2008 Woodie Awards
Ignorant Mob: NMU students bring world-beat sound to Marquette
Jamie Reed
Issue date: 9/6/07 Section: Entertainment
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Music from the island of Jamaica is usually more at home on balmy tropical beaches than the chilly Upper Peninsula. But local band Ignorant Mob brings exotic island flavor straight to the stages of Marquette.
Ignorant Mob's sound is a bit different from the usual local music heard around the Marquette area. Mike Kantola, guitarist and junior secondary education and English major, said the band's interests lie in reggae, dub (a form of Jamaican music that evolved from reggae) and world-beat music.
"All of us share a love for some of the classic sounds of Jamaican roots' reggae, and try to keep that dynamic in the sound," he said. "As well, we are trying to hold that roots vibe and take it into a more contemporary realm with experiments in live dub."
Ignorant Mob is partly comprised of brothers Lake Jungwirth, who plays guitar and bass, and Bryn Jungwirth, the band's drummer. The Jungwirth brothers, along with Ian Zender, the percussionist and violinist, are the three founding members of the band. Bob Mahin, trombone player and percussionist, was the fourth member to join. Next came Kantola and Peter Gummerson on keyboard. All members contribute to the band's vocals.
Gummerson, a senior music education major, added that only recently has the band begun to experiment with vocals. Up until about a year ago, the band was primarily instrumental.
Ignorant Mob has been together since 2001, although Gummerson joined only a year ago and Kantola joined the band this past fall. Kantola said friendship between the band members is a lot older than the band itself.
"We had a lot of fun and chemistry playing music together in the past, but I had moved away from Marquette to Washington state for a few years," he said. "It just worked out that when I moved back to Marquette, these guys had lost their guitar player, and I jumped on board."
An especially unique element to Ignorant Mob lies in their drummer, Bryn, who is blind. Bryn was born with partial sight, but was completely blind by the time he was six years old. Kantola met Bryn his first year at NMU, and he said he finds the drummer to be extremely talented and capable of overcoming tremendous challenges, on and off the stage.
Ignorant Mob's sound is a bit different from the usual local music heard around the Marquette area. Mike Kantola, guitarist and junior secondary education and English major, said the band's interests lie in reggae, dub (a form of Jamaican music that evolved from reggae) and world-beat music.
"All of us share a love for some of the classic sounds of Jamaican roots' reggae, and try to keep that dynamic in the sound," he said. "As well, we are trying to hold that roots vibe and take it into a more contemporary realm with experiments in live dub."
Ignorant Mob is partly comprised of brothers Lake Jungwirth, who plays guitar and bass, and Bryn Jungwirth, the band's drummer. The Jungwirth brothers, along with Ian Zender, the percussionist and violinist, are the three founding members of the band. Bob Mahin, trombone player and percussionist, was the fourth member to join. Next came Kantola and Peter Gummerson on keyboard. All members contribute to the band's vocals.
Gummerson, a senior music education major, added that only recently has the band begun to experiment with vocals. Up until about a year ago, the band was primarily instrumental.
Ignorant Mob has been together since 2001, although Gummerson joined only a year ago and Kantola joined the band this past fall. Kantola said friendship between the band members is a lot older than the band itself.
"We had a lot of fun and chemistry playing music together in the past, but I had moved away from Marquette to Washington state for a few years," he said. "It just worked out that when I moved back to Marquette, these guys had lost their guitar player, and I jumped on board."
An especially unique element to Ignorant Mob lies in their drummer, Bryn, who is blind. Bryn was born with partial sight, but was completely blind by the time he was six years old. Kantola met Bryn his first year at NMU, and he said he finds the drummer to be extremely talented and capable of overcoming tremendous challenges, on and off the stage.
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