Photo credit: DeWook Photography
Conundrum
Life is full of conundrums rich in complexity. Since forming in 2011, Milwaukee-based psychedelic rockers Conundrum has applied that lesson to their music, freely gliding between styles as varied as jazz, electronic, progressive, and fusion music.
The band will celebrate the release of their new EP Is As, There Was, out Aug. 28, with a live stream of their performance Sunday August 30 at Cactus Club. They recorded the EP with Chuck Zink last year at Silver City Studios. It was mixed by Bon Iver collaborator Mike Noyce and mastered by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering.
“Everyone in the band has diverse tastes and that variety naturally finds its way into our music,” says guitarist Alex Klosterman. “We will try sections in different styles to find creative arrangements which can lead to songs having a variety of styles within the same song. It really opens up your available palette of musical ideas when you don't limit yourself to specific genres.”
Up until about two years ago, they achieved that genre-bending tenacity as a power trio, releasing their debut album, Physiognomy, in 2016. However, this trio format soon began to feel restrictive. We originally started as a power trio, which was a lot of fun, but eventually proved to be limiting in terms of song structure and sounds,” says Klosterman. “Since there was only a guitar to fill the chordal and melodic space.”
To test their theory that another member could expand their possibilities, the band began inviting friends to sit in on certain songs during live performances. During a wedding set, they enlisted Klosterman’s brother Eric on keyboards. He impressed them so much that they decided to make him a permanent member. Finding a tight chemistry as a four-piece band through jam sessions and shows, Conundrum began collaboratively writing new songs together.
|
|
Through focused experimentation, the intricately crafted songs slowly began to slowly reveal themselves. For example, “Phlat Earth,” started out as a fusion song before gaining more post-rock elements.
“Our sound has become more dynamic as we try to balance all of our elements without everyone shredding solos on top of each other or falling on clichés,” says Klosterman. “We have been trying to develop our songs more organically and try not to do obvious things, which can be a slow process. It's rewarding, though, because it creates unique ideas in an inclusive way between members and helps you stand out in the sea of available music these days as best you can.”
He adds, “We are now working our way back to our improvisation roots as it really adds a nice element to live shows for us as musicians to keep on our toes, and as the audience, since the songs get changed up.”
To read more local music articles, click here.
To read more articles by Joshua Miller, click here.
