Rather than begging for a major label to swoop their band, the members of Milwaukee-based nu-metal band You’re Pretty are doing their own thing and doing just fine.

compared to such bands as Tool, the Deftones and A Perfect Circle, the members of You’re Pretty have garnered plenty of attention from major labels that unfortunately don’t know exactly what they should do with the band.

“Everybody’s confused. They don’t know where they’re going to be, and they’re frightened to do anything,” lead vocalist Beth Musolff says about the record executives that have gotten in touch with the band.

Unfortunately, with all the recent mergers, most of the A&R people that have contacted the band have told them to be cautious because of all the changes in the record business.

Musolff drives the band with her Tori-Amos-gone-crazy vocals. She sings mostly about personal relationships and finding her place in the world. However, she hasn’t yet turned her wrathful writing toward her dislike for the business side of music.

“There is this other aspect in dealing with a label,” Musolff says. “They’re in it for themselves. They’re looking for the single, the package. You’re their puppet.”

In fact, Musolff is convinced that the band could be just as successful on its own, without the support of a label. Although the band spent some of the fall months in L.A. showcasing, Musolff believes that because of the Internet, the band could function successfully on its own, only on a smaller scale.

“We’re seeing where it might go,” Musolff says. “We’re kind of searching for a label, and we have the tools to do it. It’s only more money if they chose to promote us.”

However, don’t think the band is ruling out the possibility of signing with a major.

Most labels don’t know exactly where to place You’re Pretty. Musolff’s hope is that bands like the Deftones and A Perfect Circle can pave the way for her band and others who are starting to play this kind of music.

“If the right deal comes along [we would sign], “Musolff says. “If you promise to promote us then yes we would.”

For now, however, the band is spending its time playing shows and enjoying the side of the music business it knows best. The band has done fine so far, producing two of its own albums, selling more than 1,000 copies and playing shows nationwide.

“We put on a show. If a band is just going to stand there and sing, you can just put in the disc,” Musolff says. “We have a very emotional live show. Everybody on stage is exciting to watch.”

The band has been praised for the energetic live show that it will be bringing to the M-Shop for the third time in the band’s short touring career.

Just by listening to Musolff’s voice, what she’s feeling in her songs quickly becomes apparent. It’s her seething voice that creates the atmosphere that is You’re Pretty and one that Musolff stresses is not fake.”It’s all real. I relate to the feeling that I got when I wrote the song,” Musolff says. “I’ll relate to every song differently. I don’t think that I’m ever acting.”

The band truly believes it can be successful on its own. With such small distribution, the band has reached fans as far away as Russia and Bulgaria, where one fan had to resort to the black market for a copy of the band’s album. The band has already gained a nationwide following rather quickly, and Musolff attributes this to a lot of things.

“People have been helping us out coast to coast and word of mouth. Of course the Internet has a lot do with it,” Musolff says.

At the rate the band has grown thus far, using the Internet may be its best decision. That way Musolff and company won’t have to become “puppets” to the major labels.