By: Elizabeth Lintonen

Downer Ave., a road lined with everything that feels quintessially East Side, from the buisnesses and coffee shops, to the iconic architecture, combined with proximity to the lake. It’s by luck that six college students moved into a red-brick Downer house, directly across from UWM’s campus, that would host Milwaukee’s latest DIY venue, an ambitious outdoor concert stage called “Down N’ Downer.” But with an outpouring of community support and unmatched determination, the UWM students made this dream a reality.

Down N’ Downer is a passion project, pulled off by a group of students with a variety of skills relating to their majors. Determined to provide a new venue in Milwaukee, they built an outdoor stage, city approved and up to buliding code, in order to host more local music acts throughout the summer. The first show, this Saturday, will be an opportunity for artists, musicians, fellow students, radio, and more. From band interviews, to sound set up, to technical support, to debut local bands, to the local artists, and every little job in between, the space is an experience, a trial run, and an exciting concert, all in one. For the founders of Down N’ Downer, this spring was spent pouring back into the community in a big way. 

Benjamin Moyle (@been_jammin_) and Kyle Anongdeth are two of the Down N’ Downer co-founders. Moyle is an ASL interpreting major and a member of the UWM student radio station, Prowl Radio, and Anongdeth is an engineering major who helped construct the backyard stage. 

EL: Tell me about where the idea came from, and why you wanted to put this work into the project. 

BM: The idea came from a passion for the music scene. We were over at Club Cramer, and Kyle said that we should have a venue and try to do this. Club Cramer is a basement venue, but our basement isn’t big enough, and so when we got back we looked at our backyard and realized it would work. 

KA: Ben was about to go to bed. None of this would’ve happened if Ben didn’t get out of bed and come to the show. 

BM: Well, you texted me to come, so it was because of you. 

EL: A very symbiotic relationship, I like it. Tell me about the bands and the kind of music?

BM: There’s no real theme, it’s just Down N’ Downer’s first show, and all the bands have members in Prowl Radio, the UWM student radio station. 

The lineup is Bad Roommate, who is doing their debut show. They’re opening for us, and they are Midwest emo. Then we have Oogwe, a three-piece math rock band. They are newer to the scene too.Then we have Pushing Indigo. And then Bronco, which features some pretty prominent members of the music scene. We have Slader from Chapped Lips and Aidan from Oogwe. It is their debut show as well. 

EL: Tell me about the process of building the stage, and getting permission to put on a show like this. 

KA: We started with some drawings. Our landlord approved and supported us and our project. After we got all the designs and the materials listed, we broke ground and it honestly took us four days to fully get the stage complete. 

BM: We had a lot of outside help on the sound engineering and the technical stuff like that. What I like to tell people when it comes to Down N’ Downer is that all of our roommates bring in a different skill that’s really usable, but one of the members of Oogwe gave us suggestions for the sound.

It’s kind of a happy accident that everything mixes so well, I’m really glad that it does. I think it’s a combination of talented musicians, architects, and engineers coming together to make something special. 

EL: What do you think the impact of this venue specifically will be on the Milwaukee scene? What do you think is the importance of venues like this for the Milwaukee music scene? 

BM: I think it’s important to set a precedent that anyone can do this. You can do it and pull it off and have it be successful and people will come. The benefit of a DIY scene is that it is people in the scene putting on these shows, and the community supporting people. I’m hoping the impact creates a good example of how venues and artists should work together. 

We also will have art vendors here for the first show. We want to be a pillar for artists of all types to get together, share art, and support local business. We want to support the local scene in every way possible.

KA: I want to add that it’s going to be a safe space for people to hang out and enjoy themselves. 

BM: We talk alot about how we are going to make this safe, about how we’re going to make sure people leave here unscathed. We have a first aid kit, not that we expect anything bad to happen.

KA: I am looking forward to hosting people here, because I think that will be a lot of fun. There’s not another venue like this, with it being outside. People will really enjoy that. 

EL: What are you most excited for people to experience when they come here for the first time? 

KA: I’m really excited for people to appreciate the space, and I’m also excited for the bands to play as well. There’s a lot of debuts. I think they’ll like the venue and looking above people instead of being level with them, like you would in a basement. Lastly, I’m excited to just watch. 

BM: I second all of that. Especially the point about watching. I’m looking forward to sitting down on my balcony with my friends and family all out in the crowd. The idea of looking over all these people having a fantastic time, the bands, the artists, and just knowing that we did this. We took this from an idea and we made it real. Just seeing our passion and hardwork take off. I wouldn’t be surprised if I cried.

Down N’ Downer will host its first show on Saturday, April 27, at 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., doors at 6 p.m. Cover charge is $10. For more information, visit (@down_n_downer) on Instagram, and DM for address.