Why isn't Milwaukee a budding music scene? The collective creativity and affordable living for artists (both musical and visual) is in place here, but the state of the independent rock music scene is fragmented.

Different venues that often house these national and local independent artists have varying views of the scene, but many of the same approaches. The problem lies not in the venues' personal dedication to music, but in their methodology. Many venues lack substantial self-promotion, booking agents and open-mic nights for new talent.

In addition to Milwaukee being considered a "suburb" of Chicago and therefore not "tour worthy," these venues cannot identify themselves as solely musically orientated. They all must find some other source of income.

Points East Pub

1501 N. Jackson St.

Points East is centrally located downtown and has live music Friday and Saturday evenings. The cover for these relatively obscure shows hovers around $5.

On this typical Friday night, a college band is playing in the back bar with a sparse audience. Dave Gelting, sound technician for the pub and upright bass member of the jazz fusion band the Avalon Four, does not see a problem with dwindling audience members at the venue.

"Everyone should keep doing their art and stop complaining," he said. "Art is for you. It's not a social venture."

Taking a capitalistic view of the scene, he believes that different venues have grown around the specific demands of the community, and therefore doesn't see a pressing need for an all-ages venue.

"You can't sell that much soda," he said. "Otherwise the cover charge gets so high, and you have to pay the band, and there's no real high profit."

Passive approach and all, he does place the blame somewhere. He thinks the press can do a better job covering the scene. He longs for the glamour around rock and roll in London, as the press there makes a spectacle of the scene ever since the Sex Pistols' anthem "God Save the Queen."

No pressure is on the young generation to push the creative envelope on musical revolution. "Nobody here (in the media) says 'you're f***ing s***," he said. "Without criticism, can people get pushed?"

Onopa Brewing Company

735 E. Center St.

This microbrewery/music venue literally exudes music and creativity, from the leather benches and mismatched furniture to the ever-changing local art on the walls. Bartender Derrick Sutride has worked at Onopa for the past nine months.

He relays that most of the bands drop off press kits or contact the venue through the Internet. The bands give the bar a range of dates when they will be in the area, the venue decides if they like them and if the bands fit in the schedule.

Though the process of being able to play at these venues is passive, it does not mean that it is always easy to book a show.

"Every bar has its 'ins,'" Sutride said.

Translation: The old saying "it's all about who you know," rings true, even in the local scene. Other bartenders do get a say in who plays shows, adding to the imperativeness of having friends to attend and book shows.

The venue's shows range from folk to hardcore to hip-hop, but it is best known for underground rock. Sutride believes the venue exposes people to new music.

"If you're in the music lifestyle, you'll come and see opening bands," he said. "They usually complement the headlining band."

Sutride switches between playing vinyl records of some bands that have played the venue before, and some of his own favorites. Other than this self-promotion, the brewery's Web site of show dates has not been updated since October.

He sees that Milwaukee does have one thing going for it: "We don't take a good show for granted."

If one venue could carry the musical torch rather than different venues dispersed around the city, he said, "It would be the Cactus Club – if it could expand."

Cactus Club

2496 S. Wentworth Ave.

The header on all of the club's flyers declares: "On non-show nights we have DJ's. They're all outstanding." The arrogance and judgmental nature of the scene manifests itself within the first step into the doorway. A buzzer sounds every time someone walks in, and the few people in the bar turn their heads. However, this pretentiousness does stem from that the patrons are actually involved with the music scene. Two DJ's from local radio station WMSE 91.7 flank both sides of the bar.

Bartender Justin Klug has worked the bar for six years, and he said Milwaukee is not typically known as a thriving music city because "it has a lot to do with the size of the venue."

The club had been trying to increase its capacity, but needed a building permit and incurred more of a fight for this than most small businesses. Rumor has it that this is because the alderman for the district lives less than two blocks away from the venue and does not want noise distractions.

"A 500 to1,500 person capacity would be ideal," Klug said. He explains that the Rave is the only venue of its size that holds the license to have alcohol on the premises when minors are present. The Rave was "grandfathered" in, he continued.

Noting the passive nature of bookers, he said, "It's easy not to play Milwaukee because we don't book shows." Even though those in the scene may appreciate new bands, "Milwaukee is notoriously unfriendly to bands they don't know," he said.

He said he believes there is no formula for success, but bands do have to get outside of Milwaukee by touring. He also notes the difficulty in this because of the importance of building a big friend base in one's own city. However, a double entendre plagues local bands with a big fan base.

"It's bad if they play every weekend, as the crowds get" sparser, he said.

If the bands don't promote themselves, the venues don't promote the bands, how does anyone get out of the city and on tour?

"Generally the cream does rise to the top," he said. "If they don't there is usually something wrong." He echoed Sutride's connection mantra: "Get to know people who do well."

In regards to the general scene right now, he notes that there isn't a specific sound, but a lot of diversity and creativity in Milwaukee.

"Milwaukee has never had a sound or anything to live up to," he said. He views this as a positive thing, since Milwaukee doesn't have a typical sound, unlike the Pacific Northwest grungy sound.

Bremen Cafe

901 E. Clarke St.

Snippets of conversation waft from the patrons sitting at the breakfast/alcohol bar, who all seem to know each other. The café mostly caters to Riverwesterners, but people come from all over.

Barista/bartender Melissa van den Houten says she relays word about the shows and performances at the café mostly by word-of-mouth.

Though the open mics are all-ages, van den Houten said the crowd is mostly 21 years and older.

"And its mostly people just playing (acoustic) guitar," she said.

The café's atmosphere is in stark contrast to the Cactus Club. Living here for only three months, van den Houten likes how she feels "people that come in here come for an intimate environment where no one is trying to outprove each other."

She just moved here from Madison, but does see a musically creative niche in Milwaukee.

But for now, she would like to see the scene take on a "more pro-active approach" with "someone who actually cares about it."

Of course, these are not the only venues in the city, but they are representative of the music scene. More low-key venues exist to help promote the scene, but also do not actively promote. Conway's Bar and Grill has College Band Night every Thursday for $3 and the UWM coffee shop, the Eighth Note, has national acts perform free. And as always, basement (or garage) shows have neither age minimums, nor sound, capacity or taste constrictions.