Martin Defatte is a busy guy. The Milwaukee-based producer is one half of Guerrilla Ghost, an owner and co-founder of the Triple Eye Industries record label, and a web developer who helped build and maintain the archives at MKE Punk. In addition to that diverse collection of credits, Defatte also has a solo project called Tron Jovi, he’s part of an experimental duo called M.Ape, and he’s created dozens upon dozens of album covers. Long before he was making beats and releasing music from a wide range of Midwestern bands, Defatte was the bassist in a Racine punk project who took an interest in the relatively young field of computer design.
Prior to the release of Guerrilla Ghost’s Hell Is Empty And All The Devils Are Here, Defatte welcomed My First Band host Tyler Maas into his home studio to talk about the upcoming album (out April 15!), other releases Triple Eye Industries has planned this year, and where his musical backstory begins. Over the course of the conversation, Defatte talked about his stint in Bound To One as a teenager, studying design in college, making fliers and CD covers for punk and hardcore bands, and getting back into the performance side of music after moving to Milwaukee. The interview also touches on the importance (and near extinction) of MKE Punk and the weird fact that Defatte and Maas share a birthday.
My First Band is sponsored by Mystery Room Mastering and Lakefront Brewery. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you get podcasts. You can also listen to rebroadcasts of previous My First Band episodes on WMSE every Wednesday from noon to 12:30 p.m. CST. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Devils Teeth (“The Junction Street Eight Tigers”) and Guerrilla Ghost (“I Don’t Like People Playing On My Phone”).