Bellingham has an abundance of bands, that’s no secret. Walk around downtown or the north side of campus on a weekend and you will certainly be surrounded with live music. If you heard The Dawn Bombs music drifting through the air, you might stop an extra moment, for they are unlike any other band playing shows in Bellingham at the moment.
“We do something that is a little different than the Bellingham community in general, but what I like about Bellingham is that if you do something a little different they aren’t just going to close off their ears to it.” – Benjamin Waight
The Dawn Bombs’ music fuses together jazz, indie and pop. This interesting combination may seem forced, but things have seemed to fall together naturally for the band since its formation in August 2015. The trio, made up of Will Luckensmeyer, Benjamin Waight and Ruben Gomez, all met their freshman year at Western Washington University.
“The third or fourth time we meet up we thought ‘huh, are we a band? We should probably be a band,'” Gomez reminisces. “Every time we sat down together 5 hours went by, and oops we had almost made a whole song!”
This relaxed formation lead to the bands flexible structure. Luckensmeyer plays drums, guitar, and sings. Waight plays guitar, bass, and sings, while Gomez switches from bass to drums.
The Dawn Bombs formed, grew and first recorded in Bellingham, and they have become a fixture in the Bellingham live music scene. The trio is constantly playing shows around Bellingham, which they attribute as one of the sources of their growth in popularity.
“We were approached a lot. I feel like after every show we played someone came up to us and we got another connection.” Gomez said.
“I love Bellingham for moshing to jazz pop,” Waight exclaims. “It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”
The Dawn Bombs newest EP Greetings From… released in January of this year, less than a year after their first ever release Caffeine Calypso in May 2016. The music video for Monde Rose off the EP, shot and edited by by Elai Shine and Loren Natario, is a reflection of their music. It’s familiar, although strange. Simple at first glance—the complexity doesn’t over power their message.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nedffdZk6c
The band is about to hit their 2 year anniversary, and the accomplishments they have made in their short time is something that musicians often covet.
“6 or 7 months into it, the same group of people that was also getting larger and more diverse was still showing up to all our shows, was still getting down with us, learning the words to our songs and recognizing when we played something new. That’s insane.” Luckensmeyer said.
With the exponential growth of this trio’s fan base, we are certain that these jazzy dudes are onto something special.
“There are definitely other acts in town that are similar, with indie, pop ,and syth vibes, but it’s cool to know we offer something additionally,” Waight stated.
Check out The Dawn Bomb’s website and listen to their EP Greetings From… below!
Have you ever seen The Dawn Bombs play? What is your favorite song off their new EP? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
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