Undesirable People

    Undesirable People, the punk rock band out of St. Clair Shores, Michigan, formed in the summer of 2010. The band name is the band's "refusal to let image or specific genre overtake our main focus, which is the tunes."
    The band came together with mutual distaste for "The man" and school. "Writing and playing music is something we're actually passionate about. We enlisted longtime friends and former band members to get UP started." Says the band. Since forming nothing too interesting has changed. "We lost a guitar player, picked up a lead singer and that's about it."

(Photo: Ethan Andrew Pollard)

    Several influences include Alkaline Trio, Bayside, The Police, Thrice, and Jimmy Eat World. These influences, along with the band's mix of blood, sweat, anger, & fear help shape the band's poppy punk rock sound.
    The band line-up consists of twin brothers, Jon(drums) and Mark(vocals/bass) Lebieki, Bobby Lesage(vocals), and Brian Fraser(guitar).
    The band shows a great distaste for genre labeling. "We feel giving ourselves a label could limit our capabilities to mature and progress as song writers and musicians. There really is no fun in making the same album over and over again. We would love to have something to offer for any listener, regardless of taste in music."

(Photo: Ethan Andrew Pollard)

    The band talked a bit about the upcoming self-titled EP, set to be released today on indie record label, South Division Records.

"Our self-titled EP will be out September 20th on South Division Records. It was recorded and produced with our good friend Mick Maslowski at Zoinga Studios last fall/winter. We released it on our own as a 4-track EP this past February. The South Division release will feature 6 songs and a reworked/acoustic version of "Resting As Ruins". It will also be released on a limited 7" vinyl.

The overall sound includes plenty of guitar licks and melodies to hopefully have your attention longer than 3 minutes. This is something we've wanted to create for so long and we're stoked to have anyone and everyone check it out."

(Photo: Ethan Andrew Pollard)

    When booking shows, the band isn't too picky about what type of bands they play with. "We've been very open to playing with any bands. Our shows have been great so far, lots of people have been feeling it and enjoying themselves, which makes it so much more fun for us." Says the group.
    When describing a typical performance, the band said it consisted of "25 minutes of emotion, sweat, energy, good vibes, bad vibes, you name it. It's all there. We like to call out our merch guy every night too."
    Check out the band's self titled EP, and like the band on Facebook!

Canon City

      Before becoming a "serious" band, Milwaukee punk-rock outfit Canon City performed as The Lady Gaga Tribute Band. They also performed as The Harlem Globetrotters before settling down with their current name. "We decided to look through the Wikipedia list of the top classic cowboy westerns and pick a random name- hence, Canon City. It’s apparently a town in Colorado, which must confuse lots of people. Apologies to the real Canon City."
      The band came together when their good friend Jack was involved in a car accident. "We played a lot together in high school, but went our separate ways to different colleges. In late 2009, our good buddy Jack got in a car accident and had hospital bills through the roof, so we decided to reunite with our old pals to play some cover songs at a few benefit shows. We had such a good time that it just kept going."
      The band line-up consists of Alex Meylink (guitar/vocals), Kevin Tully (guitar/vocals), Kaleb Woods (bass/vocals), and Rick Romenesko (drums).

      The Milwaukee band is very proud of where they come from. "We love the Midwest. It’s definitely the most promising area for music right now. Milwaukee has a super strong and growing punk scene- there’s some great bands like Lowtalker (or anything else on Fuck City Records for that matter). We’re actually a suburb band, but we love playing at the Miramar Theater- when our friends aren’t getting kicked out for being too drunk."
     Each member of the band has his own share of influence. "Rick and I are pretty punk rock oriented, our bassist Kaleb rocks a lot of pop punk and hardcore stuff and I like to call our guitarist Kevin an indie bastard- he has probably the most eclectic and legitimately good taste out of the group." Says Alex.

      The band released their self-titled EP in March of 2011. Coincidentally, the main focus of the EP was aimed at nostalgia. "it turned out to be a bunch of songs about nostalgia and me realizing I drink too much. I think it musically reveals how obsessed I am with the Lawrence Arms." Says Alex.
      This fall, the band is set to record their first full-length album, Liars, in Minneapolis. "The lyrics are a lot more personal, relationship and experience based than about drinking and high school. Plus, you don’t have to hear my shitty voice as much- Kevin and Kaleb will be singing quite a bit more, and they’re a whole hell of a lot better."
      "Lots and lots of sweat, bro moments and alcohol abuse." That's how the band describes their performances. "Our mantra is 'if your voice isn’t gone, then you’re not really singing. If you’re not caked in sweat, then you’re not really trying.'"The band will be touring this winter to support their release.

Another Step Further

      Another Step Further, the punk rock band out of St. Charles, IL does exactly as their name implies. "We are taking music another step further, we are taking the messages of the music another step further. We don’t want to be just another typical band. We want to go past that. Every day, we become better musicians, and at the same time we're adding more meaning and passion to our songs. All of this takes us another step further towards our dreams."
      The band's agressive and distorted blend of punk rock blends in Bullet For My Valentine-inspired harmonies, metal-influenced rock/punk drum beats, a bit of double bass, and rough punk-style vocals with sprinkles of gang vocals and smooth backing vocals to create their dark, yet catchy sound, reminiscent to bands like Rise Against and Bad Religion. "Even though it’s a strong influence, we don’t just sound like another Rise Against. We have our own traits that make us different, even from our greatest influence. We're the only band of our kind in the local music scene. We aren’t defined by genre, we are only defined by the music we make. Because of this, we have a wide range of sounds, and that’s what makes us unique."

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      The band came together in the November of 2009 and was formed by bassist Andrew Stevens and guitarist/vocalist Keane O'Kelley. They found Josh Denson in the bathroom and he joined the band (He would later leave). They recruited Davis Cox on lead guitar and Grant Bonesetter on the drums to form the current line-up.
      Dystopia, the band's 7-track album was released in early 2011. The band says they have moved on from their first attempt and only play one of the songs off the album at shows. "It was basically a compilation of the first few songs our band had written in the past 10 months or so. Many of the songs were just cranked out without any significant meaning." Admits the band.

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      The band's local scene is overflowing with metal bands and numerous pop and punk bands and is home to many growing bands. The only problem is the lack of venues that are willing to let the bands play their loud music. " For a band in St. Charles, most of the bigger opportunities seem to be in other towns that are at least 20 miles away."
      The band tends to put on a loud, energetic show. "We don’t want to be another band who just stands on stage and gets the show over with. We enjoy it up there and spend every second giving it our all for the crowd. You can expect us to be playing with accuracy, but to be energetically moving around the stage as we put on the show."

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      The band has recently come out of a long show hiatus. After the band changed vocalists, they focused on practicing and writing new music for a new, full-length album and recording their single, Never Again, set to be released in August. "Every single new song we have written has been given our full time and effort; they aren’t just churned out mechanically. The band has undergone many changes in this break, and the new feel of the band is unified and clean, yet heavier while being more perfected and original. Not heavier as in metal or screamo, but more towards our original influences. If you compared our current sound to “Dystopia,” you would think it was a completely different band." Says the band.
      They hope to release the new album in early 2012 as long as scheduling and finances go smoothly. They have started booking shows in September and beyond. "We plan to have a decent show schedule with several every month until studio time."