Rexburg’s music scene is buzzing with new sounds and up-and-coming bands, two of these bands, The Psychos and Trash Bandit, are doing a free performance this Friday and all are invited. BYU-Idaho Radio sat down with Isaac Self, the drummer for The Psychos. He is also an independent artist and is temporarily filling in as the drummer for Trash Bandit. BYU-Idaho Radio also spoke with Olivia Dawn who is the lead singer for The Psychos and has her own independent music and Hunter Demmerly who is the bassist for both The Psychos and Trash Bandit.
Formed out of chance encounters and a shared passions for music, The Psychos bring a blend of indie rock and infectious energy to the stage. Olivia Dawn, the lead singer, recounts the band’s origin. Having just been in a different band, Dawn was looking for new members to make a new one. In a music class, she met Isaac Self, and together their band began.
“I’m going to talk to this kid after class because he said he’s a drummer,” Dawn said. “I was going to do that, but then I chickened out. And then he came up and talked to me … I was like, ‘You’re a drummer, do you want to be in my band?’”
Due to the bands still being young, they are still developing their unique sound. With several different musical influences to pull from, and taking the individual member’s tastes into account, they aim to blend the styles together into one cohesive sound. Unlike The Psychos, who are aiming more for indie rock, the Trash Bandit band is aiming more for what they call surf grunge. Some of their musical influences are Nirvana, Pink Floyd and The Struts.
Being in a local band certainly comes with its own challenges. Balancing the life of a student with a day job and starting a music career is hard, but the band members find that getting their name out in the market and growing their audience is the real challenge. Together, they are focusing on their social media standing, posting on Instagram Reels and soon TikTok. The band members all claim that consistency is key, constantly focusing on building their presence and momentum, their success is sure to grow exponentially in due time.
“Something I wish I had known is how much [effort] is required to start a band and to keep a band going. You wouldn’t think about, for example, the social media or the business aspect of having a band,” Hunter Demmerly said. “You kind of have to treat it like it’s a little marketing project or a business project in which you have to be dedicated to it and consistently finding ways to market, finding ways to reach out and finding ways to keep up whatever trends are going on. You have to be really proactive.”
Despite the challenges, the band members still find solace in their shared passions. They are working on original songs that will soon be released on all music platforms and are excited to show the world what they’ve got.
“I just have an idea that comes to me randomly and I take that and go as far as it’ll take me. So whether it’s a cool drum pattern or a cool riff on the guitar, I think a song can start from anywhere,” Isaac Self said. “I think when people ask me about the [writing] process, that’s kind of a misleading question because there is no process. I think good music just writes itself.”
If you are interested in checking out the bands The Psychos and Trash Bandit, they are both performing a live concert at the Taco Bell parking lot this Friday at 9 p.m. You can also find them on Instagram at thepsychos.mp3and los_trashbandit. If you want to check out their independent work, you can find Isaac Self and Olivia Dawn on any music streaming service.