Lightninging consists of vocalist-flutist Ira George Jackson, guitarist-sampler Eli Smith, guitarist-trumpeter-synthesizer John Larkin, bassist-alto saxophonist Steve Gallum, keyboardist Pedro Gutierrez and drummer Juan Camacho. The band’s sound blends elements of experimental pop and art rock, featuring (mostly) improvised lyrics and patiently layered soundscapes. Lightninging played first on a wonderful bill at Cactus Club Monday night featuring Milwaukee bands Dogs in Ecstasy and Operations as well as Philadelphia’s Grocer.

Formed in COVID times, Lightninging started where Larkin and Smith’s previous band Cairns left off, originally with a different lineup of musicians. Their first show had been at Bremen Cafe in November 2022. “Half of the people in this band are newer at this point,” Smith explains. “Our original drummer Andres Crovetti is based in Chicago and he’s amazing, but for practical reasons it didn’t work out. We initiated Ira, Steve and Juan into the band overtime; tonight was our 2nd show with this lineup and 3rd show overall.”

Original bassist Caley Conway coined the band’s name. “There’s also another band called Lightninging who we’re friends with now,” Larkin remarks. “We’re buddies on Instagram.”

Gutierrez describes Lightninging’s songwriting process as driven by frequent improvising while gathering good ideas as they go. “Once we have the core of what a song would be, then we come up with all the other parts and go with it.”

Lightninging released their debut EP “Cat Got Out” last November, titled after a lyric in the first track. “It was kind of a drawn-out process,” Larkin shares. “We did a lot of demoing live, trying to capture live improv stuff and then edit those takes into riffs, piecing them together with some production.”

Smith adds, “One crazy layer about this recording is that Ira came with some of us to just record drums with Andres in Chicago, and I don’t think we had plans to record any vocals but Ira recorded everything that day in maximum two takes.”

“They did “Ages Ago” in one take,” Larkin mentions.

“Relearning your own improv as a solidified thing is always fun,” Jackson laughs.

Lightninging are working on fresh material and played a couple new songs on Monday. “Because we’re improvising a lot of the new stuff, it might take us a little longer to finalize everything and then go out and play a show,” Camacho contends. “There’s six of us so it’s a lot to work out the middle parts, especially because everyone plays multiple instruments.”

“While the songs have structure, there’s a lot of room for us to keep improvising and see what happens in the moment,” Gutierrez said. “It keeps it fresh.”

Their next show is coming up in July and will be announced soon – stay tuned!