College-level student bands often have short histories. The members meet each other during their undergrad years, become friends and then band mates.
Post Social, a student band at the University of Wisconsin, breaks away from this tradition.
Four dudes make up Post Social — Mitch Deitz, Brendan Manley, Sam Galligan and Shannon Connor. What’s different about them is that they knew each other, and were involved with music together before elementary school.
Since then, they have landed multiple shows around town and have released three albums, their latest being Casablanca.
Post Social has created a sound reminiscent of the New Jersey rock band Real Estate. Their personal sound fits within indie rock, though they like to fluctuate in style, Deitz said.
“I guess those are the words I would say — punk, dream, jangly, indie, rock, pop,” Deitz said. “It’s like a frankenstein of a genre.”
Instead of having one frontman who does most of the songwriting, Post Social has four. They all write their own parts, and bring them to the table to then give and offer feedback to one another.
“The thing I love about our band is that it’s a genuine four piece,” Deitz said.
He expanded on the process of their songwriting, which begins anywhere from one of them being alone, to two of them jamming to all of them sitting in the practice room and playing around. It’s satisfying for them when they can envision a goal and get it done together — that’s when the songwriting process is euphoric, Deitz said.
Of course, there can be setbacks when someone may not agree with what’s going on. It’s only natural that whatever idea someone brings to the table might turn out to be something new after other input is provided.
The personal history the band members share enables room for disagreement without hindering their creative process.
This process must really work for them, seeing as they have released three albums in the past two years.
One of those albums was released while the boys were still in high school, titled Post Social. During high school they were playing shows around Madison in places like the Loft. In middle school, they played at places like the Goodman Community Center.
All of this prior experience has landed them shows around bigger venues in town, like the High Noon Saloon, the University of Wisconsin Union and the Frequency.
“It was definitely an evolution, a series of events,” Deitz said. “We didn’t just start playing shows in college. That’s what maybe made it easier to have shows and have an identity coming in.”
Playing shows at theses bigger venues have been special to Post Social in regards to audience. Though they are happy to have anyone in the crowd, they value the college-aged kids that come to their shows. College kids are generally more connected to music that college kids are making.
Now that Post Social has carved out a section of the local music scene for themselves, they’ve taken a step back and looked at what the scene has to offer. They’ve agreed there are definitely options, like Wisconsin Union Directorate Music and Strange Oasis Entertainment, and bigger venues for touring artists, like the Orpheum or the Majestic.
For a band that is trying to gain some footing, though, the scene is “definitely lacking,” Deitz said. There aren’t enough WUD shows for the amount of talented, emerging artists. A few student bands have become popular, namely Trophy Dad, Dash Hounds and Slow Pulp, but there are many more waiting to be heard.
Post Social is also making a plea for more house shows around campus due their unique connectability with the crowd. Many bands have built reputations off of shows like this, especially during college, Deitz said.
“If there were more places like that, the scene would blow up,” he said. “We have a lot of young people who are really excited about playing music.”
DIY concerts create spaces for artists, fans of all backgrounds to be themselves
But still, Post Social continues to play on as a jangly, indie rock band that has ingrained themselves into the Madison music scene from a young age, and have since paved a well-lit path for themselves.
