Minor Theft is a band made up of recent graduates and current students at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. The band’s members include bassist Samuel Baudek, guitarists Shannon Gilmast and Danny Wessberg, singer Kaley Poole and drummer Dylan Stukins. The Racquet Press sat down with Baudek, Gilmast and Wessberg to discuss the birth of Minor Theft.
Minor Theft formed officially in the fall of 2023 after seeing Beauford, another La Crosse area band, perform a house show during Oktoberfest. The band began with Wessberg and Gilmast before adding Stukins. They originally had a different singer and bassist before both left for their own personal reasons.
Enter Baudek. “I met Dylan [Stukins] just at…a jam session here…Dylan was playing drums there. I had seen him play saxophone before, but I didn’t know he played drums…he sat down and started playing chords on the piano, and I’m like, ‘Man, this guy is really cool,’” said Baudek. “After the rehearsal, Dylan was like…we need a bassist, can you be the bassist? It was perfect timing.”
Wessberg explained that after their original singer left, it only made sense for Poole to come on board.
“Kaley [Poole] had always been on stage with us…our first show was her basement…it was an obvious decision,” said Wessberg.
“She’s just such an amazing vocalist…just hear her sing, you’re like, ‘Okay, it’s obvious she should be in this,’” said Baudek.
The band members explained that they got their name from a simple brainstorming session. “It took like all night just trying to come up with things that weren’t used,” said Gilmast. “I think Minor Theft was kind of Dylan’s idea because…great composers steal musical ideas.”
“I really like the idea of the name Minor Theft because I do think that’s all of what music is. All the music I play, all the music I listen to, that is inspiring what I play and what I bring to the band,” explained Baudek. “Our music is a culmination of everything that we’ve heard and experienced and just taking just a little bit, stealing just a little bit of minor theft from everyone culminates to this collective.”
Minor Theft plays a variety of styles, but all the members agreed that the band has an indie rock sound and feel. When playing shows, the group tries to find covers they enjoy performing that are also songs the audience wants to hear. They specifically mentioned Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” and Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” as two of their favorites.
“We definitely add stuff…there’s even some songs like…we did some Talking Heads songs way back when and we played that kind of recently,” said Gilmast. “We do recycle some stuff, but we do add and try to learn new songs and write stuff as well.”
“We’re always just trying to like, every show, ‘How do we add more songs and switch it around, so people don’t get the same experience twice?’” said Wessberg.
While the band enjoys performing covers, their true passion lies in recording original material.
“The originals are my favorite to play because there’s just no better feeling than taking something that you created and performing it and seeing everyone have fun,” said Baudek. “Then people starting to sing the lyrics back to you, you’re like, ‘Dude, this is incredible.’”
The band members feel they’ve grown significantly since they began playing together. They explained how they’ve learned a lot about each other and simply become more comfortable players because of their experience.
“Just as we’ve been playing together for the past couple of years, it’s like, we start to write more, we start to learn more complex parts,” said Gilmast. “I think we have grown a lot. I feel like every day goes by, you’re learning something new.”
The members of Minor Theft all balance their jobs and school with their music, but they have a lot of passion for the band and feel that music will always be a part of their lives. They don’t know exactly what the future will look like, but they know they want to keep Minor Theft in that future for as long as they can.
“Minor Theft will be in flux as to what we look like, but Minor Theft will always be there. We’re always going to be playing until we stop having fun,” said Wessberg. “We don’t know how far it will go or when it will end, but we’re just going to keep chasing the energy until it’s gone.”
Minor Theft’s upcoming shows include April 4 at Alpine Inn and Popcorn Tavern on May 3. They are also getting ready to release a new song titled “Elisa.” You can follow them for more updates on Instagram @minor_theft.
