Photo via MELT - Facebook
MELT: Convergence - Canni Infusion Bar & Cafe
A MELT event at Canni Infusion Bar and Cafe (October 2025)
“It started out of necessity,” explains The Demix of MELT, the intermittent showcase for Milwaukee electronic and experimental musical talent that marks its 15th anniversary with its 62nd event 4 p.m.-midnight Saturday, Jan. 10 at Canni Infusion Bar & Cafe. “I was trying to figure out how I fit into Milwaukee’s musical landscape and how to create opportunities that didn’t really exist for me at the time.”
In his creation and curation of MELT, The Demix has forged for himself and other musicians opportunities using synthesizers, turntables and electronic enhancements of acoustic instruments in an outlet for those with ears for unconventional sounds. MELT revues have been staged in seven venues since the series' 2011 debut, including the Cactus Club, Club Garibaldi, Quarters, Miramar Theater, Stonefly and Mad Planet. Its latest location, Demix believes, is ideal for whatever any attendee would like to do to the varied music over this MELT's eight hours.
“You can dance if you want to,” he says of one option for responding to the 10 acts on this MELT bill. “I encourage people to enjoy the music however they want. Canni is not a typical venue or club but it’s a versatile space where you can dance or chill or do both. Some of the music will make you want to dance—some might make you want to sink into the earth."
Rap, Techo, Ambient
Of the array of talent coming to Canni under MELT's auspices, Demix elaborates, “In this show alone we have rap, techno, ambient, DJs (of whom The Demix is one), classically trained musicians and many things in between. There are a lot of artists I’d to work with in the future, but this lineup pretty much turned out exactly how it should.” And how it ought to go down includes artists who have never played a MELT stage and one duo making their premiere as a performing entity.
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“Lorna Dune's lush electronic sound design meeting contemporary-classical roots will be making her debut at MELT. Tunnel, has performed at some events MELT has been a part of, but he has not played at a proper MELT. Tunnel—who blends jungle, techno, and bass with seamless precision—has performed at some events MELT has been a part of but he has not played at a proper MELT,” he shares
Also, “It’s worth noting that Barry Paul Clark has played many MELT shows as adoptahighway and, more recently as Cathedral Becomes Tomb. He, along with Thomas Wincek, played at the second and third MELT shows back in 2011,” Demix notes As for those newcomers to any public stage at all, “They Want Blood (the duo of Mad Static and Tron Jovi) are not only making their MELT debut, but it is their live debut; and their debut album is released the day before.”
More than a Show
Though Demix calls MELT dates shows, when everything is just so, he believes they're much more.
“Some shows are just a good time, and that’s fine,” he concedes. “But every once in a while, you experience something that stays with you. It gets under your skin. It shifts how you hear sound, how you feel in your body, or how you think afterward. Sometimes it’s inspiration, sometimes it’s release; sometimes it feels closer to an exorcism than entertainment. Those are the moments I’m interested in creating space for,” Demix remarks.
Yet, not even their organizer would consider himself a high priest, or headliner, of the MELT rites he organizes. No one receives star billing, but every artist on a MELT bill builds toward the experience Demix wants to create.
“The order of artists performing at MELT has always been determined by how they fit together musically and how I envision the musical flow of the event,” he notes. “There have certainly been headliner-worthy acts and featured artists, but I see everyone as equal and I try to fit them together that way, what will make for the best show, how are we going to take people on a journey.”
About the city's musical environment, Demix enthuses, “Milwaukee has always had a strong DIY backbone, and electronic music fits naturally into that. That culture keeps the scene active and constantly evolving, and I like to think that MELT has played a role in keeping the music alive."
To stay comfortably alive during MELT's anniversary extravaganza, Demix suggests that Canni patrons to wear warm socks? The reason? This MELT takes place in, technically, two venues in one. “This is an outdoor and indoor event. Music will be outside from 4-9 p.m, inside from 9-12. Outside will have some big subwoofers, some heaters and fire pits to keep warm.”
