INTERVIEW: Jersey-based Milwaukees release first album in nearly a decade
Photo: The Milwaukees’ new album is The Calling. Photo courtesy of Victoria Engblom / Provided by Reybee Inc. with permission.
The Milwaukees, a rock band from Jersey City, New Jersey, are ready to release their first new album in almost a decade. The Calling is ready to premiere Friday, Aug. 21, giving both new fans and diehards a chance to experience the unique rockers who have built a dedicated following.
The first single off the new recording effort, “No Way Out,” was released earlier this summer from Mint 400 Records. Other tunes to expect are “Falling,” “Stay Gold” and “Proud of Me,” among others.
The Milwaukees consist of Dylan Clark, who is the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter; singer/lead guitarist Jeff Nordstedt; bassist Donovan Cain; and drummer Austin Faxon. The band has been going strong since the late 1990s, with Clark and Nordstedt having been with the group since the early days, and Cain and Faxon joining recently.
Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with the band. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
You haven’t recorded an album in almost a decade. What inspired you to head into the studio for The Calling?
I guess time slipped away. We’ve been working on The Calling for a few years now. Our last drummer, Pat Fusco, moved to California after we’d written and recorded about half the record. When Austin Faxon joined we kind of re-tooled. We were simultaneously writing songs for the album while getting our whole catalog to gel with the new lineup for shows.
Have you tried many of these songs out on the road?
Yes, we have played all of the songs at one time or another at the clubs. Many times that is how we work them out and see people’s reactions. Sometimes we have our own reactions, just getting a feel for how the tunes work within our entire catalog. Sometimes songs will miss, and we abandon them. What’s left are all tunes that we can live with.
What do you think are some of the overall themes of the album? Lyrically what are you trying to say?
I think the tunes overall are a little more moody than the last two albums. We kind of revisit the earlier Milwaukees sound a bit. Some of that is due to us reintroducing some of the older songs into our live catalog. After leaving many of them out for most of my time since joining the band in 2006, they started to resurface after our tribute show for the passing of former bassist Dave Post in 2016. As someone who did not work on those earlier albums, I myself objectively applauded the work, and perhaps we all mutually had a newfound respect for it. We never really discussed this, but I feel like some of the songs Dylan was presenting to the band resembled some of that older sound, but of course we approached it the way we approach our own new material. Mostly, we don’t spend a lot of time analyzing our music; we just let it fly. A lot of times people show / tell us what the themes are after we’ve finished.
How much has the pandemic disrupted your plans? When do you think you’ll play again in front of a live audience?
It has disrupted our routine rehearsals for sure. We were also going to plan a release show and some other dates to support it, and obivously that is on the shelf right now. But ultimately we decided we’ve waited long enough to release an album, and we figure there’s no better time than right now to put out new music. Since we cater to the smaller clubs, I would imagine we might get out there quicker than some of the bigger acts, so maybe that’s a good thing. But I have no idea when that might be.
Does Jersey City have a strong rock scene? How about New Jersey in general?
I don’t know if I would call Jersey City a strong ‘rock scene,’ but there’s certainly an eclectic music and arts scene that crosses over into Hoboken and other parts of North Jersey. There’s a lot of artists and musicians coming out of Jersey City for sure, but for years the city hasn’t had a steady club to support it. After the famed Maxwell’s in Hoboken closed, we’ve honestly felt kind of homeless. We’re hoping something will come to fruition, but this pandemic certainly won’t help that and hopefully won’t kill off what little choices in venues we do have.
How will you celebrate the album’s release if you can’t have fans nearby?
We’ll be doing as much as we can online, maybe some acoustic shows.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Milwaukees’ new album from Mint 400 Records is called The Calling. Click here for more information.
