Doc’s Downtown brings in band to ‘Bump’ up jams
Indie group plans to ‘melt your face off’ with crazy shredding
Section: FEATURES
Originally published: 10/15/09 at 1:26 AM EST
Last update: 10/15/09 at 1:26 AM EST
The alternative, funk rock musicians in Bump, an up-and-coming band from Detroit, will be performing live at Doc’s Music Hall at 9:30 p.m. After touring all the way from Florida to Michigan, the band’s brief escapade into Indiana marks the end of their tour.
“This last tour we went down to Florida, and we did a couple big shows down there in places like Key West and Miami,” lead vocalist and guitarist Chris Sterr said. “The highlight was probably driving all the way to Marquette [Mich.] from Key West in 35 hours to play two awesome shows. People were packed right up to the stage, and you felt like you were at a serious rock show.”
Not a stranger to recent musical success and stardom, Bump recently earned the chance to be featured in a new mystery-thriller movie, “Little Murder.” The movie features famous actors like Josh Lucas and Terrence Howard, and is set against a post-Katrina New Orleans background. The release is slated for sometime in 2010.
“A friend of ours gave us a heads up that he was coming to Detroit to do a movie, and coincidentally, that they were looking for a couple different bands to be in scenes, and one of them had to be a funk rock band.” Sterr said. “We quickly threw a three-song set together and tried out. Detroit’s got a lot of sweet music in the jazz and blues department, so while we were auditioning, we were trying to be confident, but when we saw who we were going up against, we figured we didn’t have a chance.”
Three days later, Bump received a callback from the director telling band members he wanted two songs for two different scenes, and they wanted the band to be in the movie. The songs chosen for use in the movie, “Appolonia” and “Last Chance,” are both off Bump’s second album, “Incredible Consequence.”
The band’s latest album, “Forward,” features a more contemporary pop-rock feel. Their latest single, “Out of Reach” from “Forward,” features a more relaxed atmosphere, like a mix between Coldplay and the Flaming Lips. Up against artists such as Kid Rock and The Raconteurs, Bump was nominated for “Best National Single” at the 2009 Detroit Music Awards.
Bump began in Detroit in the summer of 2001 when bandmates Yorg Kerasiotis and Chris Sterr broke away from their old band and teamed up with drummer Clint Carpenter and their old bassist. Sterr’s old band broke up mid-season, so the new band decided to fill out the rest of the gigs as the new lineup. Recently, the band replaced its old bassist with Bryce Carroll-Coe, and they’ve kept on rocking.
“Musically, Bump would be best described as progressive indie rock,” band manager Joe Choma said. “They feature solid songwriting with the ability to melt your face off with pure and absolute shredding.”
If you go:
What: Bump performing live at Doc’s
When: 9:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Doc’s Music Hall
Cost: Cover will be $5 at the door.
Listen to Bump on MySpace:
myspace.com/bumpband
