BIOGRAPHY
So, you want the full story?
LOUDERNOW regularly gets asked:
- "How long have you guys been a band?"
- "How did this all start?"
- "Do you guys make your own music?"
- "Do you have other bands?
etc.
This page is specifically for you!
The band is always happy to share thier history and what brought them to the dance so to speak. The history behind LOUDERNOW is part of what makes the band so unique as each of it's members had vastly different pathways that brought them together while being very interconnected in other avenues. Below is generalized biography of the band's history.
FULL BIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER 1
It all started in the fall of 2015. Five friends met up for a night out at Tribes Ale House, a bar in Tinley Park, which was a regular weekly occurrence for many years. These five friends are Davey Carlson, Gary Wiessmann, Keaton O’Brein, Dan Zemanek, and Steve Zywica.
Though the group of friends met up regularly, often including many others, something special happened on this particular evening. Amongst their conversation, laughing, and likely having a musical debate regarding who could discover which song Steve hated more, another patron at the bar unrelated to the group had taken to the touch-tunes player that evening.
Song after song, this patron had selected some of the absolute best emo and pop punk throwbacks and kept the five at the edge of their seats, waiting with anticipation for which song was about to come on next. The song selection included songs from My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday, Hawthorne Heights, and more. Back in 2015, hearing these songs blaring from a bar's sound system was not nearly as common as it is today.
The unknown Tribe’s guest’s song selections eventually ended, the group went back to their regularly scheduled Saturday night, however with a new topic of conversation. The idea of starting an emo and pop-punk cover band was mentioned from the excitement brought to everyone from hearing those songs in a public environment. Though skeptical of the idea at first, as everyone in the band was from established original bands and had little experience playing other artist’s songs, the group asked Dan Zemanek what it was like being in a cover band. Dan had spent the previous 3 years performing on Smells Like Nirvana and at the time was currently active in the band. Dan mentioned though playing other artists songs did take some getting used to at first, but that he has enjoyed his time performing in cover bands once acclimated.
The conversation continued on and the five day-dreamt about all the emo and pop-punk artists that the perfect cover band would make sure to include in their setlist. This continued until it was closing time at the bar and once everyone’s tab was paid and the group was about to head home for the night, the decision was made. Though the details are hazy now, someone exclaimed, “Hey, we have five of Chicagoland’s best musicians right here. We never really played as a group together, only at shows with each other’s bands back in the day. We have some down time for a little while, let’s do this. Let’s start an emo/pop-punk cover band.” And thus, LOUDERNOW was born.
The original line-up of LOUDERNOW consisted of Davey Carlson of A Kidnap In Color/Famous Like You, Gary Weissmann of The Fastest Kid Alive, Keaton O’Brein of Arsel Arcaya, Dan Zemanek of Silverside, Me, The Mirror, and performing in Famous Like You, and Steve Zywica who was also in several of Dan’s projects.
The band model from the get-go was to keep everything simple: Close friends from established original bands celebrating their love for the emo & pop-punk artists who helped shape who they are today as both people and musicians. To this day the band still shares this same mission statement.
Each member of LOUDERNOW brought something different to the table as they all had slightly varying tastes in emo and pop-punk.
The band picked a handful of songs and began rehearsing just after conception. It took the band a few months to perfect all over 40+ songs but on March 16, 2016, the five bandmates took to social media and publicly announced LOUDERNOW had been formed. Due to the nature of the bandmate’s successful history in original music, LOUDERNOW caught the attention of many without even announcing a performance.
In a couple weeks time after speaking with associated friends of the band, the group caught the attention of an agent and shortly after, the first Emo Night event featuring LOUDERNOW was in the books.
The debut performance of LOUDERNOW took place at Subterranean in Chicago, IL on May 6th, 2016. With a packed house, the band took the stage opening the show with “Take It Away” by the Used. With several hundred in attendance including many friends and family of the band, Gary took to the opportunity to set up a raffle to win a pair of Riot Fest tickets. Though the raffle was real and the actual winner was announced later in the evening, the outcome was pre-planned as a set up for Gary to propose to his girlfriend (she said yes), who are now happily married for several years. The night was a complete success and the rest is history from here.
LOUDERNOW went on to play dozens of shows from 2016-2018. Setting the tone for the band’s future, the group performed all over the Chicagoland area and the midwestern states including areas like Chicago, Peoria, Carbondale, Indianapolis, Madison. Milwaukee, and more. The band’s popularity grew nearly overnight as LOUDERNOW was the very first emo and pop-punk cover band (at least to our knowledge) and it reignited a passion for emo/pop-punk music and the idea of cover bands in the hearts of many young adults.
LOUDERNOW inspired many musicians in Chicagoland to start their own cover bands and showcased an idea that there could be many different and exciting cover bands concepts out there that had not yet been seen or explored before. It was a very exciting time for the Chicagoland music scene.
With every beginning there is always an ending. In spring of 2018, Gary Weissmann decided that it was time for him to part ways with the group as his wife and he were pregnant and he wanted to focus on growing his family. Being the closest of friends, Davey Carlson wasn’t sure he wanted to move forward with the group without Gary, but also had planned on chasing ambitions of moving to California later in the year as it was. For Davey, the timing just felt right to also exit the group.
On June 29th, 2018, the original line up of LOUDERNOW took to the stage for the last time. The last performance was at the Lisle Eyes to The Skies festival. In a very subtle passing of the torch performance, American English, which was Dan’s fathers band, opened up the event. LOUDERNOW took to the stage and did what they do best. Though bitter sweet, the LOUDERNOW bandmates embraced in their successes and parted ways. The five all still friends to this day.
After a few years of parenthood, Gary went on create a new Chicagoland based 90’s Tribute band called How Rude! The band features Gary and his brother Mark Weissman also from The Fastest Kid Alive, Tyler Kent of Made Avail, and Jake Bouquet. Davey Carlson still currently resides in Los Angeles pursuing singing/songwriting and photography.
CHAPTER 2
The remaining original members of LOUDERNOW went on a search to find prospective candidates to fit the band's model and began reaching out to their Chicagoland music pools. This ultimately led to Scott Klonowski of Daylight Dawns and Matt Balhan of Face the Fire joining the group. Dan had connected with a friend of his who said “hey, I know a guy who might be a great fit.” He connected Dan and Scott and they began initially conversing with the idea of LOUDERNOW. Scott had actually attended the very first LOUDERNOW show and even mentioned how that particular show changed his perspective on cover bands. From there a rehearsal out date was scheduled to feel everything out.
In this time, Keaton had connected with his friend Sarah, who through friendship knew Matt. Matt and Keaton connected and everything seemed like a good fit so Matt was also set scheduled for a rehearsal date to see how everything jelled. Matt and Scott had actually played dozens of shows with each other’s original bands in the past and were actually friends for very long time prior to LOUDERNOW.
The two were at a local show and began conversing about how they were trying out for a new band in a few weeks, but didn’t overshare any details. Hilariously enough, neither of them knew that they were both trying out for LOUDERNOW until they showed up at the rehearsal building. Once the other members of the band learned that Matt and Scott were friends and had come up together in the scene, instantly they knew it was the right fit for the band.
With only a couple of months hiatus in between discovering the new members of LOUDERNOW, the band began rehearsing and getting caught up to speed. Shortly after, the first show with the new lineup was announced. On November 16th, 2018, LOUDERNOW returned to the stage, much to the excitement of their audience. After a well received return, the band took to the stages all over the midwest once again.
From 2018 - 2020, the band began expanding their performance radius, performance schedule, and their audience to all different areas. Some of which included Chicagoland, Peoria, Madison, Milwaukee, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, and more. The band performed on some incredible stages abundant with musician history.
After dozens of incredible nights of singing and screaming along with their fans their collective favorite emo and pop-punk songs, the band was met with a bump in the road as every artist does in time…In January 2020, Covid-19 hit the United States, abruptly ending all performance schedules for all musicians. All performance dates were canceled and the band took an extended time off for safety reasons. Once things finally began opening up again and the time felt right LOUDERNOW returned to the stage with all the necessary precautions in place.
Moving forward, post Covid-19, LOUDERNOW kept a fairly busy performance calendar and kept up with their usual schedule performing around the area.
Throughout the next coming months the band’s performance schedule began to slow down a bit as there were a variety of moving parts internally within the band. In the 4th quarter of 2023, Scott decided to part ways with the band to focus on his personal life and his upcoming marriage to his wonderful fiance Candace. Scott took the stage with and shared some incredible and bitter sweet moments with the band’s second family in Peoria and closing out his five year tenure on New Years Eve at LOUDERNOW’s homebase of 115 Bourbon St.
Scott is currently enjoying his freetime while planning for his upcoming wedding with Candace. Scott is also performing regularly at Moraine Valley Church and is an active leader and participant in his youth group. Scott is active and connects with his fans via his Instagram account. Scott is truly a significant part of who LOUDERNOW is and often thought of with fondness in our hearts.
CHAPTER 3
A week after the New Year’s Eve performance, LOUDERNOW began teasing a new frontman and a few very simple reminders that the band is not going anywhere. This began with a simple post stating, “This band will outlive us all. #emoisforever”. This would ultimately lead to the announcement of the new frontman.
After a week or so of playful teasers the group announced that Kyle Dee of MAKEOUT and The Frantic was the new frontman of LOUDERNOW. “Growing up on pop punk anthems and immersing himself in the heartfelt narratives of emo music, Kyle is the living embodiment of the sounds that have defined these genres and we are very excited to kick off 2024 with him at center stage!”
Keeping true to the band’s original mission statement of “Close friends from established original bands celebrating their love for the emo & pop-punk artists who helped shape who they are today as both people and musicians,” Kyle is a perfect fit as members of LOUDERNOW and Kyle all having been friends for a decade or longer and all came up in the local music scene together.
Often recognized from countless performances including Vans Warped Tour, headlining slots on various national tours, and shows all around the country, some consider Kyle to be a founding father of Chicagoland’s pop-punk scene. Kyle is also the frontman of the nationally recognized pop-punk artist: MAKEOUT, whose noteworthy single "Crazy" has over 20 million plays on Spotify. Additionally, Kyle also earned notoriety from his celebrated history as a founding member of the Chicago based punk rock band, The Frantic, in which he toured nationwide several times over as well as earning his "golden ticket" on American Idol.
After returning from being on tour on January 2nd with only a couple of weeks of preparation, Kyle worked tirelessly to prepare himself for his first Emo and Pop Punk Night with LOUDERNOW. On January 20th, 2024, LOUDERNOW took to the stage with Kyle at the helm at Decibels at On The Roxx in Portage, Indiana. The energy was infectious and the LOUDERNOW’s fans embraced Kyle with open arms. The event was a success with a packed calendar ahead, the band launched the 2024 #𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖎𝖘𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖔𝖚𝖗. 💔🖤💀🥀.
With a busy calendar the band has announced dates all around the midwest and is gearing up for some exciting new endeavors in 2024! Though 2024 is only a quarter of the way through, the band has many announcements and exciting things in the works. Be sure to follow the band on social media and check in at: LOUDERNOWchicago.com to stay up to date with the band’s happenings.
LOUDERNOW was created by five friends who wanted to celebrate their inspiration of emo and pop punk music who love to perform and share their talents with others. The community built around LOUDERNOW only makes what the band does more important. LOUDERNOW isn’t just a band, it is a family, it is friendships, it is a support system, and for many it is a therapeutic outlet to escape from the challenges presented to them in their daily lives.
The band constantly hears from their fans that they are ready for their “emo therapy” as they call it, referring to the band's performance and open conversations after the show. LOUDERNOW is composed of some of the most approachable people you will ever meet.
With a full calendar of performance dates, LOUDERNOW looks forward to seeing all of you on the road at the 2024 #𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖎𝖘𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖔𝖚𝖗 continues! With many more performances soon to be announced, the band plans on traveling and hosting as many live events as possible for the forseeable future!
Come to an event, sing at the top of your lungs, dance until you can’t, stop and chat with the band, and let your inhibitions free at LOUDERNOW’s Emo and Pop-Punk Nights.