On April 7, 2014, Milwaukee Record became a thing. The brainchild of out-of-work writers Matt Wild and Tyler Maas (that’s us), the website was meant to provide the city with irreverent local music and culture coverage, and carry on the spirit of the recently deceased A.V. Club Milwaukee. Not to toot our own horns, but seven years later, we think we’ve done a pretty darn good job.
Let’s look at the numbers. As of today, we’ve published 7,276 articles (many of them good!) and racked up views in the tens of millions. Before this whole pandemic thing began, we organized or sponsored approximately 8,000 live events, concerts, music series, and movie series. Post-pandemic, we somehow put together a 14-hour livestream telethon, a virtual summer festival, a holiday special, and more. We’ve raised tens of thousands of dollars for various charities. Hell, we just launched our latest Pretty Good Online Auction this morning. (Half the proceeds go to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, by the way.) Plus, there was that time Tyler ate at every Milwaukee Taco Bell in eight hours.
And of course we couldn’t have done any of this without our wonderful readers and ad partners. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. (A super-special thanks to our pal/Director of Advertising Josh Hoppert. Ask him about our rates!) We love doing what we do, and we hope to do it until the world ends or we keel over and die, whichever comes first!
Want to listen to us discuss the genesis of this wacky operation in more detail? Head over to our Patreon to find a free episode of our bi-monthly From The Archives podcast. The episode features us looking back on endless goodbye parties for A.V. Club Milwaukee, unexpected pregnancies, local hostage situations, the healing power of friendship, and the sweet inevitability of death. Fun!
And again, please check out our Pretty Good Online Auction, which runs April 7-14. If you bid on the “Milwaukee Record Mystery Box” you might be able to find out…WHAT’S IN THE BOX.
