Gallery • 6 Photos

Sarah Bogush

Koan French drums along to the band's rendition of, "Hair of the Dog".

“Funny. Loud. Eternal. Raw.” are all words to describe The Furzurds. The Furzurds are a psychedelic, shock rock band. Since the end of 2015, when they formed, they’ve already been recognized by a few locals, so it’s clear this band is going places. Now, the question of how they formed. Hunter Bogush (12) and Koan French have been friends since the beginning of middle school. Interestingly enough, they started out disliking one another. Which quickly faded away as they got to know each other. Darrin Proudfoot (11) and Bogush met through school in success skills and began their friendship through a shared sense of humor. While Piper Leonard (12) was in a band held in the basement of the Leechpit, Bogush joined as the singer, so the two met there. Leonard and Proudfoot have simply known each other for a long time. In the end, they all came together through their intoxicating passion of music.

Bogush is the singer, rhythm guitarist, and one of the lyricists for the band. Music is Bogush’s life. When he was 15, music began to spark an interest with him. He kept listening to more and more genres, developing a wider appreciation for all different versions of rock. He then came in contact with French’s father, Aaron French, who taught him a few blues riffs to get him started and he took off from there. After playing guitar for a year or so, he began to sing. This started out as strategically screaming along to punk music from Black Flag or Off!. Later on, he began playing around with the different ranges he could hit with his voice. Eventually he got somewhere and landed on his current style of still being loud, but more melodic and prettily imperfect. As of now, he appreciates music in how it connects or divides people; and as Bogush says, “Division is as important as connection.”

Proudfoot, the lead guitarist, has become quite a talented musician. His knack for playing guitar actually started as a feud with his mom. Upon asking him why he chose to play guitar, he said, “It was really my mom. I kept getting kicked out of the house because I was misbehaving, and she just kept calling me a loser. I was like ok you want to see a loser then I’ll pick up an instrument and I’ll shred it out and I’ll be better than anyone else. It became more than just spiting her, I found it as a therapy.” He sought it out as his way of self-expression. Playing helped keep him grounded and more focused than ever before. He joined with a few other bands beforehand, such as Desolation, and worked on small personal projects, like Ancient Animosity and Dee Nadir. With The Furzurds, not only has it taught him to play better, but it’s been a good influence on regular life and an overall good time. He appreciates how he’s finally able to do something with music and to partake in a large part of that. Without music, Proudfoot would simply not be.

Because she’s lost without music, Leonard learned to play bass when she was 16. She describes the bass as an instrument that you can do anything with, which is why it’s her favorite. “I used to just scrape things against my strings, but now I can kind of tame that and turn it into something musical,” she said. Since she knew she wanted to continue with music, Leonard joined a band with a local music store, the Leechpit. Throughout that experience, she improved on her writing skills and got generally better at the bass. She discovered that music is the only thing that truly matters to her. Since joining The Furzurds, it’s been helpful to be surrounded by others who enjoy rock just as much as her. Piper is now more pleased with composing music than ever before.

“Good times is all this band is,” said French. He takes place as the band’s drummer. Starting from earlier years, he’s always had instruments scattered around the house. Since his father was in a few bands beforehand, his old equipment was available to use. French started by playing bass, which led to guitar, and eventually drums. “They are loud! I get to bang around like a mad man, or sit back there and make pretty noises. And when I play a beat, it always matches the rhythm of my soul, man,” he said. Matching with French’s spontaneous personality, the impromptu nature of playing drums is a perfect fit.

Guided by their musical influences of the Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Rolling Stones, and punk rock, they make it a goal to practice twice every week. Before practice, each member has a routine of writing their own part and improving as an individual. Eventually they all come back together and smash the parts together to make a song. That was how they wrote their first original “Stickmen“. By now, The Furzurds know their sound. It’s fun. It’s loud. It’s rock.

As far as the future goes, Bogush said, “As long as we’re all together and all rich, we’re good,” in somewhat of a joking matter. Also, they may have plans of soon being recorded professionally. Sunshine Studios, being the fickle mistress they are, had offered them the opportunity for this, but it hasn’t been confirmed. In order to record, they needed somewhere around three original songs written and prepared. While The Furzurds are working on that, it’ll be great practice no matter if they actually end up recording or not.

As the band leads into life together, they want people to remember, “We like to have a good time, we don’t judge anyone, and we want everyone to enjoy music.” So no matter your music taste, they gladly welcome you to attend any of their concerts and enjoy music along with them.