Student Musician Becomes a Basement and Attic Sensation

The Saint Kate Hotel lobby was buzzing with excitement as young adults from Milwaukee’s East Side neighborhood and other surrounding areas gathered in the gallery to see a familiar face perform a live performance with his full band.  

The crowd is anticipating the performance of their favorite songs like “Yellow Weekends” and “Granola Glasses.” Parker Schultz is a junior business student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee but once he picks up his guitar, the audience calls him and his band mates Social Cig. Fans of the band are not used to watching a show in a formal setting like a hotel gallery. This small following is used to crowding together in a neighbor’s attic or basement in order to hear the songs they love most.

Schultz started taking guitar lessons when he was 10 years old and continued to learn and perfect his techniques while falling in love with his newfound musical abilities. He then formed a band with his older brother.

“Then we broke up, and I was the young guy. I was a sophomore when everyone graduated so then after that, I kinda just started playing music alone just with my acoustic guitar and I really started pursuing it as something to do as of late,” said Schultz.

He started mixing different musical beats on his computer and eventually started writing his own lyrics to go with the music he created. He started releasing these tracks on SoundCloud and eventually made his music available for his listeners on Spotify and Apple Music. By advertising his brand on Instagram, he was able to promote his music under the name Arcilla Kid. Since releasing four singles under that name, Schultz decided to recraft his sound and image and now releases his music under the name of Social Cig.

Jenna Russell started attending house shows when Social Cig started doing live performances. She describes the house show scene as, “a room full of people who are ready to dance and just have a good ass time.” She said that the attic and basement spaces are small so standing room becomes crowded rather quickly. Despite the crowded space, she’s still able to enjoy herself and dance along to the various genres of local music because other show-goers are always “polite and super nice,” according to Russell.

Social Cig has been performing at as many shows as he can, but the stages he’s drawn to aren’t at the average Midwestern bar or coffee shop scene. Social Cig prefers to perform in the attic or basement of other local artist’s homes at, what Schultz refers to as, a “house show.” These shows are hosted in intimate spaces so that bands from all over the Midwest can interact with their audience members.

 “There’s definitely a cool niche that people kinda gravitate towards with this scene. It’s a really genuine scene. There hasn’t been one house show where I was like, ‘Damn, that was a terrible night.’ Everyone’s dancing and once they experience what it’s like then it’s like,” Schultz paused to find the right words. “You kinda get hooked.”

Since most are not familiar with a scene quite like the one found in the homes of students and community members, the artists themselves are in charge of advertising their brand and show dates. Schultz mentioned that he knows some artists who hand out flyers to their shows around their school’s campus and in their communities while others make their events more private. When asked about the exclusivity of these shows, Schultz said that there is no exclusivity to begin with.

“Everyone’s welcome for sure. It’s always a good time. Everyone’s welcome to party with us,” said Schultz with a laugh.