ARCHIVED ARTICLES: Holumb (The Owen Hollander Experience)

Written: September 2021

Over the summer, I went to a house show in Bloomington for the next face of the music industry: Holumb. Composed of Signature School Class of 2020 alumni Jordan Nouri, Paxton Mosby, Ben Janney, and Korey Miles, and Class of 2021’s Kaedin Caine and Jackson Naylor, the band was formed at Sig when all the members got to know each other. “We recognized the love for music we all possessed,” vocalist Ben Janney states.

They began having “band practice” in Mr. Maurer’s piano lab after school and became hooked. Guitarist Paxton Mosby remarks, “A lot of good times were spent up there just jamming tunes, and we stuck with it.” The name Holumb originated with Signature alum, Marcus Hoh, another up-and-coming Sig musician from the Class of ‘20. His idea of Holumb Dreams was shortened to Holumb over time. “I find that aspect of the name interesting because it can mean whatever you feel,” Nouri mentioned.

Of course, no band could survive without great creativity and jam sessions. Bassist Kaedin Caine states that “the band’s creative process is usually to all kick back in a room with our instruments and noodle around until someone finds a good riff or melody.” They then make these ideas into rough demos and perfect them with the whole band, digitally or in person.

Besides releasing four songs to streaming services, they’ve accomplished so much already. This summer Holumb hosted two house shows in Bloomington and rocked out with a full crowd. They also made connections with a lot of other up-and-coming bands and had a gig in Indianapolis. The band is very proud of how they have become “a part of a larger community of insanely talented underground artists,” pianist Korey Miles details. The band is certainly connected heavily within the Bloomington music scene, with Nouri even opening for Grammy-nominated artist Charli XCX a few weeks ago when she performed there. They’ve also booked a couple of festivals, most recently Evansville’s Front Porch Fest, and have landed a spot on the Chicago radio show, 104.7 FM, where they’ll perform and be interviewed on October 3rd, 2021.

Overall, Holumb is a fantastic, on the rise band that everybody needs to start listening to immediately. They can be found at @holumbofficial on Instagram and under Holumb on streaming services. The group’s next step is to build a “professional presence in the music scene” as Janney stated, and they’re working to release hoodies and t-shirts designed by another Sig alumni, Nicole Kobylanski, Korey Miles said. According to Nouri, “we’ve just been doing what we love, and as long as we keep doing it, nothing else really matters.”