Experimental HXC band cancels

Vocalist Chris “the Bear” Hutka dons his bear mask.

By Paul Durdan

DeKALB | Experimental hardcore band The Bunny The Bear canceled this weekend’s show.

The group was supposed to play a show Saturday at the House Cafe, 263 E. Lincoln Highway, but canceled on Thursday night due to a death in drummer Brian Dietz’s family, said Matthew Tybor, vocalist and songwriter for the band.

Even after the death forced a show cancelation, Tybor still took a few moments to speak about

the project.

Tybor said The Bunny The Bear found its life in an impulse.

“To be honest, it was completely random,” Tybor said. “I was literally just sitting there one day. I’m extremely impulsive.”

Tybor took the role of “the Bunny,” while Chris Hutka donned the bear mask. The rest of the band roster consists of Eric Kogut (guitar), Steve Drachenberg (bass guitar), Amber Kogut (guitar and backing vocals) and Danny Stillman (keyboard and synth). “The Bunny” is the one who provides the deep, guttural growls, while “the Bear” sings with a high-pitched clarity.

Tyber said that he didn’t see the irony in this originally.

“It was totally accidental in happening, but it’s definitely a cool aspect,” he said. “I enjoy that it’s there now, but it wasn’t thought out. It just so happened [Hutka] was the bigger dude, so I said, ‘You’re the bear.'”

Tybor said he is the main contributor to the band’s material, and that the influence electronica has made on him finds its way into its songs because of it.

“I write all of the music, and it’s written via keyboard or FL Studio [formerly known as FruityLoops],” he said. “A lot of hardcore bands that use electronic music just plug it in.”

Tybor said this electronic aspect of the band’s music, along with blends of hardcore and other genres, lends to the experimental tendencies of the band.

“I think it sounds the way it does because when I write the stuff I write it like how we’re going to do it,” he said. “It’s not like other hardcore bands where [they] need breakdowns at a certain point. I like messing around with little parts. There’s something in every genre you can take from and see the benefit from its existence.”

Electronica digs its roots deep in the group’s song “Aisles” from If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say…, where the synthesized sound is pushed above the physical instrumentation.

Even though its second album was just recently released, Tybor said he already has several volumes of material to draw from for the next album.

“As for direction, I know what I want to do and where I want to be,” Tybor said. “Definitely the new stuff I’m working on is different from the CD I just released. Our first CD I wrote a lot of inconsistencies, a lot of weird parts. It wasn’t thought out, it was just the general mood I was in that time period.”