Sketchy

For Sketchy, the industrial blue-collar setting of Southeast Wisconsin has proven to be more than just a means to bring the group together… it has become a breeding ground for the thought-provoking, thunderous, modern rock sounds that has listeners standing up and taking notice. The band’s self-produced EPs are powerful and aggressive while they maintain an impressively tangible and melodic sound, sure to enrapture listeners upon first taste.

Sketchy primarily hails from Milwaukee, but vocalist Michal Ashby makes the three hour round trip three and four nights a week from Madison. Ashby exclaims, “I have found the music I want to make. I am fortunate that it was this close.” As Ashby puts it: “I have had some incredible opportunities in my life… Today, when I go up on that stage and I know my three friends up there are bleeding with the same passion I have, every musician should have such an opportunity.” That passion has translated well to disk. Sketchy’s first self-produced two song live demo circulated throughout the mid-west sending a rift through the very structure of the scene. To date they have passed out well over 2000 copies. “It is a bit strange how kids remember us…” says Lomax “we go to a show and have them mobbing us to get a copy of the demo because they saw us with Primer55 two years ago.”

There was no doubt that something special was developing in Milwaukee. The Primer55 show Lomax spoke of was the bands first gig… just two months into their creation. “Sure we had some nerves…” states Scratch, “but once that first note kicks in, that time, that stage, and that crowd is ours… and we own it!” From the reaction of other club owners in the area Sketchy truly does…

“Sketchy put on an awesome show that by far exceeded my expectations. The band, with its powerful hooks and methodically placed riffs, are the perfect landscape for the skillful crooning of front-man, Michal… I am particularly fond of the 2nd song on the EP, "Switch Back". If you have not checked out this CD or the band, you really should soon!”
Brian Emmett [Owner of The Rock Shop - Milwaukee, WI]

The EPs are undeniably well-rounded and filled with hard rocking melodic tunes that are sure to stick in the listener’s head. In "Switch Back," the listener is taken hold of with absolute force, but it is the melodic, hooky chorus they will leave humming. Wagner breathes the songs to life with guitar riffs that could send small children running to their mommy in one instant and serve as a lover’s theme in the next. Scratch pounds home the low-end with such aggression you’ll have to strap down your radio. Lomax plays with such force and precision it can only be described as percussive pyrotechnics. All this while Ashby weaves a web of silky melodies to draw in the listener. Once entangled in his seductive web he unmasks the true emotional grit that lies beneath the surface, as an all out musical assault is waged on stage.

“This Milwaukee-based band combines thick metal licks with passionate lyrics in a style that comes close to being industrial, but is not. The group plays throughout the Midwest and self-produces EP's, selling them at shows and on their website. This DIY attitude, along with the band's raw talent, will take them far in today's fragmented music industry.”
Jeff Muendel [Maximum Ink]

On the surface many of the tracks seem to convey an anger or frustration, but upon a deeper examination there is true beauty hidden here. “I am continually seeking that light at the end of the tunnel” says Ashby. “I know people feel the same things I feel, I hear it from kids at our shows. They talk about how a song really touches them. They are the only meter I hold myself accountable to… that is how I know I have truly revealed who I am in my writing. I need this release. I see how frustrated kids are at shows, I see them trying to say the things I get to say. I hear them screaming my words back at me, releasing all the frustration and using our energy. They see there are people out there that understand… that feel the same. Having a means to release all of their negative energy in a positive way is the gift we offer them.”

When It All Becomes Clear… and Standoff introduce Sketchy to the world outside Milwaukee, and they are both screaming with natural talent. Be it Ashby’s web of melody, Wagner’s absolute mastery of emotion via riff, or the pyrotechnic rhythms presented by Lomax and Scratch, this band has an unbelievable amount to offer. They have constructed a collection of tunes that is sure to infect an audience with a taste for more. As they develop and grow their talent, the thought of what is yet to come is inconceivable.