Will of Tomorrow
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Will of Tomorrow

Racine, Wisconsin, United States | SELF

Racine, Wisconsin, United States | SELF
Band Rock Punk

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This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Band-A-Palooza brings live music to Outbreak Billiards"

Rather than pocket the success of his pool hall, Marko Stanosevic is ready to become a player in one of Racine's oldest late-night games. Stanosevic, owner of Outbreak Billiards, 1717 Douglas Ave., has invested in the opportunity to provide another live-music venue to the 262 music scene.

A few months back, Stanosevic found himself talking to longtime friend and fellow musician Chris Lehman about how they used to go to Memorial Hall every weekend to listen to the live music they loved.

"We wanted to bring that back," Lehman, drummer in the band Avedis, said. "We wanted to give an opportunity to a lot of bands to get exposure."

Referring to the live music scene as something that has been largely missing since the mid '90s, Lehman was happy to convince Stanosevic into hosting a group of bands for what is now set to be Outbreak's second live music event.

On the night of Saturday, May 22, Outbreak Band-A-Palooza, featuring performances by Lehman's band Avedis, Stanosevic's band Will of Tomorrow, Penguins With Shotguns and Fulbright Scholar, will certainly bring a rock atmosphere to Douglas Avenue.

"The music we play, I guess, is aggressive rock music," Avedis bassist Alex Ramos said. "It isn't metal. It isn't anything you'd hear on The Mix (99.1 FM), either. Commercial heavy rock is the best way to put it."

Listening to posts on each of the bands' MySpace pages will likely yield the same conclusion. There's a certain vocal understanding that each band presents.

For Stanosevic, updating the public address system was one of the keys to bringing in "some really good alternative rock from Kenosha to Milwaukee" in hopes of entertaining his patrons with some original music.

The bands playing Band-A-Palooza are "all in the same vein of heavy bands; kind of progressive, with singers." Ramos said. "You say metal and people think of Cannibal Corpse or Morbid Angel or Cookie Monster vocals."

Bassist Matt Burke describes Penguins With Shotguns as "definitely a hard rock/metal band," and that description means they are the most likely band at Outbreak Band-A-Palooza to do a little screaming.

"We get heavy at times," Burke said. But at other times, he says the band will slip into a more Incubus or Sevendust feel. Having been playing together for nearly 11 years, Penguins With

Shotguns recently won a radio contest on Kenosha's 95.1 FM in which the prize was the chance to open for JET at the Brat Stop on April 2 (Avedis was also a finalist in the contest).

Having formed in Waukegan, Ill., the members of Penguins with Shotguns have all since migrated north of the border, playing a host of shows in Milwaukee and Chicago this past winter. In June, the band will once again head to the studio

"That's part of the reason we haven't been playing a lot of shows," Burke said.

Fulbright Scholar recently finished work on its second album, "Elysium." The Milwaukee-based band has noticed a steady rise in its 262 fan base, but frontman Keanen Kopplin says they have a stronger following in Chicago, Springfield and Minneapolis.

"I like to have fun, tell a lot of stories, explain the songs, but in a humorous way," Kopplin said about his stage presence. He added that the band enjoys performing a few random covers of songs that aren't very well known, but where enough people at least know the chorus to sing along to. The band plans to launch into a full tour in October.

Avedis drummer Lehman said the onstage part of performing is "a lot of toying and playing with the crowd; crowd participation; keeping it upbeat; not just flying through a set list."

"We're all established, professional musicians," he said. "We've been around with different projects for a long time. Our show is high energy. You come to our show; you're going to have a fun time. We try to get the crowd really involved."

Having played the Rave in Milwaukee at the beginning of March, Will of Tomorrow was the most likely of bands to kick off a new era of live music at Outbreak. With the pool hall's owner on guitar and a bass player who seems to wow his bandmates as much as the crowd, the band has been playing the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee circuit for the past 18 months.

"Our bass player (Kyle) is probably one of the top bass players you can find. He's phenomenal," lead singer Dave Kirkeby said. "He is pretty much the center of attention when he steps forward. It's amazing what he can do with a bass."

Tickets to the show cost $8 but include two drink tickets. There will be half-price pool all night and all ages are welcome until 11 p.m. Stop in to enjoy a night of progressive rock and a few dollar taps of Miller Lite or $2.50 Jager Bombs.

"Hopefully this is going to be something that continues ... I'd like to have bands come through my place at least once a week, to a couple times a month," Stanosevic said. "It's about trying to get some exposure for the bands and make people aware of some of the talent in the area." - Scene 262 Staff


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

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Bio

Having over 50 years of combined live performing experience, Will of Tomorrow performs flawlessly each and every time they hit the stage. Their big stage sound has been hindered by the small, dimly lit bars of southeastern Wisconsin. Since they were teenagers, Kyle (bass) and Marko (guitar), have been slappin' strings together.

Having been influenced by Les Claypool and Flea, Kyle (formerly of Dead Fly Boy & Psychotic Dillusion) brings the funk while doing his signature 2 step. Marko (formerly of Psychotic Dillusion & Doe Doe Chops) is a master of his craft and combines jaw-dropping guitar solos and mind-blowing shredding.

Marko and Kyle joined forces with front man, Dave (formerly of Doe Doe Chops), in 2006 and began refining their sound. Dave's youth and energy brought new life to the band as they began playing more shows in the area. With aspirations of bigger and better things, Dave helped transform Will of Tomorrow into the heavy hitting group it is today.

Paul (drums) is the newest addition to Will of Tomorrow, joining the band in 2012. Paul is a music major at the University of Wisconsin - Parkside and has been in numerous bands over the years. Paul is also currently the drummer for the band "Solar Plexus" and recently returned from recording their newest album in Boston, MA where his fellow band-mates attend Berklee College of Music. Paul's talent is only matched by his appetite for music.

Will of Tomorrow's current line-up brings together the greatest combination of talent the band has ever had and their performances are proof of that.

Band Members