What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1489538
MONICA HOOPER NWA Democrat-Gazette N ot a single member of Bellwether Sirens knew one another before moving to Northwest Arkansas from different parts of the country. Guitarist Sean O'Brien jokes that he met drummer Geoff Atkinson through "missed connections" on Craigslist. Both moved here from the Chicago/ Detroit area and were looking for like- minded musicians to jam with. "The first thing I noticed was that the majority of the recordings he sent me were recorded by my [former] roommate," O'Brien says. "We had run around in the same circles in Chicago, but we never actually met." Sharing a love of punk rock and early emo, the two started jamming with O'Brien's co-worker, Dave MacLeod, who moved to Northwest Arkansas from northwest Indiana in 2018. "Ever since I moved here, I wanted to get back into music, but I just couldn't find the right people," MacLeod says. "So it was a blessing to find Sean and finally find somebody who was on the same page as me, and then getting to meet these guys. It was pretty awesome." O'Brien says his wife suggested that he meet one of her co-workers, Kevin Rej, who had similar tastes in music. O'Brien says he was hesitant until he actually saw his kindred spirit. "One random day after the three of us had started to play, we were at Pedalers Pub — my wife and my son and I were having lunch — and she looks over, and says "That's Kevin! That's the guy was telling you about!' I look over and see his sleeves of tattoos, and said, 'You didn't tell me he was punk!" Once they all played together, O'Brien says Rej "started soloing over all my songs, and I said, 'This is the guy!'" Rej hails from South Carolina's low country but spent 30 years playing in bands around Atlanta. "In the past 30 years, I was probably in three bands at a time — never not being in a band. And then [I] moved here right at the beginning of the pandemic, so it was a really tough time to relocate and not know a single person." Still, something was missing. None of the guys considered themselves singers, so they placed an ad on Facebook looking for vocalists. Enter Anupriya Sharma, who answered O'Brien's Facebook ad that she says "went into a little too much detail, but was funny and quirky." "We're loud, and we auditioned a 12 WHAT'S UP! JANUARY 8-14, 2023 FAQ Bellwether Sirens EP Release WHAT — Punk, hard rock band Bellwether Sirens out of Bella Vista celebrate the release of their first EP, "Hella Vista," with special guests Proto hive (Van Buren) and Fleure (Tulsa, Okla.) WHEN — 8 p.m. Jan. 14 WHERE — Nomads Trailside, 1863 N. Pluto Drive, Fayette ville INFO — facebook.com/Bell wethersirens BONUS — Digital copies of "Hella Vista" are available for download at bellwether sirens.bandcamp.com/ album/hellavista and songs can be streamed on all major platforms. CDs will be avail able at the show. See Bellwether Page 37 Strangers No Longer Bellwether Sirens navigate post-covid music scene The Bellwether Sirens play an album release show at 8 p.m. Jan. 14 at Nomads Trailside, 1863 N. Pluto Drive in Fayetteville. Copies of their new EP, "Hella Vista," will be for sale at the show. Digital copies of "Hella Vista" are available for download at bellwethersirens.bandcamp. com/album/hella-vista, and songs can be streamed on all major platforms. (Courtesy Photo) FAYETTEVILLE LISTEN HERE! See a special performance of "Schizo" by Bellwether Sirens at nwaonline.com/1823bellwether.