Music

Out to Launch

high school band competition features three local groups

Trevor Kupfer |

Three bands comprised of high school students from Eau Claire, Durand, and Fall Creek will compete with about a dozen others in the region for a shot at some time in a Madison recording studio and a chance to play at Vans Warped Tour and Milwaukee’s Summerfest. It’s all part of the fifth Launchpad competition, in which more than 80 bands from Wisconsin take part. The Chippewa Falls High School event is one of four regional rounds that take 16 bands down to just three, who face off for a final round in Madison on June 20. Elk Mound senior Graham McCullough and Memorial upperclassmen Karl Markgraf, Chuk Rohrer, and Leo Strei comprise the band slated to play at 5:40pm, Innerburst. Graham, Karl, and Chuk have been playing together since before they were teens, so they’re pretty pumped about the opportunity to make it to Madison, but also a tad nervous. “We used to play quite a few shows in the area, but then we went on a pretty long break, almost two years, actually, so this is our first show back together,” Graham said. Along with Durand bands Raptor Club (4pm) and The Brutal Truth (6:55pm), Innerburst will play three songs to be judged on their expression, creativity, technique, and synergy. Their set will include Front Page News and Hurts to Breathe, two songs they’ve played together for a long time, and Parachutes, a new one never performed live. See a video of them playing it on VolumeOne.org.

    Launchpad Regional Competition • Friday, April 24 • Chippewa Falls High School • 4-10:15pm • $6 • www.LaunchpadWisconsin.org