Milkweed

Milkweed is an Ohio based band, with its main fanbase located in Cincinnati and surounding areas. The band's unique sound is a collage of multiple musical styles, yet always remains heavy at the core. With jazz, techno, and hip-hop influences, Milkweed manages to achieve an addictive interplay of melody and groove (and sometimes utter discord) that makes even the most unsympathetic listener interested to say the least. For those that enjoy a good fuck in the ear, Milkweed is definitely the band for you. Milkweed's music will beat you, rape you, then gently caress you before it dismembers your seasoned sonic substructure and replaces it with such savory chaos. Milkweed's eclectic musical conglomeration is perfectly complimented with an incredibly aggressive vocal overtone mixed with just the right touch of humor that truly pries open your eyes to the miserable world around you and then forces you to laugh and forget about it.
While based in Cincinnati, the band has spent the past 5 years focused on touring up and down the Midwest and East Coast, from Illinois to Florida to New York, and everywhere in between. During this time, Milkweed has opened for multiple major label acts, including bands such as Tek N9ne, Mushroomhead, 40 Grit, Flaw, Five Bolt Main, Vampire Moose, Stemm, Rock N Roll Soldiers, Beneath The Sky, and more. The band is entirely self-sustaining, responsible exclusively for all promotions, booking, recording, etc. As a result of incessant touring, rigorous self promotion, and most importantly word of mouth, Milkweed has gathered a large following from all over the U.S. and overseas. Throughout the course of their collaborative existence, the group has released multiple minor recordings, but during the past year, the band has focused its energy on writing and recording what can be considered the group's first official full-length release.
In 2005, Milkweed will commense touring to promote the bands first LP, "Body Floss". CD sales have already begun to take off thanks to an established foundation of dedicated fans as well as likeminded record labels and distribution companies across the U.S. and in Japan. Once touring has begun, Milkweed expects to experience increasingly significant success and looks forward to releasing its second full-length album, which is already in the works.
October 2007 tour
9/11/2007
As you have heard by now, we will be embarking on a 5 week tour starting on October 4th in Cincinnati. We are all very excited to have the oppurtunity to finally tour and to finally begin promting our new songs for the next album.
You can view our tour dates at: www.myspace.com/milkweed
If you are attending one of the shows and are interested in passing out flyer/demos, send us an email. Please include your name, mailing address, and email address.
-----------------------
Got Milkweed?
CityBeat Magazine
By Mike Breen
Spewing a vile strain of Nü Metal, Milkweed's greatest challenge is to set themselves apart from like-minded peers who have already broken this genre open like an overripe melon. On their outstanding new CD, Body Floss, they do this successfully in several ways. One is the sheer vulgarity of their subject matter. It's a no-brow guilty pleasure that is as hilarious as it is disturbing. They combine Geto Boys irreverence, Bloodhound Gang innuendo and Beastie Boys wit. With every listen, I am laughing out loud at phrases that I had missed previously. Also to their credit is the intensity and diversity of their Aggro-Rock. The songs are far from interchangeable platforms for stale rhymes. Rather than choosing a specific proportion of Hip Hop and Metal, Milkweed visits the extremes. There are also plenty of interesting samples and vocal overdubs punctuating the songs. Vocalist Rob Rieman does a fantastic job of modifying his delivery so that it sounds like several MCs are contributing. At least I have to assume that's the case, since instead of credits or production details in the liner notes, Milkweed provides details about proctitis (inflammation of the rectum) as well as an informative article on "body-flossing," brought to you by the fictitious floss Anal-B. The accompanying photos are equally nauseating. In fact, this album wins the award for most stomach-turning packaging ever. Artwork aside, the band is extremely precise musically and victorious in their goal of providing non-stop entertainment. Milkweed is the disgusting candy everybody is going to want.
Maximum Metal Review (www.maximummetal.com)
By Nailer
When I hear some independent guys playing music this good, yet a few years past its commercial prime, I wonder if the band can move up to more of a national level. If talent were the deciding factor over record executive whims and trendiness then Milkweed would be up there with the big guys of the rapcore genre.Looking like the bit players from a one of MTV's 'Jackass' spin-off shows and originating out of Cincinnati, Milkweed originally formed in 1999, with its main fanbase located in Cincinnati and surrounding areas and for the past 5 years focused on touring up and down the Midwest and East Coast.You get about everything from these 15 tracks from the all-out slamming of the aggressive opener 'body floss' and 'throw down' to the soft touches of 'tenchics' and the humor of banging fat girls in Cinci (cincinnati fatties--with its mean, but brilliant use of horns recalling the sounds of circus elephants) and getting off as quick as possible with chicks in 'minute made' ("gone in 60 seconds like Nicolas Cage"). The topics here aren't worldly and there's no political agendas just anger, STDs, chicks, fighting and other street frustrations and machoisms.The songs all mesh really consistently with tight, skillful, multiple hip-hop lead vocals both clean and rough in many styles: rapid-fire, soft, rough and Onxy-hyper--over top of simplistic, groove-oriented guitars and modern bouncing bass lines tied in with techno samples. What puts the band on a higher level is the bits of variety, like some funk and soul leads, in the instrumentation from song to song that show a level of maturity that only comes from time and practice. It's almost paradoxical that the maturity of their playing comes through this kind of subject matter, but it does and it sounds great for a self-sustaining band. Only thing that may hold these guys back, I think, is the scatological content of their imagery and packaging.There's similarities at times to Stuck Mojo and Limp Bizkit and even Slipknot are apparent. Cincinnati locals probably don't want to see these guys move up to bigger things, but they really need to. They deserve all the props they get.Score: 8.5 of 10
HE ROAD TO RUIN: THE 1st ANNUAL MALEVOLENT METAL FEST BallBuster: The Official Int'l Underground Hard Music Report (www.ballbusterhardmusic.com) Milkweed (Cincinnati, OH.) is a heavy metal groove core band and they made their time on stage count. They threw beer and CD's into the audience and, yeah, they were rather aggressive. But, it was clear that they were having the time of their lives on stage... they were really enjoying themselves, which was cool to see. They got off to a slow start because they requested more from the drum/guitar monitor, not really sure which it was. They waited a bit and finally said, "Fuck it...let's get this shit started" and they tore into their set. I'm not sure if their sound problems were fixed or not, but, from where I was standing, they sounded pretty good. A few songs into their set, they had to slow it down a bit because the mosh pit was getting rather violent and it looked as though it went from having a good time to someone who was about to get their ass kicked. They actually stopped at one point, when it seemed like the mosh pit action was just about to cross that "it's no longer fun and games" line. A moment or two later, they were back in action and the pit was back to normal.
B Records Japan (www.rb-records.com)<br Grindhouse Night/ RB Records/ Rapcore Booth
(Track) 1; "Body Floss" immediately gets you attention! This sounds like anger rap-core mixed with tribal sampling! This is not very fast; however, you'll be very exciting, it's because of the great skill of rap-vocal. It's exellent!! We recommend this band for people who like Str8jacket, Crazy Town, Buckshot O.D, One Minute Silence. We also recommend rap-core DJ! You should get it! YSK (Grind House Night / TOKYO--CHIKUBEEZ)
First of all, listen (track) 1; "Body Floss". You'll be knocked out by the fast rapping. Bassist plays unique, too. We actually don't know about this band well: however, they play really good! I personally like (track)7. It's slow and even not rapping, but very impressive! Using sampling is one of the special feature of this band, and it's very effective. I remember One Minute Silence when I listened (track) 3. Anyway, I personally like this band! I recommend!! Nu-Suke (RB Records JAPAN)
Milkweed is formed into 4 members, from Ohio, USA. They have been actived for long time, and I've been following them for long time. I was waiting their new release for long time, and finally got it! This new album is awesome!! I was happy to be waiting for it! Their sound doesn't have aperture like Slipknot, and fast rapping is like Str8jackit. You should keep attention about this rapping style! Rapping and sampling are very effective! You should check them!! TM3 (Rapcore Booth / TOKYO--CHIKUBEEZ)
Independent Eye
By Ken Oster of Music XForum (www.goxray.com)
Nice, tight, heavy grooves. The dancibility of Sam Black Church meets the crassness of AC. This disc deserves to be spun.
Liquid Magazine Review By Rudy Rude from Liquid Magazine Good God it must be hard being a Rip-Hop band these days. The genre is so fucking over crowded!! Competition is stiff. Tons of shitty Rip-Hop/Crusty bands out there, ruining the genre, and my impressions of it as well. But, Milkweed manages to stay afloat in the pit with this disc. The vocals are actually convincing me that this guy is pissed and not just copping onto a trendy vocal style, the guy raps fast as hell!! This is Milkweed's ticket, along with a band that is heavy and tight as well. Odd intros, guitar noises and keyboard parts give this CD originality, when viewed against other bands in this genre. It works, and doesn't piss me off too much either. If this is your thing you'll like this band. The H.M.D. Music Resource Guide
The Hot Debut of the Week - By Sonny Thomas
(www.thehmd.com)
Killer debut from this Cincinnati "Gangsta-core" band! Forget Linkin Park when there's MILKWEED!!! Feat: Killer opening title track, "Body Floss"; "Wallz"; the somber yet intense "Tenchics"; the Eminem-esq "Cincinnati Fatties" and "God's Plan"
Body Floss-Milkweed
(www.amplifier.ky.net) By Don Thomason Cincinnati heavy rock band Milkweed takes elements of techno, rap, and melodic rock, fuses them to serve the beast of their heavy/thrash core, and comes up with an aggressive, impudent rock/rap hybrid much closer to Pantera than Kid Rock. Titles like “Milk Your Mother” suggest this aggressiveness, although others like “Febreeze” and “Muffies” are certainly not genteel. The hiphop style and hardcore metal subjects make for a sometimes disturbing, rapid-fire vulgar, yet compelling listen. A word of warning: this certainly isn’t intended for your grade school kids, but if you’re up for a different slant on ear ravaging, this’ll do.
Ballbuster Interview (www.ballbusterhardmusic.com)
Voice of the Underground - By Freddy Metal
How long has "Body Floss" been available & how did the cover art come about?
It has been available since the end of December. The name of the CD and first song didn’t come about until the end of the mastering of the CD. We were joking about how some people in the world body floss. They put a piece of rope down their throat and wait for the body to digest it. Then they pull out the rope with digested food on it. We thought it would be funny to really have a guy body flossing. So we got our buddy to pose naked body flossing – and he did it for a bowl of Cincinnati’s famous Skyline chili. Now he tells chicks that its his band so he can impress them and get laid.
Where & what studio did the production take place?
Our own studio – Hansum Studios in Cincinnati, OH.
What was the total hours as far as production & recording time on "Body Floss"?
256.49 hours @ $0.00 an hour. Getting the CD done on our own time… priceless.
Introduce the group & give us a brief background on each?
Hansum Rob – Begun at the trailor park, lives in an apt, has 2 kids by 2 different women and loves every minute of it. His love for music drew him into producing. He produced 1 other band (A Present Day Nightmare). And he cuts grass with Mr. Dago Joe at Horizon Landscaping LLC.
Dizzave – Dave is a fuckin loser… He still lives with his parents and never gets any pussy. He drinks himself into a stupor every night just to cope with reality.
E2P – The oldest and wisest of the band. He has a bun in the oven and lives with his girl and 2 dogs. He is the only member from KY and is proud of his bluegrass background. He likes PS2, tends to be more serious when it comes to the band, but also likes to throw down from time to time. “Milkweed is by far the best and most original and fun band I have ever been with.”
Mr. Dago Joe – the Italian Stallion. When not playing guitar, Joe likes to stand in front of the mirror buck naked, tuck his penis in between his legs, and strike a pose.
In your own words describe the band's sound & influences?
As far as our sound – it would be a blend of comedy, krunk, and a good old fashioned good time metal. We are influenced by things that don’t suck! We love teddy bears, rainbows, and cool summer days. We love the Wiggles and Rotten Fruits.
What type of image would you say the band projects?
The happiest metal band you’ll ever see.
Any label interests?
Of course, what band wouldn’t want to get signed. We have had a couple interested.
Do all members contribute to the writing & arrangements of original Milkweed songs?
We do a mixture of collaborating and individual song writing.
So what do you guys do when you're not making music?
Hansum Rob plays Xbox live – look for Hansum Rob on it. He also produces other CDs.
Mr. Dago Joe watches cartoons and plays with his dog and cats. He likes animals more than people.
Dizzave – I eat cheeseburgers and drink yahoo. I also like getting on the website forum and reading all the posts talking shit about our band. Goddamn we must really suck! There are a lot of people that hate us.
E2P – I love 2K5 and San Andreas for PS2. I have an aquarium cleaning business (like Duece Bigalow). I like disc golf, shooting craps, spending quality time with my girlfriend and our 2 dogs, cat, and fish.
Describe your fans?
They can be 12 all the way up to 72. We’ve seen senior citizens get up. Hell Hansum Rob shared a mic with an old lady named Thelma last week.
Who would you like to tour with and why?
We want to perform with the Wiggles. Because they have been an inspiration in our lives. We want to give a shout out to Anthony, Greg, Murray, and Jeff.
Any gripe's about the music industry ?
I think Britney Spears just doesn’t get the exposure she deserves. She is really talented and people need to see more of her.
Where do you see the band in 5 years? Hopefully on our 4th CD and Hansum Rob will finally be hansum and not so fucking bald.
Do you guys do anything special before you hit the stage?
Drink a bunch of beer, stretches, and squeeze our thingys.
What is your most memorable show to date & why?
Playing with Mushroom Head at the Malevolent Metal Fest. It was our first show to play with a big band and playing in front of 1,000 people. It also didn’t hurt that it was like 120 degrees so a bunch of chicks felt that their clothes were too hot to wear.
Name some bands in which you've shared the stage & opened?
We played with Mushroom Head and Stemm at the Malevolent Metal Fest, we played with 40 Grit, Vampire Moose, Shovelbarn, Spine, Disarray, and Straight Line Stitch.
-----------------------
Milkweed LLC
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 513-325-2660
AOL IM Contact Information
-Joe
milkweedjoe
-Rob
finnabustheads
-Dave
dokturgonzo