{image1}It's not an easy feat for a band to make a record packed with diversity and all the while maintain a distinctive personality. Props, then, to Milwaukee quartet Dropmore Scarlet, which bridges that difficulty with its eponymous debut disc, just released.
"We each have very different musical tastes, influences, backgrounds and the ability to appreciate those differences," admits singer Kari Bloom. "Having multiple writers in the band allows us to experiment with our instrumentation. Our variation in style comes naturally, which makes us unique and seems to set us apart from other bands."
The group -- which comprises vocalist Bloom, bassist Laura Proeber and drummer/guitarist/songwriters Ginny Wiskowski and Kristen Kakatsch -- has been together for about five years now. But most of its members are not new to the scene.
"Ginny has been active in the local music scene since the mid '80s," says Bloom. "Laura was involved in various bands throughout high school and college, and was classically trained on bass and cello. Coming from a very musical family, Kristen has been playing locally since junior high and was a member of Ever and Alpha Dog. And even though I've been singing forever, this is my first experience in a band."
All of that experience seems to have paid off. The 12 tunes on the disc - recorded with Bill Stace at Walls Have Ears in the Miramar Theatre - are tautly arranged and the band's instrumental skills are ace.
They have the ability to rock out like Blondie or Echobelly ("Pretty Lip"), pull a jazzy Brazilian twist, a la Basia ("Lately"), head into Afropop ("Love and Light") or '80s Britpop ("Jake" will grab Housemartins fans by the neck!) and leap head-first into tempo and stylistic acrobatics ("Record Skip").
Certainly the interplay among members is key and that has grown as their line-up has evolved.
"Laura and I played for fun with some friends back in 1998," Blooms says. "We decided to get out of the basement and played our first show during the 1999 Christmas season. Shortly after that, we had the opportunity to record a song at the Chicago Recording Co. for an independent movie soundtrack with one of our original members, Kim Floyd.
"Then we met Kristen and she started playing with us, splitting her time with another local group. She finally joined the band full time in 2000. When Ginny's band broke up that same year, Kim invited Ginny to come sit in on some of our practices. It was a fit, and Ginny joined us in 2001. Kim eventually left the band to commit all of her time to her new business, the West End Gallery, selling art and wine. With this new arrangement, we decided to re-invent ourselves, and became Dropmore Scarlet."
Although Dropmore Scarlet doesn't have a high profile in Milwaukee, expect that to change in the coming months. The disc is earning them some notice and word on the street is that the quartet is as accomplished on stage as it is in the studio.
"All of the feedback has been great," Bloom enthuses. "A local record label expressed an interest in working with us after listening to a pre-released copy. We've since decided to manage the CD independently and keep our options open. We do have a lot of new material and we are playing out as often as possible. We hope to get back into the studio within the next year."
Dropmore Scarlet's Web site is dropmorescarlet.com.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
