Royal Purple

Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: submitted BoxKar band members perform at a past show. The band includes members Chris Szebeni, Bryan Bremer, Matt Hammen, Brian Saunders and Matt Gieseke.

Whether in the mood for an acoustic lullaby, or a twist on energetic rock-pop, the Down Under will hit both taste buds tomorrow night.

The Student Entertainment Awareness League will present Whitewater's very own junior Cole Simmons at 7 p.m., followed by BoxKar, a locally successful rock band.

Simmons will perform a mix of covers and original songs on his acoustic guitar.
Students expecting conventional rock music will be pleasantly surprised to hear the twist BoxKar has put on Midwestern rock. From endlessly catchy upbeat ballads to rock-pop anthems, BoxKar has a tune for everyone. They have successfully done the job of fusing classic rock-and-roll with a slight southern twang, as well as injecting their own influences into the fray.

"It's very upbeat," says SEAL entertainment intern Kat Shanahan, "It's certainly not Jack Johnson."

According to their Web site, BoxKar has been invited to play with mainstream successes like Third Eye Blind and Everclear, and has already shared the stage with performers such as 3 Doors Down and Fuel. They have also played at President Bush's inauguration in 2005 as an unsigned band, giving 10,000 lucky rockers a taste of their music.

Boxkar has undergone many lineup changes since first forming in 2001, but one of the things that remains unchanged is frontman Chris Szebeni and his rhythm guru Bryan Bremer, who also plays guitar for the band.

Together, Szebeni and Bremer have collaborated on many songs together, keeping the band firmly grounded in its influences and unique sound throughout the years. Bremer, an avid listener of bands such as Matchbox Twenty and the Goo Goo Dolls, can be credited along with Szebeni for the band's unorthodox tunes that don't fit squarely into any one genre.

The band's most recent CD, Comin' Out Swingin', has already achieved success, winning the Wisconsin Area Music Industry's 2007 Award for Album of the Year.

Whereas some bands experience a rise-and-fall trend of success when their second and third CD's come out, BoxKar has managed to keep churning out hit after hit.

Their top 10 songs on the iTunes database consists of five songs from their self-titled debut, and five songs from Comin' Out Swingin'. BoxKar's third album is slated for release in late spring or early summer.

The uppity nature of BoxKar's music is sure to have you tapping your feet and bobbing your head all night, which is exactly what SEAL is going for.

"We'll have three to four people total staffing the event," says SEAL entertainment intern Derek Roe, "Plus, we'd love to see people get up and dance."

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