Reigniting the Furnace

For those familiar with Central Wisconsin’s turn-of-the-century punk scene, musician Tim Benn has exciting news.

This Friday, “your favorite central Wisconsin power pop punk-ish band from 2000-2003,” Big, Big Furnace (B2F) will return to the city where it all began, with a performance slated not for their former venue of choice — the now-closed Rockwater Cyber Cafe — but for an unconventional concert venue: Coral Lanes, a bowling alley in Rothschild.

“[It used to be] you could go out every Friday and Saturday and there were these cool young bands playing at Rockwater,” Benn explained. In the two decades since, he said, the area’s music scene has dried up, alongside the community’s apparent interest in live events. As a result, B2F struggled to find a venue in Wausau willing to host them.

“We were tied really closely to Stevens Point, where it seemed like everyone was in a band,” Benn said. "I would say the music scene [back then] was certainly more robust than it is now.”

All the same, Benn is excited to bring the band back to their hometown.

“If you didn’t see us back then, come see us now,” he said.

“We’re just one band in millions and we’re just trying to make a wave in our little pond, and we just want people to catch that wave.”

Consisting of members Tim Benn, Dan Doepke and Matt Loos, Big, Big Furnace formed in Wausau in 1999, taking inspiration from other Midwestern punk bands of the day, such as The Promise Ring and Jimmy Eat World.

“That’s who we tried to be,” said Benn. “We loved that stuff… That’s who we tried to emulate.”

B2F disbanded in 2003.

Afterward, Doepke and Loos formed a band based out of Chicago called Divebar, according to the most recent blog post on the band’s former website, dated Feb. 5, 2004. Benn, meanwhile, got started on building a recording studio in his and his wife’s basement.

And then 20 years passed. Loos moved to Michigan. Benn got a job in insurance. Doepke remains in Chicago.

So how did they get the band back together?

“It’s a good story, but it’s a sad story,” said Benn. 

Before B2F, Benn was in a “heavy, psych goth punk” band called Fuzzdolly. Formed in 1994, Fuzzdolly became a staple of central Wisconsin’s music scene until they eventually disbanded.

“I’ve been playing nonstop [since I was 20],” Benn explained. “I’ve been in a dozen bands.” 

After Fuzzdolly broke up, Benn lost touch with the other members.

It was the death of former Fuzzdolly member Dan Dieterich in 2021 that brought the rest of the group back together.

“[Dieterich] was an amazing, amazing player,” Benn said. “I hadn’t talked to the guys in that band since they broke up — probably 20, 25 years.” 

As the former bandmates caught up, Benn mentioned the recording studio that he’d built in his home – remember that blog post? — as a treat to himself during the COVID-19 lockdown. 

“That studio was something I dreamed of building,” he said. 

One thing led to another, and soon enough, Fuzzdolly had set up a reunion concert at Madison’s High Noon Saloon.

“Everything I do goes, like, 100 miles per hour,” Benn explained.

“Then, [at the reunion concert,] the guys from Big, Big [Furnace] came in,” said Benn. “I hadn’t seen those faces in over 20 years. I was like, ‘Dan, Matt, what are you guys doing here?’

“And they said, ‘We couldn’t miss this.’”

B2F released their first album since their breakup in 2003 last year, a four-song EP titled 20 Solid Gold Classics.

“That’s just kind of our feel,” Benn said of the title. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously. We’re serious musicians, but we’re goofy, tongue-in-cheek guys, and I think that shows.”

Later that year, the band released a Christmas single titled “Christmas Without You,” and Benn said they have another album’s-worth of songs ready to be mastered for a release this year, with more releases to come.

“When I surround myself with these guys, it’s like gasoline and matches,” said Benn. “There’s a fire here.”

He added, “I’m just glad to have pulled them together again.”

Benn described B2F’s sound as “timeless.”

“It’s not, like, dad rock. The shows are high energy. We’re funny — the guys might not think I’m funny, but I think I’m funny. We’re goofy, and that’s what people love about our shows.”

B2F is one of three bands that Benn is currently a member of, alongside Fuzzdolly and an acoustic folk group called Sarah Crow and the Strangers.

“I pour my heart and soul into [making music,]” Benn said. “That studio was something I dreamed of building. I feel like I’ve got a skillset and a great personality, and people like to work with me, and I just want to give and work with other bands.”

He added that when people ask him to play music together after finding out he plays an instrument they’re looking for, he “can’t say no.”

Big, Big Furnace will perform at Coral Lanes LLC in Rothschild this Friday, March 14, at 8 p.m. The show is open to all ages. 

BB2’s music can be found on all major streaming platforms, as can Fuzzdolly’s and Sarah Crow and the Strangers’.