Indie pop punk band Oversight Gallery, originally from Greenville, Indiana, has recently entered the Bloomington house show scene.
The members include lead guitarist Derek Query, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matt Davis, drummer Jacob Crawley and bassist Donovan Asbell.
Oversight Gallery’s “rocky” sound is very different from many of the other bands in the Bloomington house show scene, Query said. While most of the other bands are more in line with the indie genre, Oversight Gallery's music is more in the tradition of punk: loud, brash and purposefully in your face.
However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, said Crawley, 20. It keeps local music options interesting, he said.
“I think that’s the cool thing about it, is that no two bands are alike," he said. "They all have their own sort of vibe.”
He went on to compare the band to other popular pop punk groups, like Hot Mulligan and Modern Baseball. Query described the band’s overall sound as, “just like, pretty rocky.”
The band formed in high school, but the lineup has changed a little since its debut, said 18-year-old Davis. But at first, it was just him.
“I signed up for this talent show in high school like 10 months prior," Davis said. "Then like a month before the show, I started freaking out.”
He was nervous about performing by himself, he said, and decided to form a band so that he could have some company onstage. The first person he contacted to join the band was Query, who is now a guitarist but started out as a drummer.
“I hit Derek up, and he played drums for our first show, and then we were like, ‘Okay, this isn’t working,’” Davis said. “Then we got Jacob. He’s great.”
The band has since released a split extended play record, or EP, with Arcadia Grey, a band from Carmel, Indiana, and has taken inspiration from multiple sources for its music, said Query, 21.
“Our influences derive a lot from 2000s pop punk,” he said.
Another major musical influence on the band was Dylan Bodnarick of Bloomington-based band Bike Wreck, Query said. Bodnarick was a big reason that Oversight Gallery came to Bloomington.
“When he was at our show and he was actually liking our music, I was really stoked,” he said. “He knew we were in a band, and he’s been dying for us to come and play, so he invited us to a house show.”
Entering this new musical environment was somewhat daunting at first, Crawley said. He said that he knew that Oversight Gallery’s music would be different from the other music being played at the show.
“I mean, I was nervous,” he said. “I just didn’t really know how our genre would connect with people.”
Although the house show scene can be intimidating, the band members said they believe it to be a positive step for their future in music. The members all said playing in these kinds of venues has increased their popularity, and they're really enjoyable shows to perform at as well.
“It was the most fun show I’ve ever played,” Query said. “We’re dying to come back.”
