PUBLIC LISTENING: MILWAUKEE MITCHELL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

RED-EYE ROCK

I was recently back in Milwaukee, working on music. Why I continue to make music at this stage of my life is confusing. I think I need to remind myself that while I am currently a Music Blogger, I was once a Music Maker, and I can still tap into those old skills, whatever they may be, however poorly they may have suited me in the past. I don’t think it’s a bad idea for someone who writes about music to try to make a little music and put it out into the world. What could go wrong?

For many years, I rocked from a contrarian standpoint, so it’s been fun operating without certain conceptual and psychological constraints. At least partly. Last Friday, I had to get up and leave Willy’s place—our new band, Gem Fumigation Spa, has music coming soon, maybe—before four in the morning to catch a flight, a situation that seemed like the perfect excuse to do a Public Listening from the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. 

4:23: Ricky Martin "Livin’ la vida loca"

To start things off, a little preamble: My car from Riverwest to the airport was a spirited affair. Kirk Franklin's Praise, channel 64 on the SiriusXM satellite radio dial for those keeping score, provided the soundtrack. My driver and I had a pleasant conversation about adult continuing education. I was running on very few hours of sleep—I credit that ride for keeping me alert enough to take on this hard-hitting assignment. While waiting in line for the security checkpoint, I listened to two recent songs from Fcukers (“Bon Bon” and “Homie Don’t Shake"), and then I took off my headphones and dealt with the TSA. There is a certain kind of conservative-leaning Wisconsinite whose temperament I can only describe as being a strange combination of folksy and condescending. It’s the perfect demeanor for a job with the Transportation Security Administration. I got across the checkpoint and immediately went into a magazine shop. Ricky Martin was playing.

4:26: Jason Takach, John Whitt Jr., Shardé “Better Together”

These are the moments I live for. In an airport before sunrise, looking at a rack of mostly unappealing magazines, losing my mind. Mitchell International was quiet. Only a handful of shops were open, and an even smaller amount were playing music. I purchased a Gatorlyte, the electrolyte-packed sub-brand of Gatorade. It’s thick and salty. The airport economy is psycho; I know many people advocate stealing, but I’ve never been able to do it. My guilt complex is too severe. 

4:30: Gaz Coombes “Sonny the Strong”

While I sat in an empty row of seats, this song played outside of a nearby Starbucks. I stared at the carpet. Streaks of blue on various shades of gray. I mean, look, what do you want me to say? I’m an aging millennial hipster—of course I like hanging out inside a somewhat “liminal” space at night. Say that last sentence in a TikTok cadence, I dare you. A gated-up restaurant played Olympic swimming on a screen in the corner. Ambient sports. I would try to describe the style of the small number of travelers milling about, but in my bleary state, they all blended together into one big cargo short. Am I a member of the coastal elite? It’s one of many questions that keeps me up...

4:37: Donavon Frankenreiter “Make You Mine”

I had to walk to find more music. “Make You Mine” was playing out of a closed restaurant that was next door to a place called The Great American Bagel Bakery. After some research, I learned that The Great American Bagel Bakery is not to be confused with another chain, Great American Bagel, an “award-winning bagel bakery and deli concept specializing in big, fresh bagels since 1986” that has outposts in Montana and Illinois. This Great American Bagel Bakery is run by HMSHost, a major player in the American airport food-service game. What is the deal with Donavon Frankenreiter? He’s the Laurel Canyon version of Jason Mraz?

4:41: Universal Production Music “COLOURS”

The Tripadvisor store inside the airport. I remember once going to the Buzzfeed store inside the airport. Though it would be a good name for a band, Universal Production Music is not a band, but rather a subset of the Universal Music Group conglomerate that specializes in royalty-free music. Upon further research, I learned that COLOURS is the name of a compilation, which Universal Production Music categorizes as “emotional pop” music. I may never know what song I was listening to. Was it “The Lost Ones” (“hypnotic, introspective and thoughtful electro pop”) or was it “I Wanna Go” (“jerky, youthful and determined electronic pop”). I suspect it was none of the above.

4:46: Foster The People “Sit Next to Me (Acoustic)”

Somehow, I was already back next to The Great American Bagel Bakery. It was starting to feel like I was attending the world’s worst music festival. Through a nearby window, machinery twinkled in the dark. There’s a lot a blogger could be thinking about in an environment like this, but I was focusing my energy on an acoustic version of a Foster The People song. I remember the year “Pumped Up Kicks” ruled the airwaves. I was living in Los Angeles, on the edge of K-Town. Couldn’t escape it in those streets—no lie. (Vermont and Beverly. The basement behind the Jollibee.)

4:49: Neil Frances “These Days”

There was a kiosk selling shirts made by a company called Brew City Brand. They do a Milwaukee-centric take on the kind of faux-weathered novelty shirts that I associate with craft breweries and fans of The Office. It reminded me of a website called Snorg Tees, which offers quite possibly the most clear-eyed example of what some might call “Reddit clothing.” This is a corner of the fashion universe that I will be following closely over the next couple of years. It’s always interesting to find a shirt at a thrift store that looks like it was pre-faded to approximate the look of a shirt that was found at a thrift store. You were made from dust, and to dust you will return.

4:52: Katie Melua “Quiet Moves”

The line at Starbucks had intensified. It was not a line I would be standing in, for a variety of reasons. A passing thought: What’s up with 2Hollis? It’s funny, there are some things in contemporary music and culture that I just choose not to “investigate,” for whatever reason, but I have taken a liking to his somewhat recent single “crush.” It’s sort of undeniable digital splatterpop. And I just found out that 2Hollis is the son of John Herndon from Tortoise? The beat really does go on.

4:57: R.E.M. “Losing My Religion”

I was back near the security checkpoint, looking at another display of local sports paraphernalia. There was a single, sad cheesehead. Sort of shocking to hear an actual song within a sea of NPC pop. (I enjoyed this recent profile of Michael Stipe in the Times.) I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. The white light was burning my skin. I was completely comfortable. John’s Music Blog is simply the newest dumb thing that I have chosen to take seriously. It’s part of a long line of dumb things that I have chosen to take seriously.

4:59: Zachary Aaron Golden “Unbreakable”

It was at this point that I felt the need to sit down somewhere quiet and take a good hard look at my life. That’s something else that being alone at an airport is good for. I’m saving the big twist for last: For the first time since 2008, I was upgraded, free of charge, to business class, which in this case meant a small amount of additional legroom. As I boarded the plane, I was greeted with Ed Sheeran playing at an unreasonably loud volume.