Episode #049: Where the 80‘s Punk Rock Left Off - Alternative Radio with Payton Stark

WISCONSIN MUSIC PODCAST

Episode 49

Alternative Radio - Where the 80's Punk Rock Left Off

 

I talk with Payton about his beginnings, Alternative Radio, and his campaign: I Can Start A Band Too.

BIO:

In 2019 The band met at art school and began by playing campus shows at pop-up art galleries. This Milwaukee punk rock "n" roll band takes off where the local scene left in the '80s. Taking a cue from bands like Oil Tasters, Couch Flambeau, Violent Femmes, Plasticland, Yipes! and The Haskels, they continue Milwaukee's great history of local music. Stark's dad was a part of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin scene as well playing in the 80's new wave band Among Thorns. Alternative Radio looks back at the past to look to the future and returns to the primitive rock and roll of the '70s and early '80s. The band has started to go somewhere, as we got our first radio airplay, and have had record companies reach out to us now. 

Personal: 
After 4 years at an art school in Chicago, I moved back to Milwaukee full-time and was determined to get my band off the ground now that I had more time. My dad was in a few bands and had friends that played in iconic local bands, and he constantly told me about the Milwaukee scene in the '80s. I was disheartened when I came back to Milwaukee and saw that the scene was nowhere near the stories I heard from my dad. The general public wasn't really interested in local music, and bands didn't have the backing of local radio and publications to the degree they need. Being dissatisfied with the local scene, and knowing its history and how Iggy Pop and Jimmy Hendrix used to frequent Milwaukee's local clubs and scene I wanted to change that. I knew my band would never thrive if it didn't have an environment to thrive in. I started "I CAN START A BAND TOO", and decided I would bring back the local scene even if I had to do it single handily. I set up a website and did interviews with local musicians from the 80's such as Pat McCurdy of The Yipes!, and John Boler, of Bon Ton Society who actually is a great friend of my fathers' and frequently, is over at the house. I wanted to tap into their knowledge and hear from their mouths what they did to create success in the past in our city. I also started an online zine for the local scene that updates people weekly on what is going on locally. One cool thing that was started was digital compilations on Spotify of local bands. I hope to do different volumes of both of these as time passes and bring awareness to some things I personally find interesting in the scene. Right now the campaign focuses on rock "n" roll because the genre lends itself to D.I.Y. better than some others. I also don't want to throw hip hop, metal, and punk all on a compilation because then songs will get skipped, and that doesn't do a band's algorithm any use. Although I'm choosing to focus on the genre I know and feel I can lend myself the best to, I hope others rise to the occasion and do the same for the other music types. I love music and hope that I can pave a way for other groups who want to create something for themselves. Although I run the campaign by myself several others have been behind it and are excited to help grow the scene as a group.

Alternative Radio's Spotify link:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6fmqiMSKisecrnNhgNO5Y0?si=m3mT8aQmRwO6Um6a6FaIag

 "I CAN START A BAND TOO" 

https://www.icanstartabandtoo.com/

Wisconsin Music Podcast is:

 

• Created, hosted, mixed, mastered, and edited by:

  • Zach T Fell of ZTF Studio (www.ztfStudio.com)

• Sponsored by:

  • Diamond Dave Photography

  • ZTF Studio

• Podcast Theme Music created by:

  • Nate Wycoff of Frequency Farm Recording Studio

• Podcast Voice Over performed by:

  • Dean Bundy

• Syndicated on:

  • cwHipHop.com – Wisconsin's online Hip Hop radio station