Wauwatosa West students Kyle Cvecko, James Lynch and their band “Screaming in the Cul-de-sac” is one of 12 bands to compete in the 14th annual Rockonsin competition during Summerfest on June 29th, 2018.  The band will play at Summerfest again on June 30th.

“It will take a lot of practice to win Rockonsin and good clean fun and energy. We are going to practice as much as possible. Most of the time we practice every weekend, but we are going to start practicing more and more.” said Wauwatosa West Junior and rhythm guitarist Kyle Cvecko.

Over 50 bands from 79 different high schools submitted videos to enter the competition but only 12 bands will compete in the competition at Summerfest. The winner and the runner up will get a second gig at summerfest and recording time in the studio. According to their web site, the Rockonsin Competition is a statewide garageband competition.  

“We have to play originals at the Rockconsin competition. We are not just a cover band we can write and play our own material. We have about four original songs, but we are working on more songs.” said Cvecko.

Playing at Summerfest and competing in the Rockonsin competition did not happen by accident. The lead singer and lead guitarist and Wauwatosa West Senior James Lynch also acts as a manager for the band.  He uses the bands social media accounts and people he meets at events to help the band reach a larger audience.

“I do a lot of networking for us. Between Facebook and just meeting people at gigs, I found out about the Rockonsin Competition and got another gig at Summerfest. It is basically a battle of the bands and we submitted an audition video.”

“Screaming in the Cul-de-sac” sound is influenced by classic rock, grunge and modern punk music.  

“Our music is like a mix of 80’s rock and grunge.  My influences are bands like like Kiss and Queen, but for other members it is bands like Green Day. You mix those two together and you get Screaming in the Cul-de-sac.”

The students enjoy playing the songs of the bands they love, but also enjoy the personal connections that come from playing music together.  

“Music is a big interest in a lot of people and when you perform songs with band members they have that same interest that you have and you bring that together.“ said Cvecko.

The four member of Screaming in The Cul-de-sac attend three different high schools.  Senior James Lynch and Junior Kyle Cvecko attend Wauwatosa West High School, drummer Malory Schwartz attends Franklin High School and Bassist Brenden Patrick attends Pius IX High School.  

Going to the same school allowed a couple members of the band to connect. Lynch recruited Cvecko during a school lunch period to join the band.  

“James called me over during lunch and said “do you want to be in the band” and on Saturday and we went over to our drummers house and we played songs we all knew together. Then they said, you are a good fit. Join our band. It wasn’t really a try out, it was just a good fit. We played a few songs and then they said you are in the band.”

Screaming in The Cul-de-sac wasn’t originally the name of the band. But they quickly got the idea from where they practiced.

“We originally started out with the name Left in the Dark, but we found out it was already being used by a more well known band.  So we changed it to “Screaming in the Cul-de-sac” because our drummer lives in a cul-de-sac and we go there to practice.”

They band practices in the Cul-de-sac, but also enjoys a good group scream.

“We are also known for screaming randomly during practice for no reason.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNf-pHt5im8

June 29th Rockconsin 12:55 to 1:10

June 30th Renegade Stage 12:00 to 12:45