Photo by Chris Hippensteel
Friendship is difficult to put into words. You can look up a cold unfeeling definition, but pure unbridled friendship is something that needs to be experienced. Upon immediate observation, Assault & Battery strike an intimidating pose. Two members stand over six feet tall, their hair closely shaved. The other three members sport spiky multicolored hair along with traditional punk garb. Once inside their practice space, all thoughts of imposing outward appearance evaporated in a sea of camaraderie and laughter. “We all just get along. No problems,” said guitarist Patsy Wahlberg. The band exchanged a seemingly endless stream of inside jokes and anecdotes with the fervor of life-long pals.
The band started as a project for guitarist Kevin Herwig and his brother, original bassist Brad Herwig. The initial lineup quickly fizzled out, but they held onto the idea of playing in a street rock/Oi! influenced band. A couple years passed and the idea lied dormant. “That crowd that Kevin and Brad were always with were not the same crowd that some of us were with,” drummer Johnny Ragonese said. “We talked about it for years and never did it.” The addition of Ragonese, Wahlberg and vocalist Bobby DeVillers solidified the early lineup. “I was like, ‘Listen, I think is going to be terrible but just humor me,’” DeVillers said. “They just never kicked me out.”
After recording two singles, Brad Herwig exited the band and was replaced by the band’s artist, Richie Murry. “We used him for his talents, then we asked him to play bass,” Ragonese said, grinning. The culmination of the band’s efforts thus far is their debut album, All The Shades of Truth. When asked about the amount of time it took the band to write the album, Ragonese joked, “Diamonds take a long time to make, you know what I mean?”
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In four years of playing shows, the band has developed a sizeable fan base. “We get good turn outs here and it’s a lot of different people,” DeVillers said. Some credit can be given to the band members’ histories of playing in bands from different factions of the punk scene. “There are multiple punk scenes in Milwaukee; people don’t always cross paths,” Ragonese said. “We took a couple of those and mooshed them together.” Laughing, Herwig noted, “We’ve played weird grind shows and people didn’t leave.”
Even with their increasing popularity, the band kept a realistic outlook on the local scene. “It definitely fluctuates,” Wahlberg said. Murry cited the now-defunct all-ages venue The Outhouse, which “was always packed full of street punk kids. Once that went away, a lot of those kids disappeared.” Just as with any community, it takes a group effort to keep the punk scene going, an idea that is not lost on the members of Assault & Battery. “Sometimes it sucks,” Ragonese said. “You don’t want to have to do all the work, but if that’s really what your life is, what you love, you keep doing it.”
Watching the band converse, it was obvious they are doing what they love. The members cracked jokes, sometimes at each other’s expense, knowing anyone could be the butt of the joke at any time. “They don’t call us the kings of the good time for nothing,” DeVillers said. Murry responded, “Who calls us that?” Herwig quickly answered, “We do,” and the room roared with laughter. Just a little light-hearted ribbing between friends. “When all five of us are together, not to sound weird or whatever, we click real good,” Herwig said. “We may not be the greatest musicians, but we’re great friends and that goes a long way.”
Assault & Battery play their record release show at Club Garibaldi on Friday, June 17 at 9 p.m. with Anti-Nowhere League, Population Control, Avenues and The DUI’s.
