MILWAUKEE — There are a lot of great musicians in Milwaukee. But when it comes to the indie music scene, one of the names that stands out the most is Social Cig.
Is it a band? Is it a solo project? You'll just have to ask the founder, Parker Schultz.
"Like whatever it is at that time is what it is. So I kind of like that looseness of it. For a bit, I was like, am I band? Am I just a solo project? But I kind of like how (Justin Vernon) looks at it. Like it's not that deep," Schultz said.
Schultz describes his music as 'Midwest indie skate rock'. And yes, he does skate. He said the most complicated trick he can do is a fakie big spin front board slide or a fakie big flip.
Social Cig was born in 2019 while Schultz, who grew up in West Bend, went to UW-Milwaukee. He's the only full-time member. The rest of the group is made up of a rotating cast of musicians who are members of various bands themselves. That means Schultz is also the booking, tour, merchandise, content, and advertising manager, among many other titles.
Watch the story to hear Social Cig's music...
“Like I said, I’m kind of crazy. But yea, I got like a ledger just Google spreadsheets galore,” Schultz said. "I got so many tabs in my brain, so that's why I keep it on my notes app. I just got to keep it all straight for sure."
Before Social Cig, he was part of a band in high school called Boarder Line, because he and his friends did a bunch of board sports like skating, snowboarding, and wakeboarding. He also performed at a high school talent show, which he said didn't go too well.
"Ever since that traumatic incident, I kind of locked myself away in my basement, just writing. I didn't want to show anybody my music," Schultz said.
However, all that changed when his college friends encouraged him to share his music more. And it's a good thing that they pushed him.
Since 2019, Social Cig has played dozens of shows in the Milwaukee area, gaining a loyal local following that has slowly spread across the United States. He has published four albums and toured across the country multiple times. While Milwaukee rap has really blown up nationally in the past few years, Schultz would like the same attention on the city’s indie scene.
"I would love to see more industry kind of be attracted to Milwaukee as a music scene. I feel like that doesn't really exist a lot. I feel like there's not a whole lot of eyeballs on Milwaukee, but there's a lot of great music," he said.
Watch the full interview with Social Cig here...
So to spread the word, he is doing something a little counter intuitive for his upcoming tour. Rather than playing at big markets like Los Angeles or New York, he is focusing on cities like Grand Rapids and Bloomington.
“Just really try to dial in these smaller markets because I’ve done stretches out to the East Coast and West Coast, and those are really big operations. So trying to dial it down and focus on growing an audience in the Midwest even more is my Spring goal," Schultz said.
Cultivating a community of loyal listeners is really important to Schultz.
“You could accomplish anything in the world, play any venue, work with any artist. What’s the huge, big dream?” I asked him.
“I would love to be able to tour the U.S. as a headlining artist, playing 200- to 400-cap rooms that sell out every single time. Nothing like stadiums or anything, but I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity," Schultz said.
I mean, stadium tours are hard to pass up. But Schultz's focus is on the community, which is reflected by the career he’d choose if he weren’t a musician.
“I think I love the idea of being a firefighter," Schultz said. “I don’t know, just being involved with the community on a small local level and being something positive.”
For all this local talk, his music is reaching a global audience. On this upcoming tour, he is booked in Tokyo of all places, and he’s trying to "rip some shows" in Osaka and Kyoto.
“I love the term rip some shows, bro. Rip some shows. You say that so casually. Oh, I’ll rip some shows in Tokyo and then go back to Stevens Point," I responded.
“That’s the lifestyle," Schultz said.
Click here to go to Social Cig's spotify, follow them on Instagram, and see their list of upcoming shows.
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