My First Band Podcast

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31 – Andy Slania (The Eradicator, ATFO, Tension Generation) Oct 04, 2019

Show notes

You might know Andy Slania from ... actually, you probably don't know him because, when he takes the stage, he's simply known as The Eradicator. The Chicago hardcore band that's based on a 25-year-old sketch from The Kids In The Hall has quickly made a name for itself in the punk world with hilarious and high-caliber shows throughout the country (and Australia) and two great releases — plus an awesome new record that came out today. When he's not wearing a ski mask and clutching a squash racquet as the brash front man of The Eradicator, Slania is a mild-mannered and pleasant guy with a ska-punk past.

Recently, in advance of the release of Peak Eradicator, Slania invited My First Band host Tyler Maas to X-Ray Arcade — which he co-owns with Direct Hit! singer Nick Woods and others — to discuss The Eradicator's latest record, the inspiration behind the project and everything that came before. Over the course of the lengthy conversation, Slania talked about his formative shows as part of bands like ATFO and Tension Generation in the suburbs of Chicago, starting a label that put out more than 30 releases, once having Rise Against open for him during one of their first shows, and the brief and beautiful blip that was Galactic Cannibal. At one point, someone at X-Ray also turns on a power saw for a few seconds.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers"), ATFO ("I'm A Nerd"), and The Eradicator ("Imma Be Me").

30 – Justin Perkins (The Obsoletes, Yesterday's Kids, The Screwballs) Sep 27, 2019

Show notes

Even if you don't know who Justin Perkins is, you're more than likely aware of his work. Perkins owns and operates Mystery Room Mastering, a Milwaukee-based business that masters a wide variety of Wisconsin (and Midwestern) releases, as well as albums from the likes of The Replacements, Bash & Pop, The Mr. T Experience, and many other acts from all around the world. But long before he was working on records for some outstanding bands, he was in a few of his own amazing musical projects.

Recently, Perkins allowed My First Band host Tyler Maas into his basement studio (a.k.a. "Mystery Room East") for a long and informative discussion about the interesting and nuanced field of mastering, as well as his decades of experience on-stage playing in bands like Yesterday's Kids, Obsoletes, and stints with Screeching Weasel, Tommy Stinson's Bash & Pop project, and many other notable outfits. Along the way, Perkins talked about forming a band with his babysitter and his time working at the legendary (and now-closed) Smart Studios in Madison. Meanwhile, Maas reminisced about being a huge Yesterday's Kids fan in high school.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing and Bradford 2020: A Charity Calendar. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers"), Yesterday's Kids ("Nothing Gold Can Stay"), and Obsoletes ("Wish It Never Came").

29 – William Seidel (Decibully, The Promise Ring, Dramatic Lovers, Camden) Sep 20, 2019

Show notes

William "B.J." Seidel wears a lot of hats. He's owner of a celebrated beer-focused bar called Burnhearts, and he co-owns Goodkind, a nationally-regarded fine dining restaurant. He's also the lead singer and guitarist of a new Milwaukee supergroup called Dramatic Lovers. However, most Midwestern music aficionados probably know Seidel best for his work in seminal Milwaukee groups like Camden, The Promise Ring and Decibully. Aside from a short gap after Decibully and before Dramatic Lovers, Seidel has been a celebrated fixture in Milwaukee music since he moved to this city in the mid-'90s. But his musical journey actually starts much earlier.

Prior to Dramatic Lovers' performance at this weekend's Bay View Bash, Seidel met up with My First Band host Tyler Maas to talk about forming the short-lived Billy Jehovah & The Pigeon Boys (which quickly became "Faceless Neighbors") as a high schooler in Racine, Wisconsin, and truly getting started in Milwaukee's music scene with a band called Matthew's Uncle. Over the course of the conversation, Seidel, who, coincidentally, is Maas' landlord, talked about touring with Death Cab For Cutie and Jimmy Eat World, playing on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, being robbed and desperate for shows in Europe, being referenced in the first Duplass Brothers film (and playing shows with Mark Duplass), and much more.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing and Bradford 2020: A Charity Calendar. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers"), Decibully ("On The Way To Your Hotel") and Dramatic Lovers ("How Do You Want To Be Remembered").

28 – Chris Sutter (Meat Wave, Truman & His Trophy, Winter Is Broken) Sep 13, 2019

Show notes

Chris Sutter wanted a drum set. His father, however, decided to buy him an acoustic guitar and a book of AC/DC tabs instead. Though his percussive aspirations never came to be, the future Meat Wave front man made the most of the situation by starting a nameless basement project with a friend in middle school, then a full-fledged band in high school that he's not exactly eager to look back on. Graduation found new influences and collaborators coming Sutter's way, which brought about the formation of Truman & His Trophy — a band that brought the suburban Chicago kid to the Windy City proper to join the city's vibrant music scene. Then along came Meat Wave.

Prior to playing a show at X-Ray Arcade, Sutter joined My First Band host Tyler Maas on the Cudahy, Wisconsin, venue's patio to talk about his musical origin and his embarrassing stint in an emo band, early shows at roller rinks and malls, Meat Wave's Onion-influenced name, and getting to tour with Hot Snakes and play shows in Europe. Along the way, Sutter discusses the band's forthcoming album and his affinity for Boulevard Brewing's American Kolsch, and Maas talks about the approximately 2,000 times he's seen Meat Wave play live.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing and Bradford 2020: A Charity Calendar. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers"), Truman & His Trophy ("Jake Babe") and Meat Wave ("Run You Out").

27 – Soren Staff (Them Coulee Boys) Sep 06, 2019

Show notes

If you don't know Them Coulee Boys yet, you will soon. The Eau-Claire-based bluegrass outfit just released its outstanding sophomore album, Die Happy, two weeks ago, and they're about to embark on a lengthy U.S. tour. Just days after the up-and-coming band put out its long-awaited record and just before officially hitting the road, Them Coulee Boys dropped by Turner Hall to play a one-off show in support of its new album. Before that concert, singer-guitarist Soren Staff was kind enough to talk about Die Happy and the unlikely turn of events that led to him trying to make a career in music with Them Coulee Boys.

Staff met My First Band host Tyler Maas in the Turner Hall balcony before the Aug. 30 outing to talk about the process of making the "all killer, no filler" (both Maas' and Sum 41's words) record with one of his musical idols and his band's plans for the near future. He also told Maas about his start as the singer of a Fall-Out-Boy-adjacent band in a rural Wisconsin town with a population of 400 and exactly no music scene before he moved to Milwaukee to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering. Along the way, he picked up an acoustic guitar, fell in love with folk, and the rest was history. This episode also features a cameo from past guest Joseph Huber, who started his soundcheck during the interview, and some ice bucket interference in the Turner Hall green room. Interruptions aside, this was an interesting and fun one!

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing and is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers") and Them Coulee Boys ("Die Happy").

26 – Ryan Necci (Buffalo Gospel, Fat Maw Rooney) Aug 30, 2019

Show notes

Though country fans throughout the Midwest know Ryan Necci as the singer and founding member of Buffalo Gospel, the bandleader actually got his start as a percussionist. While growing up in the small town of Ixonia, Wisconsin, Necci first got behind a drum kit in middle school to play with a group called The Flying Monkeys, before spending his high school years covering Limp Bizkit (and writing some regrettable originals) with a band called Bangkok. From there, he spent some time with a popular western Wisconsin jam band called Fat Maw Rooney, which is where he started to sing and write songs of his own — thus paving the way for him to take center stage with a project that became Buffalo Gospel.

Between tours and during a day off from his new career as a professional songwriter, Necci met My First Band host Tyler Maas at Milwaukee Record headquarters. There, they talked about Necci's percussive past, buying a band bong with the money from his first paying gig, touring the jam-band circuit in his 20s, the unlikely beginnings of Buffalo Gospel and how music helped him work through the grief of losing one of his best friends and bandmates. Oh, and Maas and Necci also talked about going to a Golden Girls-themed drag show together.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing and is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers"), Fat Maw Rooney ("River Love Blues") and Buffalo Gospel ("High Time To Hang Fire").

25 – Chris Conley (Saves the Day, Indifference, Sefler) Aug 23, 2019

Show notes

Technically, Chris Conley has only been in one band in his life — and what a band it is! In their 20-plus years as a band, Saves The Day has toured the world many times over, released nine studio albums and made some deeply influential music that has helped define a genre. Before he was the lead singer, founding member and bandleader of the band the world knows as Saves The Day, Conley was a teenager in Princeton, New Jersey, who set aside his classical training in cello in favor of a guitar. While in middle school, Conley started a band known as Indifference, which was later called Sefler and, eventually, Saves The Day.

Earlier this month, when Saves The Day was in Milwaukee as part of a tour with Joyce Manor, Conley took some time before the show to meet My First Band host Tyler Maas in the Turner Hall Ballroom balcony and revisit his long-running project's interesting origin. There, the singer talked about playing with future emo and hardcore heavyweights in New Jersey's then-unproven DIY scene, getting signed when he was still in high school, recording Through Being Cool over a 13-day span over his winter break in college and being faced with the choice to either continue his education or seriously pursue music. Over the course of the conversation, Conley explains the importance Bane had on his band's success and Maas makes exactly no effort to hide how much he loves Saves The Day.

24 – SistaStrings (Monique and Chauntee Ross) Aug 16, 2019

Show notes

Even though SistaStrings just released its debut EP this summer, its members have (quite literally) been playing music as long as they can remember. Siblings Monique and Chauntee Ross started playing string instruments before they were in grade school. As children in a church family who were also raised on classical music, they learned a wide variety of gospel and orchestral songs. Along with two of their older sisters, Monique and Chauntee spent much of their youth plying their early experience in a band that played enough church gigs, festivals and corporate events to fund their education. In recent years, they decided to blend their varying areas of expertise with their own material to start SistaStrings.

After getting back from tour and before a flurry of local shows, Monique and Chauntee came by Milwaukee Record headquarters to talk to My First Band host Tyler Maas about what SistaStrings is up to, as well as everything that came before. While drinking a few cans of Boulevard Jam Band, the trio had a light, fun and interesting talk that gave a great glimpse into the Ross' musical background ... and took a few enjoyable turns along the way.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing and Marcus Center's "Live At Peck Pavilion" summer entertainment series. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers") and SistaStrings ("Good Bye" and "Shea Butter Dreams").

23 – Nick Sanborn (Sylvan Esso, Decibully, Made of Oak) Aug 09, 2019

Show notes

You might know Nick Sanborn as one half of Sylvan Esso, from his time in Milwaukee's own Decibully or from his work in side projects like Made of Oak and Rosenau & Sanborn. Long before any of that, however, Sanborn was a kid in Madison, Wisconsin, who was involved in his school's orchestra before picking up a bass guitar and deciding to start a band of his own. Since that start in a high school group called Point B, he made his way to Milwaukee and quickly became a fixture in the city's music scene before branching out to be part of touring acts and developing his solo efforts.

While he was in Milwaukee to rehearse for the Rosenau & Sanborn show at The Back Room @ Colectivo, Sanborn met My First Band host Tyler Maas at Milwaukee Record headquarters to talk about his musical outset, early tours with Decibully, landing in Headlights and Megafaun, the random set of circumstances that allowed him to meet (and subsequently collaborate with) Amelia Meath, and what it's like to have his band's music play notable parts in films and television shows.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing and Rushmor Records. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers"), Decibully ("My Lighter And Strings"), and Sylvan Esso ("Die Young").

22 – Sarah Vos (Dead Horses) Aug 02, 2019

Show notes

This week's guest is Sarah Vos of Dead Horses. The singer, guitarist, and founding member of the up-and-coming Americana/bluegrass outfit continually tours the country to play concerts at bars, theaters, festivals, amphitheaters, and everywhere in between. Prior to hitting the road yet again and before September's Dead Horses show with The Who at Alpine Valley and headlining outing at Pabst Theater, Vos managed to squeeze enough time out of her perpetually-packed schedule to meet up with My First Band host Tyler Maas at Milwaukee Record headquarters to talk about what her modern day musical happenings, and everything that came before.

Vos talked about new happenings and spending roughly 150 days a year on the road before telling Maas about growing up in Oshkosh, playing her first open mic at a religious venue in middle school, starting a high school band called Ocean View, and how the start of Dead Horses came at just the right time in her life. Along the way, the two Fox Cities expats made some pretty specific Oshkosh references, cracked a few cans of Boulevard's Jam Band, and had some fun asides.

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