Photo courtesy od Vinz Clortho
Vinz Clortho at the 2019 Locust Street Festival of Music and Art
Milwaukee’s Vinz Clortho aren’t afraid of no ghosts and taking risks. The band picked their name in reference to the demonic Keymaster of Gozer in the original Ghostbusters movie who possesses Rick Moranis’ character Louis Tully. “I thought it had a cool ring to it,” says singer-songwriter and guitarist Vic Buell.
“Ghostbusters aside, Vinz Clortho has this sort of mystique to it,” he continues. “This sort of dark mystery in just saying it…It’s sort of my controlled folly. Just sort of wearing a mask or a different persona on stage and I have to keep that, I my own personal self and my stage persona, as separate entities. So, it just fit for what I envisioned whatever this music persona is.”
In 2017, during a lull in activity for his other band Calliope, Buell decided on a whim to buy a 12-string electric guitar off Craigslist. The instrument provided a much-needed creative spark and inspired him to start writing songs. All he needed was a band.
Building an Eclectic Sound
Shortly afterwards, Buell began enlisting musicians around Milwaukee, creating a bit of a supergroup. The band currently features keyboardist Myles Coyne (Animals in Human Attire), bass player Chuck Zink (Mortgage Freeman), drummer Adam Gilmore (Mortgage Freeman, Surgeons in Heat), guitarist Luke Cerny, and tenor sax player Ken Hanner. Cerny recently replaced Evan McAllister (Castle Thunder).
While the group was initially created as a fun side project, Vinz Clortho has grown into much more, as evidenced on the newly released Fool’s Paradise II. They will celebrate the release August 30 with a live stream from Cactus Club (opening for Conundrum, who is also releasing their EP).
“I think the band is a little more fully formed and grew legs so to speak after maturing and bringing new band members into the fold,” says Buell.
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Unlike Calliope, where he shared songwriting duties, Buell wrote all the songs on Vinz Clortho’s two EPs (Fool’s Paradise and Fool’s Paradise II). He wasn’t sure how the music would be received since he hadn’t written full songs previous or taken on a frontman role.
However, many have embraced the band’s eclectic sound. “When I came to some of the other guys with some of these song ideas, I described them as sort of moody, surf-inspired psychedelic rock,” says Buell. “They’re very much inspired by the sound of that 12-string guitar. The sound of that guitar just has an overall vibe and it just plays really well to dreamier psychedelic sounds…I don’t think we limit ourselves to just that at all. We definitely like to go on tangents. We don't want to necessarily corner ourselves in that realm.”
The band has influences ranging from Chris Isaak to David Lynch film scores. “There’s kind of a weird crossover in Chris Isaak’s music and the themes of David Lynch films,” Buell says. “They just play well together. They kind of have their own noir vibe.”
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