The last time you could hear Ian Olvera’s voice on a recording, the Milwaukee singer-guitarist was fronting The Sleepwalkers. Following the release of two songs in early 2015, the band was shelved to allow other members to focus on The Midwestern Charm (which later became Bad Wig) and Sex Scenes. With a wealth of material ready and his only project on indefinite hiatus, Olvera says “it was kind of an accident” that brought his next endeavor into existence.
“A few months after that last Sleepwalkers show, I had a handful of tunes I was holding for what may have been our next album,” Olvera says. “I wrote my friend Amos [Pitsch of Tenement] to see if he’d like to play some drums on them.”
The two convened at Pitsch’s Appleton-based Crutch Of Memory studio for three sessions that were spread between December 2015 and December 2016 to record drums tracks, which Olvera then took to finish himself at a variety of studios between May and October of this year. Outside of drums, Olvera plays and sings every other part in the project he calls Daydream Retrievers. He also recorded and mixed everything himself.
Daydream Retrievers’ nine-song debut album is expected out in mid-January. Olvera says it’s not too far of a departure from his work with his prematurely-pastured old project. “Stylistically, it’s not that different I don’t think,” Olvera says. “I’ll probably always write in a similar style.”
Before Daydream Retrievers’ self-titled album comes out, hear three songs from Olvera’s warm and fuzzy new garage rock venture now, only at Milwaukee Record. You can see Daydream Retrievers live with a full band December 1 at Mickey’s Tavern (Madison), December 2 at Gasoline (Green Bay), January 11 at 88Nine Studios, and January 13 at Cactus Club.