Queen of Peace School Graduates Form Popular Indie-Rock Band

by Tom Martinelli (’63)

A chance meeting in the ball pit at the westside McDonald’s Restaurant in 2000 when they were five years old has led to a lifelong friendship and a up and coming band for Teddy Mathews and Henry Stoehr. The two musicians graduated together from Queen of Peace School in 2008 and moved on to Madison West High School, graduating in 2012. While taking music lessons at the now closed Good ‘N Loud Music Store on University Avenue, the two bonded with Alex Leeds, another West High student. Then, while students at the University of Wisconsin, Mathews and Stoehr paths crossed with singer Emily Massey. Massey, a Madison East High School graduate and daughter of musician Mike Massey, the front man and lead singer for the popular 1980’s punk-rock band Chaser, took guitar lessons at the eastside Good ‘N Loud. Their indie-rock band Slow Pulp was formed when they were all in college in 2015 with Massey the lead singer and guitar player; Leeds on

bass guitar and singer; Stoehr on guitar; and Mathews playing drums. With Leeds attending school in Minneapolis, the group traveled back and forth between Wisconsin and Minnesota for performances.

After being split up for a few years attending college, the group moved together to Chicago in 2018, to work at “money-making jobs”, and look for a major break in their musical career. In October of 2020, the band released their first full-length album Moveys. The album received many positive reviews but with clubs and venues closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were not able to perform the album’s songs before live audiences. Being separated by stay-at-home orders, the group was able to focus on songwriting and recording songs for their future album.

The band got a “warm-up” opportunity when they opened for the band Phoebe Bridges at Breese Stevens Field in September of 2021. Their next break came in November of 2021 when they launched their first national tour beginning with a performance at the Majestic Theatre in Madison.

In September 2023, the band signed with a new recording company ANTI- and released their second studio album called Yard. Variety Magazine called the album “one of 2023’s best rock records”. The band began an ambitious tour schedule in May that includes a total of thirty-one stops in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

The Slow Pulp website can be found at: https://www.slowpulp.com/

and their Facebook page is at: https://www.facebook.com/slowpulpband/

Listen to their Moveys album ten tracks at:

https://slowpulp.bandcamp.com/album/moveys

And the ten tracks on Yard at:

https://slowpulp.bandcamp.com/album/yard