Collections of Colonies of Bees Delivers a Masterpiece by Recreating and Revitalizing Their Sound

Over the past twenty years guitarist Chris Rosenau has used his project Collections of Colonies of Bees to experiment with creating lush, textured, and nuanced soundscapes.  The band has evolved tremendously since its inception, paving new ground with well-layered instrumental numbers. If there is one thing that is consistent about Collections of Colonies of Bees as a musical project is that it is a group that continues to evolve by recreating and redefining its sound, and is never afraid of change in pursuit of making art that is both esthetically pleasing to the listener as well as creative and fresh for the artists.  

Currently, Collections of Colonies of Bees is comprised of Ben Derickson, Chris Rosenau, Daniel Spack, Matt Skemp, and Marielle Allschwang— and is making perhaps its biggest jump yet- adding vocals into the mix.  Marielle Allschwang, whose deeply emotive and gorgeous vocals have stood out in her work with Americana outfit Hello Death, along with several other projects, has added yet another instrument to the Collections of Colonies of Bees hive.  While vocal arrangements are new to the ensemble’s sound, they fit like a glove thanks to drummer Ben Derickson’s rig that helps pair Allschwang’s vocals with Rosenau's guitar grooves and has helped make the band’s latest release, Hawaii, a true masterpiece album- showcasing an incarnation of Collections of Colonies of Bees as fresh and innovative as ever.  

Rosenau and his group received some marquee sets recently.  Some of these have included a late afternoon set at Eaux Claires III in 2017 where the band debuted material from their latest release Hawaii.  In addition, the ensemble performed a jaw dropping opening set for Bon Iver’s For Emma: 10 Years sold-out show at the BMO Harris Bradley Center this past February. With an amazing new record out and sold-out gigs in Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Chicago touring with the indie pop-electronic darlings Sylvan Esso (which contain former Collections of Colonies of Bees keyboardist Nick Sanborn), 2018 finds Collections of Colonies of Bees on the verge of breaking though to a wider audience showcasing their art of soundscapes to a whole new group of fans.

Recently, MKE Rocks had a chance to catch up with Chris Rosenau to talk about the band, its new record, and the evolution of music in Milwaukee and beyond.

MKE Rocks: You have an amazing new record, Hawaii, that was just released.  What are you most proud of about this record?

Rosenau: I think the total reinvention of the band is something that I’m really proud of.  There are two key factors that contribute to this. The first is the vocal aspect-- clearly that has had a huge impact on our sound as well as how we approach song writing.  I’m pretty proud of that because I think we took an approach that fits with the aesthetic of what we’ve historically done as Collections of Colonies of Bees. We didn’t just start by having someone sing.  Instead we invented a new instrument for Marielle to perform with. I think it’s really resonating with people and is fun to see her vocals pair with my guitar work and function in many interesting loops as part of our collective sound.  The second thing that I am really proud of is that Ben Derickson and I came up with a new guitar rig where I can set the loops that you hear at the start of the songs on my guitar. The vocals and loops performed off of my guitar have made a significant contribution to the overall sound on the record.

MKE Rocks: As a listener, Hawaii functions very well as a whole-piece from start to finish with recurring themes and sounds that pop up in different places.  When creating Hawaii did you envision it as a larger piece of music?

Rosneau: The simple answer is yes!  All of the songs were originally created solely to perform at the third Eaux Claires music festival in 2017. Since we had a finite goal it really added to the cohesiveness of the project.  The material for Hawaii was written over a couple of months instead of a couple of years.  All of the players were working towards the same goal and mindset at the same time, which helped to create a very fluid and unified sound throughout the record.

MKE Rocks: With your eclectic ensemble of musicians, how do you go about the songwriting process?  

photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch

Rosenau: Throughout much of my life, my natural inclination has been to start the songs and write a lot of my parts first-- kind of wanting to be in control of the whole songwriting process.  However, as I’ve learned over many years of doing this, my original thought process is the complete polar opposite approach of how you should write a song.

I think for me, in general, over the past 10 years or so, I’ve definitely gotten better at understanding the extreme amount of talent that surrounds me, and I have started relying on my friends that are in these bands to make the music sound way better than how I originally imagined it.  As an ensemble of musicians we are constantly reworking and tweaking things to make them sound the best we think they can.

MKE Rocks: Many members of Collections of Colonies of Bees have also been part of other bands linked to  Eaux Claires curator Justin Vernon, and to other bands in Milwaukee. How has the Eaux Claires community of musicians and musical community of Milwaukee impacted and influenced you and the group?

Rosenau: I have been a musician in Milwaukee for over twenty years.  What’s always struck me has been the collaborative approach that everyone has taken in Milwaukee.  As long as I’ve been playing, the total spirit of collaboration happening in Milwaukee was different than some of the scenes found in other cities we visited.  There were always people making music together in Milwaukee and bands take an active interest and pride in helping one another out. When I met Justin Vernon, it was 5 years before Bon Iver existed, and we played many shows with DeYarmond Edison.  It started way back at this time where we shared the same collaborative effort of having musicians sit in on each others’ sets between our band and Justin’s. We wanted to expose others to bands that no one had heard of yet. The Eaux Claires festival project is definitely the culmination of this collaborative spirit that has been part of Justin Vernon’s schema as a musician since his early days.  Eaux Claires has really solidified the sense of collaboration and spirit of bands working together.

In terms of helping each other out as bands, it’s been just part of what we do since our early days playing and creating music.  When we were in a band called Pele, back what seems like a thousand years ago, good friends of ours, The Promise Ring brought us on tour.  When Volcano Choir (a band featuring Justin Vernon and Collections of Colonies of Bees) went on tour, we invited two good friends of ours, Nick Sanborn and Amelia Meath to come out, who many folks had never heard of. Nowadays, Slyvan Esso is selling out great venues and have us along for their midwest tour. The scene is very collaborative and inclusive and we honestly just want to get good people to discover and enjoy good tunes. In Wisconsin it’s this huge generational machine that is trying to help us get recognition in both the United States and the greater world.  

photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch

MKE Rocks:  You recently have landed some high-profile gigs, including opening for Bon Iver in February, and a sold-out midwest tour opening for Sylvan Esso this summer, including a two-night run at the Pabst Theater this weekend.  Can you comment on how you approach these shows which will have many fans in attendance who may not have experienced Collections of Colonies of Bees before?

Rosenau:  There are two approaches that we take, and we have to walk a tightrope between these two approaches.  On one side, we want to use the technology that we used to make the record to ensure that the listener at the performance experiences the full record.  On the other side, the primary focus is us really loving playing these songs and that doesn’t happen when you are too preoccupied with tech. From my perspective we do as much as we can tech-wise to recreate the songs but the main focus is enjoying what we are doing.  The spirit of the song is always what’s most important.

If you are lucky enough to catch Collectives of Colonies of Bees opening for Sylvan Esso this Saturday (July 21st) or Sunday (July 22nd) at the Pabst Theater, make sure to get there early for some great tunes and surprises from Collections of Colonies of Bees-- a truly unique and innovative ensemble that helps both recreate and revitalize its sound.