Few people can walk away from a Kieskagato show without a strong opinion of some sort. When Kieskagato starts to play, everything changes. The music is so much bigger than anyone expected: a wildly exotic, yet intimately familiar spectrum of intricately arranged sound incorporating equal parts Pavement and Duke Ellington, Tortoise and Miles Davis, Radiohead, Elvis Costello, Charles Ives, Sunny Day Real Estate, etc, etc… Not to say that Kieskagato simply copies the great ones of our era—mind you, all of these sounds have been mashed together into just the first song of the set! Suddenly Adam is playing his bass with one hand and playing trumpet with the other, Dave is playing organ and trumpet, Josh is playing some dirty guitar and singing his heart out, and drummer Bryan is blanketing the whole stage with his energy, yet holds his triangle beater in his mouth so that he can delicately nail the approaching break in the song. As the songs go by, no one in the room seems to be talking, drinking, or even using the bathroom. When the set is over, no one really feels like talking for a few minutes.

Long ago, from the mid 1990’s central Wisconsin underage scene, Kieskagato arose for the sole purpose of covering Nirvana tunes and meeting girls. Little did they know that in 10 years, they’d be touring the country with a band name that no one could pronounce [it’s key – ska – got- oh], and playing an amalgamation of indie-rock, jazz and latin music that critics would describe as occupying “such a vast sonic scale that it is hard to classify.” Whether due to the initial group dynamics, lots of hard work, or shear luck, Kieskagato has dramatically morphed into one of the most unique, challenging, and musically rewarding bands on the rise in America today.

Much touring yielded material for the band’s 2003 Live at the Zebra Lounge and attracted the support of Portland based Iconic Rocket Records. Kieskagato’s second studio full length You, Are The One, Who Can (Iconic Rocket 2004) did better than anyone expected, receiving significant college radio play across the country and selling steadily both online and at shows. Some highlights of this period included opening for V2 Records artist Charlie Mars in Minneapolis, Subpop Records' Rogue Wave in Portland, and Barsuk's Aquaduct in Bellingham, WA. In Septemeber and October 2004, Kieskagato recorded the 5 song EP consisting of all reworked and rearranged older material. Helping the band to solidify a communal music writing process, understand studio procedure more thoroughly, and to collectively stretch their ears much further than ever before, the EP project turned out be a genuine turning point for Kieskagato. Released independently on March 18th 2005, the record has recieved fantastic reviews from many who had previously been skeptical of Kieskagato, as well as achieving solid college radio airplay that one wouldn't expect from an independent release.