Fresh Cut Collective
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Fresh Cut Collective

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | INDIE

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | INDIE
Band Hip Hop Funk

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"Fresh Cut Collective"

Fresh Cut Collective, comprised of seven artists with extensive histories with other Milwaukee bands, play music live that otherwise would be presented using either pre-recorded sounds or a combination of that and, say, a couple of live players. This album is live music restoration, taking music back from otherwise programmed stuff and playing in unified and startling new ways. It turns what otherwise would be the dead sound of electronic gizmos at work into live performance.

Having already made an impact on the local scene in concert, it is now time to have it on compact disc in 11 tracks of music that capture living music again after hip-hop’s mechanical demise. No machines are running.

These musicians are pacing the rim of a new idiom that sounds improvised but is not, sounds programmed but is not and sounds like a fresh cut at collective artistry that is dance, narrative, tumbling and contemplative, and shaking bone tune mania instead of sampling tone misery.
- Express Milwaukee


"Check It ... Fresh Cut Collective"

What can I say about Fresh Cut Collective? Oh, that's right ... they're dope! No, seriously, really, really dope. Fresh Cut Collective is on their way to becoming one of my favorite groups. Live band, dope emcee, great music. Yeah, I can't say enough. Check the track and the video.
Fresh Cut Collective’s upcoming release of their self-titled debut album with Uni.Fi Records release party is set for Saturday, May 29th.

Since their first show in December 2008, Fresh Cut Collective has played many shows in Milwaukee as well as Madison, Green Bay, Chicago, and Atlanta. They have opened for national touring artists The Constellations, Curumin, The Cool Kids, Rhymefest, and Movits and were a headliner at last year's Milwaukee Summerfest. Having done so much in their first year and a half, Fresh Cut Collective has high hopes for the future.

Their sound combines the raw energy and spirit of contemporary hip hop with the organic grooves and pure musicianship of late 60s/early 70s funk, soul, and rock music. There are no samples or sequences on this album; all the music was performed with live instruments giving an added depth and warmth to the songs. These ten tracks have been performed, refined, and perfected over the past year and waiting to be unleashed.
- The Mad Bloggers


"Fresh Cut Collective comes alive (on record)!"

As the city’s top instrumental hip-hop act, Fresh Cut Collective has been tirelessly honing its craft on the local club and street festival scene for the past year and a half. The seven-member group, fronted by local hip-hop mainstay Adebisi, has tried to bottle the energy and drive of its live show on its self-titled debut album, which drops at a record-release party May 29 at Mad Planet. Did the band succeed? The A.V. Club asked keyboardist and primary songwriter Kiran Vedula.
The A.V. Club: You made your reputation as a high-energy live band. Was it hard to channel that energy in a studio setting?
KV: Naturally that was our worry, because our live show was so physically energetic. There’s one track in particular called “Bumblebee” that we recorded in a different way. On that song, everyone was at the session at the same time, and we recorded the whole song in one day. The process was a lot easier and came together more organically—more so than having to multi-track stuff and squeeze it into a grid. When the workflow is consistent like that, the song usually comes across better.
AVC: Was there a philosophy you had in mind before going in to the studio?
KV: We’re trying not to think of the group like a hip-hop band, but instead what it means for an ensemble of our size to be playing like a DJ. Like, how certain parts come in and out and layer off each other, making sudden changes here and there the same way a producer mixes it with cross faders, taking the idea of using samples and reversing it back to live instrumentation and being as literal with it as possible.
AVC: How do your songs typically come together?
KV: We have a few different processes, but the main one is I’ll come up with a 16-bar loop on my computer using samples, live instruments, or software instruments. It won’t be a finalized thing. Then I’ll bring it into rehearsal and we’ll all start playing it. Sometimes Adebisi writes in the room with us, other times he’ll come over to my place and listen to the rough idea. Then we bounce it back and forth.
AVC: Where are you at in terms of being on a label and selling your music?
KV: We have a partnership with [Milwaukee label] Uni-Fi Records. They paid for our album and help with our promotions, just doing whatever they can to help us in this process. We have an agreement with them for our first 1,000 CDs so they can make their money back. Those guys really want to make something good, and it’s nice to be involved with people that are not musicians themselves necessarily, but want to get in on making good music happen. They’re in the same place as we are, starting to come up and make bigger moves, and it’s cool to do that together with them.
- AV Club


"Fresh Cut Collective brings edge to hip-hop"

Group: Fresh Cut Collective, hip-hop septet

Who's who: Adebisi, vocals; Kiran Vedula and Patricio Amerena, keyboards; Allen Russell, violin; Matt Gorski, drums; Paul Trinko, guitar; Scott Hlavenka, bass. Adebisi answered for the group.

When started: Kiran and I met as he was working the door at Stonefly Brewery. He expressed interest in starting a new band, and I was all in. Eventually, we started rehearsing and recruiting the other members of the band.

Latest CD: Due this summer on local independent record label UniFI records.

Describe your style: The bastard child of indie rock and hip-hop.

We say they sound like: Old-school funk with a new twist.

They say they sound like: I've heard comparisons on as wide a range as the Roots to Pink Floyd. But probably somewhere in between.

Song you've written that you're most proud of: "Rockstar."

Song you play to get the crowd crazy: "Loveless."

First gig: December 2008 at Stonefly. About 100 people came out in a snowstorm.

Worst gig: Last summer in Atlanta, we started a show performing to an almost empty room. We all just focused in and acted as if we were filming a movie, had a good time, and by the end of the set, the room was packed, and people were telling their friends to get down to the show.

Artist you'd most like to work with: Strick (locally), Mos Def (nationally)

One regret you have as artists: Thus far, none. Every experience has been a stepping stone.

Biggest achievement: Playing Summerfest last summer and being featured on their Web site, as well as opening up for the Cool Kids for an audience of about 1,000 people at the Majestic Theatre.

Why do you do this?: For the love and respect of good music.

Where do you see yourself in five years?: Somewhere relaxing and looking back on how great the previous five years were.

Next gig: Starting the first week of May, Fresh Cut Collective will host and perform in a biweekly jam session called "Fresh Cut Radio" the first and third Wednesdays of the month at Bad Genie Rock Lounge, 789 N. Jefferson St.

- Geraud Blanks, Special to the Journal Sentinel
- JSOnline


Discography

Fresh Cut Collective - Fresh Cut Collective (Uni.Fi Records)

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Bio

With influences ranging from Outkast to Led Zeppelin to Bach, Fresh Cut Collective has attracted an audience as diverse as the members themselves. This septet represents diversity, not only musically, but in terms of background, personality, and style ("there's someone for everyone in this band," as a friend put it). Yes, the group calls itself a "hip-hop band" as the music is built within the guidelines of that genre, but Fresh Cuts musical pedigree allows the group to slink in and out of genres, feels, and textures, fusing hip-hop with a variety of musical forms. The band's broad appeal comes from this fresh approach to music as well as their infectious energy and genuine excitement for what they do.

It started during the Summer of 2008 when keyboardist Kiran Vedula and vocalist Adebisi Agoro met by chance at a local music venue. The two had been part of the Milwaukee music scene for quite some time, but had become somewhat disgruntled and fed up with their previous efforts. They were both looking for a new, more exciting direction to take their music, and the more they got to talking, the more they realized their goals and views were very much in line with each other, so they decided to put together a band. The two soon started playing with guitarist, Paul Trinko, and violinist, Allen Russell, two musicians Kiran met in music school and had been closely working with for a few years. The four improvised together for several months, feeling out the music and each other, working to understand what they were trying to create; it was, after all, new to all of them. Soon they brought in fellow music student, Patricio Amarena, bassist, Paul Fleming, and drummer, Michael Stewart. Around the same time, Adebisi booked the band's first show which gave them the extra boost to become Fresh Cut Collective.

Since that first show back in December 2008, the band has played many shows in Milwaukee as well as Madison, Green Bay, Chicago, and Atlanta. They have opened for national touring artists The Constellations, Curumin, The Cool Kids, Rhymefest, and Movits, and were a headliner at last year's Milwaukee Summerfest. Having done so much in their first year, Fresh Cut Collective has high hopes for the future. They are currently working on their first full-length album which is due to be released in May with Uni-Fi Records.

Fresh Cut Collective's influences include, but aren't limited to:

Bonobo, Cornelius, Curtis Mayfield, Django Reinhardt, Fela Kuti, The Flaming Lips, Goodie Mob, Herbie Hancock, Hi-Tek, J Dilla, Madlib, The Mars Volta, Metronomy, Mos Def, The Neptunes, The Roots, Roy Ayers, and Talib Kweli.

Instrumentation:
Adebisi Agoro: Vocals
Patricio Amerena: Synths
Matthew Gorski: Drumset
Scott Hlavenka: Bass Guitar
Allen Russell: Violin
Paul Trinko: Guitar
Kiran Vedula: Keys