Bad Ghost, Isabella, and Dead Wolvs rock out at Hangar Nine
July 26, 2022
The residents of Carbondale and some from abroad gathered at Hangar 9 to hangout and listen to three bands on July 23, 2022: the Scene band Isabella, Punk Rock band Bad Ghost, and Metalcore group Dead Wolvs.
Isabella was the first to perform. Founded in 2008, Isabella operates largely in the Southeast Missouri area, this performance being their first time playing in Carbondale in about a decade. Vocalist Tim Godlove says he draws inspiration from other Scene bands such as Glassjaw.
“There are a lot of Scene bands in the scene […] that we feed off of,” Godlove said. “We challenge each other. […] We’ve got bands up in St. Louis we’ve been playing with for years, that have been doing it as long as us. It’s just being part of the scene and doing what we love, really.”
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Among the crowd was Joshua Lewis, an avid fan and former player in Isabella who came to show his support.
“I’ve seen them play for one person before, and then I’ve seen them play for 500 people and they had the same energy every single time,” Lewis said. “They’re all really good dudes and really cool.”
After Isabella came Dead Wolvs, which was formed in 2017 after breaking off from a previous Christian Metalcore Band. Vocalist Nicholas Connor described his impetus for wanting to diverge from the former band as a desire for greater self-expression.
“We wanted our shows to just be fun and it [originally] felt really directed and scripted,” Connor said. “I really just want to write about everything that pisses me off. Yeah, I just want to be myself as loud as I can. And that’s just really a pissed off little guy.”
Guitarist Chad Flowers listed some of the bands he’s most inspired by as an artist.
“I’m really influenced by the mid-2000’s emo post hardcore Screamo stuff, like Underoath, Every Time I Die, and Jean,” Flowers said. “I notice a lot of bands kind of put on this fake persona to get views or likes or streams or whatever and find that success. We just want to be as real as possible.”
The final performance for the night was Punk Rock group Bad Ghosts, which, as guitarist and vocalist Zachary Arnold described, was founded, in part, due to the Carbondale-based LGBTQ+ center Rainbow Cafe.
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“We were doing a benefit for them, and the other band dissolved and we didn’t want to drop the show. So we almost made the band just for that, and it’s kept up since then,” Arnold said.
He said the fast-paced energy of the Punk Rock genre helps to distract him from his nervousness on stage.
“[Punk Rock is] just fun to play,” Arnold said. “It’s fast. It’s energetic. It gets me pumped up while I’m playing it and I’m definitely notoriously a very nervous person when I get up on stage. So having something a little more pumped up and energetic definitely helps me to get loosened up and interact with everyone.”
Dead Wolvs’ most recent album is called What Doesn’t Kill You and is on most streaming services. Isabella is in the process of recording, but their most recent release was the 2019 EP No Roses. Bad Ghosts’ most recent EP, released in March of this year, is called Banger and can also be found on most streaming platforms.
Staff reporter Ethan Braun can be reached at [email protected].To stay up to date with all your Southern Illinois news follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.
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