This video was made in partnership with Nō Studios. Milwaukee Magazine is partnering with the video production company to showcase the stories of local artists and musicians. Watch for more content like this here.
This week, Nō Studios spoke with two singers as part of its Nō Music Talks interview series.
Sawyer Gibson was raised on the East Side. As a teenager, Gibson formed a duo with his classmate called Ujuzi Fresh. He’s since gone solo, and is planning to release a few new singles in 2023. As an R&B singer-songerwriter, Gibson cites Chris Brown, Drake and Justin Bieber as influences.
“Don’t take no for an answer,” Gibson advises young artists. “As long as you’re working, you’re working, so just keep going.”
Mike Shane is also a Milwaukee-raised R&B singer, who has been singing since he was 8 years old. Shane cites two artists from Milwaukee, Rico Love and Tank, as influences.
“We’re kind of the underdog—if you can make it in Milwaukee, you can make it pretty much anywhere,” Shane says. “If you’re working hard and the music is good, people are going to gravitate to it.”
One of Shane’s most recent songs, “We Givin’ You a Pass” references his being kicked out of the Bucks-Warriors game in December for heckling Draymond Green, an incident which went viral. His latest single is “What If.”
