BIG FAT ASS
1. What do you like about the Madison music scene?
The absolutely insane amount of great bands that go unheralded and the great people and basements/clubs that keep things happening.
There’s easily enough great local music happening here, just within the punk/hardcore/rock or whatever genre, that one could listen only to local bands and not really miss out on anything. It seems that everyone knows each other and gets along really well.
2. What do you dislike about the Madison music scene?
Since this is primarily a college town, a lot of people only stick around for four years, if that. This makes it hard to really get anything started and/or established.
3. What’s one thing you want students to know about your band?
The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads –they all adore us. The think we’re a righteous dude.
Seriously, we have some songs about serious things that piss us off, but we also like to have a good time, so we’ve got a lot of fun and/or stupid songs, too. Our shows are usually a lot of fun, and if you come to one, you’ll probably have a good time, or at least an interesting one.
4. What has been your best experience playing in Madison?
Playing with Against Me this past summer … we got to play with a band that we’re all big fans of. A ton of people came to the show from Minneapolis, Chicago and Milwaukee. Everybody was singing along, and it seemed like everyone knew all the words. It was great to play with a band that inspires people as much as they do. Plus, we heard there were people making whoopie on a couch while we were playing.
Every show we played at the Electric Earth was amazing and tons of fun too.
5. What has been your worst experience playing in Madison?
We were trying to set up a show at a certain club that shall remain nameless. They wanted us to write a written apology for something we hadn’t even done the last time we’d played there. Plus they wanted us to apologize formally to the manager and leave as soon as we were done playing, so we’d miss seeing the other bands.
It was just ridiculous, and we protested by taking all the bands that were supposed to play there over to a basement.
Website: www.geocities.com/fukflywheel/Bigfatass.html
E-mail: [email protected]
NOAHJOHN
1. What do you like about the Madison music scene?
The peeps.
2. What do you dislike about the Madison music scene?
The wankers.
3. What’s one thing you want students to know about your band?
We’re playing at the Crystal Corner Bar (1302 Williamson St.) Feb. 8.
4. What has been your best experience playing in Madison?
The 2001 Willy Street Fair was cancelled because of 9/11. Myself and a few others organized an alternate location, the New Recruits’ house, for the WORT New Music Stage. Tons of people showed up. It was all word-of-mouth–very cool.
5. What has been your worst experience playing in Madison?
The worst is a little too private to share. Buy me a drink sometime and I’ll fill you in.
Website: www.noahjohn.com
E-mail: [email protected]
PHAT PHUNKTION
1. What do you like about the Madison music scene?
There is a real strong sense of community among bands and musicians in Madison. I also think that there is a tremendous amount of variety and creativity for such a small city. From jazz to punk, there is a little bit of everything in our town.
2. What do you dislike about the Madison music scene?
It’s small and political. There are so many good bands that never get heard because there is such a lack of venues. There is also a real bullshit arrogance from some of our “local” newspaper writers. You know who you are.
3. What’s one thing you want students to know about your band?
When you come to a Phat show you and the other 600 people there will leave tired, sweaty, and elated! We formed when we were students and are very proud of being from here.
4. What has been your best experience playing in Madison?
That’s a very hard one. We have had so many great gigs here, but playing in front of 5,000 people at the Union Terrace is one of the top shows for us.
5. What has been your worst experience playing in Madison?
Luckily we haven’t had one … except for that corn bake in Lodi, Wis.
Website: www.phatphunktion.com
E-mail: [email protected]
THE BEEVES
1. What do you like about the Madison music scene?
With the Annex, Luther”s Blues and both Unions within a mile”s radius, it is really hard to avoid seeing creative and inspirational artists perform. It all depends on which night you decide to go to a show, because it could be the worst thing ever or the best thing ever. That’s good.
2. What do you dislike about the Madison music scene?
It can be difficult for bands just starting out to get a show around here. It would be nice to have more places to fill the void the Electric Earth left. We generally have so many nationally recognized acts to choose from that we often forget about the great stuff that’s going on right here. It really takes a deliberate effort on the part of musicians and audiences to make our local scene evolve and thrive.
3. What’s one thing you want students to know about your band?
We are always trying something new musically so it”s hard to expect a certain sound from us. Our philosophy is that local shows should be about having fun because anyone that wants to hear us is welcome to come over and listen anytime we practice. The main things we try to get across to people are that you can have fun with music and that the more you challenge yourself the better the music gets–it has no limits.
4. What has been your best experience playing in Madison?
Our best experience was definitely our performance with OKGO at Club 770 when, unbeknownst to anyone, our drummer, Tony, proposed to our keyboardist, Jessica, during our last song. It has an unrehearsed ‘jam’ at the end, but Tony just stopped playing. Next thing we knew, he was kneeling next to Jessica and then they hugged. No one really knew what to do at that point, so we just finished the song.
5. What has been your worst experience playing in Madison?
Our Madison shows usually go off without a hitch. Of course, our views may be a little tainted by our other experiences. Once we played a show in Tulsa, Okla. where half a dozen police cars and a helicopter were called in to bust up the show–turns out it was a noise complaint.
When you look at things that way, Madison’s been pretty nice to us.
Website: www.thebeeves.com
E-mail: [email protected]
THE CREST
1. What do you like about the Madison music scene?
The growing support and diversity.
2. What do you dislike about the Madison music scene?
The much-more-needed support and how everyone hates on each other.
3. What’s one thing you want students to know about your band?
We’re 100 percent independent and are always throwing shows … Blueprint & Illogic Jan. 23 at The Annex … High & Mighty Jan. 31 at The King Club … DJ Battle w/ Kico
(Chi) at The Imperial Palace … Sage Francis Feb. 27 at The
Annex.
4. What has been your best experience playing in Madison?
Playing with either Clyde Stubblefield, Binary Star or Eyedea.
5. What has been your worst experience playing in Madison?
The Hip-hop Convention last year … we only had five minutes due to the politics of the event, when we have been holding down Madison for years.
Website: ad-jackcracker.com/aboutus.html
E-mail: [email protected]
THE JUNKERS
1. What do you like about the Madison music scene?
We love how receptive the scene has been to our music. We started out just playing for fun, out of a mutual love of country. We were pleasantly surprised to learn Madison music fans were interested.
2. What do you dislike about the Madison music scene?
We’re always sorry at a show when the bar closes. Usually it feels like we’re just getting started.
3. What’s one thing you want students to know about your band?
We wish we had a band like the Junkers to go see when we were in college.
4. What has been your best experience playing in Madison?
Our shows at the Rainbow Room, the gay bar, have been swirling carousels of glitter, drag queens, leather daddies and relentless calls for us to play Dolly Parton songs.
5. What has been your worst experience playing in Madison?
The desperate hangovers after playing the Rainbow Room.
Website: www.thejunkers.com
E-mail: [email protected]
THE KISSERS
1. What do you like about the Madison music scene?
Madison is a great place to start a band. It’s a small town, so there’s usually a place for everyone. There’s also a greater number of weekly gigs than would be expected from a town this size.
2. What do you dislike about the Madison music scene?
It’s pretty easy to saturate the scene with one band. In a larger city one band can play nearly once a week, but in Madison (depending on the band) it’s usually not wise to play more than once every six weeks or so (with the exception of the house slots).
3. What’s one thing you want students to know about your band?
The Kissers play Irish rock.
4. What has been your best experience playing in Madison?
Luther’s Blues on St. Patrick’s Day 2002. The floor shook so much that the CD burner we were using to record the show kept skipping.
5. What has been your worst experience playing in Madison?
When Hotel Washington (Club de Wash) burned down, I thought it was the worst thing that could have happened to the Madison music scene. I was proven wrong when several years later O’Cayz Corral burned (where The Kissers hosted a Monday-night slot for two and a half years).
Website: www.thekissers.com
E-mail: [email protected]