Our first interview landed us with The Compass Rose of Madison Wisconsin.  We caught up with the band in the middle of their 2 week tour.  The Compass Rose Quartet formed in January of 2008 and developed an eclectic sound that dances on the boarders of genres as diverse as hip hop, folk, and a cappella.  Mike Drohomyreky served as a front man supported by Ida Pajunen’s violin, Scott Lamps’ upright bass and the vocal percussion of Anthony Lamarr.  The release of These Parts Unknown allowed the group’s unique backgrounds to clash into a beautiful demonstration of creativity.  The band has shared the stage with The Roots, The Black Keys, Matt Wertz, Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers, The Violent Femmes, Brett Dennen, Joshua Radin, Matt White, Matt Kearney, Lifehouse, Carbon Leaf and a handful of other mainstream acts.

Mike Droho himself has seen quite a bit of success as an independent musician and has sold over 11,000 records.  While studying at The University of Wisconsin, Mike formed The Profits and put out 2 full length albums.  In 2006 Mike released the album The Alleged Euphoric State of Self Actualization which included popular favorites Come for Me, The Groove Song, and My Own Fool.  Since his start at the age of 19 Mike has preformed over 1,000 shows across the country and currently is competing in Madison, Wisconsin’s Triple M Challenge.  The winner of the challenge will have the opportunity to meet with an A&R Rep from Atlantic Records, have their track played on 105.5 FM and potentially land a record deal.

Click here http://www.1055triplem.com to support Mike.

The Compass Rose’s Anthony Lamarr acts as the group’s drummer by adding vocal fills throughout tracks.  Anthony virtually acts as a mobile snare while engaging the audience with his unique personality and style.  He explains in our interview that he has been involved with art and music since an early age.  When asked to further describe his style of beatboxing Anthony classified it as “endurance beatboxing” he explains he focuses on maintaining a steady beat throughout the track.  Anthony also keeps himself busy with other personal ambitions outside the group as well and recently finished writing his first musical titled Ballots.  He plans to submit the musical to The New York Fringe Festival and hopes to be one of the 200 productions selected this upcoming year. To find more information about the musical check out ballotsthemusical.com.

The Quartet has recently decided to take a break but both Anthony and Mike are continuing to tour the country.  They are already planning a Fall tour and we may see them soon with several new additions to the group.  Below is the interview and live recording of the group’s newest song “Jesus Louise”

Please feel free to comment and give us suggestions and recommendations for new artists in your cities!

Mike Reuther

mike.reuther@ourvinyl.com