Before GGOOLLDD formed and made its rapid ascent to Midwestern music supremacy, members of Milwaukee’s—and now Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s—premier party-pop project had significantly different artistic aspirations. During the band’s return to Milwaukee prior to their June 28 headlining set at Summerfest, singer Margaret Butler and bassist Nick Ziemann met up with host Tyler Maas at Milwaukee Record headquarters to talk about the group’s unlikely start as a one-off Halloween party act that turned into much, much more.

As they took down a few Boulevard beers apiece, the trio talked about Ziemann’s obsession with guitar as a home-schooled kid in Northeast Wisconsin, which he put to use in Number One Fan—a band that played shows with Maas’ high school group and signed a deal with a Universal Records subsidiary—as well as The Wildbirds and Hugh Bob & The Hustle. At that same time, Butler was living in a trailer in Louisiana and teaching herself to play guitar (in exactly the wrong way) by listening to Death Cab For Cutie before the pair forged a long-distance relationship. Once united and settled into life in Milwaukee, Butler formed GGOOLLDD and…eventually let Ziemann join her venture. The rest was history.

My First Band is sponsored by Boulevard Brewing and Kesslers Diamonds. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you get podcasts. Music used in this show comes courtesy of Devils Teeth (“The Junction Street Eight Tigers”), Number One Fan (“Come On”), and GGOOLLDD (“GGOOLLDD”).