Photo courtesy of Trolley
Trolley
Trolley in the recording studio (2026).
The ‘60s are a vague influence on a lot of recent rock. For Milwaukee’s Trolley, those influences are deeply felt and creatively transformed. Their fifth album, 2025’s A Carnival of Grey & White, is their recreation of 1966, a year when rock reached a new—and some say unsurpassed—summit. The songs by Trolley’s heroes of ’66 were as concise and ordered as sonnets but contained new echoes—new ways of hearing the world. The longest track on Trolley’s new album, the finale, “When the Drugs Wore Off,” is four minutes and four seconds. Most clock in at under 3:30.
Grey & White was 10 years in the making, a long delay after an active series of recordings in the early ‘00s caused by several factors, especially the death of a key member, vocalist-guitarist-songwriter Mike Perotto. With the success of Grey & White, including play on Sirius XM’s “Underground Garage,” Trolley reemerged with keyboardist-vocalist Nick Berg and guitarist-vocalist Jasen JD Kinart and a spot at this summer’s International Pop Overthrow in Chicago. Founding members Paul Wall (vocals-guitar-songwriting) and Terry Hackbarth (vocals-bass-songwriting) remain at the helm.
Hackbarth recalls, “I actually met Jasen when he approached to me to join the Northern Haunts which I turned down several years ago, but we eventually hooked up and he added a few parts to my solo songs. Nick I first met when I played with him and Testa Rosa doing that Shocking Blue tribute and we were in Twin Brother together briefly.”
New Lineup, New Range
The new lineup includes faces familiar to Milwaukee music fans while expanding the band’s range. “Terry, Mike and I would always joke/lament the fact that we all sang in the same range,” says Wall. “JD has proven that he can hit the high notes as well as just being a natural harmony singer. For a guy that has one of the bigger pedal boards I’ve seen he’s extremely tasteful with his playing and is always in service to the song.
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“Nick plays keyboards and actually finished up Carnival of Grey and White with us. It’s really nice to have a dedicated keyboardist in the live setting. We’ve always had it on our records.”
Trolley left International Pop Overthrow, a keynote festival for a particular musical subculture, with renewed energy. “We put on a wild 30-minute set that pinned a few ears back! Mostly with volume though!” Wall says. “Elephonic went on right after us and also had a rocking little set. Don Kurth, former longtime Trolley drummer is now playing with Elephonic so they’ve definitely taken it up a notch. David Bash, IPO’s chief has included the past two Trolley albums on his ‘best of’ the year lists. Carnival was No. 4 last year and Caught in the Darkness was his No. 1 in 2016.”
Will there be another Trolley album? Will it take10 years? “We all hope it happens,” Wall continues. “Our immediate plans are to get out and play more live shows and possibly cut a single before the year’s end. I think Mike would love the band as it stands right now. He always just wanted us to sound our very best live where I was more interested in jumping into the drums and wreaking havoc. I hope that balance continues. So far so good.”
Trolley will open for The Sadies at Shank Hall, 8 p.m. on Friday, August 28.
