Utter Trash--Wisconsin

Let the Music do the Talking

An interview with Chris Merritt of Wisconsin

By Eddie Fleisher

Chris Merritt of Wisconsin

Cleveland's Wisconsin manages to evoke more emotion in instrumental music than most bands do with lyrics. In the vein of Mogwai, Mineral, and Godspeed, You Black Emperor, Wisconsin are creating a buzz with their orchestral brand of “emo", or as the band likes to call it, "sadcore." Founder and bassist of Wisconsin, Chris Merritt, has been in the scene for a few years now in bands like ODWD, Talking Picture, and (a band Utter Trash is legally prohibited from naming…seriously) under the name Prof. Falcon. He also ran the now defunct label, Music For The Birds. Wisconsin is currently playing shows around Cleveland, and has an amazing EP called ‘Tour '04 EP’. I talked with Chris about the Cleveland scene, politics, and the past, present, and future of the band Wisconsin.

Utter Trash: Why did you leave your career as Prof. Falcon, doing electronic music, for the rock realm?
Chris Merritt: Well pretty much I was sick of making music i wasn't into. The whole time I was making these weird down tempo electronic records I was listening to stuff like Sebadoh, the White Octave, Hayden, Pavement, and stuff like that. Of course I was into some electronic and dj type stuff, but overall I just wasnt into the music I was making. Pretty simple decision I guess.

UT: How did you meet the other members of the band?
CM: I met Nick through my sweet (sarcasm) job. He was transferred to my store and we liked the same music, and I was trying to work on Wisconsin by myself at the time. It was going nowhere due to my lack of guitar playing skills, so I approached him on it. He was interested from the start, but he went back to school, and that was sorta shelved. I then met Pat through Nick, and we actually hired Pat to replace Nick while at school. Me and Pat had the same sorta ideas for songs and whatnot. We also were both dealing with a lot of bullshit in our personal lives for which we needed an outlet, so we started writing songs. We had about 2 songs when Nick came back in, and then things just sorta happened really quick. We knew we needed a drummer really bad, and my whole idea with this band was to play with people I never played with before. I met Caleb a few months prior to forming Wisconsin while he was still playing with his previous band, Annabelle. I really liked Annabelle because they reminded me of Mineral. Anyways, one day I emailed Caleb to see if he knew any drummers looking for a band, and he said he actually was. At the time I had no idea of how good of a drummer Caleb was, and to top it off, he totally downplayed it like “I'm ok. I'm consistent, and I can keep time.” So yeah, it all came together pretty quickly.

UT: Why did you call the band Wisconsin?
CM: I wrote this thing for my ex-girlfriend called "Wisconsin". It pretty much was about how disappointed I was in her, and how she gave up on our relationship. At the same time, I was realizing that I, too, was an asshole to her as well. I have a ton of regrets and made a lot of mistakes that I kick myself about everyday. It sucked, and still does. I don’t think I’ll ever understand women, or love for that matter.

UT: I don't think anyone understands it, so don't worry. You used to be in a (another band) before this band, why did you leave?
CM: I left pretty much because we lost chemistry. I wanted to start writing more slow and mopey songs like Paik or something. I was tired of playing these fast raging songs that left me with no feeling or whatever. Overall, I left because I stopped having fun. There was a lot of tension once Wisconsin started playing more, and that was totally understandable. (The band) is still playing with their new bass player. He’s better than me, and we're all still cool, so yeah, that.

UT: Some people would say that instrumental bands, like Mogwai and yours, need vocals. How do you defend that, and what do you think it is about that type of instrumental music that can actually evoke more emotion than songs with lyrics?
CM: I don’t know. I think there's a lot more substance in instrumental music. I think it totally leaves you with the same personal feeling that a song should, like for example, a Pedro The Lion or Red House Painters song. I find myself listening to instrumental music more than anything. I guess instrumental stuff leaves the thoughts, words, and whatnot to you, and not what someone else is singing about. Draw your own conclusion. Write your own story.

UT: You used to run a small label called Music For The Birds. What was the biggest problem you faced with running a label?
CM: Well, MFTB was more of a collective. I just had the resources to help people out with recording and stuff like artwork so they had something decent to sell, or more importantly to send out to labels in hopes of finding a deal, I guess. What was most frustrating about that whole thing was time and patience. I had neither, so it had to stop.

UT: What is your opinion on the Cleveland scene?
CM: I don’t know. Sometimes it's cool. I think there's some really good bands here. For example I like Roue' and the Six Parts Seven quite a bit. The scene seems to be getting better as far as people checking out other locals and whatnot, but at the same time there’s always that "scenester" factor that either makes or breaks whether people check out your band. You know, if you’re not at the "cool" shows, and you're not friends with the "cool" kids, then no one cares. I myself am pretty happy with the few shows I check out and the people I know. Whatever. Scene.

UT: Who are you voting for in 2004?
CM: I have no idea. I don’t like anyone right now. If I had to vote right now at this very moment, I would vote for Kerry, I guess. Just because I think we need to get Bush out of office before we all die. I'll vote for whoever will get the United States out of these bullshit wars we're fighting. I don’t like seeing people dying over material bullshit like oil. We should leave other countries cultures and lifestyles alone, and start worrying about how fucked up our own country is. Seriously, this country is fucked.

UT: What is next for Wisconsin?
CM: Well, we're trying to finish our record first. It's just about done. Tim (of the Six Parts Seven, who is recording the band) has been awesome to us, and really has made the whole recording process a lot of fun and really relaxed. We're all really happy and confident in the record so far. We'll be sending it out to various small labels in hopes someone will put it out, and hopefully shove us in a van. With the fall coming up we'll be slowing things down with Nick (guitar) going back to school, but that will give us time to write new stuff. We'll be playing here and there I’m sure, and we'll be trying to set some out of state/country shows up, too. Me and Pat (guitar) have a side project called Bruce, and Caleb (drums) has his own thing, too. So yeah, the most important thing is that we keep this thing moving, which we all don’t have any doubts that it will.