Image via YouTube / WMSE
“Who wants to hear another song?!!”
It was like clockwork. You could bet next week’s paycheck on it. When the band played their last song at Circle A’s long-running “Alive at 8” series, soundman/doorman/emcee Paul Setser would rouse the crowd and ask for an encore.
Setser died this week at age 68 after suffering a fall. Born in Chicago and raised in Brookfield, with a brief detour to Germany, he would graduate from UW-Whitewater with a B.A. in Marketing and from UW-Milwaukee with an M.A. in Mass Communication, according to family member Leah Delaney.
A partial list of the bands Paul performed with on keyboards, guitar and ukulele include Danny Price and the Loose Change, Jeff Robinson Starship, Freddie Lee Band, McTavish, The Maroons, Lost Brew City Ramblers, Riverwest Accordion Club, Rachel Raven plus Tribe Theater and cabaret groups La Vita Viva and Eat the Mystery. He was also a welcome guest sitting in with 1913, Sam Lllanas, the Chop Top Tornadoes and Spade Cooley.
Jeff Robinson, who made music with Paul in Driving School and Jeff Robinson Starship says, “Setser was a great collaborator and mentor. Without him the productivity and creative growth of my music would've come to an abrupt stop. A lot of local musicians owe Paul a debt of gratitude."
Home Studio
Setser engineered and produced many bands at his Bremen St. walk-up home studio. It was not unusual to have the drummer set up in the kitchen with a long mic line to the living room for the singer. While he appreciated Phil Spector’s productions, he was equally comfortable with the kitchen-sink approach of Joe Meek.
When Danny Price began playing shows at Quarters he knew he wanted Setser in his corner. “‘I’m not gonna be in your band, damn it!’ He said this to me when he booked me for my first show at Circle A. I was afraid to play alone (still am), so he agreed to accompany me with some keys, and accordion,” Price recalls.
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“He kept booking me at Circle A and I kept asking him to join along. I quit asking him after a while and one time when I told him I booked a bunch of shows in a row, he reminded me that he never agreed to be in the band. Of course, he was just joking.”
Before wrangling the “Alive at 8”weekend series at Circle A, Setser booked bands and ran sound at Quarters Rock and Roll Palace along with the late Wes Streater. Setser also shared his eclectic music collection as a dj at Riverwest’s defunct underground radio station, the Wireless Virus and at local clubs. He even held his nose and spent a few years in the corporate world, writing background music and soundtracks for the advertising clients.
The Aimless Blades - "Barbwire"
Personal Note
Paul and I played in so many musical situations over the years it is hard to keep track: from art galleries to church picnics, from street festivals to high society affairs. Our sonic brotherhood started with a recording project called the The Aimless Blades. Paul was an early collaborator, lugging his keyboard up to my funky attic studio. After we became a proper band he again became part of the mix and his songs “Waves” and “Barbwire” appear on our CDs.
The Riverwest Aces on WMSE's Local Live
Paul and I also put together a side-project that became The Riverwest Aces—a long-running band that was our love letter to Cajun, folk, country and old-timey acoustic music. His small accordion was a key to our sound, always upbeat and joyful. And his never-ending river of original songs were always a blast to play. Paul was the glue that held the music together.
