ION INDIE MAGAZINE February 2016, Volume 21 | Page 102

little jealousy feeling to it. Not bad in a negative begrudging way--but in a friendly, competitive and
supportive way. I love that, at their age, their music is more genuine and authentic and unpretentious
than bands twice as old. Raw, while honed; familiar and nostalgic while new and fresh and relative. It
makes this old dog want to get on board. It make me want to see them succeed. It gives me a scene of
pride that they are from my home state--Madison, WI, actually, about an hour east of me over here in
Milwaukee, WI. It also gives me the ammunition to debate anyone that says Rock is dead. And it pretty
much makes it impossible for me to lose that hypothetical argument. I got this impression just from their
performance. Their music and stage show is enough to sell me. Then I talked with them for a little bit for
this article…and it happened again...I was surprised! I heard things I didn't expect to hear. Put it this
way...say, for instance, Rock slows down to the point where there are only one-one hundredth of the
amount of Rock bands coming up. Now say that maybe one in every one-hundred are as honest and real
and pure or as promising as Once around. Even then, Rock will never fade away—impossible! Rock’s in
good hands...able hands--the right hands!
Once Around are four teenage guys from the Wisconsin capital of Madison--a long way and a long time
from 80's Sunset Strip in Hollyweird, CA. But if we went then and there, these guys could hang with the
best and show most of the others a thing or two about honest, real Rock. I hate labels and sub-genre
trees. Maybe because I don't have any F-ing idea what most of that means. Our publishers and licensing
agencies call my band “Blue-collar Rock”--I get that, I think. B-Boz is way more experienced and way
more knowledgeable then I'll ever be. He says technically, we are Post-Modern-Hardcore-Punk. I have no
idea what that means. I had to look up “Post-Modern” and still I'm not sure what the F that means. I just
say we are a Rock band. You might call Once Around 80's Rock or Hollywood Rock, or Sleaze Rock or
even Glam Rock. I’m not sure about that. SEBASTIAN SIKK--fearless leader and vocalist of the band,
thinks like me. He makes me like them even more when he points out that they all aren't too hung up on
labels, but something tells me they already know more about them then me. He said, “We are technically
Post-Hardcore-Glam-Metal.” I thought that was impressive. But when he said, “We are just Rock.” (Ah, a
purist!) Well, that made me smile...inside and out.
These guys have that undefinable quality that makes you feel in the fiber of your being that they are the
real thing…it draws you in. And when it is combined with the maturity of their playing, writing skills and
showmanship, it makes you want to get behind them and root for them. It authentically makes me very
proud of them. I mean, I like other bands around here, almost all I've played with could have a song or
two put up against anything you hear on the radio...I've rooted for them. I support them and pimped
them. But I've never felt like pride or anything like that for them. So it is a unique feeling. I have felt music
pride, but for my Band and associates. I'm proud of my guys; I'm proud of our work and our
performances. I'm proud of our commercial and licensing success. I'm super proud to be in my awardwinning producer, ERIC LABROSSE’S, stable of bands at CHERRY PIT STUDIOS & PUBLICATION--all that
shit, big time. But never proud of a group--not until Once Around.
Part of it is that as an old-timer, old school Rocker like me, to see the purity and level of thinking of such
a young band brings hope for Rock. Beyond hope, really. It is assurance that my genre, ROCK, is in able
hands. Part of it is that there are so many overlooked absolute killer bands in the Midwest--I think these
guys will find success and show you all what Wisconsin has to offer the music world. Part of it is envy.
When I was their age, all I wanted was to be where they are now. But in all honesty, I wasn't good enough