Garage-band veterans rock Humboldt with their psychedelic sounds and brutally honest themes
The CT Bombers are a local band consisting of best friends Wyatt Brenner, Willem Kernkamp, Delphin Browne and Quonton Waull. Brenner and Kernkamp play guitar while Browne and Waull play double drum sets.
The band formed in July 2016 after finishing high school in Temecula, California, where they grew up together and played in numerous bands over a span of 10 years.
After high school, some members of the band relocated to different states, but the separation was short lived. They all eventually ended up in Humboldt and reformed the CT Bombers. Since then, the band has consisted of alternating guitars, drums and vocals to create a garage and psychedelic rock influenced sound.
“The common theme is just spending a lot of money really,” Browne said. “People want to say it’s not about the money, but it is. That’s just the blunt truth.”
The band says the Arcata music scene has been overwhelmingly supportive. Even though the band travels to many different areas, Kernkap says they have yet to find a place as unique as Arcata to display their musical talents.
“The Arcata scene is really, really good for live music,” Kernkap said. “People love to dance and people love new ideas. No one here is stuck up and everyone just wants to dance and everyone doesn’t care if you’re weird. I don’t know what it is, but you don’t get that anywhere else. At least not where I’ve been.”
Brenner is the mastermind behind orchestrating their music and boasts his songwriting contribution.
“I think we thrive more as a live band than as someone you find online. Our internet presence isn’t nearly as big as our chops on the scene.”
Willem Kernkamp
“I learned how to lucid dream, “Brenner said. “And would go into my lucid dreams and just write songs. It sort of all comes together when I bring it to them. They’re the glue, you know? We record, we mix, we master, we send the masters to a pressing plant. Then we make designs for album art.”
They release their music as physical copies, but also on streaming services such as BandCamp, Youtube and Soundcloud.
“I think we thrive more as a live band than as someone you find online,” Kernkamp said. “Our internet presence isn’t nearly as big as our chops on the scene.”
CT Bombers played at Richard’s Goat on Oct. 18. The band will also be releasing their second project with a music video. The name couldn’t be released, but will consist of new material and will be released on most streaming platforms. In addition, they’ll make physical copies through a label created by Brenner.
“We have a label thing that we release our stuff through, just ourselves,” Brenner said. “We call it DataRoomRecords. So we have a website and we will do cassette tapes.”
Along with the release of new material, music videos and shows, the friends have experience touring alongside other bands.
“We haven’t done CT Bombers yet, but we’ve been meaning too,” Brenner said. “I think we are going to plan something for the spring.”
Overall, the band has been more than just shows and money to the four friends.
“It’s nice to be in a real band that actually does stuff, and it’s really fun,” Waull said. “I used to think music was very straightforward and you got to get paid and instant gratification. But I’m learning with these guys, they are showing me that it’s more than that. It’s something we can all be around and do.”
CT Bombers has their EP, “Tsar Bombas” on their BandCamp.
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