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.
Summer is always a busy time from a music perspective. Not only do we enter festival season, but everyone is looking to become the breakout act of the year, and there’s no better time to strike than when the iron, or the weather, is hot. As we rapidly approach summer, we have five new acts to check out in this month’s edition of Breaking And Entering’s Five To Watch, powered by Reverbnation. Nearly 2,000 acts are in our submission queue, and while it is always tough, we have five new acts with a sound ready to break out in this upcoming summer. Check them out:
DJ Scandalous (Chicago, IL)
We’ll just say it; It’s rare that a DJ makes our Five to Watch list, because quite simply there are a million DJs right now. However, Chicago native DJ Scandalous has an incredibly strong single with pop track “Move On”. With over a decade of work in and around the music business, Scandalous has traveled extensively and worked hard to make his name known. Pulling influences from multiple genres, he finds a way to make the big, commercial radio-friendly single by working with the best pieces available. Check out “Move On” below:
Maura Streppa (Cornelius, NC)
From a similar end of the spectrum, pop singer/songwriter Maura Streppa was also born in Chicago, though moved to North Carolina before starting to perform regularly. Her single, “Battle Cry”, is another song with tremendous commercial potential. Much of Streppa’s music encourages girls to stay positive about themselves, looking to empower women, contrary to much of the mainstream music dominating the radio and internet. At only 18 years old, she has three years of writing and performing under her belt, as well as a debut EP, “Empire”. Check out “Battle Cry” below:
Alto Key (London, England)
Singer/Songwriter Keian Barton, also known as Alto Key, has a futuristic sense of how to create music. Part songwriter, part curator, Barton works remotely with artists from all over the world to collaborate on tracks, giving him an infinite range of talent to choose for his production. In March of 2018, Barton released an EP, “Animals”, with the follow-up, “Seas Unknown” coming this year. The initial release has already garnered the attention of the BBC, among other major outlets. You can hear the product of selecting artists from all over to collaborate on strong tracks like “Running With The Wolves” below:
Madison Warner (Chesapeake, VA)
In the same way that we don’t have a lot of DJs featured in our Five To Watch articles, we generally have significantly less banjo featured on this website in general. However, Virginia based singer / songwriter Madison Warner won us over in just a few strums on her single, “The Weight”. With a debut album that was released in 2017, and a pair of strong singles after that, she combines country, Americana, indie and more in her sound, which comprises of multiple instruments. Madison Warner sounds like a natural talent, and you can hear that on “The Weight” below:
Inkblot Astronaut (Silverton, OR)
The essence of Oregon rock act Inkblot Astronaut is kind of the American dream of rock n’ roll; the band consists of Zak Armstrong and Mark Fowler, two friends that just want to make great music together. The band draws influence from the alternative rock explosion of the late 90’s and early 00’s, but one spin of tracks like “Boogy Man” and you’ll know that their sound isn’t dated by any means. A lot can be done with just drums and a guitar, and if acts like The Black Keys and The White Stripes are any indicator, there’s a wide range of ways to take that style of music. Inkblot Astronaut brings the intensity with their sound, and you can hear that by checking out “Boogy Man” below:
