Bumpin Uglies

Bumpin Uglies
Bumpin Uglies performing in July 2021
Background information
Origin	Annapolis, Maryland
Genres	Reggae, ska, punk[1]
Years active	(2008 (2008)–present)[2]
Labels	Space Duck CD Baby Right Coast Records Ineffable Records
Associated acts	Ballyhoo! The Elovaters Passafire Tropidelic
Website	Official website
Members	Brandon Hardesty Dave Wolf T.J. Haslett Ethan Lee Lichtenberger[3]
Past members	Zach Pfefferkorn Ben McNulty Keenan Leader Mike Breach Chad Wright

Bumpin Uglies is an American punk reggae band from Annapolis, Maryland.^[4]

Bumpin Uglies music features a "melody-driven, free-spirited blend of ska, reggae, and punk with a strong focus on lyrics and crowd-pleasing grooves."^[2]

The band's influences are a mix of ska-punk and reggae drawn from pioneering bands Sublime, Bad Religion, Reel Big Fish, and Goldfinger.

History[]

Formation and Free Candy (2008–2011)[]

The group was founded in 2008 by guitarist and vocalist Brandon Hardesty, and percussionist Zach Pfefferkorn. The band name came from Zach who "threw out the idea of Bumpin' Uglies as they were trying to think of the funniest and most memorable band name as possible.^[5]

Later, Ben McNulty joined as a bass player and Keenan Leader joined as the drummer. Since then the band has refined its sound with complimentary musicians, ending with the current band consisting of Brandon Hardesty, Dave Wolf, T.J. Haslett, and Ethan Lichtenberger.

The band's first full-length album Free Candy was released on June 11, 2011, which was a strong debut. The release party was thrown at "The Whiskey", a former music venue in Annapolis MD. It featured the singles, "Addictive Personality" and "Hallucinations".

Go Folk Yourself and Ninjah: Reggae Assassins (2012–2014)[]

A year later on June 17, 2012, Go Folk Yourself, their second album, was released.

Then another rapid release, their third LP titled, Ninjah: Reggae Assassins premiered on May 28, 2013 with their first single "Morning After".

The next year, they followed up with a live album titled Load In/Load Out: Live at 8x10 released on April 8, 2014.

Since these albums, Bumpin Uglies went from regional favorites on the East Coast, first starting out in clubs and smaller venues to a more national draw with heavily touring all over the United States, then onto bigger festivals.

Touring and EPs (2015–2016)[]

While continutously touring, their first EP Freakout Hell Bus was released on June 2nd, 2015. A follow up EP, Sublime With No One, was released on October 16, 2015 and garnered as much attention with the EP's title as the new songs on it.^[6] Their third EP, Better. Faster. Stronger was released on June 4, 2016.

Keep It Together and Beast From The East (2016)[]

The band's fourth album titled, Keep It Together was released on September 9, 2016 on Right Coast Records.

In December 2016, the trio became a quartet when they added a fourth member, Chad Wright on keyboard and some vocals. His first album with the band was their fifth LP, Beast from the East, their most acclaimed album which released on April 6, 2018 to much fanfare. The band had four Billboard Top Reggae Album of the Week placements, including a #1 spot with Beast From The East on April 21, 2018.^[7] They are currently signed to .^[8]

The band recorded their first acoustic album,Songs From the Basement on September 26, 2017, which featured acoustic versions of their popular singles from their past albums.

Buzz EP and Live acoustic album (2019)[]

On March 22, 2019, the band released their fourth EP titled Buzz, a six-song complication, including their single "Buzz" featuring friends, Tropidelic.^[9] Then, they released Live @ Sugarshack Sessions, their second acoustic album, on October 4, 2019.

Keep Your Suitcase Packed album (2020)[]

Their sixth album, Keep Your Suitcase Packed released on on June 12, 2020. The album featured singles "Florida Showers" (feat. Leilani Wolfgramm), "I Just Am" and "Suburbia". Shortly after the release, Chad Wright left the band to concentrate on other projects. He was replaced on keyboard by Ethan Lichtenberger who also plays the trumpet and trombone.

'The Never Ending Drop' project (2020–2021)[]

In 2020 and 2021, the band worked on their own project called "The Never Ending Drop". In a year where they had to stop touring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hardesty explains, "we decided to double down on the music making portion of our job description", and then released a single every month; whether if it was a viral video, acoustic set or a studio track released to stream.^[10]

Bumpin Uglies was featured as one of many reggae bands on Collie Buddz riddim album, Cali Roots Riddim 2020 with their single, "Mid-Atlantic Dub", which was produced by Buddz and mixed by Stick Figure's touring guitarist, producer Johnny Cosmic.

On January 15, 2021, Bumpin Uglies was one of several reggae and punk bands on The House That Bradley Built, a charity compilation honoring Sublime's lead singer Bradley Nowell, helping musicians with substance abuse. They covered Sublime's song "Same In The End".

Lineup[]

Current Band Members[]

• Brandon Hardesty – lead vocals, guitar, songwriter (2008–present)
• Dave "Wolfie" Wolf – bass, vocals (2010–present)
• T.J. Haslett – drums (2015–present)^[3]
• Ethan Lee Lichtenberger – keyboard, trombone, trumpet (brass) (2021–present)^[3]

Bumpin Uglies performing (with new member Ethan) at Bird & Betty's in Beach Haven, NJ on July 11, 2021.

Former band members[]

• Zach Pfefferkorn – percussion (2008–2009)
• Ben McNulty – bass (2008–2010)
• Keenan Leader – drums (2008–2013)
• Mike Breach – (2009-2010)
• Chad Wright – keyboard, vocals (2017–2020)

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

Live albums/EP's[]

Singles[]

References[]