PHOTO CREDIT: Ethan Duran
Playing music isn’t rocket science, but sometimes it feels like it. Starting a band, keeping it together, recording music and booking shows are some of the hurdles that musicians jump through to keep their heads above water. These are a few of the challenges that Milwaukee “punk-pop,” mad scientist-themed trio Beaker have faced recently. Currently, the band is working on an eight-song CD titled Prehab, promised for release in a few weeks. The self-release was announced by bass player and lead vocalist Carl VanDommelen during an interview with the Shepherd Express.
Beaker is a mix of fast-tempo punk-rock music, art rock and pop—“pop” being closer to ’80s pop than to contemporary pop music. Though they’re embedded in Milwaukee’s fun-sized punk scene, they break the conventions of traditional punk-rock tropes; instead of wearing leather jackets and playing four chords, they wear lab coats and dish out improvisational solos. With that said, their showmanship and energy on stage is not to be underestimated.
In a way, Prehab describes a phase that the band is going through right now. Personnel changes and other complications have kept recording on a backburner, but new players have given the band new energy. Guitar player Gabe Fritz had been a longtime fan of Beaker before he took the place of the old guitarist, who had left for rehab. Wolf Hentzen plays the drums and edited their latest music video, “Anthem.” VanDommelen, who formed Beaker in 2005, says, “Our aim right now is to push things into higher gear.”
“The players seem a bit more stable that the past ones, hence why it took so long to release the CD,” he continues. “We want to see what we can do with it. We’ve opened for national touring acts before, and we’d like to get back into that again.”
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VanDommelen’s funky bass riffs mix with Fritz’s metal-hinted guitar work in the song “End Of Days,” a piece of social commentary with some religious references. “Dickhead,” which is about troublesome roommates, is smart, catchy and sounds like something from Devo’s first album. During live performances of “Anticipointment,” a satiric song about consumerism, VanDommelen clicks a switch on stage that lights up the merchandise table in a glowing statement of irony.
“We want it to be a show, not just three people playing music and hoping the crowd gets into it,” VanDommelen explained, talking about his goals for when the band is on stage. “I got sick and tired of going to see live music and having a bunch of musicians navel-gaze or not interact with the crowd whatsoever. I went to the full opposite end of the spectrum and my point was to engage the audience as much as possible and get them to be a part of the show.”
The lab coat-clad Beaker will play at Quarters in Riverwest on Saturday, Oct 26, alongside skate-punk band Picked Last, local rapper Kē aka John Doe and hard-hitting rock ’n’ roll band VexNation. This will be a familiar pairing, since Beaker played with VexNation recently at MKE Punk Fest 9’s opening party. Patrons are encouraged to bring at least two hygiene items for a donation drive. Costumes are encouraged as well. More info on the event can be found on its Facebook page.
