The Viscous Circle

Madison based band The Viscous Circle is releasing their debut album Escape Wormwood on their own label, TVC Productions October 30, 2010. The band formed in 2006 as a hobby between frontman Shawn Brown and lead guitarist Danny Davis. After composing for nearly a year Danny urged Shawn to bring rhythm guitarist and back up vocalist Jimmie Hill into the fold and then added vets Denny Carney on bass and Chris Sandoval on drums. 

Escape Wormwood is a dark and foreboding album throughout, and the end of October is a good time of year to let it rock your walls. Frontman Shawn Brown talked to me about his appreciation for bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd that have repeatedly put out albums that are conceptual all the way through.  Brown spoke on the new album, “As we went along with the recording of Escape Wormwood it slowly became a complete project rather than an album with random songs. It’s a dark introspective album with hope and beauty but definitely a lot of darkness.”

Brown played with popular Madison rock band Last Crack for a couple years in the mid 1990’s and was the vocalist on their 1994 album runheadstartscreaming. After the album and a short European tour Brown parted ways with Last Crack and formed the band Spiritus with Last Crack drummer Chris Havey. He is now exclusively with The Viscous Circle but remains in contact and friends with members of Last Crack who have a reunion show at Scatz in Middleton on Saturday, November 13th.

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VO5

To call VO5 a band may be slightly misleading; born four years ago, the nine-member collective is comprised of playwrights, engineers, film-makers, a firefighter and a doctor with musical resumes from Cherry Pop Burlesque to Swim Team and the Merkins. More than dance floor sequins and day-glo flares, VO5’s nostalgia is dipped in twenty-first century irony, their cheesy chic a release valve from reality. Strong with the power of the boogie, amateur ornithologist and band guitarist John Feith says, the band “simply aims to make people dance.”  Vocalist Kelly Murphy says, “Come down to a show and see for yourself.”

MAXIMUM INK: How did the band name come about?
Kelly : We are called VO5 because the world wasn’t quite ready for Nanopussy. 
John: We do still own www.nanopussy.us (try it, type it in…) if anybody is interested in renting that name for a high fee, along with www.boobatron.com
Kelly: The name also serves to call attention to our full, lustrous heads of hair. 

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Max Ward

It has been 15 years since Max Ward’s own voice fell silent, but his passion lives on thru those he taught, befriended, and whose lives he touched.  Max did not live or teach by the boundaries of a certain genre, age, or musical taste and it showed by the diverse and talented performers that are grateful to have worked with him. Some of the names and groups on his roster include Willy Porter, Bradley Fish, Bob Westfall, Juli Hinds (Magic 98), Common Faces (Asa), Reptile Palace Orchestra (Anna), Rok Sally and Mission Blue (Dan and Mike), Jerry Pero (Bounty Hunter Music), and more. From the spoken word, to gospel, to country, to hard rock, Max found a way to connect to all people and improve their potential and performance.

When asked about Max, Willy Porter said, “He was easily one of the greatest teachers I have ever come across in any discipline. He was able to focus immediately on what I was doing well, and help me find more range, depth of tone and dynamic range without straining physically. He talked about how the character of the singer’s voice defines the meaning of the lyric and thus the song— simple stuff, yet infinitely Zen. He taught me things I’ll work on for the rest of my life. I miss him very much.”  Willy’s comments are a true testament to Max’s ability to hold the line on the classical and technical elements of singing, but harvest the unique character within each voice.

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Whisky Pig

Is it just me or does it seem like every single band that experiences any type of success always seems to sellout one way or another throughout their career. Now granted there are the Slipknots and Korns of the world that have really always done it their own way, but they’re so successful that they can do just about anything they’d like. When it comes to small or local bands, even the slightest smell of success can make the best bands sellout into mainstream lyrics, sounds and music. When it comes to the Madison band Whisky Pig, this is quite the contrary. In fact, just about everything this hardcore groove metal band does is out of the ordinary, and we love it. The self-proclaimed “sluttiest band on the block” plays music that makes you bang your head, then laugh your ass off when you truly listen to the dirty lyrics.

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Hank 3

Shelton Hank Williams is the closest thing that country music has to a crown prince. The son of Bocephus himself, Hank Jr. (The Artist Formerly Known as the “Are You Ready For Some Football?” guy), and the grandson of one of the most popular country artists of all time, Hank3has charted a path entirely his own. Starting his career drumming for punk bands in the early 90’s, he’s spent his music career freely ignoring the genre lines of metal (he was in two bands with PANTERA’s Phil Anselmo, ARSON ANTHEM and SUPERJOINT RITUAL), cow-punk (he calls it “hellbilly” with his DAMN BAND), and punk (leading the band ASSJACK) After years of fighting with the Nashville country music system (just listen to “Dick in Dixie” or “Trashville” for his opinions on the current state of country music) as well as his record labels, Hank has just released three(!) new albums on his own, Hank3 label. Ghost to a Ghost/Guttertown is a double country-tinged album, Attention Deficit Domination is doom metal, and 3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin’ is a mashup of speed metal and spoken word by cattle auctioneers that has to be heard to be believed!

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Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo

Prepare for the next wave of dizzying rattle of drums and intoxicating hum of blues guitars.

A mystical hoodoo spell drifts among Midwest bars and clubs; one of funk, blues and rock and roll. AARON WILLIAMS AND THE HOODOO, born of the Madison blues scene, plan to keep it that way with shows around Wisconsin (including a stop at Maximum Ink’s 13th anniversary party March 20) and the rest of the Midwest.

“We like to say that we lack subtleness,” says Williams, of the band’s blues-rock music.  “I think it’s the idea of just going balls to the wall. A lot of bands out there are a little more laid back, especially in our field of music, and we really go at it from start to end of our shows and we keep up that high energy.”

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