MilwHC:Bands:BusinessAsUsusal
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Business As Ususal
Line-up:
- Vocals: Matt Hartwell (aka Shimme)
- Vocals: Tim Burton
- Bass: Jason Gnewikow
- Guitar: Matt Mangan
- Drums: Posi-John (AKA dope-homeboy John)
Band History
Business as Usual was a political, straightedge, hardcore band from Madison WI. In the early 90's, Vocalist Tim Burton left bass duties in Demise to form this group comprised of other ex members of Madison / Milwaukee bands such as Natural Cause, Social Interrogation and X-Society's Puppets. Influences ranged from the posi anthems of Insted and Gorilla Biscuits to the more activist bands of the day such as Downcast, Born Against and Struggle with some melodic elements thrown in similar to Jawbox, Circus Lupus and Gauge.
Lyrical content was always at the forefront of the BAU's approach, with anti-drug and pro-vegan songs as well as tracks such as "Evolution in Question" that rallied against scene outsiders who used moshing as an excuse for random violence. This song was most notable for incorporating lyrics from Men Without Hat's song "Safety Dance" as end-chorus.
Known for their energetic live shows, BAU dual vocalists (Tim and Shimee) tag-teamed with their opposing styles of low-pitched shout and raspy shrieks for dynamic effect.
Unfortunately, BAU never released any studio recorded material. Only a few live tapes remain. During their brief time together, they played shows with bands such as Los Crudos, Econochrist and 4 Walls Falling.
After 15 or so shows in the Midwest, the band broke up and re-formed with Matt, Tim and Jason as None Left Standing, while Shimme went on to play in 10 Boy Summer with Davey Von Bohlen. BAU bassist Jason would later team up with 10 Boys' Davey to form The Promise Ring, and the rest is history.
Today ex members are spread out over the country from Madison to Boston and NYC. Jason and Tim are graphic designers. Matt is a systems analyist and "Dope Homeboy" John is a carpenter. Shimme bakery director for Whole Foods Market in the Northeast region!!
Notes: BAU was probably the first and only straightedge band from Madison.
Songs
- People Like You
- Vices
- Never Look Beyond
- How Far Away
- Evolution In Question
- Heritage (1492)
- Promises Not Made
- Blind Force
- Cry for Help
- Ten Percent
Note: These are listed on an 11x17 lyric sheet I found in my archive. –MCP.
Comments
- Well, I printed their shirts. Which doesn't say much, as I could say that about at least a dozen different bands. --Pete Prodoehl 05:24, 18 Aug 2005 (PDT)
- BAU once played a show at the Slimeball Slants on the University Square. It was even broadcasted. I still have the recording of it too. I didn't see it. I think I had to work or had classes. Matthew Pickard 10:53, 13 Dec 2006 (PST)
- Edge Days... ( first posted on www.myspace.com/noneleftstanding)
Back before NLS we had this band called Business as Usual, or should I say X BAU X, a political posi-band not unlike Downcast meets Gorilla Biscuits with some melodic parts ala 411 thown in.
Because we set up all the shows in Madison at the time, we got to open for every good band that played the area including Econochrist and a very memorable one with 4 Walls Falling. We even opened for Clutch on their first tour (in our basement no less.)
BAU consisted of members of other local punk bands like Social Interrogation and Natural Cause. We picked up a second singer by the name of Shimme from the Milwaukee sXe, ska-hardcore band Soulstorm. My singing parts kind of sounded like Dan For An Answer, while Shimme had a harsh scream-o type vocal. It was an interesting balance.
We all lived together in a house on Gorham street jokingly called the Posi Palace (a reference to an sXe parody comic found in Maximumrockandroll). Besides practicing and playing shows in our basement, we'd just hang out and blast Chorus of Disapproval and Judge, skate, prank call people, do graffitti, and wait months for our Revelation mailorders to arrive.
I'm certain we were the first edge kids in Madison (I know Matt was from day one, along with record collector extraodinare Aaron V.) Though we had a small crew of kids that hung out with us and we had our supporters (I think even the Old Skull kids went edge for like a week) there were definitly those that didn't care for our hoodies and X hats.
There were some punks from the old scene (a scene we were a part of too) who, instead of getting into hardcore, got into a mix of Oi and gangsta' rap, making them a kind of skinhead thug-druggies. They used to do cool stuff like throw raw meat on our front lawn (yes I said throw meat! We were vegetarians) and actually open our front door and throw smokebombs in our hallway.
Those kids mostly ended up in jail or rehab.
Later, we listened to a lot of Dag Nasty, Fugazi and Guage and that's kind of how NLS came about, being more influenced by the melodic stuff at the time. Though we were definitely still feeling the HC, as we played many shows with bands like Strife, Mean Season and the whole 90's New Age Records / Victory type bands.
I think I personally started to loose interest in sXe music as things got more and more violent. I remember going to a Billingsgate reunion show in Chicago and seeing some of my friends get beat down in the pit, and seeing more of that at other shows around here. Though I think a band like Integrity was ahead of their time (violent music and graphics is a staple of modern HC) back then we were more on the 7-Seconds, Turning Point posi-tip, and when we saw stuff like the "Blood Book", we knew times were changing.
I recently busted out some old youth crew stuff... YOT, GB, DYS, Insted, that stuff is still pretty awesome. I have to say those were some fun times. Tim Burton 10:46, 14 Jan 2006 (PST)
