Humma Kavula

Born out of the hellscape of the pandemic, four kindred souls discovered redemption in a mutual love of 90s alt-fueled progressive hard rock in the SF Bay Area. The initial seeds of Humma Kavula were planted in 2019 which saw the core rhythm section take shape consisting of Bay Area Natives Dave Jones on drums and George Rider on bass. In early 2020 guitarist Glenn Kuchenbeiser was added after introduction via a local record store owner who knew the talents involved and expected something cool could come out of it. Then the pandemic hit and the world stopped- but the music continued via remote writing and jamming in person depending on the shifting covid status at any given time. The music was flowing as a cathartic stream of consciousness taking inspiration from across the board: 90s alt & 80s prog with hints of metal, psychedelic, funk & punk. The final piece of the puzzle came with the addition of Glenn’s former bandmate Michal Ashby on vocals. The music of Humma Kavula takes the listener on a dystopian journey exploring the ills of all the modern bullshit we experience and channeling it into a compelling mixture of melodic and dissonant yet catchy angst driven hard rock. The drumming of Dave Jones manifests a heavy groove punctuated by articulate polyrhythms that challenge the typical 4/4 paradigm while the bass playing of George Rider taps both groove and technical elements. The guitar of Glenn Kuchenbeiser evokes an interplay of melodic, textural and dissonant elements which coalesce into something heavy and yet ethereal. Vocally, Michal Ashby brings a strong melodic component while still harnessing an aggressive edge.