Baghdad Scuba Review

Political revolution through music and a spelling error are just some of the inspiration behind Baghdad Scuba Review.

The six man group got its start when guitarist, vocalist and former member of One Fluid Ounce John Schneider moved to Madison from California and began performing at weekly open mic nights at Pizzaria Uno, 222 W. Gorham St. The band said Schneider developed “comfortableness” with inviting guests and soon guitarist Chad Thompson, drummer Justin Gerstner and bassist Erik Riedasch began sitting in at the shows. Slowly, Riedasch said jam sessions and unrehearsed shows ripened at Mr. Roberts, 2116 Atwood Ave.

“Having no direction or goal we performed under such names as ‘John Schneider and Friends’ or ‘The John Schneider Project’,” Riedasch said.

The members of Baghdad Scuba Review all came from well-known Madison bands. Riedasch and percussionist Rob Bloch came from the band Groovulous Glove, Thompson from Green Situation, Gerstner from The Northern Pines Band and keyboardist Jason Krueger from Runga Kutta. “Since then, we all started taking ourselves a little more seriously, originating with the birth name of BSR, but we’ve never let it go to our heads,” Riedasch said. “I think we all agree that isn’t the objective of this band.  We’ve always had this underlining respect and closeness with each other which is simply not describable.”

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Baghdad Scuba Review

Since their inception Baghdad Scuba Review has been swimming through the sands of creativity and their existence has bloomed and flourished because of it. When their dynamic and thematically charged jam rock debut “Testing The Waters” flowed into our ears in 2007 it was critically acclaimed and nominated for a MAMA award. Since then the band has played numerous shows and events around Madison and the Midwest, highlighted by memorable sets on the Capital steps for the Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival, in Black River Falls at the Grateful Garcia Gathering, and at Milwaukee’s incredible Summerfest.

Recently Chad Thompson (lead guitar/vox) and Justin Gerstner (drums) took a moment to update Maximum Ink about what’s percolating these days for BSR and what their next release (slated for an early 2010 release) holds in store. The rest of the band is composed of Erik Riedasch (bass), Rob Bloch (percussion), and Jason Krueger (keyboard).

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The Beastie Boys - Mix Master Mike

November might be cold in Wisconsin, but just before Talib Kweli’s set at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, I had the chance to speak to one of the hottest DJs in the game. He’s the DJ for the headlining Beastie Boys and one of the founding members of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, but this 34 year-old California native waxes about music, life on the road and the like. 

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Beatallica

an interview with Beatallica singer Jaymz Lennfield as the band headed to Europe for their fifth Euro-tour.

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Beautiful Creatures

There was a time when rock ‘n’ roll roamed the earth like a tattooed titan, a fire-breathing monster that made mothers cringe in horror, and their daughters creep closer to feel the heat. It was the music that separated the men from the boys, transforming guitars into an electrical storm, vocals into a maelstrom of piss and vinegar, and blasting a bottom end that made the walls shake. It meant more than just songs on the radio, it was a lifestyle.

Well, if the haze of the late-’90s has left us convinced that excitement has left the building, Beautiful Creatures kick the door back down, stampeding onto the scene with their self-titled debut. Inspired by the same bands that spawned everyone from Alice in Chains to Pantera, they strike a paralyzing blow to the complacent chords and ridiculous excuses for rock stars that inundate the modern music scene. Paying homage to their roots and with their sites set on the future, its monster hooks and sleazed-out looks that make the Beautiful Creatures the most electrifying new band in years.

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Bellydance Superstars - Petite Jamilla

Petite Jamilla has been belly dancing her entire life, bridging the generation gap between traditional folkloric style and modern belly dance fusion. Studying for over ten years, Jamilla toured the Southeast U.S. at fifteen, a seasoned instructor by seventeen, with two instructional DVDs before she turned twenty. A member of the BELLYDANCE SUPERSTARS for the past three years, Petite Jamilla was kind enough to answer a few questions in anticipation of her troupe’s arrival at Madison’s Union Theater on March 26th.

MAXIMUM INK: What are the biggest misconceptions about belly dance?

PETITE JAMILLA: Due to Hollywoods’ early depictions of ‘belly dancers’ I think the biggest misconception is that belly dance is done for exploitive and seductive reasons, but it really has become a self-exploratory and self-improvement tool for dancers in the U.S.

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Bif Naked

Just the name, Bif Naked, conjures up pornstar imagery right off the bat and certainly the Canadian rocker and starlet (whose scene was the highlight of the otherwise cinematic bowel movement, House of the Dead) isn’t afraid to take advantage of her sex appeal, but that doesn’t mean she’s invulnerable.

“I’m a real gullible girl and I always believe anything a boy will ever tell me. I get suckered a lot, but always get back up on the love horse,” she explains when discussing the songs on her latest album, Superbeautifulmonster. “I just came off a big heartache and was enshrouded in despair when I wrote [album tracks] ‘Abandonment’ and ‘After A While’. I like to think that I better my efforts, my songwriting, and singing with every record and this one’s a little darker and sadder, it’s much more guitar-oriented. There’s something that everyone can relate to. I’m crazy about love, crazy about the whole process. I keep getting knocked down, but I keep getting back in the ring.”

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