There is a ton of great musical talent right here in Milwaukee. Pop band Herman Astro came on the scene in 2009 and immediately grabbed my attention with their soulful, jazzy mix of rock and pop. In case you missed them in June at the Summer Soulstice or at Summerfest, you can see them this Sunday, July 15 at Bastille Days at 5:30 p.m.
I’ll leave the critiquing to the Music Notes crew, but after bumping into Zach Pluer around town, I had to learn more about this band from a personal standpoint. I recognized Zach one day serving me coffee at Alterra. He has a rather meek speaking voice, but a thunderous, soulful and polished singing voice. Wondering what such a musical talent was doing serving me coffee, I invited him to talk music, maturing and the pressures of being a leading man.
JK: How did you guys all meet?
ZP: The whole band is from Mukwanago and we’ve all been in bands since high school, but never played together until after college. Cody is my stepbrother* and Eric and Dose played solo a lot in their early twenties. I ran into Dose (his real name is Adam, but no one calls him that) at UWM and I knew he played bass, but I didn’t know he was so good.
We officially got together in 2009 and picked up my childhood friend Andy Nelson as our manager. Everything has come together really quickly. It’s so bizarre how well this has all shaped up. The fact that we all came out of the same town and knew each other – it was amazing that we ended up together.
*Side note – If you combine Herman Astro, it spells hermanastro, which means stepbrother in Spanish; an homage to Cody?
JK: Where did you get a voice like that?
ZP: I was forced into it. No one else could sing so I worked it out. I was an ultra-Christian for a while. (Don’t print that. Ok, you can say that I guess.) I began singing in a church choir and that was such a valuable experience to be performing at a young age in front of such a large audience. That’s when my voice started to take shape.
JK: Do you feel comfortable performing in front of large groups now?
ZP: I generally always thought that I was the least talented in the group, but I get all the credit being the frontman. In fact, they are probably resentful I am doing this interview on my own right now. (Snickers) It’s just that people tend to latch on to the vocals of a song. It’s ironic because the music always comes first and the vocals come last.
I am still working on my stage presence and trying to figure out how to be a better frontman. Sometimes it’s a bit difficult when I am stuck behind a mic and a guitar, so I might try out something different. I feel like something is genuine if it comes from a place of sincerity. I hope to always be a genuine performer.
As a group, there is a certain chemistry on stage since we are so close. When we are up there, we are at our best and that’s where we were supposed to be. That’s a good feeling.
JK: I hear you come from a rather musical family, how have they influenced you?
ZP: My family is incredibly interesting; everyone is a musician. My dad is a world-class organist and a phenomenal piano player. He can go from Bach organ pieces to ragtime melodies. My grandma plays the accordion, my uncle plays the guitar and my aunt Robin (Pluer) was in the Milwaukeeans with Paul Cebar. Paul would come around to family gatherings and we’d talk music. Robin has also been supportive of my music.*
*A Bastille Days favorite, Robin Pluer will be performing Thursday, July 12 at 7 p.m.
JK: Will we be seeing you around town more?
ZP: Our business plan is rather strategic, we don’t play too much. We don’t want people to get sick of hearing Herman Astro – that’s the death kiss for local bands.
We all have other jobs that pay our bills so we can keep money in the band. We usually play at a place where there is a built-in crowd. We very rarely put on show where we have to bring the crowd.
We are planning to tour across the country in November. We have some really strong contacts so we are going to do three months of dirty living in a van staying with friends and eeking it out.
I’ll always be a musician, whether or not I commit myself it. We have college degrees; we could all be doing something else. We are putting off families and careers, but it’s totally worth it. We can say at least we played the Pabst Theater.
JK: How have you evolved over the past three years as a group?
ZP: Our EP was really all over the place; each song was completely different. This time around, we’ve sharpened our focus and really honed in on our individual instruments and found some continuity to the songs so you can tell it’s us.
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The Herman Astro EP included the song “Sambawete,” which won Radio Milwaukee’s song of the year in 2011. Chico is the band’s first full-length album. See a live performance of the single “Tell Me What I Gotta Do” here from the Pabst Theater this spring when the band opened for Alabama Shakes.
Stick around on Sunday to see another one of my local favorites I’m Not a Pilot following Herman Astro’s performance. Bastille Days takes place in the vicinity of Cathedral Square Park and is free to attend all weekend. For more information, click here.
Follow me on Twitter as @jkashou to stay on top of what’s happening around town or search #GirlAboutTown.
