Localized: eardrums

Prepare your heart, soul and ears for a display of Salt Lake City’s most intense bands backed by a strong DIY ethos at Kilby Court on November 14. Co-headliners Lovelace and eardrums will bring the basement screamo-punk-crossover show energy to the Kilby stage with opener Lucy. Tickets are just $5 for this Riso-Geist-sponsored Localized event. 

Gestated from within the tight-knit world of Salt Lake City’s music scene, eardrums, a trio hailing from Daybreak—composed of Jonas Bunnel (guitar/vocals), Caetano Lubbers (drums) and Jack Hamilton (bass) is making waves with their unique blend of punk, screamo and experimental sound. But behind their noise-heavy performances and raw, emotional songwriting is a story of long-time friendship, organic evolution and a persistent fire in their bellies pushing them to challenge themselves.

When I ask how they’d sum up who they are, Bunnel says, “We are eardrums [intentionally all-lowercase… more details later on] and we like to get drums, bass and guitar together and sing. We make music for the masses and ourselves.” A profoundly simple yet perfectly appropriate summary of the band’s ethos, one built on spontaneity and the urge to create something that feels authentic. 

The origin of eardrums is rooted in such a picturesque and almost cliché circumstance that it almost feels like the beginning of a rockumentary. The trio, all of whose dads were friends, had known each other for most of their lives. But it wasn’t until a casual jam session that Bunnel and Lubbers realized they had something special.

“We have our fingers dipped in a few different genres.”

“We’ve all known each other like our whole lives, all our dads are friends … It wasn’t until me and Cae were just hanging out one day with a bunch of other friends and we were like, ‘let’s just jam as a joke.’ There was a guitar and a shitty amp and Cae’s shitty drums. We started and eventually we were like, ‘This is awesome,’ and really the rest is history,” says Bunnel. What started as a fun experiment quickly became a passion project, with Hamilton joining on bass soon after Lubbers and Bunnel’s initial jam. As Bunnel puts it, “I saw Jack one day and thought, ‘This guy looks like a bassist.’ And that’s how he joined the band.”

Despite their spontaneous beginning, music has always been a part of their lives. Lubbers had played in a school band, Hamilton had experience playing the violin in orchestras and Bunnel had been experimenting with creating music solo for years (and continues to do so), whether through scribbling notes as a kid or using his Nintendo 3DS to compose songs. You can find some of his works under the artist name Songs By Jonas on Spotify. 

When asked to define their sound, the band members struggle to pin it down with just one label. Hamilton suggests that screamo might be the closest fit, but he also makes it clear that eardrums doesn’t quite align with most traditional screamo bands. Bunnel clarifies, “We have our fingers dipped in a few different genres,” with their influences ranging from post-rock to post-punk. And while after some reflection, they’ve admittedly been influenced by bands like Slint and Midwest Pen Pals, their music is something uniquely their own.

The band’s first album, released under the name EARDRUMS (in all caps), was more of an “experimental joke” than anything else, according to the group. “We didn’t know what we wanted to be back then,” Lubbers explains. “We just wanted to put something out there, and we left a lot of stupid stuff in the album just to make each other laugh.” Time presses on, and the band’s members slowly grow out of adolescence and take on more adult mentalities; consequently, they’ve started taking their music more seriously. Now they’ve shifted their efforts onto honing their sound and releasing more distilled and focused future material under eardrums (all lowercase). Fans can anticipate a more refined release from the band soon, although they’re keeping details under wraps for now.

Despite only forming in 2022, eardrums has already become a staple in the Salt Lake City music scene, playing local spots like SodaBoba and Black Lung Society, venues that have played an important role in their early career. “Most of our first shows were at Black Lung,” Bunnel says. “People would dance really hard there. There’s just something about that room that made people destroy each other in the best way.”

“We just wanted to put something out there, and we left a lot of stupid stuff in the album just to make each other laugh.”

While their sound has evolved, the band remains grounded in their love for live performances. From playing in backyards with skate ramps and video games projected on the wall to expanding their boundaries and touring all the way out in the California scene, eardrums continues to push forward with their music. And while they don’t look too far into the future, they are stoked to see where their journey takes them.

As for parting words of wisdom? “I say a lot,” says Bunnel. He was not wrong.

In their own understated way, eardrums captures the spirit of Salt Lake’s DIY music scene—friends making music for the sake of creation, constantly evolving and experimenting, yet always remaining true to their roots. They may not know exactly where they’re headed, but wherever it is, you can bet these guys will only get better and always march to the beat of their own (ear) drums. 

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