To say that Milwaukee's Crouton is a record label is correct, but it is also a vast understatement. Musician Jon Mueller (Telecongac, Pele, Collections of Colonies of Bees) stands at the helm as both captain of and contributor to the project, which, for the last seven years, has been transcending the usual perimeters of what a local label can achieve and been dedicated to sonic experimentation.
According to Mueller, Crouton was created out of a need for an alternative avenue down which to drive his musical ambitions. Specifically, Mueller traces its roots back to his Pele days. The year was 1999 and he and bandmate Chris Rosenau had a few new ideas for putting out the remix record that would become "Emergency Room Egg."
"They involved potato halves, yellow paint, weird cop car stickers and having a ridiculously diverse range of musicians take stabs at remixing our music," says Mueller of his plans for the Pele release. Bearing this in mind, the duo figured that they might be better off putting out the record themselves rather than trying to sell their idea to someone else.
"The results were highly primitive, but really gave us a lot of satisfaction," says Mueller. Dubbing their collaborative efforts "Crouton," Mueller and Rosenau grew their new business to include distribution of other labels' releases and an online magazine via their Web site, croutonmusic.com.
Over the past few years Crouton's direction has shifted its focus to planning, crafting and producing releases that involve, according to Mueller, "a certain extent of conceptual, visual and aural characteristics worked on by people from all over the world." Crouton currently features about 30 releases by musicians hailing from places such as England (The Halfer Trio), Switzerland (Jason Kahn), France (Lionel Marchetti), New York (Scott Kawczynski), Chicago (Steven Hess) and, of course, Milwaukee (Mueller himself has contributed in varying amounts to at least 51 releases in the last eight years, many of which are available on Crouton).
From the beginning, Mueller knew Crouton would fit into a new niche that fuses not only genres but also various media of creative output. "This is not just about music," he explains, "but about concepts, how sound works, how it affects a listener, how the performers engage in working with those sounds, and the greater unseen or unrealized effects all these efforts have over a longer range of time."
Yet Crouton was not prepared to stop at supplying the city's soundscape with mere recordings of these international artists -- he sought to bring them to Milwaukee to play in person. Again, rather than relying on local venues to get keen to his scene, he took matters into his own capable hands.
"Dan Spack and I talked at length about our concerns about a more diverse range of artists coming to Milwaukee. Dan lives in this incredible space and suggested we have some events there -- sort of like low-key parties with internationally known artists."
By fall 2005, the LIVINGROOM concert series, featuring internationally known artists using traditional and non-traditional instruments to present composed and improvised music, had taken off.
"We try to make each event a personal experience to remember -- quiet, attentive listening in a large living room. You can't beat it."
All LIVINGROOM performances take place at 900 S. 5th St., #103 in Milwaukee. A $7 donation is suggested for all events.
Crouton's 2006 LIVINGROOM concert series:
March 18: Fessenden
This Chicago-based electro-acoustic trio creates distinct, atmospheric and progressive sound collages, at times weaving quietly subtle textures against harsh moments of volume, low hums and buzzes against crisp percussion, while drones interplay with staccato chords.
April 15: Ken Vandermark
For the past 20 years, Ken Vandermark has been exploring and expanding the possibilities of improvised and composed music. Since moving to Chicago in 1989, he's worked within a variety of contexts with many internationally renowned improvising musicians.
May 6: Olivia Block
Olivia Block is a contemporary composer and sound artist who combines field recordings, scored segments for acoustic instruments, and electronically generated sound. Her recorded work seeks to introduce, set at play, and ultimately reconcile nature with artifice in the realms of music and sound.
June 10: Matt Turner
A Yamaha Performing Artist, Matt Turner is regarded as one of the world's leading improvising cellists. Equally adapt as a pianist, Turner performs everything from jazz standards and 20th century new music to alternative rock and improvised avant-garde.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
