So the time is ripe for the 2008 SXSW Music Festival and what better way to lead into that madness than with a host of quality bands at Emo’s to kick off this weekend. Friday marks the CD Release show for local outfit What Made Milwaukee Famous. Officially released on March 4th, What Doesn’t Kill Us will be available for purchase during the show; the album finds the band maturing into a polished rock act while maintaining their keen ear for pop melodies, their expert arrangements of well-crafted tracks, and their penchant for catchy guitar hooks. Check out the video for “Sultan” off the new album via YouTube here.

What Doesn’t Kill Us is the band’s second release for Barsuk Records (after the Trying To Never Catch Up re-release in 2006) and is also their first with new guitarist, Jason Davis. The outside stage will also bear the fruit of Black Before Red’s latest endeavors and The Lemurs’ recent concoctions; expect new recordings from both acts this year. Loxsly rounds off the line-up outside at Emo’s. The haunting sounds of Beach House (Devotion review), along with the malaise of Papercuts (Can’t Go Back review) and a solo effort by Brother Will (from Brothers and Sisters), are featured at Emo’s Lounge this evening.

We caught up with Michael Kincaid from WMMF recently over email to assess the current state of the band’s activities, their big brother Barsuk, and the haters.

How was the recording process different this time around than when you recorded Trying To Never Catch Up? How did y'all meet up with Chris Michaels and what has be brought to the table?

Michael Kincaid: It was quite a bit different considering we weren't doing a majority of the recording ourselves this time. It's such a relief to not have to back-and-forth yourself from being a producer/engineer to a musician. I mean, you can maintain the idea of what you want it to sound like and still bounce that off of someone, but it's so much easier just to focus on the musical aspect and getting the exact take that you want when you're not saddled by the technical, recording side of things. So, it was great to have Chris Michaels and Erik Wofford in helping us out on this one. We met up with Chris through Ginna (Faulkner), our manager. He really, really helped us sort out the songs that we were weeding through and formulate a plan of attack to tackle them in pre-production and during the sessions. Without his help, the album would have been drastically different and would have most likely been a tragic mess.

How has the relationship with Barsuk altered the direction of the band?

It's kind of like having your older brother going to the same school as you. He may try to call you out on your parachute pants, but you know that when it comes down to it, he totally has your back. And it's pretty encouraging to know that you have people in your corner pulling for you and pulling strings to make things happen for you. It definitely gives you a little more confidence to do the things that you do best when you have a good team backing you, which we totally do. The situation is, again, drastically different from the (very) first go-round on the first album. We were trying to do all of the business stuff ourselves (because we had to) and it just ends up spreading yourself too thin. And we're still spread too thin half-the-time. So, it's infinitely more empowering to have Barsuk and our management behind us.

Continue reading this interview after the jump and enter our contest for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the show tonight!

When did Jason Davis join the band? What made you feel like you needed a 5th member?

Well, the biggest reason for us to have a 5th member is because I am such a hack on guitar. So, we actually just scored our "first" guitarist. But essentially, it was something that I felt was necessary to round out our sound. He's such a competent and capable musician; it wouldn't make sense to pass up the opportunity to have him join forces with us. We were in a band together in high school and he's been joining me on stage at my solo shows for a while now. We had run into each other in the past when we were both busy with other things, but about a year ago, the planets aligned and he didn't have any obligations preventing him from joining. So, the timing was perfect to help us take the new album to another level. One in which the guitarist is fully capable of playing his instrument.

What is one thing (or 2 or 3) you want fans to know about the new record?

That it should be bought. Or listened to. Whatever works for you. Just give it a try. We could have easily been spooked into worrying this record into a tragedy of errors with the whole, potential, sophomore slump thing and just the place that we were in, in general. But the record just kind of fell into place and turned out so much better than we even expected. And I think that it's pretty honest and indicative of where we're at and where we want to go. And some people may think that it's really over the top. And that's the saddest part about things these days, is that ultimately someone out there is going to attack this album (or any album, for that matter) on grounds of it being just that: honest and straight-forward. But, to me, there's no reason for us to veil things up in some cryptic form of art that's NOT honest.

That's something to do in my spare time. We've made this our job. This is our job, now. Fuck the day jobs. This is what we do, now. And I want as many people to hear it as possible. And that means, that we're not going to exclude anybody. I want our music to be as universal as possible. And I'm not terribly concerned about impressing the people that would look at this album and knock it for being too catchy or poppy or accessible. Those people are missing the point, entirely. Music isn't meant to be divisive. And in this day and age, so many critics try to make it something that's so fucking high school in terms of just hating on things and worrying with sects and what's cool. Cool, to me, is honesty. Decadence is truth. And I'm not saying that our album will be decadent. I'd love to think it would. But I do know for a fact, that it could never be decadent if it wasn't honest.

The bottom line is, there's no reason to hate on anything out there. If you don't like it, don't listen. Pretty simple, your Mom told you, "if you don't have anything good to say, don't say it at all." I just can't wait until the musical climate gets out of this hateful era. There's so much good stuff out there to listen to and there are so many great ways to access it. So, I just hope that people can start focusing their energy on appreciating the positive aspects of music, instead of honing in on hating on one particular freckle of something. It's just so self-defeating and unnecessary. Looks like I may have gotten off-target. We just want people to listen to this album themselves. And formulate their own opinion about it, themselves. Instead of going into it (or not going into it, for that matter) with some predisposition about what some other person thinks is cool. Sorry, Mom (for my foul mouth), but we didn't make this album for the fucking haters. Haters, fuck yourselves. This album is for the people that appreciate music. That's it. Just good songs. Fuck everybody else. Nevermind. Hate breeds more hate. So, strike that last comment. Re-phrase: We love haters. We just didn't make this album for you.

What can we expect at the show on the 7th? What is the band's plan of attack for SXSW?

You can expect us to bring you the rock show that you expect from us, only a little tighter. We just spent 2 weeks out in California at residencies playing the new material. And we can't wait to play our hometown again. It's going to be a great bill with the Lemurs, Loxsly, and Black Before Red. So, hopefully, everybody can make it out because we won't be playing Austin again for a while. We head out on tour a couple days after to meet up with Louis XIV. So, we're not actually going to be able to make SXSW this year. It'll be the first year, in about the last 5. So, it'll be weird. But instead, we'll be getting to play the Fillmore. Actually, both of them. So, that's really exciting. But we'll definitely be checking in for the full report of how badass SXSW is going to be this year.

[What Made Milwaukee Famous MySpace]
[The Lemurs MySpace]
[Loxsly MySpace]
[Black Before Red MySpace]

Emo’s not on your schedule? Check out Club de Ville where Pants of Fate Records brings us insightful alt-country and harmonious pop in the form of its pre-SXSW showcase. Emerging local act Mice & Rifles (Le Diamant Brut) headline and are preceded by The Georgian Company (comprised of former members of Just Guns) and You Were Always. Alternatively, catch the “Texas Boogie Blues & Rock” of the Spoiled Royals at Red 7. The three-piece has fast become a favorite at the Continental Club in Houston; they have a number of Texas dates scheduled for the next couple of months before embarking on a “Westward Expansion Tour” in May. Per their MySpace page, the band’s “lyrics focus on themes of women, liquor, gambling, luck, redemption, breakfast, etc.” Don’t miss the debauchery -- The Spoiled Royals play early at 9:30 p.m. before making way for Johnny Hootrock and Flamin’ Hellcats at this gig. Chris Boehk and All in the Golden Afternoon at The Parlor and PDA Austin’s all-night dance-party with DJ Filthy Ri¢h piloting the beats at Elysium offer further choices.