Linneman’s hosted 5PM to Nowhere’s “Stoicism” EP release party on Saturday night, enlisting Oh Geeez as the opener.

Oh Geeez comprises of vocalist-guitarists Sean McGibany and Jack Gilmond as well as Columbus, OH drummer Alex Dollenmayer. Formed last year from the ashes of the band Before Nitrogen, Oh Geeez play alternative pop inspired by cartoons. McGibany met Dollenmayer on Twitter after seeing him do a cover of “Saturday” by Twenty One Pilots; they record their music virtually with him. In their set Saturday was a Jonas Brothers cover, a Don Henley cover, and an All-American Rejects cover.

On the dissipation of Before Nitrogen, McGibany said, “We got the phone call that our third member was moving to Fond Du Lac – and Joe is still one of our best friends – but that plus everything shutting down from COVID, we knew that the project was pretty much done. In the midst of all of that, I had started this little side project where I was making stuff about Disney’s “DuckTales” because I was hyper-fixated on that show…it all just spun from that.”

Gilmond added, “I hadn’t heard from Sean in like eight months and he texted me out of the blue “hey I wrote like 36 songs. Will you listen to like nine of them?” so I gave them a listen and he told me about the whole “DuckTales” thing. It’s crazy because you don’t even need to know the backstory to love these songs.”

“Then it became about “Amphibia” and “The Owl House” and “Infinity Train”,” McGibany continued. “Even if you don’t know these shows, you can still connect with these pop songs. Because we’re in a fandom space with certain shows, we have to move so quickly because episodes air on a weekly basis and we have to come out with a song a week to keep up the pace.”

Their first full-length album “Coming Home” came out in December and is based on “Amphibia.” Then their second album “Wilder” came out in March. McGibany explained, “That was based on the second season of “The Owl House” which is a currently-airing show on Disney. That show has a huge and very passionate fan base so we wanted to see what we could do with it. I think it’s the best thing we’ve done so far.”

Oh Geeez play Glacier Valley Music Fest, Cactus Club, Summerfest, Summer Sounds in Cedarburg, and Ayre in the Square this summer.

5PM to Nowhere is the alternative pop project of Jacob Webb. Named after a poem he had written in a creative writing class in high school, Webb started the project as he was on his way out of college. Currently he plays with guitarist John Justus, bassist Merrill Miller, and drummer Ben Dahms; he met them through the Linneman’s open mic. Embedded in their set was a Counting Crows cover and a FINNEAS cover.

5PM’s first EP “Isle of Man” came out in November 2020. “It wasn’t perfect,” Webb said. “It was a learning experience more than anything; it’s a little rough around the edges but I was able to learn how to put out a project on my own and all the steps I needed to take, and to stop waiting on others to tell me how.”

“Stoicism” was released on Friday. On what went into it, Webb explained, “It’s kind of cliche to call it a quarantine project but that’s kind of what it was. I was still at school when I finished writing all the songs; the last song “Dissociations” was actually from a music project I did using synthesizers. The other songs came out of feelings of loneliness and emotional dysphoria of not really knowing which parts of me are pushing me forward and which are holding me back. It’s a lot of me searching for what would make me happiest in the long run while letting other things go.”

Now that “Stoicism” is out, Webb’s got more projects in the works.

“I’m working on an EP with my friend Matt Froelich and I’m really excited about it. Then I’m working on a song with John Justus, and then I’m hopefully working on a full new album; a lot of the songs that I played tonight not from “Isle of Man” or “Stoicism” are going on it.”

5PM to Nowhere plays Bremen Cafe on June 16th.