Bubble Scary

Aug 15

When you cite sonic influences that range all the way from Ampere and Bob Dylan, to Sonic Youth and Have Heart, you know you’re doing something truly special and experimental. Unbridled energy remains frantically tapping its foot even through the leisurely and calm parts of their compositions. You can feel the mood of every song fully capable of boiling over at any split second with no warning, and often they do. Bubble Scary is the most powerful band in emo right now and as soon as the world catches onto that, we’re all gonna be in a much better place.

The first thing you notice about Bubble Scary is that the drums and bass are two completely different roller coaster rides that link up on the same track line occasionally, but every time they’re on separate paths, they’re building their own individual stories that tie flawlessly together to complete a composition far beyond an average locked in rhythm and groove.

Now that’s just what’s supposed to be “the basics”, aka the rhythm section, and words can’t fully describe the intricacies and chaotic jazzy-mathy-proggy-arrangements. They’re not cooking with gas they’re cooking with ether (which is a much more quick to ignite flammable substance if you’re missing the point of this ridiculous analogy). The foundation laid out has more layers than an onion and we haven’t even begun to touch the surface yet. Guitar licks, taps, hammers-ons and pull-offs, all dance in-and-out of the bass and drums to bring another level of beautifully organized chaos that probably looks liked an audible seizure through musical tablature.

At the helm of the pandemonium we have vocalist Chuka Stergios serene and siren-esque vocals that lull and enchant listeners to be willingly seized by the unpredictable cyclone that is Bubble Scary. Nothing moves up, down, or sideways without the vocals explicit direction and permission.

During a chat I had with the band I mentioned how hilarious it is that they’re the “best screamo band to never actually scream” when I got hit with “Jane from toldnottoworry called us indieviolence” and I laughed like an absolute madman at that, (I’m still laughing at that), because it’s the perfect descriptor for the words I could not find. I had a chat with all four members of the band about their innovate sound and plans for the band as we draw close to wrapping up another amazing year of DIY music.

**WHAT WERE SOME OF THE INSPIRATIONS YOU HAD ALL DRAWN FROM WHILE WRITING THE FEATHERWEIGHT EP?**

COREY: I feel like on this record I was consciously thinking about things that Ampere and Unwound do in terms of songwriting and basslines specifically. Ampere specifically has a lot of busy basslines that interact with the guitar in interesting ways, so I was trying to channel that (especially in Erased & I can be honest). In general I feel like we are always pulling from Ovlov and Polvo. I was also certainly listening to a lot of old folk and country while writing this record, so I was trying to keep things as simple and true as possible in my role as bass.

JACKSON: I am probably most influenced by Ampere and Mount Eerie, especially when it comes to our most recent EP. Both acts seem very different but they share a rawness that I wanted to also be present in the music I’m a part of.

MIGUEL: The first bands that come to mind in terms of my drumming style are probably also Ampere and Unwound. I was also playing and listening to a lot of jazz at the time as well, which I try not to consciously think of when writing the drum parts but I’m sure it has an indirect influence on what I play and write.

CHUKA: It’s hard to pick just a few since I feel constantly influenced by the things I listen to. But I’d say Hop Along, Liz Phair and Brittle Brian are some of my bigger influences lately.

WHAT’S THE BUBBLE SCARY WRITING PROCESS CONSIST OF?

JACKSON: The writing is always all over the place. Each song forms differently. We’re extremely picky with what riffs/lyrics/ideas we use in a song, so it’s usually a lot of throwing things at the wall until they stick. We probably have scrapped like twenty songs of material haha.

When choosing what ideas we let stick, we usually try to write songs that don’t feel like repeats of our other songs. We also don’t usually move forward with anything that we don’t resonate deeply with, or at the very least think is fun or full of energy. I guess my opinion sometimes is that there’s no extrinsic reason to write music, so if everybody doesn’t feel super excited about a song there’s no point in writing it.

CHUKA: We don’t really have a specific one way we write, but it is a long process of trying out different riffs and parts to see what sticks. Like Jackson said, I think our main goal is to consistently make things that are honest and we all resonate with. That can be hard at times, but also the fun of it. It can take a long time to write each song, but the results are songs that are sincerely ours.

MIGUEL: At the end of the day I think we’re always searching for something that feels good or exciting musically. Sometimes during our jam / writing sessions that comes quickly, but since we’re so picky most of the time it takes a lot of time, trial, and error before we figure out how to achieve that.

COREY: A lot of this record was written starting as Jackson and I trying to come up with something on guitar and drums and cleaning it up into something usable when we got together with Chuka and Miguel. A lot of it was brute force where need be. When one of us feels passionate about something, or really believes in something that the others cant see the vision in, then we try to make it work. A lot of the time that conflict is necessary. I remember a lot of instances where some things just felt like there was no way it was gonna come together, and then the pieces fall into place pretty quickly.

We try to do things democratically, but music doesn’t work without passion, so we try to follow where the energy is going. Any song is a product of circumstance, whether it be emotion of the moment, what instrument you happen to be playing, etc. Then multiply all those variables by multiple songwriters, and you’ve got a really crazy hodge-podge. These songs are the product of four different people working together in a specific moment of time (as it should be).

WHAT DID YOUR RECORDING PROCESS ENTAIL FOR THIS EP?

JACKSON: All the songs on our records are recorded fully live, including vocals. We do some punch ins, splices and guitar doubling but we always start with a recording of us all playing together. We always want to make sure that the music feels authentic and full of the energy of a live performance. Will’s hands off approach at Dead Air Studios was a perfect fit for our needs, he’s great at capturing the live sound of a band in our experience.

CHUKA: Like Jackson said, we were able to record live including vocals which was the particularly special part for me. We had tried doing vocals separately before, but it never captured that live sound or the sound that felt truest to our music. It was a great recording process where Will gave us our space to really just play together.

COREY: We recorded live to preserve energy and sense of each other in the room, and then touched up where need be. We did a lot more touching up on this record than we did the last one, so its a lot more “perfect” than the first record. That kind of comes with the territory of recording live and trying to do something “raw”. But we got it done fast.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE THESE SONGS ACCOMPLISH FOR YOUR BAND AND FOR YOUR LISTENERS?

JACKSON: I just hope people feel a personal connection to it. We all have our own ideas of what the songs mean but I’d hope people find their own meaning when they listen.

MIGUEL: I’m proud of the time and energy we’ve all spent working on these songs the past couple years. Writing this music has pushed me as a drummer and in my opinion it’s the best music we’ve made together. I’m grateful for anyone who takes time out of their day to listen to it, and I hope there’s something within the music you can find and connect to.

COREY: I hope people see the vision that we set out with, but more so I hope they see a cohesive project that means something to them personally, and that's worth returning to. I hope people see it as a mature, intentional record. This record was tough to make in a lot of ways but I felt that it was worth it the whole time, and I’m just glad that its out there and has had its effect.

“[FEATHERWEIGHT] CAME FROM A PLACE OF BREAKING DOWN SOMEHTING TO CREATE SOMETHING NEW. THE SONGS ARE ALL CONNECTED AND FOLLOW THE MANY PARTS OF THAT PROCESS - FROM AVOIDANCE AND RUNNING AWAY FROM WHAT’S IN FRONT OF YOU, TO REALIZING YOU ARE STUCK AND NOT IN CONTROL, ALL THE WAY TO CONFRONTATION.”

SOME SONGS ALSO TOUCH ON THE OVERARCHING FEAR OF ONE’S INABILITY TO CHANGE AND THAT THERE IS SOME INESCAPABLE FATE. ULTIMATELY THE SUBJECT IS HOW THAT CONFRONTAITON WITH YOURSELF - THAT HONESTY - CAN HURT! AND IT CAN BE HARD AND YOU MAY BURY IT BUT MUST BE FACED AT SOME POINT.”

- CHUKA, @BUBBLE.SCARY

“The lyrics throughout follow these themes and hold a lot of tension, anger and fear. But there is also a bittersweet hum throughout that acknowledges the want/desire/desperation of honesty for that catharsis and peace it would bring.”

SO NOW WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE BAND?

JACKSON: Tour, write more, do a split with Hauzu, maybe write some collaborative songs with members of other bands.

COREY: I just want to write more songs, whether they sound like the other records or completely different. Whatever feels natural, that's what I want to do.

ANY CLOSING WORDS FOR THE READERS?

JACKSON: A lot of the bands we love are screamo, but we don’t have loyalty to any genre. DIY gives us the opportunity to showcase music made for the sake of making music, not filtered through genre or targeted audiences. I’d like to see DIY communities less focused on genre and trends and more focused on uplifting people that are making great art for the right reasons. More mixed bills less elitism.

CHUKA: Even with the ideas we came into making the music, the songs ended in a spot we didn’t expect. Same goes with this release, we may intend it in a certain way but I hope that whatever ways they are interpreted, people feel connected and seen.

Amherst, Massachusetts scene is lucky to have such an innovative band that I pray I'm able to see live one day. Their drummer Miguel also pays in Hauzu, Not Just A Phase is a massive fan of Hauzu, and everything Bubble Scary is doing so we cannot wait to see what more they have in store for us in the future. Follow their socials at the link below, hit play, hit play again, hit play again-again and still be amazed, abuse this EP and never get tired of it as I have. Be in amazement every time you hear their work, be afraid of bubbles? Indieviolence forever.

Bubble Scary is Chuka Stergios on vocals, Jackson Payne & Corey Cash on guitar and bass and Miguel Gomba on drums.

Follow them on Instagram here : Bubble Scary

Writer : @just_reidz

Editor : @just_reidz

08/15/25

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Robert Reid