A Life More Acceptable(ALMA)

ALMA Sitting on the Cusp of a Break Through
By Pete Wicklund

MILWAUKEE – It takes baby steps to reach that stride that carries one into life. That’s a concept that the members of the band ALMA fully realize and embrace.
But persistence, patience and timing over 3 year plus period are beginning to pay dividends for the power-grunge trio from Chicago’s western suburbs. This summer, ALMA (A life More Acceptable) is looking forward big city exposure with gigs in Chicago’s Lincoln Park area and at The Rave, a club near Marquette University in Milwaukee. Always booking an Aurora Il area show for their loyal following. Some of which made the trek this night to Milwaukee. Amazingly knowing the words to most of the songs during the energy filled performance.
They are also working to finish their first full CD.
They are also trying to book as many gigs as possible during the busy summer festival months as they work to increase their exposure and dig out more appreciative audiences.
“We want to work the Chicago scene as much as possible,” said ALMA drummer Dan Battista.
At least they are big in the charts in Pakistan and Asia , jokes bass player Luke Mildice. In fact, their latest single “Torn At The Seam” as of late June was getting lots of hits on an international website called Jangoradio.com. with ITunes to follow shortly.
“Torn At The Seam” is a composition by ALMA guitar player Brian Olsen. The song came to him after the earth shook under his feet – literally. A minor quake in the Midwest got Olsen thinking about the recent calamities of the world, like the Haiti and Chilean earthquakes and the ongoing disaster with the gulf oil spill, and where life is headed in these chaotic times.
Nirvana is a name that comes quickly to mind when one hears the searing, tight musicianship of ALMA. And that’s a parallel the band members don’t try to duck at all. Olsen readily sites the grunge pioneers from Seattle as a key influence
“I think Nirvana never died. It’s still going. Everyone’s still listening. It’s always on the radio,” Olsen said.
Other influences, according to Olsen, include Seether, Chevelle, Smashing Pumpkins and the Def Tones, the latter of which ALMA shared the bill with at their Milwaukee appearance at the Rave.
“It’s absolutely cool playing at the same place,( referring to the RAVE)” Mildice said
Part of that baby step process for the band includes learning about the recording process and the realities of marketing their band.
“We’re learning very, very late that managing is half the battle,” said Mildice. “It’s all about promoting getting, the name out there and building a fan base” that’s why we have him ( pointing to their agent).
The band is getting a boost in that area from Dan Battista’s dad, Dominic, himself an accomplished drummer and veteran of the Chicago bar music scene. Dominic is using his Battista Entertainment Group to expand the bookings for ALMA and other young and emerging musical acts.
But to better market, ALMA needs to have a full CD to use for promotional ventures and to generate some cash flow at their gigs.
ALMA hopes to have a 12-song CD completed before the end of the summer. Initial recording took place in spring during a road trip to Columbus, Ohio. A former band mate of Battista’s moved to Columbus, where he established a recording company called Chaz Productions. Over the course of one weekend, ALMA recorded six songs there.
The engineer is to head to Illinois this summer to record more ALMA tracks and finish the arduous mixing process.
“It’s very time consuming, that’s for sure,” Mildice said. “It’s a very tedious process.”
A positive aspect of the recording process was that the engineers pretty much let ALMA do what they wanted.
“They are really great guys to work with,” Mildice said. “They asked us what we wanted as opposed to what they wanted.”

The Roots of ALMA

ALMA’s beginnings are a story oft heard before, but telling nonetheless. It all started in high school. Olsen and Mildice connected at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville (both are 2006 graduates).Olsen has dabbled in music since his elementary school years, first trying out the viola in the school orchestra and then moving onto coronet in the school band. After those instruments “didn’t work out,” as Olsen put it, he took a break from music in his middle school years but was fast pursuing guitar once in high school.

Mildice took up drums in high school and before he knew it, Olsen was asking him to form a band.
For Battista, a 2007 graduate of Aurora’s Waubonsie Valley High School, music education came from within the family.
“I’d go to my dad’s bands’ practices and I’d listen and learn,” Battista said. “I’ve tried sports and all that other stuff and nothing worked out.
This (music) is the only thing that’s working.”
Both Mildice and Battista have stretched out from their original instruments to learn others. “It’s kind of cool how we can collaborate,” Mildice said.
- Pete Wickland - Racine Journal Times