Original rockOregon, WisconsinMid to late 1990s
Channel 7 was a four-piece original rock band out of Oregon, Wisconsin, just south of Madison.
They started in the summer of 1995 as a garage band playing for their friends, then worked their way up to the local community center, the high school, and private parties. From there they moved into the Madison music scene, playing both all-ages and adult shows at clubs like O'Cayz Corral, the Barrymore and the New Loft.
The Brooklyn Community Center in Brooklyn, Wisconsin, became one of their regular stomping grounds, and they played shows there again and again.
By 1998 they could put on a show with up to forty original songs, and they had won first place at the O'Fitchburg Days battle of the bands. That summer they were in Sleepless Nights Studios in Madison working on their first CD.
This site collects nearly everything that survived: every recording, the photos, and the old press kit, so the music has somewhere to live.
Lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Started playing guitar at 12 and is completely self-taught. His musical influence was aided by his keyboard-playing, blues-band-member father. Jeremy writes the majority of the Channel 7 songs and makes you feel the emotion of each song he sings. He is the “Ham” of the band. He has a mischievous charm and a twinkle in his eye that “drives the girls crazy.”
Bass
Has been playing bass guitar since he was 11 years old. He and Jeremy teamed up at that time and mesh so well that they seem to read each other's minds. Devon has never taken guitar lessons, though he has taken piano and music composition. He keeps everyone up with his laid-back, easygoing personality and never-ending smile. He is the solid “Pillar” of Channel 7.
Lead guitar, backup vocals
The newest member of the band. With a couple years of guitar lessons, he is the techno-maniac. Challenging the band to try new ideas, he sometimes has to be kept on a leash but still manages to stay one step over the line. Always taking them to new heights, Logan is the “Edge” of Channel 7.
Drums, backup vocals
Started playing drums at 14 on a used, very old, four-piece, red, $50 drum set. He is completely self-taught, learning his early technique by listening to Lars Ulrich of Metallica over and over and over. His pumped-up, high-intensity style is the power behind Channel 7. He's a little shy with backup vocals, but his talent and the size of his drum set continue to grow. Bill “Rocks.”
Seven recordings, 37 tracks. Press play on any song; starting a new one stops the last.
Recorded live during a battle of the bands set.
From the sessions for the band's first CD, which the summer 1998 press kit said was due that fall.
Also passed around as ‘99 Demos Plus.
From a later show at the Loft.
“These guys rock.”
“They sound like they've been playing together for twenty-five years.”
“Get us a CD, we'll play these guys.”
I went to school with all of these guys. I was Channel 7's sound guy, their first recording engineer, and, in a way, the fifth member of the band.
Around 1994 I was running sound for school plays, and honestly, the gear the school had was pretty rough. So I scraped together every dollar I had and bought my own: a mixing board, a couple of amplifiers, and a set of PA speakers.
Jeremy and I were friends, and one day he said, “Hey, we're going to do a show. Can you bring all your gear and help us put it on?” I said, “Hell yeah, man. Let's do some rock and roll.”
It was about as DIY as it gets. None of us really knew what we were doing. Jeremy's dad had played in a band, so he helped us out a little, but mostly it was just “let's do it.” So we did.
After a couple of shows, I kept bugging them about recording. We needed to get this stuff on tape, and back then tape was the only way to do it. So we built a studio in my basement on Bramble Lane in Brooklyn, Wisconsin. That was the original Padded Cell Studios.
Again, we had no idea what we were doing. It was a bunch of mics into the mixing board, run straight to a single cassette deck. No four-track, nothing fancy. I mixed the whole thing live while they played, just like a show. It sounded about how you'd expect, but we did it. I played that first tape so much it wasn't even funny. I felt like I was a member of the band, and I suppose in a way I was.
I shopped that first tape around and asked anyone who would listen how to make it better. Then we got our hands on a four-track, took everything we'd learned, and recorded a better version.
Those Padded Cell recordings aren't on this site yet. I don't have the tape anymore. A good friend has it, including one song that isn't anywhere else: “Don't Kick Me in the Crotch.” I'm working on getting the tape back so it can join the rest.
In 1995 the band went into Bar Studios in Oregon to cut their next demo.
When Logan joined the band, the whole dynamic changed for the better. He brought real guitar solos and a lot more dynamics to the songs. To be honest, at first I wasn't sure how I felt about it. It was like, okay, now there's a new guy. But man, that band got so much better once he joined.
What was running sound for Channel 7 like? Beautiful chaos. The whole idea was to make as much noise as we possibly could. Jeremy would probably tell you the real idea was to impress the girls.
The best part was that they always just said, “Come on, Luke, we're going to go make rock and roll.” It didn't matter where we were playing. I threw my gear in the car with them, and we just rolled with it.