Prepare to meet the villains of the Milwaukee music scene.
They are the New Blind Nationals, a quintet whose origins are based in chaos. In the summer of 2001, rising from the wreckage of the breakups of the bands Chevelia Manta and Hi-Fi Decay, five young men decided to pool their creative energy to form the Nationals.
Their mission is simple. To create music that they love, and to have their audience love it as much as they do.
"We don't consider ourselves part of any click," says guitarist Michael Marchant.
Their loud, fast, and catchy music is based in such early alternative pioneers as the Pixies and Sonic Youth, but they don't want to be pigeonholed by influences. They create a sound all their own, and may be Milwaukee's best kept pop-noise secret.
Their live shows are chaotic at best.
"We can't have nice things," vocalist and guitarist Tony Weber says.
NBN claim they are cursed to have wreckage, injury and damage follow them everywhere they perform. It all began on Halloween 2001, as the band was in its embryonic stages, when thousands of dollars of equipment was stolen and rendered the band inactive for several weeks. Other occurrences include: wrist and ankle sprains, falling guitars, various groin injuries, broken knuckles and car accidents.
They keep their songwriting fast and loose, writing songs in such a rapid manner that they could record a new album every three months.
"We write a different way each time," Weber says. "Melody always comes first."
{INSERT_RELATED}While neither Weber nor guitarist Kyle Altadonna, the National's other key lyricist, has any set approach to songwriting, the one song the group actually felt compelled to sit down and write was "Terrorize My Heart," which was inspired by the events of September 11th. A tender piece about their feelings of that day, it ranks among one of the Nationals' best works.
The Nationals have drawn a new drummer into their world of chaos. After months of searching, they found a someone worthy of their talents, former member of Menlo, Joe Kirschling. Joe and the Nationals look forward to working together and succeeding in way their previous drummers didn't.
"Joe definitely brings a maturity to the band," bassist Josef Blind says, "Perhaps a little maturity is what we need right now."
The future is looking bright for the New Blind Nationals. It's been weeks since an injury has occurred, and Weber and Marchant are hard at work on their pet project, a album tribute to Frank Black. There is a lot of interest from other bands in performing on it, they say, but a release date is far into the future.
Their villainous and destructive ways will always continue. That's just the way it is in the New Blind Nation.
New Blind Nationals play a 7 p.m. all ages show at Hep Catz Coffee House, 322 6th St., in Racine, on Fri., July 11. Monroe and Better Than Bobby's also play.
