MARQUETTE - Skronat fans are in for a treat.
The Marquette-based four-piece "throb" rock band will be doing two live shows in the next week featuring not only favorite songs from the past few years but new material never performed in public before.
It's all in anticipation of the release of the band's second CD, which is set for Sept. 15. The CD, "Bindmender," has been in the works for about a year.
"Now we're finished," said Steve Gustafson, who plays rhythm guitar and provides vocals. "It took a little longer than we thought. But we are all in school and have jobs."
"We wish we had more time," said Bud Clowers, the bass player who provides vocals as well. "But we had our deadline and we got it ready."
The songwriting process for the CD was fluid, said Cameron Leedle, lead guitarist.
"A lot of (the songwriting) was collective. Some songs were from individual members. Some songs we have played for a couple of years," Leedle said. "Some we hadn't played live yet."
"We still haven't," Gustafson said with a laugh.
"But it all came together," Leedle said.
The fourth member of Skronat, rummer Dennis Varney, was unable to be present for the interview due to his work schedule.
The new CD isn't limited to the four Skronat members. There are some guest artists. Make that many guest artists.
"I don't think we should try to name them all. I'm afraid we will forget someone," Gustafson said.
"There were 20 or more (guest artists)," Leedle said. "We are going to integrate them into our live shows whenever they can make it. Each had a unique talent to contribute. If they are willing to take the stage with us, we're excited to have them there."
The two upcoming shows are Wednesday at Upfront & Co and Saturday at the Marquette County Fair.
The Upfront show will also feature Drone Wolves and will start at 10:30 p.m. There will be no cover charge.
The show at the fair starts at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and will be part of a day of music at the event.
Then the band's album release party is set for Sept. 15 in the banquet room at Upfront.
Recording the tracks for the CD all took place at Redfella Studio in downtown Marquette, with Andrew Lorinser of Redfella as the producer.
"Andrew was great," Clowers said. "He wrote a song that made the album."
"And it's one of the better songs, in my opinion," Gustafson said.
"Andrew was great in the process," Leedle said. "We wouldn't be here without him and his creative influence."
"And he provided food," Gustafson said.
With the busy work-school schedules pursued by the band members, no tour to support the CD has been set, but Skronat is looking to book gigs around Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
"We've been talking about campuses, but nothing is set in stone," Leedle said.
The new CD, "Bindmender," has 72 minutes of music and 14 songs. After Sept. 15, it will be available at the Redfella office, at Skronat shows and through the band's website, pretentiousjacks.com, which will provide links to such sites as cdbaby and iTunes.
The band's first release, "The Boots I Want," also is still available through the website or at Redfella.
Renee Prusi can be contacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 253. Her email address is rprusi@miningjournal.net.
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MARQUETTE -- For the past two years, Skronat has been hard at work playing shows and recording an independent album. But now, their hard work has paid off as they've become the first band to be signed by Red Fella Records. "One of the things that really makes Skronat stand out is that they've got a wide appeal. They can play at house parties, they can play at colleges, they can play at bars, they're very versatile. They've put a lot of work into building a repertoire of music; both originals and covers. That makes them very accessible by a large amount of people," explains booking agent Matt Bullock. For the band, it's a great chance to build a larger fan base. "Promotion is always an important thing when you're looking to get your name out there. And just being a partnership with Red Fella Records, just increases our ability to get our name out there to the general public," says lead guitarist Cameron Leedle. Skronat plans to spend the next few months putting together a new album and playing shows across the Midwest. So what kind of music can fans expect to hear at their shows? "Our style is definitely defined as throb rock. And a lot of people ask what that is and it's like a party kind of style that makes you get up and dance and have fun. You gotta hear it to believe it," describes drummer Dennis Farney.