The band played few gigs before coming together for the Rockonsin competition.
In 2016, keyboardist Ryan Badger attended Milwaukee’s Summerfest to watch a performance by one of his biggest musical inspirations, synthpop pioneer Howard Jones. Two years later, on June 30, Badger’s own band — Quick and Painless — played a short set on the Johnson Controls World Sound Stage as part of the annual Rockonsin youth garage band competition during Summerfest’s first weekend.
“For five high schoolers from Madison, it was crazy to see a couple hundred people show up at Summerfest and watch us play,” says Badger, a senior at Waunakee High School.
The five-piece band, which has roots in Madison Music Foundry’s Rock Workshop, is made up of members from Waunakee, Monona Grove, Lakes Mills and Verona Area high schools. This is the third time the Rockonsin title has gone to a Madison-area band; Distant Cuzins, an electrifying loud-rock quartet from Oregon High School, won the first two contests.
Rockonsin, formerly known as Launchpad until a 2016 name and format change, is considered the only competition of its kind in the United States. Fifty-four bands entered Rockonsin this year, representing 79 statewide high schools and middle schools. Judges for the finals included Rick Tvedt and Roy Elkins of the Madison Area Music Awards and Gabe Burdulis (the only two-time winner during the 11-year Launchpad run).
As winners, Quick and Painless received a second Summerfest slot, 12 hours of recording time at the Madison Music Foundry’s Blast House Studios and a Shure wireless mic system.
With influences ranging from ’80s pop to ’90s grunge to contemporary indie rock — the band covers Jimi Hendrix, Tears For Fears, Fleetwood Mac and The Black Keys in its sets — Quick and Painless released a three-song EP, HaHa … Walrus, earlier this year that is accessible via Soundcloud.
Lead vocalist/guitarist Everett Karlen, a sophomore at Lake Mills, channels Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers against a melancholy backdrop on “Fly Away.” And “Crucify” — a 6-and-a-half-minute blast of Soundgarden meets The Doors — is “what happens when we throw all of our influences into one soup,” Badger says.
What might be most impressive about Quick and Painless is that most of the current lineup didn’t play together until April. Other gigs have been at a church and on a porch as part of Make Music Madison. The band recently played the Dane County Fair’s Main Stage in a Madison Music Foundry showcase that also featured Distant Cuzins.
Rhythm guitarist Benson Wood, a sophomore at Monona Grove, joined Quick and Painless a few months ago, replacing Jake Meyers, who left after the band was named a Rockonsin finalist. The band also includes drummer Max Beardsley, a sophomore at Verona, and bassist/vocalist Emma Deppen, a senior at Waunakee.
“Being in different schools, except for Emma and Ryan, really poses a communication problem to the rest of us,” says Karlen. “Trying to decide setlists and other things over Snapchat and Instagram can get pretty confusing and out of hand when not everyone is always there to put in their opinion.”
Quick and Painless will no doubt face another major challenge in the coming months, when Badger and Deppen graduate.
“I want to keep playing music, meet new people and immerse myself in the music community,” Deppen says. “The hardest part for me is that these guys are my closest friends and I don’t want to leave. So for me, the plan would be to stay in Madison for college and still stay in the band. That way I can see them and see where the band goes.”
