In a search to see live music around Oshkosh, you don’t have to look past the campus. Reeve Memorial Union has you covered.
On Thursday, April 8, Reeve Union Board will be hosting their third Local Live Music Night featuring two Midwest bands, Mechanical Kids and The Alumni Club.
Mechanical Kids is a six-piece electro-pop-punk band hailing from Milwaukee.
The band, formerly called A West Way Home, formed as a solo side project for vocalist Seann Bowe.
It started in 2006 as a MySpace page of home recordings and soon gained a following from members of other Milwaukee bands.
“We all pretty much met throughout my music career,” Bowe said. “I met DJ and Brad through Rescue, Tom and Mike through With Hours Waiting, and I’d played multiple times with Steve’s band Saved By Stereo so I knew all his talents. It was pretty much a no-brainer that I brought all my best friends to play with me.”
After the addition of a full band, Bowe and the new members decided it was time for a new name.
“We were all driving in Seann’s baller status Honda,” guitarist DJ Alvarez said. “We were thinking of something that we could play a theme off of that really fit our music, and I just threw Mechanical Kids out there and we liked it. Gives a good feel in my opinion.”
In 2010, Mechanical Kids released their self-titled EP, which can be purchased on iTunes.
“We pour all of our personalities into our music when we record it,” Bowe said. “You can hear that in the different voices of each track.”
Since then the band has been playing shows non-stop, and they are currently on tour heading to the east coast.
“What more can you want other than to cram in a van with a bunch of dudes you love to death,” Alvarez said. “Best friends and music is all you need.”
They earned sixth place in Alternative Press Magazine’s 2009/2010 Hometown Heroes section. AP’s Hometown Heroes is a nationwide competition where fans vote on the year’s best unsigned bands.
Receiving one of the 10 available spots meant a lot to Mechanical Kids.
“Getting Hometown Heroes was an affirmation to us that we were doing it right, and Milwaukee still had our backs,” Bowe said.
“It was badass,” Alvarez said. “None of us really expected it. Like we have just been getting out there, and we entered because that’s what you’ve gotta do, enter everything. We got an e-mail from our manager and called each other freaking out. It was a really good feeling, felt loved. Good to know we have support.”
More information on Mechanical Kids, along with their music, can be found on their MySpace Web site.
Also featured at the Local Live Music Night is The Alumni Club.
The Alumni Club is a five-piece pop-punk band that will be traveling from Algonquin, Ill.
“Jay and I went to high school together,” vocalist Greg Mackiewicz said when asked how the band formed. “We were doing some home recording. From there things took off. We went around grabbing members from other bands we thought would fit, and the rest is history.”
Since then, The Alumni Club has released two EPs, “Nightlife” and “Up Early & Out Late,” both of which are available on iTunes.
“I think it’s been a wonderful progression,” Mackiewicz said. “I spent a lot of time on that album (“Up Early & Out Late”) scrapping and scribbling. I just wanted to make sure it was right. I wanted to write an album that I would like listening to, one that meant something to me. There is no choice but to write what makes you happy.”
Gathering influence from many different places, The Alumni Club tries to define themselves among the rest of their genre.
“We all have very different influences,” Mackiewicz said. “As a band we can all agree on Jimmy Eat World and The Format, but to be honest, when I was working on this album I tried to stay away from the genre. I wasn’t listening to a whole lot of music. I didn’t want to sound like anyone or be compared. I just wanted to write and have it be real.”
Since the release of “Up Early & Out Late,” the band has been playing shows and touring non-stop.
Their live show features a great amount of energy and excitement from both the band and their audience in return.
When The Alumni Club sees their fans getting into their music, it hits their hearts.
“It amazes me every time,” Mackiewicz said. “I get pretty emotional over it to be honest. It makes me realize that I did something right.”
More information on The Alumni Club, along with their music, can be found on the band’s MySpace Web site.
Local Live Music Night, hosted by Reeve Union Board’s Music and Variety committee, will take place on April 8 at 8 p.m. in the Titan Underground.
“A band that has played in the Local Live Music Night series has a chance to play as the opener for the spring concert OshMosh,” Reeve Union Board Music and Variety Chair Courtney Rinka said. “Voting will be open to students online and the band with the most votes will be chosen as the winner.”
OshMosh: Music For A Cause will be held on April 24 in Albee Hall.
Reeve Union Board will be teaming up with Colleges Against Cancer to help promote cancer awareness by raising funds for the American Cancer Society.
“We are accepting donations for Relay for Life both at ticket selling points and the day of show,” Concert Committee Chair Parker Janes said.
Tickets will be $4 for students and $10 for the general public.
The headliner of OshMosh will be announced shortly after spring break.
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