MWN: How did you all meet?
Bunny: Well, Alex is my sister, so I met her when I was born.. And um timm is our friend that we know through our cousin.. And Shane was recommended to us by our friend cuz we were looking for a drummer
MWN: Cool! How long ago was that?
Bunny: Well the band formed like in its current state I’d say about 8 months ago. But before that it was like a year and half ago of us playing with a different drummer.
MWN: So would you say that the drummer from the original lineup was the actual start of it all?
Bunny: Yeah,yeah. So it’s been about probably almost two years but I wanna say a year and a half ago was the start , at this point, of our band.
MWN: Solid. So why did you choose to play your instrument? I see you play the guitar.
Bunny: Yeah I play the guitar. I don’t know that’s a good question. Haha. I think it just seemed like the easiest. Like I really like writing melodies and like with bass you can’t really, but you could write a melody.
MWN: Oh so do you play the bass as well?
Bunny: Oh no. haha I don’t know how to play the bass at all. Haha I don’t know anything about the bass. But um yeah I like playing the guitar because it’s easy to write melodies on.
MWN: So when you write your music do you start with the melody? Or do you start with chords?
Bunny: I start of with chords and a melody I guess
MWN: Just for the foundation process?
Bunny: Yeah! For the foundation I pretty much just strum chords and then like .. so i guess it’s chords then I start humming a melody or start saying random words and then from that form the song.
MWN: When you form songs do you do it primarily alone then? Or is the process dealt with the rest of the members of Bunny?
Bunny: I was definitely alone. I write all the songs alone..in my bedroom. It’s like the only way I can focus.. And I get really self-conscious I think when i’m trying to like write music in front of people cuz I just don’t feel comfortable..
MWN: Then do the lyrics come write after? Is it all in one sitting?
Bunny: It’s definitely all in one sitting. The lyrics pretty just come to me. I know it sounds stupid “the lyrics just come to me” haha . But I don’t really think about the lyrics ya know what I mean?
MWN: Haha. yeah! When inspiration hits you know what you wanna say
Bunny: Yeah! It’s pretty much a stream of consciousness when I’m writing. I just pretty much say a bunch of words and like whatever sticks.. sticks.
MWN: Ah okay. When would you say you bring the song to the actual band? When exactly do they come into play?
Bunny: Ummm, after I write the melody and the song is like pretty much worked out.. So you know I have the chorus worked out.. Etc.. etc.. I’ll bring it to practice and I’ll just play it for them and they’ll just kind a like add in their parts.
MWN: So there’s this one witty quote on your bandcamp account that states: ““The brainchild of Jessica Viscius, Bunny toes the bleary line between dream pop and bedroom rock. Their tunes take on a soft grunge feel, mixing dainty, pretty melodies with hazy, sardonic lyrics and juxtaposing the music with a dramatic stage presence.” – Your Mom”. I find it very clever, anyways with that in mind, where do you draw your inspiration from?
Bunny: Umm, oh god. Haha. I don’t know. I guess it’s just like you know from years of listening to music and umm my parents were Deadheads and I grew up listening to really good music.. So I think that obviously just like intrinsically influenced me.
MWN: Then which bands would you say stand out towards becoming who you are now? Like in terms of your musical growth and influence.
Bunny: I think my biggest influence is Bob Dylan, just cuz I was obsessed with him for like years and read every book on him and watched every movie.
MWN: Does his style seep through your presence on stage and or the music you write?
Bunny: I think it must. Like subconsciously! But I don’t wanna be that bold and be like.. Ya know? Haha! To say that my music sounds ANYTHING like Bob Dylan. Cuz I don’t think it does.But you know of course like subconsciously.
MWN: I definitely see his more calm and serene side influencing the sound of your band though. Especially with your song “Promises” although its sort of a more darker and somber tone, I can see his musical roots influencing you.
Bunny: Ahh yeah totally!
MWN: So what was your first concert?
Bunny: Ummm. My first concert was actually Modest Mouse at the House Of Blues…. And I didn’t really like them but my sister Alex, who plays bass was a big fan. She’s like “you have to go to this concert with me” and I had listened to the album the week before and yeah I was 16. I remember like not really liking it but then a month later I was like a huge fan.
MWN: Would you say then it’s much different to see a band live versus hearing them through a digital platform?
Bunny: Oh yeah for sure. I don’t actually really like watching living music that much. Haha. I guess I.. it’s just really hard for me to gage a band when it’s live like if i’m listening to a recording i’m like “this band is good” or “this band is bad” but live there’s too many variables. It gets very confusing to me because there’s too much to take in.
MWN: So when you perform do you prefer to have more of a calm and peaceful setting versus the loud tardiness that some fans or venues bring out.
Bunny: Yeah.. I don’t know.. I guess it like depends. Like when fans are really enjoying it, but I don’t think our band is the type of the nature where people are gonna like flip out.. Hah ya know? Cuz it’s like pretty mellow
MWN: Haha you’d be surprised. Some people go pretty hard and will mosh to anything. Especially this venue (Subterranean) I’ve seen some pretty wild stuff.
Bunny: Haha yeah!
MWN: Haha! Well I was looking at the Artwork and I noticed a lot there’s particular hues that stand out. Mainly pink and soft neutral tones. Is that the aesthetic you’re going for?
Bunny: Yeah, I think we started off with like that pink. We joke and call it “Bunny Pink” and then I got kind of annoyed with that particular color pink but it’s been just like part of our brand and I think like our friends in Chicago are like “Oh Bunny!” ya know like they call stuff like “Bunny Pink” so I’m trying to move away from it.. Haha.. But yeah it was sort of intentional like owning the color pink because it is like a really pretty pink
MWN: Oh, so did you design the album the artwork of the band? A friend?
Bunny: It was me, I designed the album stuff but everybody in the band is sort of a designer or artist. So we all take turns making designs or flyers and things like that.
MWN: But why pink?
Bunny: Why pink? Umm.. haha, well I think it was like.. Like the color was in Vogue when I chose it.. Um and yeah I don’t know.
MWN: Well like you said when you write music.. So pink!
Bunny: Haha! Right!
MWN: And as a chicago band, are there any chicago bands whom you look up to or are friends with?
Bunny: Umm.. yeah there are alot of bands who I look up to. Like I really like La la La La and Gliders and just like early bands that supported us that I was a fan of and to have them like ask us to play shows was like a big deal to us
MWN: oh cool! And is there any band whom you’d like to tour with in particular?
Bunny: ummm.. “Alex, if any band were to offer us to tour with them who would we say yes to?”
MWN: Modest Mouse?
Bunny: Modest Mouse! Haha! I think I’ll pick my favorite artist right now. Soko. Do you know her?
MWN: No, haha.
Bunny: Aw, Haha okay! Check her out, she’s good
MWN: Is she similar to your music?
Bunny: Umm, its more electronic I guess but she just like recently, well not that recent but she had a collaboration with like Ariel Pink and that’s how I found out about her through that song and was really into her album for a while.
MWN: Cool. Now time for some rapid fire questions. I was gonna start with Telecaster or Stratocaster but you use neither!
Bunny: Haha! Yeah I would say neither. I would say Jaguar!
MWN: I thought the guitarist was using one too but it’s actually a Jazzmaster.
Bunny: It’s funny because his guitar has the same body as the Jaguar obviously and my sister for a second was playing a Jaguar Bass.. all same body shape and their instruments are black and mine’s black and I’m like “This is embarrassing guys, like we all have the same guitar”
MWN: Haha! I noticed, but then I saw your sister and saw four strings and realized she was using a bass. But anyways, what are your top three favorite songs?
Bunny: Oh my god! That’s hard! Well they’re probably all Bob Dylan songs haha. Umm.. well actually:
- That’s Life by Frank Sinatra
- Idiot Wing by Bob Dylan
- Harvest Moon by Neil Young
MWN: Cool cool. And if you could play in any venue in the world, which would it be and why?
Bunny: In the world? Hmm, well my world is pretty small because I’m mostly set on just Chicago Venues which we’ve played most of them but I really wanna play Thalia Hall.
MWN: Yeah that’s a good one, they have weddings there more often nowadays
Bunny: Wow! Well I wanna get married there too.
MWN: Haha yeah! Have the band play for you and give you a little shout out
Bunny: Haha yeah that’d be awesome!
MWN: To finish off, when’s the debut album going to drop?
Bunny: Debut Album? Umm, well we’re gonna have an EP and we’re gonna try to get it signed to a label and hopefully put it out through some label. So probably a few months from now!
MWN: Looking foward to it! So we’re at Subterranean right now, and I’m curious to know which venue you first performed in as Bunny.
Bunny: Oh it was at the Whistler. It’s like a small cocktail bar over here on Milwaukee Ave. It’s across from Cole’s Bar.
MWN: Ahh so is this your first time at Sub-T?
Bunny: Yes! First Sub – T performance!
MWN: Well it was a pleasure to talk to you! Thank you so much for your time!
Bunny: Yeah it was really nice to talk to you too! Thank you so much for reaching out to us!
Interview By:Jennifer Machuca |Instagram @jen_machuca| Exclusively for @Music, Why Not! -All Rights Reserved-
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