Artist Spotlight: Tunewave
For this month's artists' spotlight, we have Tunewave. Started by Nick Brumbach, Tunewave is a local San Diego, California band releasing high-quality music at rapid fire. The members of this band consist of Nick (guitar, vox, piano), Henry Kiley (bass), Diego Hernandez (synth, guitar), Shelby Osborne (drums), and Paige Copenhaver (aerophone). Tunewave just released their newest album, “Urban Aquarium,” which came out today, June 1st, 2023. Let's hear about the process of making this album, what the songs are about, and Tunewaves' experience and musical journey.
TO LISTEN TO TUNEWAVES NEWEST ALBUM, CLICK BELOW.
Photo taken by @rachelgulka on IG
TELL ME ABOUT THE START OF TUNEWAVE. HOW DID YOU GUYS FORM? WERE THERE ANY CHALLENGES WHEN STARTING THIS PROJECT?
"Tunewave started as a solo project for me (Nick) during the lockdown. After seeing Tame Impala at Pechanga Arena front row by myself two days before I was sent back home from my freshman year of college, I spent all my time stuck in my parent's basement in Omaha, Nebraska, learning how to record music. Over time the project evolved. I moved to San Diego and started playing shows with a few friends, members came in and out, but now we're more of a band than ever. We all met separately at USD, except for Paige, who we met at one of our shows. I slowly started recruiting people to play in this project, and over time, we just became really good friends who like to play music together."
WHAT INSPIRED THE NAME TUNEWAVE?
"The name Tunewave was just another name I had in a notebook somewhere, and by the time I released my first song in 2020, I stuck with it. I liked it because it was short enough to remember. I listened to a lot of indie stuff then, like Wallow, Daylow, and bands like that. I liked how those names sounded. I also thought it was funny that it's a pun, like tuning a sound wave. I always liked that The Beatles is a pun, and I guess it worked out that ours did too. Sometimes I think the name is cheesy, but so are all band names. People seem to like it, and it's too late to change now."
Photo taken by @rachelgulka on IG
TELL ME A BIT ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM. WHAT IS THE OVERALL THEME OR CONCEPT FOR THIS ALBUM?
"This album started right before the release of our previous EP, 'Molecules In Motion,' that came out in January. Following a class I took during my penultimate semester, I was working on creating a marketing campaign for two San Diego ocean conservation organizations. With that, I was teaching myself how to play piano and wanted to challenge myself to create a whole album around that instrument. I also had never created a concept album before and wanted to make something extremely cohesive where all the songs sounded like they belonged together. Not only that but with now finishing school, I decided to use the album as not only credit for an independent study class but also as my change-making minor capstone project. With that, I wanted to create an album that advocated for change by partnering with nonprofits to do something unique. Because of that, we decided to donate all the proceeds of our album release show to I Love A Clean San Diego. This nonprofit promotes zero-waste lifestyles and holds environmental protection programs. With all that combined, it felt like it was meant to happen.
The album is a jazz-focused record that talks a lot about ocean pollution and the apocalypse. Because of the necessity for this project to get done for school, the writing process coincided with a lot of ocean conservation research and stuff. As a result of this, it's a personal journey of me talking a lot about a world after this one where the earth is completely flooded and covered in trash."
WHAT WAS THE RECORDING PROCESS LIKE?
"In terms of recording, we did all the recording DIY in our house studio. We had our friend Jay Lecavier, of my brother's band, The Crooked Rugs, mix it, and Max Harwood, of Lewis Del Mar, master it. Recording overall was a really fun experience- especially with having a hard deadline. It was a rush. I think we did a pretty good job considering the timing that we had, and I'm honestly so happy with this record to where I've listened to it like ten times now which I never do. I usually cringe at all the music we release."
Photo taken by @rachelgulka on IG
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG ON THE ALBUM, AND WHY?
"That's difficult because I think they all sound really great together. If I had to choose, I'd say 'Heavy Water,' maybe? I would choose this one just because I think the recording came out the best. When I was writing this album, that song came to fruition when I was really hitting my stride in trying to write some of the songs. I had to force out a lot more than others, but that one just came out of nowhere, like 'Sea of Green' and 'Urban Aquarium.' Also, 'Don't Go Swimming' is a favorite because it was the song that started the whole project."
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT BEING IN A BAND?
"My favorite part about being in a band is just being able to play shows and record music. We've played some awesome venues in the past, and I think the music we're making now is some of the best we've ever played. Playing in Tunewave has been some of the most fun I've ever had, and I don't see us stopping any time soon."
Photo taken by @rachelgulka on IG
WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT FROM YOU GUYS IN THE FUTURE?
"I wanna keep up with non-stop releasing stuff. We have a few plans on the horizon that we can't share just yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if we get another project done by the end of the year. I want to keep challenging ourselves and having fun with making music for as long as we can."
Photo taken by @rachelgulka on IG
