As the singer and guitarist of Limbeck, Robb MacLean has been part of some excellent and influential albums. He’s toured all around the U.S. and Europe with bands like Motion City Soundtrack and All-American Rejects, and he’s even had a song featured on a Mac commercial. After more than 20 years together (off and on), Limbeck is still at it and they’re currently working on new material. In addition to writing new music, the band is also gearing up to play a few shows this spring.

Prior to Limbeck’s pair of performances in Milwaukee and Madison as part of Good Land Records’ “11-Year Anniversary Party” April 29-30, MacLean spoke to My First Band host Tyler Maas about the band’s modern day plans, some standout moments from their two-decade run, and where his personal musical journey began. Over the course of the conversation, MacLean talked about forming a band as a joke in high school, enduring bad gigs and small crowds during his years with The Machos, the unlikely set of circumstances that ultimately led to him joining Limbeck, and why the California-based band feels at home in Wisconsin.

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 Limbeck (“Making The Rounds”).