MKEpunk is an invaluable resource and a sprawling online archive of “Local. Independent. Out of print.” Wisconsin-made music that covers the realms of punk, hardcore, ska, and a variety of other DIY subgenres. While the site’s focus is squarely fixed on preserving the past, they’ve continued taking steps to stay modern and add new features over the last 15-plus years.
In 2021, MKEpunk was saved from the brink of extinction by getting some much-needed back end updates that basically required the site to be rebuilt from square one. Since then, more releases were gradually welcomed into the digital collection and a new “Make Me A Mixtape” feature was added this January to give listeners a randomized way to stream songs. Last week, MKEpunk hit a significant milestone and unveiled yet another new aural amenity.
As of a few days ago, the MKEpunk catalog now stands at 500 releases. The bygone band that had the honor of helping the site hit the impressive mark goes to Speedfreaks, whose 2009 album Survive was uploaded to the collection. The band—which got its start in the last 1980s and ended in the ’90s before resurfacing in the aughts to re-record some demos and previously unreleased material—featured Rushmor Records co-owner Dan DuChaine, as well as members with current and former ties to lauded local acts like Burning Sons, The Crosses, and Magnetic Minds. You can stream Speedfreaks’ Survive here.
Hitting the 500-release mark also prompted MKEpunk to debut another fun aspect of its still relatively new Radio Player. Curators Martin Defatte and Jeremy Ampe solicited “Editorial Mixtapes” from people in and around the Milwaukee music scene. Exclusively using music in the MKEpunk collection, playlists were crafted by the likes of Dan Didier (The Promise Ring, Maritime), Daniel Kubinski (Die Kreuzen, The Crosses), writer Josh Modell, booker extraordinaire Marc Solheim, and even Milwaukee Record‘s own Matt Wild and Tyler Maas (that’s me!). Just click on the three dots at the top left of the Make Me A Mixtape player and choose the editorial mix you wish to hear.
After almost 20 years in existence and exactly 500 releases archived, the MKEpunk team has no plans to stop anytime soon. The site is still taking submissions (read the guidelines if you’re interested in getting your band added), tinkering with new features, and trying to fill in more of the audio gaps that help to tell the story of Wisconsin music between the ’80s and 2010s.
“The one thing that hasn’t changed over the years is that every time we have a conversation about the releases that mean the most to someone, we come away with a handful of bands we’re still missing,” Ampe says. “They cover some different time frame or aspect of the scene, so [we’re] 500 releases in and we’re still realizing how deep the well really is.”
Long live MKEpunk.