On The Record

Despite playing for four other teams since the Milwaukee Brewers traded him in 2013, John Axford has maintained a great relationship with his first Major League city. The current Colorado Rockies reliever remains a fan favorite here. He continues to sponsor the Milwaukee Film Festival and present a film every year (playoff schedule permitting), including last week's presentation of The Shining on 35mm film. While he was in town, Axford was gracious enough to meet host Tyler Maas in the lobby bar in his hotel. With the soothing aural backing of classical music, the pair had a long-form discussion about Axford's continued support of the Milwaukee Film Festival, his filmmaker aspirations, his appreciation of Refused and Brand New, some of his favorite Milwaukee haunts, and—for about 45 seconds—baseball.

Late last month, Milwaukee Record co-founder/editor Tyler Maas embarked on a straight man's tour of every Milwaukee gay bar in a single night. To help him navigate the unfamiliar territory, he called upon Jacob Bach—actor, ComedySportz improviser, openly gay scout leader, and host of the great Yeah, Bro Podcast—to serve as his gay ambassador. While reliving the standout moments from the recent journey, Maas and Bach take some relevant departures to discuss BDSM and kinks, "daddy culture," honesty in gay and straight dating circles, the stigma surrounding bisexual men, and whether gay bars still have a place in an increasingly welcoming society.

Tyler Maas speaks to The Promise Ring/Maritime drummer Dan Didier and Braid/Hey Mercedes bass player Todd Bell about their bands' role in emo's second wave, the rise and fall (and in Bell's case, rise again) of Braid and The Promise Ring, and whether they embrace or combat being called the "E-word" today. Between reminiscing and liberal gulps of Ale Asylum, Dider gives some updates on Maritime, and Bell gets listeners up to speed on what Braid is doing now.

The 2015 Milwaukee Film Festival is currently in full swing, and it will continue to swing through Thursday, October 8. So in honor of this most awesome event, this week’s very special episode of On The Record isn’t really an episode of On The Record at all. Instead, Milwaukee photographer and filmmaker, former Milwaukee Film marketing director, and newly minted Milwaukee Record contributor Blyth Meier was kind enough to invite Matt Wild onto her weekly WMSE show, The Tiny Film Invasion, to talk about the first half of the 15-day Milwaukee Film Festival. Joining them was original Tiny Film co-host, and now executive director and co-founder of Shotgun Cinema in New Orleans, Angela Catalano. So sit back, grab a box of Sour Patch Kids, and enjoy this special Tiny Film Invasion / On The Record crossover episode.

For the past six years, Ex Fabula has served as Milwaukee's premier live storytelling series, bringing a diverse cross-section of the city together and finding a common bond through the power of simple, direct, and powerful communication. In advance of Ex Fabula's 7th season, Matt sits down with Ex Fabula director Megan McGee and Ex Fabula emcee Leah Delaney to discuss the origins of the series, its new Fellowship program, the importance of being a homegrown organization, what differentiates it from other storytelling events that always seem to feature nothing but dorky white guys talking about what dorks they were in high school (ahem), and much, much more.

Tyler Maas brings his microphone to Mystery Room Mastering in Bay View, sacrilegiously opens up GarageBand, and records his conversation with Mystery Room owner Justin Perkins and Bobby Peru Recording owner Shane Olivo. Together, they tell Maas about their origin in the recording business, ways the industry has changed, and the unseen time and labor that goes into making a song sound perfect.

FOX6 anchor Ted Perry has been a reliable and welcome presence in Milwaukee media for more than 20 years, presenting the news, being funny on Twitter, checking out shows, and sharing his own views and opinions via his regular "Teditorials"—a rarity for local anchors. Matt and Tyler dropped by Perry’s house one lovely Monday afternoon to discuss the newsman's background, the role of TV news in an ever-changing media landscape, the media’s response to the recent shootings in Virginia, what constitutes news and what doesn't, hate mail, "Weird Al," the FOX6 snow stick, why FOX6 has nothing to do with Fox News, why Perry is sick of talking about car crashes, his love for Milwaukee band Buffalo Gospel, and much more.

On Thursday, August 6, to coincide with Milwaukee Comedy Festival’s opening night, we rounded up eight stand-up comedians with local ties to take the stage at Bremen Cafe in Riverwest and make fun of our dear Milwaukee. Some of the stand-ups are part of the ongoing local comic boom. Others have since moved from Milwaukee to Chicago or New York to advance their comedy careers. They’re all hilarious. Josh Ballew, Mike Berg, Dylan Payne, Liz Ziner, Damon Millard, Sammy Arechar, Allison Dunne, and Ryan Mason directed an onslaught of verbal blows at Milwaukee, at their comedian counterparts, and, of course, at a lion that may or may not exist. It goes without saying, but everything said during the inaugural Roast Of Milwaukee was a joke said out of love by people who have personal relationships with the city.

Milwaukee native Alia Janine spent the first 30 years of her life in Wisconsin. Not long after her departure, she started her career in the adult film industry. Four years and approximately 160 scenes later, Janine amicably left the adult industry, noting its growing saturation. Since then, the woman Huffington Post dubbed “the funniest porn star on Earth” has taken to comedy in New York’s cutthroat stand-up scene and started Whormones Podcast with fellow New York comic Jaqi Furback. Last week, Janine returned to Milwaukee with Furback to record a live episode of Whormones as part of the Milwaukee Comedy Festival. On the eve of their ’cast recording, they joined Tyler Maas to discuss Janine’s local roots, her introduction to porn, the ever-changing stigma regarding the adult industry, and why trying to make others laugh can be even more exposing than having sex on camera.

Ton Johnson and Caste Of Killers co-founder Jason Hillman drop by Milwaukee Record HQ to discuss their experiences performing for "urban" and "mainstream" crowds, how black and white rooms differ, and why there isn't more overlap between the city's two stand-up scenes. Despite the heavy subject matter, Johnson and Hillman manage to pepper in some hilarious tales of triumph, cringing recollections of bombing, and an overriding hope the line between urban and mainstream comedians will continue to blur.