Milk (Boston band)

Milk is an American indie rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 2010. The band currently consists of Matt Brady (lead vocals, guitar), Sam Taber (piano), and Harold Lucas Weatherby (drums). The group formed while Brady and Taber were attending Boston University.^[1]

History

Name

The origin of the band's name has been a sort of urban legend in its own right. Even the members admit to "rarely [having] the appropriate answer."^[2] As lead singer/guitarist Matt Brady explains:

"I think it's a word that's tied to the feeling I get from thinking about beautiful places in the past ... It's a warm feeling, kind of like being home."^[2]

Formation (2009-2012)

In 2009, Matt and Jesse met when they were living on the same floor of Warren Towers freshman year while at Boston University.^[3] During their freshman year they occasionally played together, but nothing substantial. It was not until 2010, their sophomore year, when they seriously started jamming together after hours in empty classrooms in the College of Arts and Sciences building.^[1] During the winter of 2011 the two were looking for roommates to move off campus for that fall. A mutual friend introduced them to Sam Taber, a fellow musician. He soon after started jamming with them when their practice space moved outdoors to the BU Beach on Fridays during the spring of 2011.^[4][5] The trio was set to play their first show on April 22, 2011 at BU's East Campus Block Party, but due to "inclimate weather."^[6][7] During the fall of 2011 the trio starting writing music that would eventually be the beginning of Milk.^[8] On December 7, the trio took up the name Jame Gumb, after the fictional character Buffalo Bill in the novel The Silence of the Lambs.^[9][10]

In the fall of 2011, Jesse and Sam moved to Allston. Over the summer, Jesse had met Luke while they were both members of The Boston University Dear Abbeys. Once back to school, Luke joined the group on bass. In their new apartment, they had a real practice space. Their first show, was at the legendary Allston DIY basement, Gay Gardens,^[11] on December 12, 2011. They were invited last minute, so only Matt and Jesse could make it. The groups first real show as a full band was later that week on December 18 on Cape Cod and was a benefit show to fight cancer. During the college winter break, the group focused on writing new music and it was not until March 2012 that they played their next show.

Name change and Hubba Hubba (2012-2013)

In the spring of 2012, with the line-up finalized, the decision to change the group name was agreed upon anonymously. The group changed their name on April 14, to what it currently is: Milk.^[12] Shortly after the name change, they released their first single, Emily.^[13][14] Through the rest of the spring, the group focuses on writing and playing live.^[15] The frequently play on campus, at BU Central, where Jesse works doing live sound.^[16] At the end of the '12 spring semester, they took a recording retreat to Windsor, Connecticut. During this time, little is know; drugs? hookers? back alley gambling? all very mysterious. The retreat, however, did complete with the tracking for their first EP, Hubba Hubba.^[17][18] During that summer, Jesse took a semester studying abroad in Australia. While Jesse was in Australia, Matt moved into his room in the same apartment with Sam. During that time, it allowed the members to recoup from recording and get their bearings. Matt saw the beginnings of a side project, with then roommate Tyler Gilroy, One Black Shoe, which did not take full form until later that fall.^[19]

At the end of the summer of 2012, the lease for the apartment that acted as their practice space ended and a move occurred. The new apartment, The Sun Palace, had more space for practice, and now included Matt as a full-time resident. The new space also acted as a DIY venue, hosting bands in the kitchen.^[20] The change of scenery delayed the EP, but shortly after full focus shifted towards it. Milk's first EP, Hubba Hubba, was released early winter on December 1 at the Cambridge-based alternative adult boutique,Hubba Hubba.^[21][22][23] With the beginning of 2013, the group began supporting the EP with bigger profile shows and making music videos.^[24][25] They shared the stage with We Are Scientists.^[26] During the spring semester, the group met and became heavily involved with the musician-led string orchestra, Palaver Strings, whose focus is one improving human life, specifically in Liberia.^[27][28] Milk frequently helps organize benefits performance with this group.

Et in Arcadia (2013-2014)

Still in the '13 spring semester, they were limited with how extensively they could play outside the state, but as the semester was quickly ending, they already were planning to head out on their first tour.^[3] Their extensive playing in the underground scene of Allston had built up their name, and they were getting ready to spread the milk seed.^[3][29] The groups plan was to embark on a tour at the end of the semester, after graduation. The Rolling Volvelle Tour was a week and a half long tour that took them from the far reaches of Portland, Maine down to the dirty south of Philly. Once back from tour, they immediately began recording their debut album.^[30] The tracking process was very extensive, incorporating a wide range of instruments and rewrites. The summer of 2013 was primarily spent tracking and mixing, playing live here and there, but focusing on recording. The summer turned to fall, then to winter, and then the new year. The late winter/early spring of 2014 show anticipation for the album release. They started headlined a couple big DIY, underground concerts.^[31]

As early spring rolled around, the record was still under the groups scrutiny to reach perfection. Since Matt Brady was still a student of Boston University, the school featured them on the March 31 BU Today Sessions and released three videos of tracks off of their upcoming album. This reinforced their BU connection and gave them a great deal of press to get ready for their upcoming album release.^[16][32] With this bit of press, the group was able to focus on putting the final touches on to the album. On July 3, the long-awaited debut album Et in Arcadia was released at the Church of Boston in Fenway. The record received positive review.^[33] Over the summer and fall, after the release, they focused on building up a following in the Greater Boston Area outside of the Boston University community.^[34]

Contact and departure of Galkowski (2014-2015)

In order to keep the ball rolling, and because the mixing and mastering took longer than expected, Milk was already writing new music and another tour. By the time Et in Arcadia came out, the group had already began work on their next release. As summer turned into fall, they had already had recorded most of the next EP, and filmed a video for one of the new songs, "Great Big House". During the start of the winter of '14, they went on a second shorter tour. The beginning of the year, the music video for "Great Big House" was released. They released the new EP Contact on March 5 at the Middle East. This release has so far seen positive reviews, describing it as "smooth as Jack Daniel's".^[35]

During the summer of 2010, Jesse started his solo project, Easy Elliot.^[1] He released four full lengths under the name, but took a little break to focus on Milk. The project has been reworked into a four piece outfit. The full group played their first show at the groups collective artist space, The Sun Palace, on March 13, 2015. Through out the rest of the spring and early summer Easy Elliot periodically played around New England. As the summer progressed, life disrupting way

Horsetown Threshold and departure of Savoca (2016-present)

The group began work on their second album by going into the studio on August 23, 2015. However, due to Jesse leaving a few months later, there have been some significant delays.

Luke departed the group around the 23 of August. He was leaving to live in Southeast Asia. ^[36][37]

Band members

Discography

Studio albums

• Et in Arcadia (2014)^[39]
• Horsetown Threshold (TBA)^[40]

EPs

• Hubba Hubba (2012)
• Contact (2015)^[35]

Compilation albums

• v/a AP Localz Only: January Mixtape MMXIII (2013)^[41]
• v/a AP Localz Only: July Mixtape MMXIV (2014)^[42]

Singles

Music Videos

Tours

• The Rolling Volvelle Tour - (May 2013)^[30]
• Here's How it is - (December 2014)^[44]
• I miss the snow - (June 2015)^[45]
• Misogito - (October 2015)^[46][47]
• F*%K YER BASS - (June/July 2016)^[48][49]

References

External links

• Website
• Facebook page
• Bandcamp page
• Soundcloud Page