Biography

“Clementine is a grunge/emo/punk band originally from Rockford, IL, now relocated to Milwaukee, WI. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Joe Altamore, lead guitarist Bennett Gillies, bassist Mackenzie (Mack) Sima, and drummer Oliver Wink. 
 Probably the most energetic band of the evening, a mosh pit began up front during Clementine’s set, making the floor wobble. 
 ‘Some dude kicked my pedal board, but it stayed on so that was pretty tight,’ Gillies chuckled. Clementine have been a band since the late 2000’s, originally Altamore, Sima, and Gillies with drummer Max Christofferson. They moved to Milwaukee for college, and prefer Milwaukee’s music scene for its opportunities and voluntary support from the scene. Their first show here was in JJ Kaiser’s basement. 
 Altamore gave some backstory. “I think what really spurred it was, I had an ex-girlfriend that I was dating on and off for like eight years and she’d asked me why we didn’t go with the name “Clementine”, and so I’d think about it and flirt with the idea. She died in a car accident and it was horrible… I think that was what solidified us playing as Clementine. When shitty things like that happen to you, you have no choice. You can either implode or you can do something constructive, and this is what made sense to us.” 
 Altamore shares what the band’s working on now. “We have two LPs, and one was originally going to be two EPs. We’re releasing that first one with singles and we’re excited to do that.”