The Survival of Bone Haus

The long black walls of The Shredder in downtown Boise, Idaho, vibrated with guttural cheers this past Saturday night. Bone Haus was back, and no one was more pleased about it than the band themselves. Debuting their hard-won second album, Confoundead, at the beginning of February, the Boise-based foursome transformed the turbulence of this past year into a triumphant second act. The departure of founding member Billie Nimbuson left bandmates Andre Maldonado, Rain Marie, and Joe Black struggling to find their way forward. After six months off stage and out of the rehearsal space, Bone Haus shuffled their instruments and added bassist Allison Winkler, regenerating themselves into a divine conglomerate of gritty determination. That phoenix-rising attitude carried over into the band’s DIY tendencies as well. The group bought their own equipment to take control of recording and production. The result is an album that explores a more expansive sound without abandoning the band’s signature garage punk reverberations. We sat down with Bone Haus at Boise Hive last month to talk about their latest album, losing a member, and shifting gears to create something new.

Andre Maldonado, Rain Marie, and Allison Winkler performing with Bone Haus at The Shredder. Photo by April Massey

AM: How did you start playing music together?

Andre Maldonado: Rain and I met on the musician’s section of Craigslist in 2018. We jammed together a few times, then brought in Billie, who was initially on drums, and I was on guitar. Then, two years later, we brought in Joe. It has been that lineup until recently when we added Allison.

Rain Marie: It has been turbulent.

AM: How do you think each of your influences contributes to creating the Bone Haus sound?

Joe Black: The core is with Andre and Rain; we built off that. 

AM: My music background started with playing the trumpet.  I listened to jazz and classical music. I was not into rock or punk until I moved to Boise. Judging from the music I play, you would not be able to guess what I actually listen to. 

Allison Winkler performing with Bone Haus at The Shredder. Photo by April Massey

AM: Why is there a disconnect between what you listen to and what you play?

AM: Part of that is because there is not one person who is the sole creative force behind the band. 

JB: We have a fairly collaborative process.

AM: Everyone writes their parts for the instrument they are playing. 

RM: It is never, “I wrote this song, learn it.”

AM: It is more like, “I have this piece of a song, do what you want with it.”

AM: Is the creative process more collaborative for you? Or does everyone do their own thing, and you figure out how it goes together?

RM: One of us will show up with a small riff, and we will jam on it until we come up with something. Very rarely will one of us send out a riff expecting everyone to show up to practice with their part ready.

JB: We record almost everything we do to reflect and add to it later.  

AM: Sometimes, after practice, you will remember you had something cool, but you do not have any evidence that it existed. Since Joe joined the band, he has recorded nearly every practice. 

JB: You never know when magic is going to happen. 

AM: Your second album, Confoundead, is out now. What has changed for you between your first and second albums? 

JB: One of the biggest changes is I did all the recording for this album.

Joe Black performing with Bone Haus at The Shredder. Photo by April Massey

RM: Our first album was very cut-and-dry blues and punk rock. This album is still punk rock but with some experimental and psychedelic. 

JB: It is artsy.

AM: The first album is very Detriot garage rock, but your sound has stretched out more with the second album. What brought about that change?

AM: We have spent way more time playing live than we have writing or recording. We are trying to change that. Now that we have had that time playing together, we are more comfortable bringing the weirder stuff. 

RM: Not restraining ourselves to one genre has helped. We are not Bone Haus, the punk band; we are just Bone Haus. We are going to make whatever music we want to make. 

AM: Is this the album you wanted to make?

JB: It is a really strong representation of what we do live.

AM: We are definitely pleased with the songs. That is not where the struggle was. When we wrote most of these songs, we did not have the money to pay someone to record them. Eventually, we got the gear and did it ourselves. 

JB: We are very DIY at our core. We try to own everything we do. 

AM: Even though the songs are not new to us, we are very excited for people to listen to them. 

AM: How does keeping the collaboration within the band, instead of seeking outside partnerships, affect how you operate? 

RM: We have recorded with a few people, but we have a very specific idea of what we want. The people we worked with would say, “Yeah, but I know what sounds good.” Having complete control has been great for us. Someone who records for a living knows what sounds good, but we do not care. 

JB: Jamie Hill, who did our masters, mentored us through the production side. He saw us play on tour, so he knew what we sounded like and our ethos.  He did not want to change our sound; he wanted to help us build it. 

AM: We learned that we are not a band that tracks individually and pastes everything together. We like to have the live performance element, even in the studio. We got a better product by doing it that way instead of individually. 

AM: Has keeping the recording process within the band given you the confidence to explore with your sound more?

Rain Marie performing with Bone Haus at The Shredder. Photo by April Massey

RM: Keeping everything so tight-knit has made it easier for me to give suggestions and input.

JB: Even just sticking to a studio schedule. You only have a certain amount of allotted time. Whereas we have the flexibility to do overdubs or re-tracks at rehearsals if we want to. 

AM: So now that everything is in your hands, you can expand your sound into the direction you want it to go.

AM: Deadlines can be good, but not having to deal with financial deadlines is nice. We are not putting a lot of money on the line if we do not meet recording deadlines. That is something that can screw up a lot of bands. 

AM: You went through some changes this past year.

AM: We had a very talented band member. While they were not the sole creative force, their stepping away has forced us to contribute more. Not that that contribution was not there before, but now we have to be more confident in what we bring if we want to keep being a band. 

AM: Did having a founding member step away force you to reevaluate what you wanted the band to be as a whole? 

RM: I did not talk much with anyone, but it was concerning. Not having one of the founding members made me question if we were even the same band anymore. 

AM: Are we going to break up after this?

RM: Is this it? Or will we use it as an opportunity to try something new? That is what we did. I will be playing guitar more, which will force me to be a better musician. We got the chance to collaborate with Allison, which has been really cool.

AM: I used to be the bassist, and now I am the guitarist. I have some big shoes to fill, but I enjoy challenging myself. 

JB: The way we collaborate lends itself to a give-and-take environment, no matter who we are playing with. 

AM: Was ending the band altogether ever a serious consideration?

AM: It was a definite worry. We took a long break and did nothing for the second half of 2022. 

JB: We took a bone-cation.

AM: We did not meet for six months. We got together to discuss everything and decided to keep going. 

Andre Maldonado performing with Bone Haus at The Shredder. Photo by April Massey

AM: So, you did not play music together for six months? Were you communicating at all?

AM: We would chat occasionally.

JB: We were still mixing the album. 

AM: Just no live shows or practices.

AM: Did that break enable you to come back feeling like you were embarking on something new?

RM: For me, yes. We were nonstop for five years—a lot of practices and live shows. I was burnt out. Being able to take that break and not worry about those things, coming back refreshed, has been night and day. I am excited to write new stuff and for what the next two years have in store for us. 

JB: After that break, we were sure we still wanted to play together. There was a void that was not being filled. We needed each other. 

AM: How have the experiences of this past year shaped you as a band?

JB: Our roles have been clearer. We have been able to identify who is stronger in certain aspects. We have had to rely on each other to get where we are now. 

RM: Everyone’s strengths and weaknesses have been clarified a lot. 

AM: Just like we do not have one person that is the sole creative force of the band, it is the same way with everything outside of making music. We do not have one person in control, telling everyone what to do. 

AM: Do you have plans to tour?

JB: We have not committed to any dates, but that is the plan.

AM: Are you sticking to the Pacific Northwest or touring more of the country?

AM: A little of both. We did a Pacific Northwest tour, and it was great. One show is not enough to build a following, so we are going to try to hit some of the places we have already been, as well as some new ones. 

RM: We are going to try to hit a few places in California. Salt Lake City, maybe even Nevada. We have not mapped it out yet.

AM: Are there any bands you want to play with?

RM: Kill Michael from Portland. I have played with them before while touring with other bands. They are so good. We are also going to attempt to play with Spoon Benders. But one of the fun parts of touring is not knowing who you will play with and getting to meet all the cool bands out there.

AM: Keeping in mind previous tour experiences, is there anything you would like to avoid this time?

RM: We need to spend more time planning where to stay after the show. 

AM: There has been an onslaught of bands being victimized, with equipment and vehicles stolen. Are you considering safety more now?

RM: I never want to pass up a cool opportunity simply because I am scared, but it is something we have to think about.

JB: Even when we did that short tour, we always stayed close to the van.

AM: I even stayed in the van while everyone else went shopping to ensure no one thought it was unattended. 

RM: Thankfully, we have not had any bad luck.

AM: Are there any specific goals you want to accomplish in this album cycle? 

AM: We want to break the cycle of writing music and holding on to it for too long before we release it. 

RM: It would be cool to play a completely sold-out show; that is my main goal. 

JB: We are going to try to play some festivals as well.

Rain Marie performing with Bone Haus at The Shredder. Photo by April Massey

AM: Is this the band you see yourselves in for the foreseeable future?

RM: I would love to have a side project, but I have never had this kind of collaborative relationship with anyone else. I cannot imagine writing music with anybody else.

AM: No other project I have been a part of has been this easy. 

JB: I was a fan of theirs before I joined. This is the kind of band I have always wanted to be a part of. 

This article has been edited and condensed