Fresh Cut Collective

With influences ranging from Outkast to Led Zeppelin to Bach, Fresh Cut Collective has attracted an audience as diverse as the members themselves. This septet represents diversity, not only musically, but in terms of background, personality, and style ("there's someone for everyone in this band," as a friend put it). Yes, the group calls itself a "hip-hop band" as the music is built within the guidelines of that genre, but Fresh Cut’s musical pedigree allows the group to slink in and out of genres, feels, and textures, fusing hip-hop with a variety of musical forms. The band's broad appeal comes from this fresh approach to music as well as their infectious energy and genuine excitement for what they do. It started during the Summer of 2008 when keyboardist Kiran Vedula and vocalist Adebisi Agoro met by chance at a local music venue. The two had been part of the Milwaukee music scene for quite some time, but had become somewhat disgruntled and fed up with their previous efforts. They were both looking for a new, more exciting direction to take their music, and the more they got to talking, the more they realized their goals and views were very much in line with each other, so they decided to put together a band. The two soon started playing with guitarist, Paul Trinko, and violinist, Allen Russell, two musicians Kiran met in music school and had been closely working with for a few years. The four improvised together for several months, feeling out the music and each other, working to understand what they were trying to create; it was, after all, new to all of them. Soon they brought in fellow music student, Patricio Amarena, bassist, Paul Fleming, and drummer, Michael Stewart. Around the same time, Adebisi booked the band's first show which gave them the extra boost to become Fresh Cut Collective. Since that first show back in December 2008, the band has played many shows in Milwaukee as well as Madison, Green Bay, Chicago, and Atlanta. They have opened for national touring artists The Constellations, Curumin, The Cool Kids, Rhymefest, and Movits, and were a headliner at last year's Milwaukee Summerfest. Having done so much in their first year, Fresh Cut Collective has high hopes for the future. They are currently working on their first full-length album which is due to be released in May with Uni-Fi Records. Fresh Cut Collective's influences include, but aren't limited to: Bonobo, Cornelius, Curtis Mayfield, Django Reinhardt, Fela Kuti, The Flaming Lips, Goodie Mob, Herbie Hancock, Hi-Tek, J Dilla, Madlib, The Mars Volta, Metronomy, Mos Def, The Neptunes, The Roots, Roy Ayers, and Talib Kweli.