Club Garibaldi Hosts MKE Music Night
Club Garibaldi hosted a plethora of Milwaukee bands Friday night in the latest installment of MKE Music Night, which has become a monthly event aiming to bring young local bands to more prevalent venues across town. Artists playing included singer-songwriter Christian Porter, NeoCaveman, Hoppers Luck, and bilingual Chicago Latin rock group The Braided Janes.
Porter plays original songs with his distinct magazine-collage guitar, which he made for a school project.
“I’m used to playing out at the Union Plaza at UWM,” Porter said. “Making friends, bumming cigarettes…that’s how it usually goes.”
NeoCaveman is an indie progressive rock band blending math-rock elements, emo-friendly vocal delivery, and sociological lyricism. The band consists of guitarist/vocalist Peter Hair, guitarist/vocalist Samuel Balistreri, bassist Jeremy Moroder, drummer Paul Tyree, and keyboardist Simon Beno.
Their debut full length LP “Baccanalia” came out on Halloween 2018; the album’s title refers to the ancient Roman festivals of Bacchus, which celebrated drinking, song, and revelry.
NeoCaveman’s songwriting is highly collaborative in nature, as its members are influenced by different denominations of rock music from one another. This makes it difficult for them to take individual ownership of songs, since every song is crafted meticulously where each contributes their piece.
Speaking on the album’s lyrical content, Hair says relationships to people and places are heavy-present.
The song “The Water” is about Milwaukee,” Hair said. “It’s about living in Riverwest and going out and living that lifestyle, but then it gets more intense in subject matter. The bridge is about how you see many different types of people in the city that are struggling, whether it be with addiction, homelessness, mental illness…but it’s also kind of uplifting because it’s written in A Major. There’s a lot of dichotomies in our songwriting.”
The song “Springs of Rad-Urn” is about people coming together and recreating the world, making it a better place to live, recognizing peoples’ differences…simple themes,” Balistreri said.
NeoCaveman practices once a week for two hours, given their busy schedules. They aim to record and release another EP later this year.
Hoppers Luck is a young funk band hailing from the East Side. Fronted by John Lenz, the band also contains bassist Milton Tlalok, drummer Sam Catral, and keyboardist Max Crouch.
“The best compliment we received was that we sound like tropical Wisconsinites,” Lenz said while remarking on the Hawaiian shirt he wore. “Ever since then it’s been a motif that’s carried the band.”
“We’re used to more intimate settings, but it still felt intimate since the sound was so overbearing,” Tlalok said.
“I could hear myself playing for the first time,” Crouch remarked. “I took a music hiatus for a bit and came back into the band recently, and just being surrounded by so many great musicians feels so motivating. At first when I joined back I didn’t really feel confident but then playing with these guys it felt right after the first time.”
The next MKE Music Night is April 28th at the Miramar and features Hoppers Luck, Dogbad, Wonderful Bluffer, The Sunkin Suns, Pineapple Migraine, and Ace Parker.
Hoppers Luck plays a Downer House Show on April 20th and is at the Pabst Brewery May 3rd. NeoCaveman plays Company Brewing with Vinz Clortho and Ravi Lola March 22nd.
