Knifeplay at MKeUltra in Milwaukee on April 30, 2026

Knifeplay came through Milwaukee on tour a few months ago and stopped at MKeUltra for a compact, melodic set. This shoegaze band formed in 2017 in Philadelphia and has released two studio albums, a live cassette, and a handful of EPs since. I thought it was a really excellent set of music and I'm looking forward to seeing them the next time they are on tour in the Midwest.

Purchase their latest album here.

Recording information:

KNIFEPLAY

2026-04-30

Milwaukee, WI

MKE-Ultra

TJ Strohmer: vocals, guitar

Johanna Baumann: guitar, vocals

Dennis Martiniello: guitar

Max Black: keyboards

Alex Stackhouse: bass 

Nora Maupin: drums 

Setlist:

01 Unreleased 1 (7:20)

02 Agonizing Mountain (8:42)

03 Promise (6:03)

04 Unreleased 2 (8:29)

05 Interlude 1 (1:23)

06 Lord, Where are You? (8:56)

07 Interlude 2 (1:13)

08 Tears (5:19)

Toal time = 47:25

Recorded with permission by Richard Hayes for this blog

Microphones: Line Audio CM3 in ORTF

Additional source: mono soundboard feed from Andy W

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii at 32/96

Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

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Horse Lords at Art and Literature Lab in Madison, WI on July 12, 2026

Hailing originally from Baltimore and now having moved to Germany, Horse Lords recently embarked on their 2026 Summer tour of the United States following the recent release of their sixth studio album, Demand To Be Taken to Heaven Alive.

This quartet combines Just Intonation tunings with West African rhythms, and the high energy result is intoxicating and exciting. 

According to the Wikipedia article on the subject, "Just intonation is the tuning of a musical interval without beats. The result is an acoustically pure sound that resonates within the harmonic series. The simplest relationship between pitches in this series can be expressed as small whole number ratios. Musicians around the world instinctively perform in just intonation."

Purchase their music here.

Recording information:

HORSE LORDS

2026-07-12

Madison, WI

Arts and Literature Laboratory 

Andrew Bernstein: saxophone, drums, electronics

Max Eilbacher: bass, electronics

Owen Gardner: guitar

Sam Haberman: drums

Setlist:

01 Brain of the Firm (6:26)

02 Against Gravity - After the Last Sky (13:27)

03 Zero Degree Machine (7:41)

04 Mess Mend (4:00)

05 First Galactic Utopia (5:36)

06 Law of Movement (8:28)

07 Fanfare for Effective Freedom (8:14)

08 Bending the Lash (8:24)

Total time = 62:16

Recorded with permission by Richard Hayes for this blog

Microphones: Line Audio CM3 in ORTF in front row

Additional source: mono soundboard feed (sax and bass only)

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii

Software: Audacity. Fission, xAct

https://horselords.bandcamp.com/

https://artlitlab.org/

audio downloads 

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Their live set in Los Angeles two years ago filmed by the great Daniel Kirby:

Minibeast at MKeUltra in Milwaukee on May 17, 2026

Since 2011, former Mission of Burma drummer Peter Prescott has been releasing music in the group Minibeast, backed by two Providence, RI musicians -- drummer Keith Seidel and recent addition Pete Weiss on bass. They produce a minimalist, crunchy experimental noise rock and the audience at MkeUltra was definitely absorbing and appreciating all the energy that Prescott and lads had on display.

Purchase their music here.

Recording information:

MINIBEAST
2026-05-17
Milwaukee, WI
MKeUltra

Peter Prescott: guitar, keyboards, voice
Pete Weiss: bass
Keith Seidel: drums

Setlist:
Improv Jam (3:08)
Town Crier (7:48)
Exclusive (4:43)
Id Night (3:50)
Nearo (5:33)
Cookie Data (5:40)
X-Ing (6:36)
On Ice (7:18)

Total time = 44:36

Recorded with permission by Richard Hayes for this blog

Microphones: Line Audio CM3 in ORTF on stand
Additional source: mono soundboard feed from Brian Hospital
Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii at 32/96
Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

downloads 

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video of the band performing in Medford, MA two months prior to this gig:

Garcia Peoples with Mike Bones at the Bur Oak in Madison on October 17, 2021

In October 2021, Garcia Peoples came to the Bur Oak in Madison to perform with Weak Signal opening. For their final piece they invited the legendary guitarist of Weak Signal, Mike Bones, on the stage for a 20-minute jam. It's a really excellent thundering performance that I have enjoyed listening to many times since.

Unfortunately, onstage equipment issues on prompted a member of the band to request that the rest of my recording of the GP's performance be withheld from circulation, so this is what we have to enjoy.

Purchase the band's music here.

Recording information:

GARCIA PEOPLES with MIKE BONES

2021-10-17

Madison, WI

The Bur Oak

Mike Bones: guitar 

Tom Malach: guitar and voice

Danny Arakaki: guitar and voice

Andy Cush: bass

Pat Gubler keyboards

Cesar Arakaki: drums

Tracklist:

01 Mike Bones Jam (20:14)

Total time = 20:14

Recorded by Richard Hayes with permission

Microphone: Beyerdynamic MC 930 in ORTF

Additional source: mono SBD feed

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6

Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

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Bitter Wish at the Milwaukee Psych Fest on May 11, 2024

We continue an exploration of the bands who performed at the 2024 Milwaukee Psych Fest -- the last year that this beloved festival took place -- with this mind-blowing set by Bitter Wish. 

I don't like quoting promotional material, but I thought this description of the band from their Bandcamp page was perfect: "Formed in Philadelphia during the Covid days of fall 2021, Bitter Wish is a psychedelic power trio comprising guitarist John Comune, bassist Clint Takeda (Bardo Pond/Double Wig) and percussionist Scott Verrastro (Kohoutek/Heavy Lidders). While the band doesn't stray far from its Bardo Pond and Kohoutek roots, they incorporate more repetition and minimalism into their fuzzy vibe."

Purchase their music here.

Recording information:

BITTER WISH

2024-05-11

Milwaukee Psych Fest

John Comune: guitar

Clint Takeda: bass

Scott Verrastro: percussion

Setlist:

01 Entire set (43:42)

Total time = 43:42

Recorded with permission by Richard Hayes 

Microphones: Line Audio OM1 omni pair

Additional source: mono soundboard feed

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre3

Software: Audacity, xAct

downloads 

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video of a portion of this performance:

Jackson - Heinemann - Shead Trio at Bar Centro in Milwaukee on August 14, 2025

The Jackson-Heinemann-Shead Trio performed two sets of thoughtful and thrilling jazz at Bar Centro last August as part of a series of concerts promoting their new album Stinger on the Irritable Mystic label.

Keefe Jackson is a tenor saxophonist and clarinetist who moved to Chicago in 2001 from Fayetteville, Arkansas. He is often associated with the free jazz scene in Chicago but (like Josh Berman) seems to have arrived at free improvisation as a progression from a solid grounding in American post-bop jazz rather than from a "burn it all down" European perspective. His soloing is always tasteful and confident and his compositions complex and emotionally expressive.

Hailing from Madison, WI, Jakob Heinemann has recently moved to Los Angeles where he is busy teaching and performing in that growing jazz scene. 

Adam Shead is a busy percussionist in Chicago who leads the group Microplastique and who was featured on this blog with the Stein/Smith/Shead trio.

Buy their most recent album here.

Recording information:

JACKSON - HEINEMANN - SHEAD
2025-08-14
Milwaukee, WI
Bar Centro

Keefe Jackson: tenor sax, bass clarinet
Jakob Heinemann: bass
Adam Shead: drums

Setlist:
01 Dewey’s Tune (6:41)
02 Oles Anders (3:31)
03 Slant (6:40)
04 Yearning (7:16)
05 Silent Danish Girl (5:46)
06 Mushi Miyake (17:22)
07 Raija’s Bop (4:33)
08 God of the Fickle (9:56)
09 1 2 3 4 5 (6:37)
10 March for Mr A (3:22)
11 Unknown (7:13)
12 Unknown (4:43)
13 Easy (6:35)
14 Unknown (3:29)

Total time = 93:44

Recorded with permission by Richard Hayes

Microphones: Line Audio CM3 in ORTF
Recorder: MixPre6ii
Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

downloads 

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video of the first part of this performance:

Tashi Dorji and Tyler Damon at Acme Records in Milwaukee on April 8, 2017

One of the early uploads to this blog was a late 2017 performance by Tashi Dorji and Tyler Damon at Acme Records. At that time I felt the need to explain who Tashi was and the story behind me discovering his music when he had only one or two releases to his credit. Nine years later, I don't have to educate folks about this Bhutanese free improvising guitarist.

This April 2017 show at Acme was my first chance to see Dorji perform in person, and I wasn't disappointed. This was a lengthy, intense, mind-shattering set of music, sixty-six minutes of free jazz spread over three pieces.

Purchase their music here.

Recording information:

TASHI DORJI

TYLER DAMON

2017-04-08

Milwaukee, WI

Acme Records

Tashi Dorji: guitar

Tyler Damon: percussion

Setlist:

01 Improvisation (16:29)

02 Improvisation (29:03)

03 Improvisation (19:44)

Total time = 65:16

Recorded with artist permission by Richard Hayes

Microphones: Church CA-14

Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24/44

Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

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video of Tashi and Tyler in September 2017 in Bloomington, IN:

Apollo Vermouth at the Milwaukee Psych Fest on May 6, 2023

Alisa Rodriguez is a Milwaukee-based musician who has been performing under the moniker Apollo Vermouth for several years, along with several other projects including Operations, Sundial Mottos, Dreamsucker, and White Tropics. Her music as Apollo Vermouth is varied and not easily categorized, but I think of it as ambient experimental pop, a genre expanding the perimeters of what can be considered a popular song. There is song structure but with an idiosyncratic approach. Here in this short set she sings and plays guitar over a rhythm track and synthesizers which provide ambient atmosphere.

Alisa is one of the more interesting musicians in the Milwaukee area because of her range and unpredictability. I have recorded her in several contexts and have finally started processing these recordings. I will be sharing more soon.

   

Purchase her music here.

Recording information:

APOLLO VERMOUTH

2023-05-06

Milwaukee Psych Fest

Alisa Rodriguez: guitar, electronics, voice

Setlist:

01 One (3:53)

02 Two (6:41)

03 Three (7:07)

Total time = 17:41

Recorded by Richard Hayes with permission for this blog

Source: Line Audio CM3 stereo pair

Additional source: mono soundboard feed

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii

Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

downloads 

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16bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC files (116 MB)

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320 kbps mp3 files (63 MB)

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video of a performance at X-Ray Arcade a few months after this festival:

Garcia Peoples at Judson and Moore in Chicago on April 8, 2023

Garcia Peoples and Chris Forsyth co-headlined a short tour in April 2023 which brought them to (among other cities) Chicago (for two nights), Milwaukee, and Madison. The first night of their Chicago residency is presented here.

The band's name of course brings up associations with a very well known jam band, but I consider the group to be more of a psychedelic rock group with some elements of jamming, which I define as increasingly complicated variations of relative simple chord progressions and melodies. The point of a jam band is the jamming. The Garcia Peoples songs themselves, however, are high quality enough to stand o their own merit.

Purchase their music here.

Recording information:

Garcia Peoples

2023-04-08

Chicago, IL

Judson and Moore Distillery

Danny Arakaki: guitar, vocal

Tom Malach: guitar, vocal

Derek Spaldo: guitar, vocals  

Andy Cush: bass 

Cesar Arakaki: drums

Setlist:

01 Cashing Out - Sigh of Relief (5:06)

02 High Noon Violence (5:57)

03 Fire of the Now (9:02)

04 A Reckoning (11:19)

05 Total Yang (5:34)

06 One at a Time (8:08)

07 Show Your Troubles Out (5:45)

Total time = 50:51

Recorded with permission by Richard Hayes

Microphones: Beyerdynamic MC930 in NOS

Additional source: mono soundboard feed

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii

Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

downloads (these will automatically download):

  

16bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC files (314 MB)

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320 kbps mp3 files (153 MB)

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video of the band in Philadelphia a few weeks after this set: