Advance Base • Jacob Slade • Maximiano
Wed 12/13/23
7:00PM
18+
music
$12 ADV // $15 DOS
Show Lineup
Advance Base
(Chicago)
Genre: Indie Rock
Advance Base is the melancholic soft rock recording project of Chicago, IL singer/songwriter Owen
Ashworth (formerly of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone). Using a two-handed arsenal of electric piano,
Omnichord, samplers, effect pedals & drum machines, Ashworth builds minimalist, heavy-hearted, &
nostalgia-obsessed ballads around his conversational baritone. The warm, electronic sound of Advance
Base has been described as “lo-fi,” “depressed” & “weirdly uplifting.”
Animal Companionship, the third & most recent “studio” album by Advance Base, was released September
21, 2018 by Run For Cover Records / Orindal Records. GoldFlakePaint & Various Small Flames both listed
Animal Companionship among their favorite albums of 2018. Since then, Advance Base has released Wall
of Tears & Other-Songs I Didn’t Write, a home-recorded collection of (mostly) country/Americana covers
arranged for electronic instruments & Live at Home, a collection of mid-quarantine livestream concert
performances & the closest representation of an Advance Base live set commercially available. A new
single titled ”Little Sable Point Lighthouse” was released on March 31, 2022.
“It’s with no exaggeration we describe Owen Ashworth as one of the most consistent and important
songwriters in contemporary indie music. From the earliest Casiotone For the Painfully Alone demos to
most recent Advance Base single ‘Little Sable Point Lighthouse‘, Owen has crafted a catalogue of
characters and circumstances with few rivals in the modern era. His is an ever evolving body of work which
stands out in its deftness and humility and empathy and care, bringing to life individuals from across the
spectrum of human experience while remaining unerringly attuned to the tender, fallible heart at the centre
of each.” – Various Small Flames
“A Raymond Carver short story collection set to music by a Joan of Arc-era OMD” – MOJO Magazine
Jacob Slade
(Milwaukee, WI)
Genre: Indie, Recording Engineer, Speaker
“You could not pay Jacob Slade to leave the Midwest” says Madeline Schultz in her review of the Milwaukee-based singer-songwriter’s 2023 album Soft Spoken. The essence of life in the midwest pervades not only Slade’s music and lyricism, but also his work ethic. Over three million streams and placements on Spotify’s Juniper, Morning Acoustic, and Fresh Finds editorial playlists is something few independent artists can claim. Further, Slade has shared the stage with nationally touring acts such as The Hails, Hotel Fiction, and David Wax Museum. While Slade’s music has drawn comparisons to contemporary indie-folk artists such as Noah Kahan, Richy Mitch & The Coal Miner’s, and Mt. Joy, he continues to explore a sound that is uniquely his.
Maximiano
(Milwaukee, WI)
Genre: Alternative, Americana, Folk
Maximiano’s music is rarely about just one emotion, moment, or person. Their debut album, “The Real Truth,” instead explores the way that experience flows through periods of growth and change. The songs shimmer, echo, and glide through tales of memory and identity that Piet Levy of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called “one of the most piercing and emotionally resonant collections of songs from a Milwaukee artist of the year… a towering achievement.”
The album, which Maximiano wrote, produced, arranged, recorded, and mixed, is adorned with a variety of sounds; piano, pedal steel, flute, clarinet, and more elevate the indie-folk core. With an all-star band of Milwaukee musicians (including members of Field Report, PHOX, Old Pup, and Ellie Jackson), the vulnerable americana-folk songs swell to cathartic, indie-rock peaks. Riding the waves of this folkestra, Maximiano sings tenderly but urgently about taking chances, missed opportunities, and reevaluating memories. The result is a flowing, expressive sound that, according to Erin Wolf, music director at 88.9 Radio Milwaukee, “captures the beauty that often comes from the newfound wisdom accrued in your stumbling, youngest years.”
“The Real Truth” is a lush, courageous, and ambitious first record from an artist poised to take up the lineage of earnest, folk-influenced singer-songwriters. Though their music will appeal to fans of Adrianne Lenker, Songs:Ohia, Sufjan Stevens, and Elliott Smith, the real truth is that there is no one quite like Maximiano.