Like any standard St. Louisan, the California-born indie pop band Milo Greene is a fan of the City Museum—they visited the Lou’s trademark funhouse during a tour stop.
“It’s been years since I was there,” band member Graham Fink says of the museum over the phone. “I don’t know how much it’s changed in the last five years, but the one time we were there we had an amazing time.”
Milo Greene, which formed around 2009, has played St. Louis venues such as The Firebird and Blueberry Hill—but even though LouFest is a different feat, the band has just about nailed the festival circuit. They’ve performed in major ones such as Lollapalooza in Chicago and Firefly in Delaware.
“We have a high-energy batch of songs; it definitely gets the people grooving in their ponchos, or tie-dye, or whatever the kids are wearing these days,” Fink says with a laugh.
Milo Greene, which consists of Andrew Heringer, Robbie Arnett, Marlana Sheetz, Curtis Marrero and Fink, debuted their self-titled first album in 2012. The tracks have a sophisticated folksy sound, and the band’s combined vocals make each one richer—particularly in their hit “1957.”
Milo Greene’s sophomore album, Control, adds a dash of pop to their successful folk recipe. “On The Fence” is downright infectious; the drum beats and those mixed vocals (again) will keep heads bopping and feet tapping, whether dancing alongside the throngs of LouFesters or jamming solo with headphones.
“We wanted to start with the drums,” Fink says of producing the album. “We wanted more up-tempo grooves. That shaped the energy of the record and how we wrote it… [Control] is a reaction to where we were after two straight years of touring and us wanting to do something different.”
The group has always had a different edge. Each band member is a writer and creator and sings lead vocals at some point; it’s a trait that Fink dubs their calling card. But don’t count on anyone actually named Milo—the band’s name is a pseudo-name for a fictitious booking agent they used before the band even got started.
“Everyone was kind of in different bands and projects,” Fink says. “There was this idea that seeming more professional would be a good idea. Robbie or Andrew came up with the name.”
Milo, by the way, is British.
“He mainly communicated via email,” Fink says. “Maybe once, someone [over the phone] tried out a British accent.”
Milo Greene performs Saturday, September 12 at 6 p.m. For more information, go to loufest.com.
