The lead singers of the bands Antenna Man and Gus Moon grabbed a beer as they watched The Lean and Plenty finish its Thursday night show at the Player’s Pub.
The sun began to set as the two admitted they weren’t sure if the other members of their bands had arrived at the venue yet.
In a few hours, they, too, would take the stage.
“We might have to form a super group,” Gus Moon singer Anthony Mullis said.
The show was part of Antenna Man’s regional tour before the release of its debut album “Elaine Jr.” later this year.
Lead guitarist Kendall Ludwig previously played a show at Player’s Pub with another band.
“We knew we wanted to stop through Bloomington,” Mark Wolven, the face of the band, said. “And he knew the venue so it just kind of happened that way.”
Wolven said right now the goal for Antenna Man is to get its name out to the public.
“We want to be able to go back to all the towns that we hit (on tour) and actually have people show up for the album,” he said.
Formed in 2014, the band is relatively new.
The latest addition to the group, keyboardist Morgan Evans, joined the band this spring. At just 17, Evans is the youngest band member.
“I work at a vintage music shop, and one of the guitar teachers there helped record the album, so that’s kind of how I became involved in the band,” Evans said.
Evans said he enjoys playing live music and was excited for the show.
Although the band played unreleased songs from its upcoming album, Wolven said the songs are not new.
“All the songs existed,” he said. “We’re basically just putting arrangements to maybe 60 or 70 songs that I’ve written over the years.”
Wolven said he doesn’t really consider himself a writer. He said he chose the name Antenna Man for the band in part because he felt like an antenna picking up songs instead of writing them himself.
“I’ve never really like crafted a story or made anything up,” he said. “It’s basically like — you know how you get a song that you know stuck in your head?” he said. “It’s just like that where a song will play in my head. It won’t go away so I just eventually sing it.”
Wolven said he feels compelled to make music, despite the fact that it does not make much financial sense.
“It’s putting a lot of faith into something. It’s putting a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of relationships and people’s jobs on hold for something that you don’t know what you’re going to gain from it,” he said. “Something’s pushing me to do it, and I don’t know exactly what.”
Wolven said he gets nervous before shows but feels more comfortable playing with a band.
“It feels really scary to just be playing songs to people,” he said. “I’m mostly excited about getting the music into people’s houses. I’m just the kind of person that just sort of goes with their gut or what they’re feeling instead of what’s logical.”
The venue was full and the sun had long set when Antenna Man, with all of its members present, took the stage.
