Three local bands making Big Gig debuts at Journal Sentinel showcase
is the world’s largest music festival, featuring more than 800 acts every year. While the lineup is peppered with local acts, the talent pool in Milwaukee is so vast, many local artists have yet to play the Big Gig.
This year, the Journal Sentinel, in partnership with Summerfest, is giving that opportunity to three terrific Milwaukee bands with the chops to take on one of the festival’s biggest stages.
The “Milwaukee Bands to Watch: Summerfest Firsts” showcase features exciting up-and-comers NO/NO, Bo & Airo and Faux Fiction on the Uline Warehouse stage from 5 to 7 p.m. July 6. For more information, visit the Journal Sentinel’s Facebook page.
FAUX FICTION
Style: Power pop, with a heavy ’90s alternative rock influence.
About the band: During the MySpace era, Jason Kartz came across the profile for a fellow Milwaukee musician named Gabby and sent her a message about creating a Michael Jackson cover band. That band never got off the ground — Kartz was just using it as pickup line — but the two started dating, got married and formed Faux Fiction in 2014. Jason Kartz left the band this year amid a career change, but Gabby Kartz, bassist Peter Hair and drummer Paul Tyree are testing out new material at shows for an expected EP this fall. “‘Skin’ is my favorite new song,” Gabby Kartz said. “Vocally, it’s a little edgier, and it’s really grungy. You definitely hear the ’90s when you hear that song, but it’s also modern.”
About the gig: Gabby Kartz has seen some of her favorite acts at Summerfest, from Silversun Pickups to her friend, local soul-pop singer Lex Allen. Kartz said the chance to be on stage is really exciting. “We’ve not had the opportunity to play quite that big of a stage,” she said. “When the audience is bigger, it makes you perform better.”
Check out: Faux Fiction’s debut fulllength, “Staring at the Sun,” especially the heart-racing opening rocker “Racing the Red Lights.”
NO/NO
Style: Synthpop styled on New Wave pioneers like New Order, but with a modern take.
About the band: When his blistering shoegaze band the Delphines broke up in 2014, Harrison Colby quickly rebounded with a dreamier new act NO/NO and a new DIY label he co-founded, Gloss Records. The label has grown significantly in that time, hosting multiple showcases each year, and with top city acts like Soul Low, Marielle Allschwang and Lorde Fredd33 on the roster. That has introduced more people to NO/NO’s sweeping sound, anchored by ethereal frontwoman Cat Ries.
About the gig: Expect to hear some songs at NO/NO’s Summerfest debut from a forthcoming EP Colby promises is “the strongest thing we have made.” “The conSummerfest cept is about millennials and social media and communication in 2017 without being heavy-handed,” Colby said. “We worked with Dashcam, a local producer, and it was the first time we had an outside personality to bounce ideas off of. It was nice to let go of the reins.”
Check out: The eerie and gorgeous music video for NO/NO’s signature slowburner “Whatever.”
BO & AIRO
Style: Hip-hop and funk hybrid. About the band: It’s like Eris Campbell and William Rose were destined to play together. First there’s the hand-inglove fit with their stage names: For at least four years, Campbell has performed as Bo Triplex, while Rose dropped his first rap project as Airo Kwil in 2015. Their instruments of choice aligned — Triplex plays bass, Kwil drums. And they both loved hip-hop. So in 2016, they started playing hip-hop covers and originals together as Bo & Airo. The official output consists of a lone music video thus far, but the band’s fresh setup and the veteran players’ swagger have quickly made Bo & Airo one of the city’s most infectious live bands.
About the gig: Triplex has played bass in Summerfest behind the late Kane Place Record Club and hip-hop collective New Age Narcissism, while Rose will handle drums for local soulful singers Abby Jeanne and D’Amato at Summerfest this year. But this show will be the first time the skilled instrumentalists will be front and center on a Summerfest stage, performing their own songs. “To have our names on a bill right up front will give us a lot more of a platform,” Triplex said. “It is an awesome opportunity.”
Check out: The music video for “Sirens” gives a good feel for the live show energy. And be on the lookout for a Sound Check session with Bo & Airo, coming to
Thursday.