Something To Do
by Brett Lemke
February 2003
Madison’s Something To Do invade the Ska scene of Wisconsin
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Band name or last name firstSort Articles By: Fox Valley Wisconsin
by Brett Lemke
February 2003
Boris The Sprinkler
by David A. Kulczyk
July 1999
When you think of Green Bay, there is only one thing that comes to mind, it’s the hometown of that zany punk rock band, Boris the Sprinkler. These Pop Culture abnormalities are so endeared in their hometown that the mayor has proposed to change the name of their obscure football team to “The Green Bay Sprinklers” and the name of the stadium to “Reverend Norb Field.” Who the hell is Reverend Norb and Boris the Sprinkler, you may ask? Well sit down, pop a beer, light a cigarette and read on, but I must warn you that after you’re done reading this article, you may know less about the Pride of Green Bay than before you picked up this paper. Formed by vocalist and former writer for Maximum Rock and Roll, (not to be confused with Maximum Ink – the paper in your hands) Reverend Norb, super guitarist Paul #1 and a revolving door rhythm section in 1992. They were and still are influenced by the more zany side of punk rock music, The Dickies, Rezillos and The Ramones. “Every talentless idiot like me,” confided Reverend Norb, “learned how to play music by listening to The Ramones.”
They released an uncountable number of 45’s, split 45’s, EP’s, LP’s and CD’s, [Although, research put the number at 6 full-length albums and 19 singles]. “For awhile there,” said Mike Sykes, former owner of Milwaukee’s Stinky Record Exchange, “it seemed like Boris the Sprinkler were releasing a record every week. I couldn’t keep up and had to dedicate the entire store to them. I went out of business one month later.”
Blueheels
by Mike Huberty
December 2008
With an Americana sound that varies from alt-country to rock n’ roll to indie rock, Madison-based band Blueheels sound perfectly modern and vintage at the same time. The band has two recordings under their belt (2006’s Long Gone and Lessons in Sunday Driving released in April of 2008), a live album soon to come, and a third studio record in the works. They seem to be keeping themselves busy creatively, while also keeping a regular and extensive performing schedule.
Bandallamas
Collaborative ensemble unites legendary performersby Emily Genco
November 2011
Bandallamas realizes the superhuman talent of the DC Comics Justice League. Members of the collaborative ensemble don’t wear capes and leave the crime fighting to law enforcement, but they do conquer the doldrums of cookie-cutter music by blending punk, folk, jazz and rock elements. Bandallamas will perform at the Barrymore Theatre in Madison Nov. 11 and the Radisson Hotel in Green Bay on Nov. 12.
Bandallamas combines the skills of legendary performers to craft their eclectic sound. Members include frontman Chris Aaron; President Bandallamas LLC Lisa Bethke, founding member of the Violent Femmes Victor DeLorenzo; Wally Ingram, former drummer for Sheryl Crow; Jane Wiedlin of The Gogos; urban blues artist Bobby Bryan; Pauli Ryan, who has recorded with Garbage and U2; pianist Ken Saydak; and Rob Wasserman, who continues his creative collaboration with Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead.
UW-Madison Professor of Bass Richard Davis is also a member. Over the course of his career, Davis has played with Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis and Barbra Streisand among others and appears on over 1,000 recordings.
Josh Harris
musician, producer, programmer, engineer and graduate of Appleton's Lawrence Universityby Tina Hall
September 2010
Josh Harris is a producer, remixer, and DJ. He spent 2008 working alongside Seal for several private performances in the US and abroad. While on the road, he worked on remixes for both Seal and Alannis Morrisette. He and songstress Ilona Europa worked together in Poland and are currently set to take their “Rocktronica” show to the Laserium Cyber Theater in Los Angeles. Josh is also working with Mike Rizzo, and the two are now producing and remixing under the moniker Groove Police.
Harris has a degree in music with an emphasis on music theory and composition. He has been part of over 200 remixes as either producer,programmer or engineer. Josh holds a Bachelor of Arts in music, with an emphasis in theory and composition from Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. Here is what Josh had to say to Maximum Ink.
Maximum Ink: What was it like to take classical piano lessons at age 7? What led you to that? Did you always know you wanted to work in the music industry?
Josh Harris: I started taking classical piano at age 7 because my best friend was taking lessons, and I think I felt a bit left out! My first piano teacher was very strict and the whole experience was a bit intense, but I stuck with it until I was 11. Then, I started getting into synthesizers and I became more interested in writing and creating my own music than staying on the classical path. When I was 15, I attended a 5 week summer program at Berklee College of Music, and that’s when I decided that music was going to be my profession. So, I got back into classical lessons, so that I could properly audition for college. My parents wanted me to attend a liberal arts school that also had a music school, and that’s how I wound up going to college at Lawrence University.
Eli Mattson
by Tina Hall
January 2010
Eli Mattson is probably best known as runner up on TV’s America’s Got Talent, on NBC, where he lost to Neal E. Boyd by only 0.5%. He has made several appearances in Vegas with AGT winner Terry Fator. Eli started playing the piano at 5 and has been performing as a vocalist/pianist since the age of fourteen.
MAXIMUM INK: You claim Door County, WI as your home. What it is like to get chances to play your home town?
ELI MATTSON: “Well I lived in Door County as a kid, went to Southern Door, and worked at the Pizza Hut in town. After that I moved around a lot but what Door County really gave me was a start with music. My first regular gig was at Java on Jefferson when it was there. Now when I play there it’s great to see the people who supported me first.”
Razor Fist
by Sal Serio
February 2010
I interviewed singer TK Xanax of Oshkosh metal band Razor Fist, who formed in 2005. TK’s compatriots in metal mayhem are guitarist Nick Moyle, drummer Dave Patterson, and bassist TJ Lafever.
Maximum Ink: What is the band member breakdown of the groups you guys were previously in?
TK Xanax: Well, first off we’ll start with the Razor Fist line-up which consists of Nick Moyle-Guitar/Backing vocals, TJ Lafever-Bass guitar, Dave Patterson-Drums, and TK Xanax-Vocals. Over the years TJ and Xanax were in Hill Of The Dead, Nick and Dave in Hell On Earth, Nick, Dave, and TJ in Tower Of Babel, Dave and Xanax were in THC (Total Hardcore), and Dave is currently in Bag Of Gremlins (Xanax was also briefly in BOG). So basically Razor Fist has quite an incestuous past with all of us having played in various bands together since the mid-90’s. For this reason Razor Fist formed easily and extremely quickly in 2005 and we had our first album “Razor Fist Force” recorded less than a year later. From the first rehearsal we all knew that we had something special with Razor Fist.
