Meet Bug Hunt

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bug Hunt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bug Hunt, what makes you happy? Why?
Henry: “My Discord kitten makes me happy.”

Robert: “Pizza and Grapefruit Juice. I don’t know why… OH, and making music with new people.”

Thomas: “I like Spider-Man because he makes me a better person.”

Sav: “RuPaul’s Drag Race because if there’s anything I love most in the world, it’s Drag Queens and Reality Television.”

Manny: “Minecraft lets play.”

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Something that sets us apart is that we are all multi-instrumentalists.

Robert is one of our vocalists. He is self-taught in Bass, Guitar, Ukulele, and Drums, and is constantly writing new songs for his solo career, and for the band as well!

Henry is currently studying Music and is our Lead Guitarist, he sometimes fills in for bass.

Manny is also currently studying Music and is looking to get a B. A in Music Composition. He plays guitar, bass, and a little bit of banjo sometimes.

Sav is a Film Major who is passionate about Graphic Design as well. Sav took Piano Lessons as a hobby at the age of 6, but stopped taking lessons in 6th grade, and has picked up self-teaching during College. They are also self-taught in Guitar and Ukulele since the 7th Grade.

Thomas is a History major who is Self-Taught in the Drums, and has been playing for the past 4 years, as well as guitar for 3 years.

Our music has inspirations from musical artists such as Alex G, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins, Lowertown, and various groups from the 70s, but it is not a recreation; our music is unique to us.

Robert and Thomas were in multiple bands together in the past, and during the indefinite hiatus of one of these bands, a group called The Heat Strokes, they decided to form a band that played a kind of music that was different from what they had played in the past, or anything else in their local scene. As they began constructing what would become Bug Hunt, they received interest from Henry, who was playing with a local band called The Garden Boys, and recruited Manny from a Community college where most of the band members attended and met. Sav joined a bit later, initially offering to help create art for the band, and ultimately becoming the Pianist and one of the Vocalists.

We overcome our challenges through the power of friendship. We’ve learned that if you respect, admire, and really enjoy the people you’re in a band with, it’s a lot easier to work together.
We want the world to know that if we could do it, you can too!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Robert: For me, I would take a friend on a marathon record store trip. There are some pretty neat spots all over L.A., and more than enough to make a nice loop around town. Some places I like are Arroyo Records (great jazz selection), Atomic Records, and The Record Parlour. I’ve always liked the idea of buying mystery records for whoever you’re with, and exchanging/listening to them at home or when the day is done. After our fingers are sore and our noses are full of dust from digging through the crates, we’d get something to eat. Where, I don’t know, but it’s always fun finding new places… I love pizza, so it’d probably end up being some sort of pizza spot – Maybe a fun little sit-down place. After that, it’s always nice to walk the food off for a little bit haha, so it’d be fun to take a stroll, breathing in that nice L.A. air, window shopping, maybe popping into some places that catch our eyes, taking cool pictures, and whatnot. Once our legs are tired, maybe we can catch a flick – Walk in the theatre not knowing what we’re going to see, and talk about whatever we saw, and all the random things that happened throughout the day, during the car ride home… and exchanging and listening to the records we picked out for each other when we arrive home… sounds alright to me!

Sav: I would take my friend down to Little Tokyo (if they’re a weeb). They have a Japanese Bookstore called Kinokuniya that has various manga, Artbooks, Japanese Novels, and Trinkets. Little Tokyo also has amazing Japanese food everywhere you turn. I would also take them down to one of the beaches we have, either Santa Monica, Zuma, or Malibu. Lastly, My favorite Museum to visit is the LACMA if my friend likes to analyze and appreciate art.

Manny: If you wanna go on a shopping spree, I would say that the Rose Bowl Flea Market is about the best you’ll find if you’re looking for some cool secondhand finds. It is absolutely massive and honestly would need multiple wanderings just to get to everything. Another must-visit is Ameoba Music in Hollywood. It’s an iconic record store, and they’re bound to have something you’ve been looking for. I heard Jessica Pratt used to work there one time, that’s pretty crazy… I’d say to go support live music here! Lastly, I’d probably take them to a concert! There are so many live events happening on any given night, and LA has some pretty iconic venues. Go to The Smell.. Go to the Echo.. Go to the Wiltern.. The Hollywood Bowl event. Maybe befriend some people while you’re waiting in line, maybe go to Denny’s with them afterwards. Now you’re really living!

Henry: For when we want to have a lot of fun, I’d probably take them to Universal Studios, because I love cinema, or Six Flags Magic Mountain! Goliath is a classic ride that can’t be beat. Other than that, I’d take them to the countless museums in the city. The Getty is iconic, but I am particularly fond of The Huntington Library; they have beautiful gardens and a Japanese section that is really cool! Finally, for a taste of the nightlife, I’d go to Blue Mondays at Boardners in Hollywood, because it’s fairly intimate, doesn’t get really cramped, and they have themed music nights!

Thomas: I would take them to the Ventura Harbour and Main Street, they are some of my favourite places to relax, and there’s this awesome pizza place on Main Street. Also on Main Street, there’s this store that sells British and South African foods and drinks, which I like, because I grew up in England and South Africa. I’d take them to get Pho and other cool foods that we don’t have where I’m from. I would also take them to this awesome abandoned water tower that overlooks a lake by my house, I like to climb up and play guitar on it. Closer to Los Angeles, though, I would take them to Amoeba Music and the Last Bookstore.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Our families and friends have been incredibly supportive of us and helped us kickstart our band.

DVDrentals (musician) helped us get our first gig at a University Film Fundraiser, which was a huge struggle for us at first, so we want to thank them for helping us get on our feet.

Barry at the American Legion Post 507 also helped us out a lot.

Josh Forletta (drummer for a local SCV band, “Something and the Ronnies”) has been our consistent sound person and helped us set up a lot of the sound equipment at our gigs.

@comfycity on Instagram drew our band logo, so we want to give a big thank you to them for helping with our branding with a simple, yet effective drawing that really helps sum up the message and concept we wanted to convey for our band.

We would also like to thank ourselves! Each of us works incredibly hard to contribute to the band’s success. Thank you to our Drummer, Thomas, for letting us all into your garage to practice and annoy the hell out of the neighbors. Thank you to our Guitarist/Vocalist Manny, and our Bassist/Vocalist Robert, for writing and composing incredible songs that we have the pleasure to perform and share with the community, and soon the world. Thank you to our Lead Guitarist, Henry, whose talent and skills are so unmatched, being able to jump on any song and creating the grooviest riffs that we cannot do without, which become such a key component of what makes our sound so special. And especially for his witty remarks that make us all crack up during practice. Last but not least, thank you to Sav, our Pianist/Vocalist, they have been our graphic designer, video and photo editor, helping create posters for gigs, helping manage our band’s Instagram, and helped design the Band’s logo.

Instagram: @bughuntband

Youtube: @bughuntband5

Image Credits
Diego Feliciano (@mundanetreasures on Instagram)
Miles Gabriel (@milesssmedia on Instagram)
Gavin Sanchez (@_gavin0 on Instagram)