Madison-based band Sunspot has won WAMIs and Madison Area Music Association awards and recently released its second CD, "Cynical." Over the past few years, the band has spent countless days on the road, bringing its punky power-pop to people all over the country.
The group -- comprising mostly Milwaukee natives -- returned to Brew City in November for a release party for the disc and we recently caught up with them to find out how their hometown has supported the new record and what their plans are for future touring.
Sunspot is guitarist and singer Ben Jaeger, drummer and singer Wendy Lynn Stats and bassist and singer Mike Huberty.
OMC: Sunspot is a Madison-based band, but seems to inhabit Milwaukee stages quite often. Do you feel sort of like a Milwaukee band?
Mike Huberty: Because we all grew up in the greater Milwaukee area we do feel like we have a great home base in the city. It's as familiar to us as Madison is; and our family, friends and fans in Milwaukee are just as enthusiastic. There are also a lot of great bands in Milwaukee that we love to share stages with and see when we're in town, so we definitely feel like we're part of the community, too.
OMC: How has Milwaukee responded to the new CD?
MH: Our release party was an unqualified success and the reaction has been even better now that everyone's had a chance to listen to the new songs. We've gotten a lot of positive fan mail which truly has made it all worth it!
OMC: How does the disc compare to the band's first disc, "Loser of the Year"?
MH: The production is tighter. We've reined in the frequencies and I'm happy with the output. On "Loser" the songs were much more straight-ahead, designed to mimic the ferocity and celebratory aspects of our live show. "Cynical" is focused intensity; delivering an album that you can listen to in one sitting and still be fired up about at the end. All the songs hit the same themes, which wasn't something we intentionally designed. The whole album deals with disappointment, whether it's on a serious, heartbreaking level ("The Breach"), sarcasm ("The Happy Song"), irony ("Scott Bakula"), inebriatory -- yes, I'm not sure it's a word, but I like it ("The Heidegger Paradox"), or acceptance ("Way I Fall").
When we were going over the tracks, "Cynical" felt like a natural title. The songs are about working your way through -- about fighting the struggle not to be jaded or bitter. "Cynical" is us facing that battle head-on, and coming out with, emotionally and sonically, our most powerful material yet.
OMC: Your site claims the band has logged more than 16,000 miles on tour this year. Will you be able to beat, or even match, that next year?
MH: We did 31,000 miles in 2003 and 26 or 27,000 miles last year. We were being lazy this year because we needed time to work on the record! We'll be out there in 2006. Anywhere and everywhere there are people listening, you'll see Sunspot.
Ben Jaeger: Our goal for 2006 is to continue developing the following we have in Wisconsin as well as hitting great scenes like Minneapolis, Cincinnati and Austin where we know people are hungry for our albums.
OMC: When is your next gig here?
MH: We just started booking 2006 and we cant wait to deliver the new songs on "Cynical" to Brew City residents live and in person. Expect to see us in Milwaukee in February.
Sunspot's Web site is sunspotmusic.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.
