Donate to WMP.
373
00:31:42.555 --> 00:31:45.535
And also make sure you like and subscribe us on.
374
00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:55.189
Music.