Interview with Lonely Bunker: ‘I’ve always been in punk bands, the melodies are heavily rooted in that’

New York-based singer-songwriter Lonely Bunker gave us his second album 7 Songs, Vol. 1 earlier this month, which sees him move away from his punk roots and embrace his poppier side.

Lonely Bunker is the solo project of Jay Stewart, also known as the lead singer and guitar player for skate punk veterans Symphony of Distraction and, formerly, SecondShot. Lonely Bunker has distinguished itself from Stewart’s previous band projects by ditching the guitar for piano and synths, though retaining the melodies and songwriting influences that come from his punk roots. ‘Lonely Bunker’ references his little room at home: ‘I have this room in the apartment and I hate the term ‘man cave’, so I just called it ‘the bunker’,’ he said.

The album might mark a change in direction for Stewart but there are nods to his punk roots throughout: ‘You know, it’s weird, I’ve always been in punk bands, the melodies are heavily rooted in that,’ he said. I ask him if he’s a fan of Frank Turner, who moved away from his punk roots to embrace a more folk-driven, acoustic approach: ‘I LOVE Frank Turner! I’ve seen him so many times. A friend gave me a CD of his once and that started me on the journey. At the first concert of his I went to, there were like twenty people but they were all super fans and he played as if he was playing to the whole room.’

‘Often, the lyrics just happen’

One of the stand-out tracks on the album for me is ‘Unfair’, with its melodic piano intro and softly layered drums. ‘Lyrically, it’s about being cheated on, which happened to me when I was younger,’ he said. ‘Often, the lyrics just happen. It was an interesting experiment, I wrote on a train in two hours.’ As the chorus goes: ‘But if it’s true then I would have rather that you never would have told me so I could close my eyes and make it go away. You shed your guilt and now the burden is mine to bear. Unfair.’

I tell him that ‘Unfair’ could easily be a Ben Folds song and he’s really pleased: ‘I love Ben Folds! He did a bit of ‘Unfair’ in one of his lockdown videos. It was surreal for me, I’ve been a fan since I was a teenager.’ We chat for a bit about how brilliant Ben Folds’ lockdown Apartment Requests videos were, where he often did an improvisation on the piano, making up a song on the spot based on a keyword that someone watching suggested and how incredibly difficult it is to do that as well as he did.

One of my favourite tracks on the album is ‘Overboard’ because it encapsulates so many different genres. It starts off rocky, before briefly morphing into a jazz tune and then sounding like Ben Folds channelling his inner Dave Grohl. It turns out that the song is actually a few years old and was originally written for a Nintendo 3DS animation: ‘I had a friend in New York working for Nintendo who wanted music for an animation and I said I could do the music. I was given the animation. The first part feels very separate but it was based on a specific set of rules for the animation before the dream sequence. It changes how you write because the music has to follow what’s happening on screen. The premise of the animation is that a kid is getting bullied, they stick his head in the toilet.’ The anxiety in the animation is reflected by Stewart’s lyrics: ‘Maybe subconsciously aware with all anxiety to spare but this burden is like water and I’m coming up for air.’

Two tracks on the album, ‘The End’ and ‘Not Answering’, were inspired by the Capitol riots in Washington, D.C. in January this year.

‘I used to just play the melodies but then the next time I couldn’t always remember the good bit!’

Stewart typically starts with the melody before coming up with the music. ‘I always record melody ideas when I have them into a voice recorder. I lost a lot of good song ideas before I started doing that.’

The super catchy and singalong opening track, ‘Anywhere but Here’, was loosely based on his bandmate in Symphony of Distraction, Steve Smith: ‘My friend Steve had a bad break up and moved away, so the song is based on that story.’ The song hints at the messy aftermath of a break up: ‘Plans can happen fast and, for no reason at all, built a mountain of a mess and made a couple of calls. Then I jumped with no fucks given where I might fall, just dusted my jeans and moved on.’

He is now working on Volume 2, which he hopes to release later this year. ‘It’ll be seven songs again, I’ve got one done, it’s called ‘I Think There’s Nothing Left For Me Here’. It’s about living in a place and having the feeling that there’s nothing left for you there anymore.’

Lonely Bunker’s debut album, Daytime Lullaby, is comprised mostly of piano/vocal renditions of songs from Stewart’s previous bands. Lonely Bunker has yet to appear on a stage but Stewart has toured with his other bands and shared the stage with acts such as The Offspring, Jane’s Addiction, Iggy Pop and Alkaline Trio. Stewart spent five years studying jazz piano in New York before taking his new piano skills and applying them to Lonely Bunker.

​I tell him that I have enjoyed discovering his punk band, Symphony of Distraction, and really love their songs ‘No Apologies’ and ‘The Last Thing I Remember’: ‘Oh good, those are two of mine,’ he laughed. Locally, he’s a fan of The VanSaders, from New Jersey, who are a blend of folk and rock, with hints of twang and punk. He also likes Lovesick Bombs, an art and music series bringing different musicians together, and Lamonta, a pop punk band from Sacramento, California.

Interestingly, his gateway to music was metal: ‘I got some tapes for my tenth birthday, including Iron Maiden and Guns ‘N’ Roses. I wanted to be one of those guys! I asked for them after friends with older brothers recommended them. I didn’t love Iron Maiden at first but after listening to it 1000 times, I became obsessed!’

If he could tour with anyone, he picks Ben Folds: ‘He would, for sure, be on that list. He puts on a great show. I love the Dwarf song (‘One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces’). It’s amazing that he was writing and playing it in his twenties. I set myself the challenge of learning the (piano) solo. It took me a month!’