“It’s cool seeing all the different versions of this band, seeing how each rotates around these songs.”
Brigdon Markward is talking about his band, Bug Bath. The Reno, Nevada group recently returned from their European tour with Modern Color to news that their first show back in town had sold out along with the announcement that they would be opening for Coheed And Cambria on the Grand Sierra Resort’s expansive concert stage.
Bug Bath play a guitar-heavy style of music heavily influenced by 90’s lo fi rock bands like Guided By Voices or Archers of Loaf, though members also share an endearment for 2000’s era emo rock bands.
Rounded out at any given time by four to six members, the group is currently at work on their second full length album. Their first full length, 2022’s (Bug Bath) sounds light years removed sonically from their earlier recordings, and Markward explains that their new music expands on their sound even more.
“We’ve never gone into the studio with a specific idea of what the recording is going to sound like. We go in and everyone lays their parts down and we see where that lands and adjust accordingly from there. This new album is pretty different sounding from the last album and the EP, but that’s never really an intentional thing,” he describes.
Having formed originally as a three piece just before the COVID 19 lockdown, Markward along with a friend on drums spent that time polishing off a few songs from a previous project named Gemini Cusp. The songs came together and just as social restrictions were lifting, the project, who had added a couple other friends to fill out the sound, were ready to tour.
“There was one show where our bassist couldn’t make it, so we asked Bijou if she wanted to learn the songs,” Markward describes of how Bijou Bell, herself a prolific musician however one who had never actually played bass before, joined the band. “She learned all the songs in two weeks and played the show.”
When the group’s original bass player came back to the band, the group had decided to keep Bell on bass permanently, and welcomed their old bass player back on third guitar.
“That’s where the three guitar thing came from – just wondering how we could get everyone in on this!” Brigdon describes.
In addition to Markward on guitar and Bell on bass, the band also consists of Julian Jacobs on guitar and Draven Carter on drums, and possibly a couple others, depending on the show or recording session…
“I think there’s a lot of stuff that we each are into that isn’t really shared with other members, we each bring stuff to the sound that doesn’t really overlap,” says Markward.
Bug Bath’s members have collectively played in projects ranging from lo fi pop (Stirr Lightly) to hardcore (City Wolves) to heavier garage rock (Spitting Image), though they cite 90’s rock as being the common thread that they each find inspiration when writing for the band.
“Stylistically our projects differ so much,” says Jacobs. “I feel like we’re all writing to Brigdon’s guitar in this project as opposed to being the catalyst in our other bands.”
Following their European run, Bug Bath has returned to work on a new album and take a more intentional approach to performing.
Bug Bath is set to perform at Best Friends Forever Festival in Las Vegas the weekend of October 11th-13th. More information is available here.
Follow Bug Bath on Instagram.
