canopies softly, dear soul low antler house king courteen
thank you... For taking the time to check out our magazine. We are excited to begin a new chapter and see where this takes us. This issue has been a few months into the works, but represents everything that we originally wanted Exposed to stand for. Visit our website at
exposedmke.com. Feel free to drop an email to
exposedmke@gmail.com. Another big thank you to all the incredibly talented artists who took the time sit and chat with us. All the bands we featured are making some pretty rad music that we like to listen to. Be sure to check them out. -Alexis Poquette (founder, writer, and photo things)
canopies
canopies.am facebook.com/canopiesband Next show September 20th at Mad Planet (w/ GGOOLLDD and Rio Turbo)
antler house
antlerhouse.bandcamp.com facebook.com/antlerhouse
king courteen soul low facebook.com/kingcourteen
soullow.bandcamp.com facebook.com/soullowband Next show September 30 at Hotel Foster (w/ WebsterX and Bliss & Alice)
softly, dear
softlydear.bandcamp.com facebook.com/softlydear Next show September 25 in Appleton (w/ Bear Hands) September 30th in Eau Claire (w/ J.E. Sunde and Mutual Benefit)
websterx
websterxdotcom.com facebook.com/websturx Next show October 11 in Chicago (w/ Mick Jenkins and Saba Pivot)
inside the issue
Pg. 4-7 Canopies Pg. 8-11 Antler House Pg. 12-13 King Courteen Pg. 14 Soul Low Pg. 15 Softly, Dear Pg. 16-17 WebsterX
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pies ///// Canopies debut album Maximize Your Faith has been in works since Spring 2013 and is ready to be released this fall on November 11. Keep updated with Canopies online to get the first glimpse at new tracks and videos.
How did the band come to be? John: Nolan and I started making music together back in 2009. Most of our first songs were just funky electronic songs with no vocals at all. Some of it sounded like new-age music. None of which you would call pop music, we were just messing around with recording and having fun. Eventually we started to add vocal melodies on top of stuff and writing songs with verse/chorus structures and all of a sudden we had a handful of songs we thought sounded cool, like a real band, even though
it was just two people. So we went out looking for a drummer, met Craig Leren, recorded an EP with the three of us, then met Jake Brahm and ZW to fill out the live band. Now they’re all full on members of the band. ZW: I actually wasn’t in the band even when they played their first show. I didn’t even know the guys back then. But totally serendipitously, I ended up at that first show. I remember really loving their EP. I was writing and releasing music as Babes at the time and got asked to DJ another show they were playing a few months later. We just started talking about music and maybe collaborating. We worked together on some stuff, including one song that’s on the record we’re about to release, and then they needed a guitarist. So the collaboration kinda got subsumed into Canopies as I joined the band.
What are some of the influences that made record our own drums for the songs, but the drum samples laid the foundation for everything. you want to pursue your music? John: Listening to “Bring it On Home” form the album Led Zeppelin II on record for the first time when I was 17. It’s the last song on the album. Not the best Led Zeppelin song, but a great one. I just remember hearing that for the first time and when the main guitar riff came in, my mind was blown. All that mattered to me was making music after that. ZW: My experience was similar to John’s. I remember being a kid and listening to certain songs that would give me these crazy chills. Like “1979” by the Smashing Pumpkins could just make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. And I wanted to try to make music and sounds that did the same thing. Nolan: For this project I kept thinking about records like the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Revolver, and the white album. Each record had 4 different song writers contributing with different styles, but they stilll worked well together. They also tossed out the rule book concerning how to go about recording a record. These are defining philosophies I’ve used as a blueprint for the band so far.
ZW: I think that all the songs pretty much existed in some structured form when we started working. The structures and melodies were there for them. And everybody knew that it was going to be a pretty pop-oriented record. But there was a ton of experimentation in the textures of the record. There’s not a sound on the record that we didn’t fuss over, trying to get the texture to sound exactly like we wanted. I think, in the end, while the songs are all pretty succinct pop songs with (hopefully) catchy melodies, a lot of the instrumentation is pretty out there stuff that we got out of our crazy old synths. (Sometimes while they were malfunctioning.) Nolan: I think it’s a little bit of both. Like John said we’d talk about the general direction conceptually, but that always changes as you start the song writing process. The albums sound and vision seemed to present itself once we had enough songs to step back and think about it as a record. We weeded out the tracks that didn’t seem to fit and then went about writing the rest of the record with more specific ideas in mind. For some of the songs I would take one of John’s songs and go about writing what I would call a brother or sister track in hopes of the giving the album a little more cohesion.
When going in to work on your newer music, was their an idea in mind or did you experiment as you went along to find what You have a DIY style of working, so what you wanted to represent Canopies? are some of the pros and cons you come John: We don’t really limit ourselves conceptually across while working? Do you see this as a when writing. Nolan and I will sometimes talk more path the band will take as you progress? abstractly about how we’d imagine the next project to sound, but nothing too specific. We usually just try to make as many good songs as we can and then get together and pick the ones that fit together the best. We both have different writing styles, but we share the same palette of old half broken synths and effects and stuff in the studio so that kind of ends up being our sonic glue.
One thing that I really got into for our new record was sampling drum grooves from records and chopping them up like a hip-hop or house producer and making that into a new groove, then writing a song around that groove. We eventually hit the studio to
John: Since we do all the recording ourselves, we definitely try out every little idea that might pop in our heads, but that means everything takes longer. There’s no budget limiting our time because we have our own studio where we can record just about anything except a full drum kit. We work pretty slowly but are trying to get better and faster at the whole process. I think we all like being in control of the whole process and we like the results, but we also have limited funds so working DIY is sort of our only option. It would be nice to work with an outside producer some day. Just someone to be there as an outside voice of reason to let you know when
this thing or that thing sounds good or needs to be worked on more. ZW: There’s no doubt that we all get really wrapped up in minor details. A lot of our work is done collaboratively--everybody in the studio together at the same time, trying to come up with the perfect sound or making sure that an instrument take is feeling how we want it to. I think that’s great... I’m pretty sure there are sounds that are on this record that nobody in any studio will ever be able to replicate, which I love. But getting to that point can be exhausting. Plus, Nolan did a lot of the engineering work, so he was pulling double (triple?) duty. I wish there was a way that we could do everything ourselves without having to wear Nolan out doing all that stuff. Nolan: I’m really proud of our DIY style of working. I came up through the punk scene and though I’ve
drifted away from it that DIY mentality has stuck with me. I think that working this way often produces more unique and interesting art. You have to work with what you have and be resourceful. The ability to produce and record our own records adds one more layer of individualism to the finished product. It was a ton of work though. I essentially had no free time for a year and a half. It was pretty unhealthy. I would love to have some help in future. I think we’ll always have our hands in the entire process but next time I think we’ll seek out some help to balance the workload.
Canopies will play Mad Planet on September 20th with GGOOLLDD and Rio Turbo.
antler house
cargo shorts, skate shoes, and emotional rock songs. Taking over Riverwest by storm, Antler House has been building up their following over the past few months. The release of their debut album Through the Dirt this past May introduced the band’s folk rock sound and led listeners eager to hear more. The trio is composed of Sean Anderson, John McCabe, and John Johnson. They first came together when Anderson came back from attending school with the ambition to start playing music more seriously. He accompanied McCabe and together they went back and forth with ideas. Once they sat down to start writing their own material under the name Elk Attack, demos began to form and the two began to pursue music in a more serious aspect. A few change ups in both lineup and the transformation of their name into Antler House led the band to cross paths with Johnson for an upcoming show. After the show, the three decided to pursue Antler House and continued to add their name to open mics around the Milwaukee area. Eventually the band landed a monthly slot at Bremen Cafe, which they still play today. The band debuted their new album at the Yield Bar with friends Soul Low and Ugly Brothers. The release show for Through the Dirt had the bar packed, drawing in one of their biggest crowds to date. Shows were expanding from close friends, to an entire mix of people all involved in the Milwaukee music community. As the band began to play more, their sound had began to solidify. A blend of their recorded material and live shows had formed and allowed for the band to find the right direction to continue in. Anderson noted that their earlier music was more folk based, having more downtempo sounding tracks. Once Johnson began playing with them, it still held that regard, but they were able to have more energy and play the songs how they were meant to sound as a complete band.
The band is currently playing shows which include a few songs on the setlist that aren’t on their current album. With new material in the works, the band has the potential to go forward with the possibility of a new album or at least new songs for listeners to check out. As their shows are beginning to get louder and they are embracing more energy on stage, the band has opened up the possibilities of what lies ahead of them. Their laid back, go with the flow mentality shows that while the next steps of Antler House are unknown, whatever does come their way they will embrace with excitement.
King Courteen Michael Gerlach is only a few months under his stage name King Courteen and it won’t be long until his name is placed all over Milwaukee for upcoming shows. While no recorded music has been released so far, his Facebook page features a variety of his acoustic videos. The songs are simple, but it’s his voice that will draw you in. King Courteen’s name originated after Gerlach met an 87 year old man who owned an old building in the 5th ward. The two became good friends, bonding over music and Gerlach found himself for two weeks straight hanging out there. Unfortunately, the man had passed away from leukemia, but left a profound impact over Gerlach and what eventually evolved into King Courteen. Gerlach still had keys to the building, which left him with a wild feeling, inspiring him with both his music and other creative outlets. While no other names seemed to stick and the first filming of an acoustic video, Gerlach picked out King Courteen. Gerlach grew up in a religious home surrounded by musicians- something that comes across strongly in his music. Directing choirs and playing a variety instruments, his parents viewed music the same they viewed any subject. While they embraced more classical styles of music, Gerlach came across his inspirations on his own. Stylistically he looked at The Kooks when starting off. From playing longer sets, it helped him figure out how to work with his voice. As for his lyric style and other influences over his life, he looked to his religion and artists like Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens. Another influence has been Jon Lyman who played in late 90’s band Crimson Red, someone Gerlach had met at work. Hearing some of his stories and tour experiences inspired Gerlach to continue to grow with his music.
Through high school he sang in all the choirs, but it wasn’t until his sophomore year where he picked up his guitar and began to play on his own. One of his first steady gigs was playing the Potbelly’s in Brookfield. Every Friday for 4 years he played covers ranging from Iron and Wine to Bright Eyes to Sufjan Stevens. From there he branched out to playing other nearby businesses and street performing along Brady street and the Public Market. Eventually he began attending open mic nights at the Miramar, Bremen, and the Up and Under. After a year or so of playing those, Gerlach finally got into Riverwest’s Linneman’s where he found the inner workings of Milwaukee’s music scene. From there he was able to meet many of the musicians he knows today. One being Myles Coyne who has helped get some of King Courteen’s name on the bill of local shows. More recently, Michael Gerlach has had two sides to this writing. One more serious based while the other embraces the fun 1940’s folk pop. The predictability, but fun the lyrics offer fascinated him. He teamed up with a girl to create a duo where they would visit antique shops and get stacks of old photos to base their inspiration off of. Whether it be an individual photo or an entire stack, the two would create stories based off of them to inspire their songs. Already he has had opportunities playing shows within the area, one of his favorites so far being the MAM After Dark at the Milwaukee Art Museum. This was one of the first shows for King Courteen and only the beginning of a successful run. He hopes to continue having success with his music and eventually dedicate the rest of his life to it. He stays very humble to his surroundings, not really having the goal of moving to a big city as his music takes off, rather stay on his home base and multi task a store front with his reclaimed wood working while having on break from touring.
It’s hard to place any kind of label on Soul Low’s music. While some bands bury themselves into one set genre, Soul Low embraces everything into their music. Their latest single from earlier this year “Tammy” packs at least 3 or 4 different directions into one 5 minute track. You will know from any of Soul Low’s live show that it just works. It’s catchy and you will find your foot tapping along and getting into the groove. With that being said, it’s hard to believe that in the beginning they were playing music at the Bethel Baptist Church. Jake had already been playing there while Charlie and Sam both got hired down the line. From their the three simply wanted to start a rock band and Soul Low was entering their beginning stage. Still juniors in high school, the band played basement shows throughout Milwaukee. The band played shows hoping to see what was going to happen next. To get a basic representation of what Soul Low was, the band decided to record some tracks. Not much post-production, but still represented what the band was about. Eventually, the band decided to call it quits as they were going to be going to different cities for college. Soul Low played their final show and parted ways. In the back of their minds, there was a chance they would come back, but it was slim. As the band went in separate directions, they all started other projects or were
put their primary focus as school. Still they would continue to share demos and would jam during breaks, but they didn’t have the intention of being a band. They did however want to tour. Thinking of tour under the presence of a vacation can make it manageable and easier to get accomplish. With old songs, the band dedicated their winter break and cranked out what became Done Easy. Within two weeks, they had completed the album and had enough material to take on the road. The tour took them all the way to New York and ended up going better than expected. This brought Soul Low back into the works. Jake and Sam moved back to MIlwaukee to see what was going to happen next. Done Easy exceeded the band’s expectations. They were proud of what they put out, but didn’t expect to have the success and hype to happen as fast as it did. They imagined having a song played on 88.9, but not right away. A simple Facebook message with a link to their material and the word “Bam” got them aired on 88.9’s new music segment. Following the success of Done Easy, the band has landed gigs all over the Milwaukee area and has become a common name within the music community. The band is currently working on getting a new EP out, following the possibility of a new record in the Spring. They hope to get some attention from a label along the way.
softly, dear From the cross-country team to adventuring across the country, Softly, Dear currently calls their home in Eau Claire, WI. A smaller scale of Milwaukee’s music community and revolving around the university, Eau Claire has the similar sense of unity within the groups allowing for bands to stay busy with an assortment of projects always taking place. Softly, Dear came together when Alex Adkinson and Tyler Hart met on the cross-country team. Ben Possi and later Josh Frederick both joined after being associated on the same team and having similar interests. The band didn’t have a set bassist- going through 9 before playing a show and crossing paths with Addie Strei who joined shortly after to complete the group. The band recently wrapped up an East coast tour with Adelyn Rose. The tour kicked off with the release of their debut self-titled album featuring 10 tracks that bring pure bliss to listeners ears. While some of the tracks reminisce their last EP’s folk pop sound, the debut features more of a rock approach taking the band’s strongest elements and carrying them throughout. The tour traveled from the midwest and looped to the East coast until it eventually made it’s way back to towards their home turf. Meeting new friends and playing with
a variety of musicians each night to sleeping on a houseboat one of the nights, left the band bummed to have the tour coming to an end. The night before we chatted with the band, they played at a venue in Bloomington, Illinois only knowing that Snoop Dogg had played there once. They had an eagerness to see how the turnaround would be. The show was set up to be an indie rock and folk showcase night. The venue filled up, exceeding what the band had expected and bringing in a crowd that just wanted to hear new music.
With more time to continue pushing their album, Softly, Dear hopes to explore new opportunities that come their way and see if any outlets and labels take interest. The band still have a few upcoming shows to keep them busy throughout the end of this month. After a successful Mile Of Music over the summer, the band landed a gig back in Appleton alongside Bear Hands on September 25. They will be playing alongside Bear Hands in Appleton on September 25. Following a hometown show with J.E. Sunde and Mutual Benefit on September 30.
websterX
“1 want to show people that they can do it.” WebsterX has been making waves throughout Milwaukee since the release of his first EP Stoop Kid Sessions in 2013. While Sam Ahmed’s music career under the name WebsterX has only just started, his early roots were based around spoken poetry in high school. He was always an avid listener of music and embraced the arts, however early on he did not expect himself to be the one making the music. Once his freshman year of college rolled around, Sam began to start looking at his music in a more professional atmosphere. It was more than just rapping, it was the ability to write rhythm and make something out of nothing. Stoop Kid Sessions embraced the stigma that used to follow WebsterX. Chilling on a porch, alone or with friends, came with the fascination of everything going on in front of you. “People are going past and you are interacting with them.” The talks, despite what state of mind you were in, still allowed for you to learn so much about the other people around you or simply passing through. A few months after Stoop Kid Sessions came the release of Desperate Youth. When filming the video, Sam was shocked to see the turnaround of all the people attending the shoot. This is where it began to hit him that this was actually his career and the possibilities of where his music could take him. It helped him find
his inner spirit. His low-confident ways had began to disappear, leaving him to worry less, go with the flow, and not be afraid to push boundaries. After his breakout year in 2013, Sam slipped into a depression leaving him wondering what exactly he was doing. He didn’t know how to follow up that album and continued to ride the hype that was following him by playing an abundance of shows. Having 40+ shows this year alone, it was bit overwhelming at times. By early June, he was able to shake it off and take on the next chapter of WebsterX. He’s currently at work on his second album. He is back to feeling like a kid again, the nostalgia feeling of being a kid and daydreaming inspires his writing and gets new ideas brewing. With a few out of town shows coming up as well, it’s getting other hip hop and producers to take notice of him outside of Milwaukee– something that Sam has been wanting to happen since starting off. His persistence and focus to expand his music has paid off for him and allowed for him to continue see an even bigger future for WebsterX. He has a passion to fill every creative niche possible and looks to artists like Tyler the Creator and Chance the Rapper as inspiration for his hard work. WebsterX simply wants to “show people that they can do it, too.”
m o c . e k m ex posed