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Fueled by a mix of Ohio-bred natives and transplants from various metropolitan cities, Columbus, Ohio has a burgeoning music scene. The so-called monotony of the midwest has been jolted by one band in particular- Bummers.
Pumping out fresh new alt-rock sounds, this four-piece is revitalizing the ‘Buckeye’ state and with a full-length on the way the buzz is building.
GroundSounds recently caught up with frontman Jeff Pearl for an exclusive interview, despite their name you will not be bummed, check it out below.
For those just discovering Bummers how did you guys come together and start making music?
We’ve all been pretty good friends for a while. Chris & I met in 2nd grade when I saw him on the playground spitting Vanilla Ice. Steve & I met in college when he moved next door to my dudes in the OSU dorms. We bonded over blunts and Wu-Tang Clan. We all met Cody later on through work a couple years ago and knew he could rip. Steve, Chris & I went to a Night Moves show a little over a year ago and it struck a chord with us. We had all been in a band previously and started to think about possibly starting a new band but doing it our way. We drove back to my house & wrote 3 songs. We then started a guerilla propaganda movement hyping up the name in Columbus and all over the west coast during a vacation. It all started to build from there and each practice got better and better. We brought Cody in a couple weeks later and it was on. We haven’t looked back since.
How did you guys decide on the name Bummers?
After that Night Moves show we were sitting at the bar brainstorming band names ie. The Bulbs, The Stools, etc. Basically things from around the room. Then someone (I like to think it was me) said, “What about Bummers man. Life can be a big bummer sometimes”. We all kind of agreed that it sounded rad and that it represented our lives. It was honestly way quicker of a process than we thought.
You guys recently hit the stage at ComFest, can you tell us a little bit about the festival and your show?
Comfest was super rad. It’s been a staple of the Columbus scene for a long, long time. It’s all about local music, culture, & community. It’s a festival that bands always want to be a part of because the crowd is always good and the vibe always smooth. We ended up playing towards the end of the fest on Sunday but it worked out because the rain held off. I shredded a couple fingers on my right hand so I was blasting blood all over my guitar and the bass and probably onto some of the crowd. People were grooving and pretty lively so we were stoked to be a part of it. We even got to slang some merch from outside the van after the show, which never hurts the cause.
Can you tell us about the creative and writing process for the track “Thighs?”
Thighs was written on one take as an improvisational rant in about 25 seconds. We were practicing at a venue some of us work at and we had a sound guy showing a younger dude the ropes on the board. Chris started playing the baseline and then Cody joined in with the drum beat. I just stepped up the mic and let it rip. As soon as I finished the 1st line Steve came in with that surfy/Asian style riff. We all kind of hit the chorus randomly at the same time and there it was. We looked around and I told the young sound apprentice kiddingly, “that’s how it’s done man”. We knew we had something powerful there and it’s remained a favorite to play each night. It’s a song that let’s you vent. I want to people to feel the strain in my voice.
What do you guys enjoy most about Columbus, Ohio?
Columbus kind of has it all but isn’t overwhelming. We all live in areas surrounding downtown and anything you could want to do is within biking or walking distance. There are plenty of venues, food options, & trouble to get into that’s close. The people here are pretty rad too. They’ve all lived in other places like LA, NY, Portland, Seattle, etc but always seem to end up back here. I think the overall vibe of the city is what we like best. People are always wanting to improve Columbus. They take pride in it. I don’t think you see that all the time and it’s nice to see people caring about something.
What was it like working on your latest EP Hot Tub Hoagie Boys?
The EP was wild. We knew we had to get something recorded quickly so we could get the name out there so we contacted our friend Eric Cronstein at his studio The Tone Shoppe (now Oranjudio) and booked a day of recording (we were broke so it had to be done in a day). We brought a couple cases of brew and some handles of whiskey to help fine tune everything and just went for it. Hitting it off with the engineer is crucial and Eric was the perfect dude for the job. He kind of just let us do our thing. We wanted to track everything live because that’s where the magic happens. Recording to a click or coming in later to add guitar or bass has never made sense to us. There’s no way to get into it. You need to be locked in a room together and just get after it. As the session went on (and beers consumed) we started having friends roll in and it ended up being a nice little rager. If you get too serious and overthink the recording process it will show. You gotta keep it loose.
What do you guys enjoy most about performing live?
Good question. For me I like seeing reactions of the crowd and also the feeling of the performance. Each show is different so sometimes we’ll look out and there are people moshing and blasting all over. Other times it can be more tame and people are just grooving a bit, bobbing their heads, and dancing (safely). It’s interesting to see the crowd dynamic each show. For me, I kind of black out each show and it feels like a strange sort of trip, like a vision quest. It’s as if my body is there going through the motions but my mind is elsewhere. This really, really good place, this oasis, and I just don’t want it to end. I think a lot of musicians can relate to this and this is why we all do it. Performing live is a drug itself. It’s unlike anything else and keeps you hungry for more after each show.
What music are you guys currently listening to?
I think we all vary a bit when it comes to our backgrounds but I think we have been jamming similar things recently.
Chris: He’s in a big Mac Demarco phase right now (ain’t nothing wrong with that). He’s also been jamming Parquet Courts, Shakey Graves, Future Islands, Tweens (Cincy), Jacuzzi Boys, Dead Ghosts, Diarrhea Planet & King Khan.
Pearl (me): I’ve been going back to bands like Harlem, Girls, The Muslims and ripping the classics like Hendrix, Sabbath, The Grateful Dead, Marley, etc. I go through waves man. I will say that we all constantly jam The Growlers. For me it doesn’t get much better than that.
Steve: Steve is our low-fi connoisseur. He’s been listening and living this stuff since it arrived on the scene. I’m sure he’s listening to anything Ty Segall for sure (Fuzz, White Fence, etc) Parquet Courts, Mac Demarco, Tijuana Panthers, Women, Tomorrows Tulips, & Kevin Morby.
Cody: This dude is all over the place. Always has a new jam. He’s been jamming Riff Raff, Spoon, Wilco, Germs, and The Growlers. When he’s raging he’ll toss on some Diarrhea Plant to help get the blood flowing.
The list is long but there is so much goodness being pumped out right now it’s bananas.
What are Bummers currently working on? When should fans expect a new EP or album?
We actually have the full length complete and are about to start pressing it in the upcoming week. We are currently working on some new ones (about 5 or 6 solid rippers) to have on the side for some splits or another EP. We are hoping the full length is out in September if not earlier but this is the first record for us so who knows how long the process really is? There’s a lot of shit that goes into a record. We are also planning on a couple more videos being out in the next couple weeks. We are doing a sort of take-a-way show in our van called “Kolache Highway” where we are going to cruise around ripping songs while getting our kicks. We should also have a new slew of merch in a couple weeks so people should be stoked on that. The summer will be good man.
