Nestled in the woods of Port Washington is a band destined to make a Jeff Tweedy-sized imprint on the city of Milwaukee: Batavia combines the best aspects of folk rock and experimental music.
On its new album, "Home, Safe, Sound, and Warm," Batavia provides the listener with a relaxed and quaint soundtrack. On the instrumental "Dark Clouds Over Mystick," vocalist Ricky Spenner shows off his considerable chops on the mandolin, which combines with an acoustic guitar for a textural vociferation. With all of these layers to listen to, it is strange to imagine where the band came from.
"I used to be in hardcore band called When Cars Collide," says Spenner. "Our drummer quit, and Kurt (Zemlicka, drums) and I worked at a toy store in Grafton, Hobby Town U.S.A. I found out that he played drums. We had a show in a week, he learned five songs, and it was a blast."
Then on a car ride to band practice, Spenner mentioned he wanted to start an indie side project. "We started talking," says Zemlicka, "and as it turns out, we were both incredible indie music snobs."
One thing led to another, songs were written, and the side project became Batavia, a full-time band. So with Spenner and Zemlicka defecting to Batavia, there must have been a "Behind the Music" blow up, right?
"That's the thing, they all really like us," says Spenner. "At one point or another, all the members of When Cars Collide have played with us."
On "Your Wake or a Reunion Someplace," guitarist Ed Ricco provides a twangy, western feel to the track, and drummer Kurt keeps the meter going with military precision. On "The Woman," a wave of haunting violin (courtesy of Justin Spenner, Ricky's brother) stands out, as does Spenner's vocal interlude. His voice is interesting, and not overwhelming; Spenner picks his spots, and this is a welcome change from the verse-chorus-verse format that can trap a band. The main reason for this free-form approach is how Batavia crafts their songs.
"Most of it starts off improvised," says Spenner. "It's always the music that comes first, and I'll get an idea in my head. We record it, and I go back and listen until I remember the lyrics I sang the first time. I don't think I've ever written down lyrics."
Even more impressive is the fact that Spenner, Zemlicka and Ricco are scattered around the country, each attending separate universities.
"When we do get together, it's for a short period of time," says Spenner. "We feel like we need to be productive."
During one of these bursts of productivity, Batavia wrote and tracked "Home, Safe, Sound, and Warm."
"We recorded the whole thing-from start to finish-in five weeks, during my winter break," says Zemlicka.
Live, the band is just as loose, and has been known to invite audience members on stage.
"We try to have them play percussion pieces, and clap and stomp along," says Zemlicka.
