Coterie Records, a new Shorewood-based record label, is the work of Jeremy Benishek and Matthew Mulligan. Not coincidentally, the duo is also the force behind the band Camarada, whose debut disc, “King in the Dark,” is the first release on Coterie.
The label, Mulligan says, suits the band’s needs at the moment and also allows them to work with other Milwaukee artists. It’s the kind of DIY spirit that has been key for local bands.
“Jeremy and I knew that it was going to be a tough road trying to go from complete obscurity in Milwaukee's music scene to major label interest as far as Camarada went,” says Mulligan candidly. “We both have always wanted a great local label here in Milwaukee that catered to indie rock/folk/alternative; a label like that just didn't exist in Milwaukee yet.
“What better way to get a record released? Create your own label to release it on. We plan to move carefully to build a great stable of artists here in the city. But first, we're using Camarada (our own project) as a test subject of sorts.”
After the test, Mulligan says, he expects Milwaukee’s music scene to dish up plenty of good bands for Coterie.
“We're on the cusp of an extremely exciting time here in Milwaukee. The Pabst and The Riverside have finally got a finger on the pulse of indie and alternative music. Mad Planet is getting some great things going,” he says.
“The Miramar is putting bands like The Walkmen and Andrew Bird through town. I've never seen such an upswing in the kind of music Jeremy and I love here in the city. Now is as good a time as any to tap into that, and that's what we're going to do with Coterie Records.”
But first, the pair has to get its own band and CD moving forward, as a way of generating buzz and a real future for Coterie.
So, how did Camarada -- which crafts rootsy, alternative pop songs -- get started?
I was working IT at UW-Milwaukee about two and a half years ago. It had been years since I had played with anyone,” recounts Mulligan. “On my own, at night, I was amassing a catalog of songs I had written, for the purpose of performing solo. It just so happens that I bumped into someone else at my work who had been playing music in his spare time too.
“Dan Siercks (Camarada's bassist) had been collecting gear for a recording studio (Triage Studios), and was playing with Adam Holly, Jim Hanke and Jeremy Benishek in a band called Triage. Long story short, Dan invited me to the studio, I tracked six songs, we decided they would sound better as a band. Dan, Jeremy, Adam and I hauled the studio to the boathouse, recorded Camarada's debut there, and the rest is where we're at now.”
And now means “King in the Dark” with a dozen tracks that recall the work of Paul Westerberg and sometimes even Gomez (at its least hippie). The disc was recorded in short order at a borrowed boathouse, but was mastered in New York by Steve Fallone (TV on the Radio, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah), so while it sounds good, it still has some pleasingly rough edges.
The disc should serve as a good toe in the water for Coterie and Mulligan is content to be the label’s own lab subject.
“We love and care too much about music to let a potential artist of ours down,” says Mulligan. “So we're putting ourselves out there to test the waters here first.”
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
