I had the opportunity to meet the Milwaukee-based band SCAM LIKELY face to face and talk to them about what it’s like to be in a music group, and what’s in store for them in the future. The band describes their sound as garage punk rock and has been a notable name in the local music scene recently.
How do you guys feel in comparison to where you were last year seeing that you guys just celebrated your “bandiversary”?
“It’s wild to think about. We’re definitely a goal setting, goal oriented group as far as writing and things we’ve been wanting to check off our music bucket list, but I think that we checked off every single one that we could ever think of for a 12 month span,” lead singer and rhythmic guitarist Charlee Grider said.
“I feel like a year ago we just kind of wanted any sort of legitimacy at all, we were thinking like, ‘Oh, we could be a real band,’ that was literally what we used to say a year ago, and now we have legitimate shows — it’s kind of surreal,” bassist Thierry Diatta said.
What does a typical band practice look like for SCAM LIKELY?
“Right now, it’s really just been about finding our time and all getting out there, maybe sort of mess around at the start, feel it out and warm up. Usually, someone will have a riff or an idea or something, maybe a cover they wanna go over, and we just start working from there. I feel like everyone has room to do their own individual thing, try out something they’ve wanted to try out. If we’re feeling good about something, we’ll record it and then go over the idea,” Cary Dean, drummer, said.
“Kind of depends on what we have going on too. If we have a show that coming weekend, we’ll run through the set and make that our priority, and then if we don’t we’ll run through a couple songs in between jams, pretty much just so we can get back to something we’re familiar with and then kind of have a fresh headspace,” Grider said.
Where did the name SCAM LIKELY come from?
“It came from where you think it came from, honestly — like I got a phone call. We’d been mulling it over for a while and none of the names were sticking, then I got a phone call and I was like ‘Yoooooo.’ We were all like what if this is really our name? And then it just stuck,” Diatta said.
What is a message you guys hope to send through your music and performances?
“Me, I like really like the idea of the shortest distance between the performer and the audience. I want whoever coming to the show to be like ‘Wow we were right next to each other,’” Diatta said.
“Music aside, I really just enjoy connecting with audience members through faces and gestures, and they get it. I just really love looking into someone’s eyes and singing to them and them singing back, playing off each other. It’s Honest. Honesty is a big thing for me when performing, as well as compassion, it feels emotionally fulfilling,” Grider said.
What’s next for the band?
“I want to go on tour, and I just want to start playing other states and anywhere we can. I feel like we’re all kind of ready to go play,” said Diatta.
“I want to play Summerfest and festivals across the nation and I want to keep meeting people,” Grider said.
This story was written by Sofía Cortés. She can be reached at sofía.corté[email protected].
