Ever since her “Yellow Streak” EP gained some momentum, Shle Berry’s foot has been on the accelerator. That’s led to a successful string of EPs, including her latest, “Tampons”, featuring new single “Time Of The Month”. As you could guess from those titles, the flow is understandably heavy on the track, as Shle takes to some upbeat production with some clever wordplay. The confidence is at an all time high on this track, as you can hear that she’s definitely come into her own as an artist. The video from Chrisp brings out that personality too, with Shle confidently performing by a graffiti-riddled backdrop for the homies. “Tampons” has been a standout release so far this year, and there’s always more where that came from. Check out the video for “Time Of The Month” below:
Long-running punk rockers Avenues played at Sabbatic Monday night alongside noise rock band Primitive Broadcast Service and LA indie punks Divided Heaven. For a Monday night, music lovers showed up and immersed into the bands’ energy.
Avenues is made up of vocalist/guitarist Vin Smith, guitarist Shawn Brooks, bassist Scott Brooks, and drummer Marc Perez. While Smith started the band in 2006, the current lineup has been going since 2009. Their last effort had been their “Creep Show” EP from 2015, although the band’s debut full-length “We’re All Doomed” is on the way.
“Studio time has been booked, and in 2020 here we come,” Scott said. “It’s a lot of things going into it, trying to get videos put together and having everything come out as one piece. There’s been delay…our drummer Marc got really sick and almost died, but he’s good now. He’s up to full speed.”
Scott discusses what the band is confronting on their new album.
“Pretty much we’re looking at climate change and going the old-school roots of punk rock. It’s nothing too political, nothing too dark…but just about what’s going on right now. The title track kinda sets the tone for the album.”
The band was just in Chicago Sunday night.
“We had to watch the Bears win, which was kinda hard,” Scott laughed.
They also hit the road this summer and played across the Midwest.
“We call it the Middle Earth tour…we went out to Wyoming-Colorado and back. It was a lot of cool venues and great bands to play with.”
Scott reflects on how the scene has evolved since Avenues became a band.
“It’s changed a lot – there’s a lot of online media and figuring out how to separate yourself from other bands. We’re trying to get people engaged while still wanting them to come out, like why they shouldn’t just sit around on the couch watching Netflix. There’s a lot of distraction in the world at this point…your phone, the TV, you can stream any movie at any time. People have a thirty-second attention span. We’re trying to have people enjoy coming out and wondering why they don’t do it more often.”
Avenues expect their album to be out by the end of the year.
As a Milwaukee-based music website, it is our obligation to not only bring Milwaukee to the world, but bring the world to Milwaukee, as well. Five To Watch submissions are handled exclusively through ReverbNation.
We’ve moved into the fourth quarter of 2019, and there’s plenty of new music coming out left and right as always. As we do every month, we were tasked with fielding thousands of submissions via Reverbnation down to just five artists to watch. Check out who we think will be buzzing soon here:
Tiaday (Studio City, CA)
It feels as though the future of the music industry is going to include many artists that do not feel confined to genres, thanks in part to the way that the internet delivers music to consumers now. An artist that is melding together genres like pop, R&B, and hip hop is Tiaday, a California product that has a feel all her own. Music runs through her bloodline, as she is the granddaughter of Sherwood Ball, founder of Ernie Ball guitars, and the great granddaughter of a founder of ASCAP. It feels like Tiaday is the next evolution of a musical heritage, and you can hear that on “Favors” below:
Air Apparent (San Francisco, CA)
In a very tech-friendly city, Air Apparent draws influence from the culture of his current residence in San Francisco. Originally an Atlanta native with a background in classical music, the producer/artist has evolved throughout his life into a powerhouse with a synthesizer. A choir-trained voice only helps his pop credibility, and that myriad of influences create songs like “Asking You”, which you can check out below:
Red Money (Nashville, TN)
The combination of a distorted guitar, plenty of energy, and a driving backbeat are somewhat a can’t-fail formula, and French duo Red Money do it well. The band has played in the US and toured Europe, before ultimately relocating to their current home in Nashville. Influenced by acts like The White Stripes and The Black Keys, the band is hypnotizing with their simple, yet effective style. Single “Lies” is everything you want from a rock single, and the duo make it sound effortless. Check out the track here:
The Eiffels (Los Angeles, CA)
With the recent trend of synth-driven indie pop, acts like The Eiffels are just one of few that know how to truly do it well. With all of the catchiness of a traditional pop act, yet the edge and contemporary cool factor of what made new wave what it was, the band shows plenty of potential to catch fire with the right song. The band has already had several milestones, including touring with acts like X Ambassadors and getting a video featured on MTV, and this may only be the tip of the iceberg. Check out “Spin Around” below:
Kendra Black (New York, NY)
Drenched in synths and 808s, New York pop singer Kendra Black is putting all of the pieces in the right order to have a successful world as a solo act. With notable appearances at major New York music outlets and radio play in major markets throughout the country, Black is well on her way to stardom, and you can hear why on tracks like “This Love”, which you can stream the remix of below:
Every week on Twitter, we share the Milwaukee music that gets sent to us. This is usually a good way to check out some of Milwaukee’s newest upcoming artists. We call it #MKEMusicMonday. Here are your #MKEMusicMonday submissions for October 1st, 2019:
Finally. Shoutout to @dashcammusic on the beat. Thank u so much for the times you've graced me with your creativity. Sorry I am just now starting to release but now i'm ready to share!https://t.co/RjzInja8Qr
One of our contributors, Ben Slowey, is more than on top of the local music scene. In addition to his work for Breaking And Entering, he also hosts the Mr. Nice Guy podcast, an interview-based show that reaches out to Milwaukeeans for conversations about what motivates them. Many of these shows fittingly involve the local music scene, and we’ll be sharing some of them here as well.
For this episode, Ben sat down with soul-classical duo SistaStrings – violinist Chauntee Ross and cellist Monique Ross, whose recent debut EP is called “Lift.” They discussed their origins of playing music growing up, Big Ten schools, their EP, collaborating with artists of different style, and diversifying Milwaukee’s music scene. You can check out more episodes of Mr. Nice Guy on YouTube, and check out this interview below:
