When singer and guitarist Johnathon Mayer left Appleton and relocated to Bay View in September, he andlongtime friend and drummer Ryan Rougeux enlisted the help of Milwaukee bassist William Schultz for a newband. The trio met through mutual friends and by sharing bills in the FoxCities, where they all once lived.
Almost immediately, Surgeons in Heat set out tomake their mark on their new city,one energetic power-pop performance at a time.
“We just instantly got along musically,” Schultzsays.
The introductory gap was bridged by Mayer andRougeux's past. The pair had previously played together in projects like TheRunner Ups and Cartwalkers. The significance of that was not lost on the band'snewest member.
“They've been playing for a while together,”Schultz says. “So it's kind of cool to see how they can work with one another sowell. To see how they interact to be productive is helpful.”
The importance of the new variable, too, is evidentto the longtime band mates.
“William is a very rare breed,” Rougeux says. “Heis an exceptional musician, but not a cock about it. Every band should have aguy like that.”
Together, Surgeons in Heat incorporate a variety ofsounds that range from garage rock distortion to pop falsettos into theirmusic. They cite The Rolling Stones, Graham Parker, The Replacements, Spoon andElvis Costello as influences.
“To me, it sounds like we're trying to write songsthat were mainstream 40 years ago,” Mayer says.
Beyond a shared musical vision for Surgeons inHeat, the band's members share a collective mentality in terms of theimportance of promotion, playing out and constantly moving.
“It's very important,” Mayer says. “The types ofthings bands can do now independently are amazing. The main goal we have rightnow is to develop our band and just have fun with it and experiment.”
They currently play almost a show a week in Milwaukee, and have also played a number of shows in Madison and in the Fox Valley(where Rougeux still resides). Members feel the relentless grassroots approachis an important factor both in improving musically and gaining exposure.
“I think we all agree that if [you] play out a lotyou can get fans, more press, and you learn what works live,” Schultz says.“There's a lot of bands that don't play out a lot to not overdo it, but thosethings are essential in getting somewhere and they're only obtained by playinglive.”
Apart from the stage, their music has also beenfeatured on the radio station WMSE and the music blog Muzzle of Bees. And it'sdifficult to go out in Bay View or on Milwaukee'sEast Side without seeing a Surgeons in Heatflier.
Thus far, the band is starting 2010 off the way itleft 2009in motion. They recently played a string of shows, including two lastweek where they shared the stage with Grant Hart of Hüsker Dü. Saturday,they'll play alongside Blueheels and Tim Schweiger and The Middlemen at MadPlanet.
One of Milwaukee'snewest and hardest-working acts has no plans of slowing, either. Mayer says theband hopes to play 75 shows this year. The focus is obvious, but the aim isn'tas apparent. There's no mention of record labels or big breaks, but, instead,playing more shows and the chance to write and record more music to play to newfaces in new places.
“It is cool to show every side of your band andjust keep doing stuff regardless of how it currently sounds,” Rougeux says.“Shows, recordings ... It's just a better mentality than a band that sits on abunch of material polishing it until they have a product that they somehowbelieve defines their band.”
Blueheels,Surgeons in Heat and Tim Schweiger share a 10 p.m. bill at Mad Planet onSaturday, Jan. 30.
