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https://isthmus.com/arts/music/or-does-it-explode-mixes-midwest-emo-and-political-awareness/
Madison’s music scene is flourishing right now. “What’s been interesting as a musician in this town for a long time is to see the ebbs and flows, these times where the scene is super vibrant,” says Or Does it Explode guitarist Shawn Bass. “Right now, the scene is killing it! There are so many good bands in Madison right now, it’s awesome.”
At their upcoming show at High Noon Saloon on Feb. 17, Or Does It Explode will bring their explosive energy alongside a lineup that includes fellow Madison-based bands Boxing Day and Mio Min Mio, as well as Milwaukee’s RiotNine and Snag.
Comprised of Bass (guitar/vocals), Erik Rasmuson (drums), J Granberg (bass), Brandon Boggess (guitar), and Katya Pierce (vocals), Or Does It Explode seamlessly merges elements of Midwest emo and post-hardcore, crafting a distinct sound. From clean guitar riffs to the steady rhythm section, every instrument shines through on songs like “The Great Forgetting” — the penultimate track from their 2023 sophomore album, The Medium Is The Message. The album is filled with memorable, melodic guitar hooks on songs like “Symbiosis,” while all five members show off their instrumental prowess during the heavier breakdown on album closer “The Next to Last Time.”
Or Does It Explode morphed out of Our Friends, The Savages, a previous project Bass and Rasmuson were part of. When Granberg and Boggess replaced the guitarists in 2019, Bass decided to take the band in a different direction, and Or Does It Explode was born. “I always envisioned more of a Midwest emo thing, and [instead] we had started veering off more towards a hard rock sound,” Bass says. “It was nice to get back to the roots of where I wanted things to be.” In 2022, Or Does It Explode released their debut album, entitled Chrysalis — a name which Bass says is an homage to the band’s change in sound and personnel.
About a year ago, the band responded to Katya’s Craigslist post while searching for a vocalist to split vocal duties with Bass.
“My biggest reservation in bringing in a singer who wasn’t me was I was really worried we’d get someone who wrote bad lyrics,” Bass says. “It was a huge relief to find a singer who writes great lyrics, is very thoughtful, creative, and has a passion for writing meaningful topics”
Taken from a line in the Langston Hughes poem “Harlem” (which also gave a name to Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play A Raisin in the Sun), their evocative band name is a nod to the kinds of subject matter that inform their music. “I can’t write without thinking about social and political issues,” Bass says. “I wanted something that communicated some political and social message without being too in your face.”
That message translates through their dynamic sound as well, especially in the use of samples on songs like “White Witch,” a track about white privilege. Bass deploys the samples sparingly, which gives their occasional appearances all the more impact. They’re also a way to give voice to other communities. “I’m a straight white male, right? And I can talk about social issues because they’re really important to me but sometimes there’s that issue of people like me talking for others,” Bass says. “I really hope the use of samples gives voice to the community I’m speaking about.” Layering engaging samples of political commentators between vocals from Katya and Bass, the song crescendos to a powerful finale.
Live, Or Does It Explode delivers an engaging performance. They want to ensure shows never feel routine, and they never play the same set twice.
“The shows that I feel the best as an audience member are when I’ve experienced something new and something unique,” Katya says. “It can be a band that I’ve seen multiple times, but if I really walk away thinking, ‘this is a night that is never gonna happen again,’ that is a really special and intimate experience.”
Five Madison bands bring emo, post-hardcore, indie rock, skramz to High Noon Saloon stage for ‘Don’t be afraid, I will be your Valentine’
Four local bands will hit the High Noon Saloon stage for a post-Valentine’s Day concert Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. “A great thing about this show is it is more age-inclusive and exclusively local bands,” co-promoter and University of Wisconsin senior Arthur Machado said.
“Don’t be afraid, I will be your Valentine” is organized by co-promoters Machado and Waisman Center Community TIES behavior consultant Shawn Bass.
The goal of the show is to promote local bands and give them a space to reach a wider audience. “Most local bands play in basements and house parties, which have barriers due to age restrictions or accessibility issues,” Machado said. “Whereas popular venues, such as High Noon Salon and Orpheum, are almost exclusively populated by popular bands or bands from other cities.”
The show includes different music genres apart from just emo, which is the most common among Madison bands. Machado, a senior in UW’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, sits on the editorial board of the music magazine EMMIE. Machado wanted to be a part of the band before graduating, so he teamed up with other students to create Mio Min Mio, Swedish for “Mio my Mio,” the title of a popular Swedish children’s book.
The band members are all people of color — an intentional choice, according to Machado —to bring some change into the music scene here in Madison.
Apart from working with the university as a behavior consultant, Bass is a guitarist for the band Or Does it Explode, taking its title from the famous poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes.
The band initially grew out of the previous Our Friends are Savages, which after a few changes in members and the arrival of a new guitarist became Or Does it Explode just before the eve of COVID-19. Machado and Bass decided to put together a show after meeting each other at WSUM, Madison’s student-run radio station, where Machado served as director. It would be six months before they could secure a weekend slot at the High Noon.
Their decision involved adding other local bands in Madison to the show including Riot-Nine, a trans-activist band in Madison, Snag, popular for their eco-activism and Boxing Day, famous for their love songs and unique for their trumpet player who is said to be expected on Feb. 17 according to the band’s founder and UW–Madison student, Shayfer Huitt.
The show at High Noon Salon gives a chance for local bands such as Machado’s and Bass’ to perform in a highly accessible, public and safe place, giving them a wider audience.
According to Or Does it Explode vocalist Katya Pierce, who moved to Madison a few years ago from New York, Madison’s music scene has an advantage that many other cities don’t — a chance for local bands to thrive and Machado and Bass are making that happen.
“In a lot of cities, it can be pretty tough for local bands to break into these kinds of venues, but when I moved to [Madison] I went to live shows and was like ‘Oh my God! that’s a local band, that’s a local band,’” Pierce said. “It’s a really special culture. It has been an adventure and I have loved it ever since.”
Pierce first started as a classical musician, but wanting to try out the music scene in Madison, she joined Bass through a Craigslist advertisement and is now their lead singer.
Bass, Machado and Pierce together, along with other members of the show, want to create a post Valentine’s Day theme, featuring a wide variety of music on love, personal experiences and wild tunes, promising a night of fun, romance and strange emotions.
“A brave first date,” Pierce said, for anyone to try.
The audience can expect the show to begin with post-hardcore music from Mio Min Mio, led by Machado, and Or Does it Explode, led by Bass. They will be followed by Riot-Nine and Snag with more bursting music, ending with slower tunes from Boxing Day to end the night with love.
Audiences, apart from fun, romance and wild post-hardcore beats can also expect personal anecdotes and experiences of the musicians. “The political always ends up being personal,” Pierce said. “It is impossible not to engage with [such] themes since they affect your life directly.” Each band has its own story, with people from different lives and different experiences who each have something important to share, something personal and central to their life experiences.
“Some individuals take a stance while other people don’t and ultimately the individuals who take a stance put themselves at the risk of victimization or abuse but still stay driven to take the stance regardless of the risk,” Bass said. “We want to honor and recognize that.”
That is the central theme of the song “In doing So” which the audience can expect to hear. Another such song is “Killswitch” also played by Or Does it Explode, which focuses on keeping cultures alive with myths and rituals.
The show brings together people with different stories — from different journeys and moments of life — some who are still in college, others who passed its steps many years ago, people who come from different states and countries, each with their own unique story to tell. They bring together what is most important to them through music.
The show begins at 7 p.m. with the doors opening at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for $10 pre-day or $15 the night of.
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