Photo by Maevis Sanders
You're probably familiar with NPR’s Tiny Desk series – National Public Radio's intimate live sessions where artists ranging in sound and fame perform acoustic renditions of their songs. Since its start in 2008, the series has hosted a number of artists to play stripped down songs behind a cluttered office desk that sports memorabilia and trinkets from previous artists – from cowboy boots and wigs to a large orange lego bear left by The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir. Notable performances include Mac Miller, who covered songs off “Swimming” and guest starred Thundercat; Ca7riel & Paco Amaroso, whose acoustic renditions of their usually electronic trap and hip hop sound went insanely viral; and Dua Lipas’ at-home Tiny Desk in 2020, featuring tracks from “Future Nostalgia.”
In February, local Eugene punk band Nuisance had their own makeshift Tiny Desk, playing songs off their 2025 EP “Halfway Home” and new demo “Sinister.” The event was hosted by Thunderegg Records, a student-run, non-profit record label started by University of Oregon student Peter Repins that has since taken off in the local music scene. As you can find on their website, Thunderegg’s mission is to “break down the barriers to entry and improve accessibility for talented, local artists who often go unheard in the competitive modern day music industry.” With the overwhelming amount of music poured out on streaming services, as well as not having a platform to position themselves on, it can be difficult for smaller/local artists to showcase their talent – Thunderegg provides them that platform.
From Portland, Nuisance as it is now formed in high school, but the idea started way back when members Elliot Crane and Zach Powers were in the 6th grade and started riffing together with just a guitar and drums. The two said that for a while it was just about writing more music, but since then they’ve really found their sound and presence, as have the additional members that played at the Tiny Desk – Laif Kvarsten, Noah Gould, and Henry Stewart (who built the guitar he played at the tiny desk with a smooth twang you can hear special in the live session!) The band has been having great momentum, especially in the last year. Their new demo, “Sinister,” is the first thing they’ve put out since the songs they wrote back in high school.
Talking more about the process of making new music, the band devotes a lot of time to writing each song. Because it's such a collaborative process, each song represents an old era in their lives – you know, the way any song you get stuck on and listen to over and over again defines that certain part of your life, usually because of the emotions that song reminds us of and makes us feel again. There is a strong emotional component behind every Nuisance song that you can hear in the new demo. The band described the demo as shifty and thoughtful/reflective, saying, “In the beginning of the song the way those instruments come in, I mean man, it is reflective.” Zach Powers sent a preview of the demo to his brother, another musician/drummer, and he described the feeling as “floating on the surface of the ocean.”
The band’s sound has grown and changed in the time between their first song on Spotify, “Purple Girl,” and their new demo, “Sinister.” If you listen, “Purple Girl” is a bit more heavy and aggressive, while their newer stuff is a bit less harsh and a little more thoughtful. Describing the shift in sound, the band said, “Things go after one another and you're in a certain place at a certain time. You know, reflecting on your feelings, your journey, you know whatever you've got going on, and that comes out in the music. And, so yeah, we have some less harsh, a little more thoughtful stuff.”
One point of inspiration for the original sound of the band can easily be likened to Green Day, and, as you can hear over time, the influences have shifted. Describing their current sound and feel, the band takes inspiration from Tool, specifically drummer Danny Carey's work, and also expressed interest in hip hop and the British rap scene – anything that blends styles or pushes boundaries and lets you feel like there’s more that can be done! Adding on to that, Powers said The Strokes are especially inspirational for their drumming, and Crane added that The Killers are a masterclass in songwriting in general.
On starting to work with Thunderegg, Gould said that last year the label messaged them asking if the band wanted to be a part of the label. When they learned more about it, Gould said it was exactly what he wanted to do in the music industry, and specifically aligned with all his values. Thunderegg has helped Nuisance produce the campaign for a lot of great resources, as well as their EP last year. Gould said the live session was an idea he and Thunderegg have had since they were doing the EP release last spring, and it finally came to fruition.
This was the first ‘Tiny Desk’ put on by Thunderegg, and I hope you check it out, as well as more of their live sessions in the future with wonderfully talented local artists that the team is working so hard to make possible!
Check out Thunderegg here: https://www.thundereggrecords.com/ and their Instagram @thundereggrecords, and Nuisance’s live session here: https://open.spotify.com/album/1lXQEDnSLJ1o6RKbsdWxfg