The Wake

For Trip Shakespeare, the rock star dreams were just taking off when they were dropped from A&M Records in 1992. They had spent almost seven years building a following and making connections in the music business.

The Minneapolis band seemed destined to breakout at some point. But when Nirvana brought the grunge scene to the mainstream, Indie pop wasn’t exactly what labels were looking for.

Meanwhile, drummer Jacob Slichter was toiling as an office temp in Minneapolis. His friends Dan Wilson, vocals and guitar, and John Munson, bass and keyboard, had made Trip Shakespeare a big name not only in Minneapolis, but around the country, at least among Indie fans. They played with Slichter in a side project called Pleasure, and when their band was dropped from A&M, they turned their attention there.

“It moved very fast, frighteningly fast for me,” Slichter says. “I had no experience in the major-label scene, and very little experience playing shows.”

Wilson and Munson were working quickly to maintain Trip Shakespeare’s momentum, and the new band was playing sold out shows at venues like the 400 Bar and 7th Street Entry from the start. Within a year the band was looking to sign with booking agents, managers and a label.

“During this I was kind of glassy eyed,” Slichter says. “Dan and John were talking to three or four labels a day. I was saying, ‘Dan and John have been through this before, I’ll just shut my mouth and let them take care of it.’”

The band signed with Elektra Entertainment in 1994, and after realizing that there was already a band called Pleasure, changed their name to Semisonic. After recording only six songs, they watched as a major shake-up of the label led to a new CEO coming in and getting rid of most of their supporters. But rather than allowing themselves to be put on the shelf, they asked out of their contract.

They were lucky, and Elektra obliged. They signed in June of 1995 with MCA.

What came next is where their path strays from that of Rex Daisy and the Honeydogs. In 1998 their second album, Feeling Strangely Fine, produced the song “Closing Time,” and they became instant stars.

“We knew it was a good single,” Slichter says. “We started getting red-carpet treatment at radio stations, but it didn’t change our goals. We never had supermodels and piles of cocaine on our tour bus.”

Semisonic maintained a relatively solid relationship with MCA. The label had an impressive back catalogue or artists like Tom Petty and The Who, but had fallen behind in the rock scene since the 1970s. “Closing Time” helped in their efforts to reestablish themselves.

They never lost control over their artistic decisions, were dropped only when MCA was on the verge of folding in 2002. But they still pushed the band for more production and more sales.

“They wanted us to be on the road as much as possible to promote our record, and then be back in the studio pushing out hit songs,” Slichter says. “Record companies have a hard time understanding that you can’t write on the road.”

Their final album, All About Chemistry, was released in 2001 and received well overseas. Although they never officially broke up, they began working on other projects after being dropped by MCA.

“For the most part our experience was positive by comparison to other bands,” Slichter says. “We aren’t in love with the major label system, we just didn’t have a choice.

In 2005 Slichter put out the book “So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star.” It details he experiences going from office worker to rock star, and goes into great detail about how their label deals came together, and how the industry worked during that time.

“I think that the system is kind of insane,” he says. “When we went in to make our third album they said ‘It has to be better than Feeling Strangely Fine. All of us thought that was just insane. It went platinum in the U.S., had a defining hit that got a Grammy nomination. To hear that the label thought it was a disappointment reflected completely unrealistic expectations.”

Sticking with it

Nick Wellner never intended to be a touring musician. He had just graduated from the University of Minnesota when After the Burial went out on tour with Veil of Maya, which was followed immediately by a nation-wide run with Hatebreed.

“Suddenly I had to make a decision,” he says. “I either had to devote my life to After the Burial, or not do it at all.”

With the rest of the band eager to move forward and continuing touring, Wellner decided to get out the way instead of potentially holding his friends and band mates back. When the tour ended, he returned to the Twin Cities and landed a job as a graphic designer.

Meanwhile, After the Burial is moving on, auditioning lead signers and looking to sign with a label.

For Wellner, his goals in music do not include hundreds of shows a year, playing to unfamiliar crowds and living out of a van.

“I love Minnesota,” he says. “The Twin Cities has a strong hard-core following, the kids are nice and they love the music.”

He is already playing again, as a member of two new bands. Staying connected with his community and paying the bills are his main concerns.

“I don’t want to have to worry about money,” Wellner says. “I want to have a positive influence on the music community, and have a great time.”

The impersonal nature of the road took its toll on Wellner, having only the members of the band around for months and missing people back home. Being recognized on the street by fans can be depressing when he can’t remember their names or having met them previously.

For now he will continue working full-time and playing drums for The Harlan. He is also the vocalist for High Hopes.

“I love being a vocalist,” he says. “I love the interaction with the crowd, and creating that energy is wild.”

Minnesota Music

Minnesota has earned a reputation for producing musicians. While many could argue that Bob Dylan and Prince are enough to hang its hat on, plenty of great albums have come from the state, and more are surely on the way.

There is no one genre to describe Minnesota’s music. The Replacements and Husker Du helped put Minneapolis on the map in the 1980s with their rambunctious rock and pop records, while Prince was fusing funk and rock. Alternative rock has also thrived, producing bands like The Jayhawks and Soul Asylum.

A couple of gigantic songs have also come out of Minneapolis, like Lipps Inc’s “Funkytown” and Semisonic’s “Closing Time.”

Today those traditions continue in artists like Craig Finn of The Hold Steady, Tapes ‘n Tapes and Motion City Soundtrack.

Hardcore and metal are also well represented in the Twin Cities, with venues like the Triple Rock Social Club hosting both national and local bands. Hip-hop artists like Heiruspecs, Atmosphere and P.O.S have made names for themselves around the country.

“Minneapolis is a huge hub for music,” says Nick Wellner.

Audiences pack the Xcel Energy Center and Target Center, but the Twin Cities bring artists to other great venues. First Avenue, The 400 Bar and the State Theater attract nationally touring bands of all stripes.

Musicians also come to Minnesota to record. Winterland Studios in Minneapolis has hosted Elvis Costello, R. Kelly and Lenny Kravitz. Pachyderm Recording Studio is most famous for Nirvana’s In Utero, but has also seen Soul Asylum, Mudvayne and Live come through.

Vickie Gilmer says the great venues are key. Trampled By Turtles’s Erik Berry says it is about great songs.

“So many great songwriters operate from Minnesota,” he says. “People like [music from Minnesota] because it is good.”

“There is a lot of great talent in Minneapolis,” Gilmer says. “There is a different attitude towards playing music here.”

Large cities like New York and Los Angeles experience their music scenes differently. These cities are the headquarters of most major labels and publishers, where a show could be full of people in suits, talking on their cell phones, Jacob Slichter says.

“Minneapolis benefits from not being some professional scene,” Slichter says. “A show in Minneapolis can really rock. It is hard to do that in New York or Los Angeles, where everybody stands with their arms crossed, like they have seen it all before.”

On the coasts bands are very in-tune with their image, Berry says. In contrast, the artists included in this story all seemed to share one sentiment: Both the artists and the fans in Minnesota are dedicated to great music and great shows.

“No matter what the weather, people go to shows,” Slichter says. “An hour after a show starts people will still be lined up in the cold for tickets.”

But that doesn’t mean the Minnesota is going to take over the music industry any time soon. It is still a business fueled by money and image, and any band who wants to get to the top is going to have take its lumps, and be smart about labels, publishing and contracts.

“The thing to remember is that getting the big record deal is not the goal,” says John Munson. “Making a beautiful work of art is the goal.”

It is complicated and can be scary for these musicians, but bands do make it out of their garages. One of Minnesota’s favorites might even be signing a deal right now.

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Brothers Chris and Zak Schauf grew up in a musical family in Wisconsin. They both played in bands in high school, but didn’t get together until they met guitarist Eric Raum in 2004 in Minneapolis, and formed Catchpenny.

After playing together for about six months, Catchpenny scheduled their first show, a battle of the bands at the LCO Casino in Hayward, Wis. They won that contest, and went next to Minneapolis, for the Cities 97/Basilica Battle of the bands, where they were finalists.

“From the beginning we have done really well,” says Chris Schauf. “We want to see how far we can take this band.”

With only a couple of shows under their belt, Catchpenny was already getting interest from agents in the Minneapolis area. This proved to be an early lesson for the group, one that many bands have to learn.

“Our agent got us going, and started booking shows for us,” says Schauf. “But a lot of his bands were quitting, and we found out he was taking money from them and us.”

Since then Schauf has taken over most of the booking for the group. He relies on a number of sources to land shows. Other agents still call with opportunities to play, and when friends’ bands are playing Catchpenny will join the bill.

The band has also been able to find support from some big sponsors. They have played a few shows for the Aveda Corporation, and signed on for the Fresh Air Tour in early 2007. The tour advocated social activism, and sponsor airforce Nurisoda outfitted the band with a Dodge Sprinter van, complete with beds and power outlets.

They have also joined the cause with CureDuchenne, an organization dedicated to research for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. They have played at fund-raising events for the past two years.

Catchpenny has made some other connections in the music industry. Soon after moving to Minneapolis, Schauf wandered into Winterland Studios, where artists like Elvis Costello, Sarah McLachlan and Lenny Kravitz have recorded. “We had no idea what we were doing,” Schauf remembers. “We just wanted to make a CD so that we could book more shows.”

At Winterland, they met Michael Blande, who has drummed for Prince, Soul Asylum and the Backstreet Boys. Blande decided he wanted to produce the band.

The band has since recorded at Winterland, as well as studios in Los Angeles. They also do a lot of recording at home in their living room.

Blande has become a big supporter of the group. “He comes to the shows sometimes and takes notes. He’ll tell us everything we did wrong,” says Schauf with a laugh. “We know we are getting better because he is coming back with fewer notes each show.”

Catchpenny plans to continue trying to make a name in the music industry. With the support of Blande, some interest from labels and experience in studios and on the road, they seem to have done everything right so far.

“We have no grandiose visions of being Bono or anything,” says Schauf. “It would be awesome to be nationally touring, though.”

Dropped

In the early 1990s Geffen Records was home to a stable of young rock groups. Nirvana, Weezer, Counting Crows, Beck and Rex Daisy were all on the verge of becoming household names. Everybody knows the story of the first four bands, but most probably have never heard of Rex Daisy.

“We’re just another band from Minneapolis that failed,” says former Rex Daisy drummer Jerry Anderson.

Rex Daisy was dropped from Geffen before they could finish recording their first album.

Jerry Anderson was a natural when it came to drumming. Like many he started out banging on pots and pans in his parents kitchen. They bought him his first set and sent him to lessons at age 7. After only a few weeks, his instructor informed his parents that continuing with the lessons was a waste of time and money: he didn’t need them.

At age 17 Anderson played with his high school band at the 7th St. Entry. Next he went off to Drake University where he met Steve Price. The two formed a cover band and played a weekly gig at Gringo’s Mexican Restaurant in down Des Moines, Iowa. Needing a lead singer, bassist Price recruited fellow Highland Park, Ill., native Mike Ruekberg to join the group.

Officially dubbed Rex Daisy on New Year’s Eve 1990, the band quickly got to work handing out a three-song demo to clubs around Minneapolis. In 1992, pared down to the trio of Anderson, Price and Ruekberg on guitar and vocals, with an occasional appearance by cello player Kent Musser, they started packing venues like the 400 Bar and other small clubs in the Twin Cities.

“It was tough to get in to see us,” recalls Anderson. “That’s when panic set in; we were saying, ‘Holy shit, people are into this.’”

The group embarked what they called the “Manure Tour.” They started in Minneapolis and headed towards Iowa, where they had established a fan base while Anderson and Price were in college. Next they would head east, to take advantage of Price and Ruekberg’s connections in the Chicago area. After swinging through Milwaukee and Madison, they would return to Minnesota.

“We wanted to move beyond that,” says Anderson. Luckily, major label attention came quickly. One winter night A&R representatives from Geffen Records, Columbia and Sire showed up to see them play.

In 1994 the band trekked to Austin for the South By Southwest musical festival. They were followed by an ABC affiliate from Dallas as they toured south, and were featured on the front page of the “Austin American-Statesman” Sunday paper before they even played their set.

They received rave reviews and returned to the festival the next year to play with the likes of Johnny Cash, Beck and Veruca Salt. In 1995 they chose to sign with Geffen Records, and went off to Hollywood to record with Paul Fox, who had produced records for Minneapolis’ Semisonic, as well as XTC and the Sugarcubes.

“The attention we got that first year was mind-blowing,” says Anderson. “Then in the middle of making the album, David Geffen left the label, and all of our supporters got fired.”

Rex Daisy had signed a multiple-record contract and received a small advance to start recording, but they were being dropped from the label. The band had assumed they would have the rights to their tapes, but while the new management at Geffen didn’t want the band, they also didn’t want them to go shop themselves to anybody else. “Classic major label bullshit,” says Anderson.

It took a while for the band to get free of Geffen, and with no management, they were unable to reconnect with Columbia or Sire. Eventually Pravda Records, a small independent label in Chicago, put out Guys and Dolls, but the band had lost its momentum and its fan base.

They recorded a second album at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minn., but it was never released. The band did an about turn. With a couple of friends they formed 2 Tickets 2 Paradise, a classic rock cover band, and started playing shows again in Minneapolis.

“When we got dropped we were so disgusted with the music business and hated ourselves,” says Anderson, “that the best thing to do was start an alter-ego cover band.”

While Rex Daisy never official broke up, there is no discussion of a reincarnation of the band. 2 Tickets 2 Paradise still plays weddings and parties and shows at Lee’s Liquor Lounge.

This isn’t exactly where they expected to be a little over ten years after Counting Crows opened for them. But Anderson acknowledges that bad luck and foolish decisions played a part, and without a manager they stood little chance once the major label buyouts began.

“We wanted to get drunk and get laid and rock,” he says. “It never occurred to us to be career-oriented. I was heartbroken for a while. But I don’t have any lingering bitterness. We got to do things that other people don’t get to.”

Hitting the Road

Trampled By Turtles has played just about everywhere in the U.S. They have played with Low, Cracker, Nickel Creek and members of Yonder Mountain String Band and The Big Wu, and they have learned a lot from the road. Music isn’t all about record sales and Rolling Stone covers.

“I’ve never been on a tour bus,” Erik Berry says. “But when we rub elbows with bigger bands, they talk about missing the van tours.”

They have taken a do-it-yourself approach to their music from the start, perhaps not surprising for an eclectic band that combines bluegrass sounds with punk and rock influences.

Berry says it is not all about getting signed, but about playing good music and staying excited about it. “Playing music is one of the things I do best in this world. I am much happier doing that than punching the clock somewhere.”

Trampled by Turtles nearly split up before it could get on its feet. Formed in Duluth in 2003, the band was already questioning their future in early 2004 when songwriter and vocalist Dave Simonett decided to relocate to Minneapolis.

In February 2004 they opened for Jeff Austin (Yonder Mountain String Band) and Chris Castino (The Big Wu) at the Cabooze in Minneapolis to a crowd of about 1,000.

“It really went well,” Berry says. “After that show we decided to try to make it work.”

Although the band members still had full-time jobs, they managed to make time for some tours, juggling their schedules and rushing to and from shows to get to work on time. In 2005 they decided to make music their job, and began touring more extensively during the spring and summer months.

Berry says that when the band started, being able to say that they had played a sold out show at First Avenue would have been satisfying.

“But now that we have done that, there is no way that enough for us,” he says. “There are ever-expanding horizons for our music.”

Trampled by Turtles works with Hello! Booking to schedule tours, and briefly was managed by Vickie Gilmer. Although no deals are currently in the works, they have had informal talks with record labels.

Berry has always been aware of the treacherous road that signing with a label can take band down. “I’ve been cynical about labels for a long time. As soon as somebody starts putting money into your music things start getting weird.”

They aren’t opposed to labels, but they are content to keep doing it themselves. Playing great shows and continuing to improve as a group are the tasks at hand. For Berry, that means continuing to practice his mandolin and doing what he can to help the band.

“We feel like if it was 1985 we might feel different about signing with a label,” Berry says. “In the current day and age a label deal isn’t exactly the pinnacle.”