The origins of upstart Milwaukee band The Sensationalists are nodifferent, but at some point between the myriad of bands and ever-changinglineups emerged a group of musicians who just want to have fun, write the bestpop-rock songs they can and play them to anyone who cares to listen.
The Sensationalists’ lead singer andguitarist Jackson Kesy spent much of his middle- and high-school days playingin bands such as In Debt, Seven Hours Wasted and Drago, all of which includeddrummer Skot Worby and some of them lead guitarist Dustin Mayer. Now in hismid-20s, Kesy recognizes his new band’s collective change in perspective.
“Whenwe were younger, we would tend to focus more on impressing people,” Kesy says.“Now we all kind of sit back and listen to each other. Nobody tries to dominatea song.”
The band came together in autumn 2008when Kesy and Worby, who’d just dissolved longtime band Drago, fell into aproject with Mayer, bassist Ben Green and auxiliary player Brian Tapola, whothemselves were fresh off previous stints as Nightlife and Arms of Versailles.
Tapola, too, says the members are takinga different, more mature approach in The Sensationalists.
“We stripped away any pretenses we'vehad in the past to just focus on songwriting,” Tapola says. “No one's boner isbigger than anyone else's in the band, and we're not competing. It's all aboutserving the song.”
Together with a like-minded,music-first implementation, the five-piece has spent its first year and a halflargely secluded from the stage, playing only about a dozen shows. They’ve putmore focus on crafting and recording material they’re proud of and taking thetime to learn to play better together.
“It’sdefinitely easier than the last few projects I’ve been in because the writingprocess is a little more collaborative,” Kesy says.“I used to write every part of a songand just tell people what to do.Now, I bring a song in and everyone suggests parts andchanges. I don’t have to worry about writing other people’s parts becauseeveryone is better at their instrument than I am.”
The collaborative concept resonatesthroughout the band. Each member does their part to instill the greater good interms of the band’s sound.
“In other bands there was alwayscompetition, or compensation for someone else's mistakes or lack of whatever,but in this band I have nothing to worry about when preparing to play,” Tapola says. “We just let oneanother do what we do and The Sensationalists is what you get.”
The Sensationalists seems to be thepositive and productive endpoint to numerous failed, half-baked or flamed-outprojects that came before it. And while many of the ingredients haven’tchanged, the recipe seems to have improved with time.
“Ithink we all understand how bad it can get playing in a band.The highs and lows are so extreme thatyou have to just tune it all out,” Kesy says. “We often remind each other thatwe’re doing this as a distraction from our mundane little lives.Now we just drink some whiskey and havea good time.”
The Sensationalists play at the BayView Brew Haus on Friday, June 18.
