When indie-rockers Notaword hit the stage at the Cactus Club on Saturday, April 9, it’ll be the first time they’ve performed since parting ways 15 years ago. For them, it’ll be a chance to experience the energetic swarm of playing songs that still hold significant meaning to each and every person on stage. And for the crowd, it’ll be a chance to revisit the punk rock scene that grew in popularity in southeastern Wisconsin and the Chicago area in the ’90s and early ’00s.
Founded in the fall of 1996 by vocalist Chad Ashley, guitarist Steve Ruppa, vocalist and guitarist Matt Miller, and drummer Troy Reichenberger, the band was formed from pieces of other bands from their youth. It was a simple beginning: Two bands broke up and the pieces emerged unscathed to form a new one in the heart of Kenosha.
“That’s where most of us are from and that’s where the band was based,” Ruppa said. “That’s where we practiced and that’s where most of us lived. There was an interesting mix of ska and punk rock in Kenosha, which is really well known for its punk scene.”
Throughout the band’s five years of being together before breaking up in 2001, they released two 7-inch records, a four-song, self-produced demo titled Four From Fortieth, and a lone full-length album titled You Can Only Grow So Much. Among all of this, however, the band went through a total of seven line-up changes.
Despite this, the band managed to maintain themselves and what they’ve become well known for: their live shows, which have been described as “melodic, moody and intense,” while also being audience friendly by the use of casual conversation, jokes and “Simpsons” trivia questions. Although the band never toured like they wanted, they still managed to play shows with bands such as Alkaline Trio, The Apple Seed Cast, Gloria Record, Mates of State, Thursday, Dismemberment Plan and Shiner.
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The band called it quits when Ashley made the decision to focus on his career and his family. “It was a peaceful end,” Ruppa said. “No one was angry or anything. We all accepted it and that was the plan.”
Immediately after Notaword broke apart, Ruppa and drummer Tim Feret, who had joined the band around the time of the recording of what was supposed to be their second full-length album, went on to form the band Polymer and played for two to three years, recording but never releasing a full-length of their own. “Directly following Polymer, Tim and I joined a Milwaukee band called Sleepcomesdown,” Ruppa said. “We played from 2004 up until about a year ago.”
After the recent breakup of Sleepcomesdown, Ruppa and Feret wondered if they still had the energy to start from scratch and launch a new project again.
“We’ve always enjoyed hanging out with the guys from Notaword and we’ve always enjoyed the music,” Ruppa said. “Tim and I took a listen to it and revisited it and said, ‘You know what? This music still holds up to us personally and it still means something to us in a meaningful way so let’s see what the other guys think and see if they want to play.’ We were not expecting them to say yes, but they all actually immediately said yes.”
Joining the reunited lineup on bass will be Kris Taylor, a longtime friend and former member of Sleepcomesdown. As of right now, the band is expecting to play only five shows that’ll be spread out from April through July starting in Champaign, Ill., and moving onto Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago and then finally back where they all started in Kenosha, at the Route 20 Outhouse.
“There’s been chat about maybe recording something just for fun because we’re enjoying it,” Ruppa said. “There’s certainly some chemistry and we’re not ruling out anything. We’re just all a little older and have more responsibilities now so we needed to space it out a little bit so we can work our lives into it a little bit.”
Notaword play the Cactus Club on Saturday, April 9 at 9 p.m. with Greatest Lakes and Estates.
