Milwaukee is sitting pretty when it comes to great bands and talented musicians. But why not add 16 more bands populated with 64 randomly selected musicians to that tally? For the past three years, All Messed Up has brought the local music community together with the unorthodox pairing of people to form makeshift bands tasked with writing and performing 20-minute sets over the course of two nights at one Riverwest Bar. Some of the representatives hail from established locals like Lambs Legs, Lady Cannon, IfIHadAHiFi and Holy Shit.
The unique and unifying showcase is set for its fourth year. Before acts like Lisa Frank, Party Beefs, NWA Pt. 2, Milverines, Carpet City (Sponsored By Carpet City) and, of course, Facebook: The Band take the stage for the first – and perhaps only – time, Music Notes spoke to Jack Tell. The member of Animals In Human Attire, Lousy Trouts and Myles Coyne & The Rusty Nickel Band filled us in on his Messed Up project (Four People With No Idea What The F**k Their Band Is Called) and provided some background on the incomparable event.
Would you explain the background of the show, as you’re aware of it, at least?
Our original bass player in The Rusty Nickels, Chris Christenson, had mentioned it to me when he first joined the band two years ago. Basically, 64 people sign up and 16 bands are formed. He was telling me that a band he met who formed there wound up [staying together and] playing Warped Tour. They became pretty successful after there. There are a lot of people who meet up and get their match made in heaven by finding great people to work with. There’s definitely an intensity when you walk in the room.
How is it done?
Basically, you’re looking around the room and every table is numbered. When I sat down at my table I got paired up with awesome people. We hit it off right away. We had our first practice the next day.
Who’s in your band?
Actually, the people in my band have never played in a band before. I’m the only one. I know that in the past a lot of people in the music scene have been involved. I didn’t recognize anyone I’d ever played with before. I’m sure a few others who played in bands are involved, but the vibe I was getting from talking to people, it seemed like most people weren’t in other projects.
What’s your bands style? Is it too early to know?
The requirements of All Messed Up this year are: You need to have at least 15 seconds of acappella, one cover and 15 minutes of original music. Whatever take you want to have on that is the idea. What we’re doing is to discover “Space Oddity” by David Bowie – and I don’t want to give away the whole plot, but we kind of wrapped our entire set around “Space Oddity” and tied it together with similar things.
What’s the benefit of you doing this? Is it an exercise in songwriting or a way to unify the music scene? Is it maybe a way to play a type of music you usually don’t?
All those things, also just seeing what my influences outside of the normal people I work with – seeing what my influence in a musical decision would actually be if I was in a situation with people that I’ve never worked with before. How would I handle this? What would I bring to the table to make it up to par in my own mind, but also working with what they want at the same time. It helps you explore what you’re thinking even that much further. It’s going back to the surface level of songwriting.
Do you think there’s a possibility this new band will do any shows after this?
I would like to. I like the people I’m working with. If not shows, I’ll still hang out with them. They’re all really cool people. It’s been fun.
Why would you advise a person to go watch this?
It’s a lot of people’s friends coming to the show, and it’s been an ongoing thing. It’s nerve-wracking. I think other people think like, “You joined a pool of 64 people and got paired up in a band and you guys didn’t kill each other?” Anybody can sign up, so you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into. Some people who don’t usually play shows are signing up, too, so this is the one show they’ll be playing and it’s super hot in their mind. It’s a chance to do something creatively that might spark something different in a person’s mind that will make them want to continue making music.
All Messed Up IV comes to Linneman’s Riverwest Inn both Friday and Saturday. Four People With No Idea What The F**k Their Band Is Called opens Night One. Both shows begin at 7 p.m. and cost $3. For more information, see the event listing.
