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What Made
Milwaukee Famous
January 7, 2005
What Made Milwaukee Famous only entered into my small world at that Arcade Fire show, but I knew they would be good before they played a note. How? Michael was wearing a Crooked Fingers t-shirt, only one of the bands I love most in the entire world. I've only seen them play once since then, but it wasn't from lack of trying. They played as part of Austin music scene Emo's free week last Saturday, and I showed up and waited in line only to have the show sell out right before I could get in. Yes, doors were literally shut in my face. Fortunately, as a resident in their hometown, I will have many more opportunities. So, without further babbling, I give you the results of my first interview attempt ever.
The bio on your website talks mostly about the background of your music and each of your influences. What about the history of you as a group? How did you guys get together?
We basically all met through ads in the Chronicle. I placed a series of ads for bass, drums, and keys in the Austin Chronicle back in 2002?, I guess? And once we all got in the same room with each other, something just clicked and the music seemed to come pretty easily. Right away, we had about 7 songs to demo and things fell together pretty quickly.
I know from the Chronicle that you spent your first year together really laying low and getting to know one another. Has this base served you well?
Well, we wanted to make sure that we were presenting ourselves in the best possible way when we finally got out there in front of audiences, so we made sure to get everything within the band up to speed and solidified before we played our first show. It wasn’t necessarily a taxing undertaking or anything, but we’re all pretty meticulous about the music and how we deliver it. We all came from different musical backgrounds, so we just made sure everything meshed well before we started playing out. We were all really anxious to get out there and play, but I think that it was well worth the wait.
Michael, I've read that you've attributed much of your vocal style Jeff
Buckley. Could you talk about that?
Ever since I first heard Jeff Buckley, I was pretty blown away by the sounds that he was making. I really strive to sound like as many different people and noises as I can. I just think that you allow yourself a little more variety when you do it that way. I don’t necessarily try to steal anybody’s thunder, but I think that it helps you find out exactly what your voice is capable of by trying to emulate a certain sound that you’ve heard made before. When I first heard Jeff Buckley’s version of “the Way Young Lovers Do” on Live at Sin’e, I was really taken by his abilities to sound like other instruments at times. There was a portion where he sounded like the spitting image of a muted trumpet and I remember thinking that was so awesome. He was pushing the envelope of what was acceptable musically during the time and doing it with such class and style that I was really inspired by it. There are plenty of other people that have taught me a lot about singing, but he definitely opened a lot of doors for things that I’ve experimented with vocally.
I haven't read a single bad thing about Trying to Never Catch Up. Everyone who has heard it seems to like it. How does that make you guys feel?
It’s always great to see another good review of the album. As of yet, we haven’t had the label or distribution push that we’ve needed to get the album out in front of people in the US or overseas so that they can buy it. So, every good review that we’ve gotten online has been a great introduction to the people living outside of Austin that we didn’t have the means to be playing shows for.
When you opened for the Arcade Fire this past September, you said
your label had just dropped you. How has that worked out?
I think that I might have said something about the label situation. I feel like I’m always lamenting about it in some capacity. But we’ve yet to be signed to a label, so I probably mentioned something to that effect. Just in case, someone in the crowd just happened to be looking for a band to sign, eh? We’ve been talking to a few labels and trying to figure everything out. We’re just really ready to get the album out there in people’s hands and get on the road to promote it as much as possible.
If you could be signed on any label you wanted, which would you
choose?
There are plenty of great labels out there and it’s hard to pick just one that would be a favorite. We’d really just love a situation where we would be able to experiment musically and try new things out without being saddled by trying to fit songs into a certain formula that panders to the big sound du jour. Of course, the biggest prerequisite is that the label is really into what we’re doing and where we’re headed.
There seems to be a general consensus that you kicked Franz Ferdinand’s ass in your Austin City Limits taping. What do you guys think?
Ha! That’s great to hear, but we were just talking the other day about never wanting to be in a battle of the band’s fest. We never really thought about it that way. We were so lucky to be able to take part in such an awesome musical tradition like Austin City Limits. It was just great to be able to share a stage with them.
I personally think that your music video for "Selling Yourself Short" is
brilliant. Whose idea was it?
Yeah, it actually is really brilliant. The video was thought up by our good friend Stephen Huff. He worked really hard to make the video look as great as it does and we’re all really proud of it. In fact, there were a lot of people that really helped make that video as great as it is. Stephen actually storyboarded it based on the movie Evil Dead 2 and it really turned out nicely. I always get really excited when I see it come on. It’s really fun to watch even if it wasn’t us on TV.
Will you be playing SXSW again this year?
Yes! We can’t wait to. It’s always such a fun part of the year for us with all of the great bands coming through town. Plus, when we’re lucky enough to share the stage with some of them, it’s always an added bonus.
You're named after the Jerry Lee Lewis song "What Made Milwaukee Famous." Why did you guys choose this name?
Basically, we went back and forth over names for about a week or so. We had like 4 or 5 pages full of them. The bottom line is that almost all of the great band names are taken and the best that you could ever hope for is to really grab someone’s attention and get them interested. I think that the name has really opened some doors for us because it’s pretty original and that’s really all we ever wanted it to do in the first place. The song’s great, too, though.
How do you like being based in Austin? Has it worked out for you? Do
you find it conducive to your music, and do you intend to stay in Austin in the future?
Austin has been really great. It’s such a wonderful music scene here and there are always so many great bands to go see on any given night. We love sharing bills with our favorite local bands and being a part of the music scene here. As for staying here, I don’t think that we have any immediate goals to move away. I’ve always felt like the city that you’re living in and your surroundings, in general, play such a big part in the kind of music that you’re writing. I’d love for us to have a New York or a Chicago album or to record an album up in the mountains of Colorado, snowboarding every day and downing wine and playing music all night. But, I don’t think that’s really in our near future or anything.
What are your ultimate goals for the band?
I used to always say world domination, but that’s such a limited vision!!! We really just want to continue having the kind of successes that we’ve been lucky enough to be a part of, as of late, and to keep making music that we love to play and that people love to hear. We all have those bands that we love that have had these stellar careers that we’d like to mirror in duration and accomplishments. But it always happens differently for everybody. We really just want to stick around and play for as many people possible and make as many albums as we can.
What were your favorite bands/albums from 2005?
Man, there were so many great one’s this year. As far as I’m concerned, as long as Spoon releases an album in any given year, it’s most likely going to be one of the best. The Zykos self-titled record was ridiculously wonderful. I loved that the Fiona Apple album finally surfaced, though I was a bigger fan of the Jon Brion version. AC Newman, Richard Buckner, Doves, Brendan Benson, Okkervil River, Iron & Wine, and the Constantines, all had great albums that I couldn’t stop listening to. I’m not sure if they all fall under the ’05 umbrella. I’m really looking forward to Midlake’s and Cat Power’s new ones coming out in ’06.
What's the most bizarre thing that's happened to you guys since you
started making music?
Well… there was the time that… actually, I’m drawing a blank. We haven’t had too, too many crazy, weird things happen to us. Just being on the ACL taping and getting to open up for the Arcade Fire and the Black Keys was other-worldly enough for us to last us for a while. I’ll get back to you on this one after the next tour, eh?
LINK: What Made Milwaukee Famous Home Page
Interview Effort by Christina "I Really Tried" Hood