In honor of their debut album “Gone Berserk” released on Nov. 15, Milwaukee-based punk rock band The Nunchucks did an online interview with Marquette Radio.
The Nunchucks is made up of vocalist and guitarist Evan Bendixen, bassist Anthony Duszynski, drummer Jesse Kellner and guitarist Cruz Perez. Bendixen and I discussed everything from balancing their music career with school to the state of the modern punk scene.
How did the Nunchucks start?
“The Nunchucks first started out through me and Anthony [and our] love of music. I remember sitting in the car listening to Pink Floyd and just talking about how cool it would be to play this in front of a crowd. That then inspired me to get my first guitar and Anthony to get his first bass. From then on, it was just us jamming in my room before finally convincing Jesse to drum for us.”
How would you describe your sound?
“Our sound is basically a combination of all our music tastes put together. [I give] more of a punk aspect with influences like Minor Threat, Jesse has a drumming style like Tre Cool of Green Day, Anthony has a melodic metal bass style and Cruz adds a touch of indie to the lead guitar.
“We think it’s very important to play what we’re all interested [in] individually while combining it to make our own style.”
Since most of you are in high school, how do you balance being in a band and being in school?
“We really don’t know, whatever leftover time we have is dedicated to music and we just use that available time to show up to practice with new riffs and ideas.”
Who are your biggest musical inspirations and influences?
“Green Day is definitely a huge influence for us, specifically their earlier stuff. It’s fun to look at a huge band that started out just like us. We like to try to make our stuff a little more punk than Green Day, sorta like a Green Day – Minor Threat fusion.”
What is your songwriting process like?
“Lyrically there isn’t really a songwriting process, the lyrics usually just find me. If I sat down and tried to write a song I just couldn’t. It’s normally laying in bed wide awake in the middle of the night imagining a nonexistent song, building [a] melody off that and humming the lyrics that come to my head until I get them written down on paper.”
Who is your dream collaboration with?
“Our dream collaboration would be any bigger band that we look up to. Green Day, Agent Orange, New Bomb Turks, those guys would all be fun to jam with.”
How do you feel about being in a band in the age of streaming and social media?
“In the age of streaming and social media I feel like forming a band is much easier. I love going on Instagram, promoting and messaging other bands.
“I also think that it’s pretty cool that you can expand your music further around the world. Looking at our listeners, we have people all around the world listening to us, some in Germany, New York, California, just all over the place.”
As an emerging punk rock band, what are your thoughts on the current punk scene?
“The current punk scene could use more attention. I always hear people saying, ‘they just don’t make music like this anymore’ and I just hate it. Music like this has always been around but people don’t care enough to look for it.
“I’ve found that since I’ve expanded my music taste, the bands that I love most are ones that people haven’t even heard of. That’s just the beauty of music, it all appears differently to everyone.”
Tell us about “Gone Berserk.” What’s your favorite song off the album? Is there any main theme surrounding it?
“‘Gone Berserk’ is made up of 8 tracks that highlight the absurdity of life. Everything from politics, relationships, arguments and struggles, ‘Gone Berserk’ captures everything that makes up what life really is.
“Our favorite track would have to be ‘Wasted.’ ‘Wasted’ was the kind of song that just came to us and needed to be played. After writing down the lyrics, I really didn’t know what it was about, the lyrics just came to me. After playing and listening to the song, I highlighted that the song is about running from your emotions and feeling trapped inside of your own head. That meaning and how it just showed up is what makes that track really special to me.”
Where are you going? What’s the plan? What’s your goal? Where would you like to be in 10 years?
“We plan to stay a band for as long as we can. We’re all a tightly knit group that has grown up together. In the future, it’s our dream to play at bigger venues like the Rave or even open up for a larger band. Who knows where the future could take us?”
The Nunchucks can be found on streaming platforms everywhere and on Instagram (@the.nunchucks). They are very active in the Milwaukee music scene and hope to get back in the studio soon, so make sure you tune in.
This story was written by Ellie Nelsen-Freund. She can be reached at [email protected].
