Spunj Wipes the Floor at the Big Dirty

The members of Spunj perform at the Big Dirty music venue in downtown Eugene. From left to right: Dan Underkofler, Sage McCommas, Josh Harris, David Richards. Photo by Jack Skidmore.

By Jack Skidmore

The excitement of discovering a young and promising band is phenomenal. When that band is from your same town, it substantially adds to the enthusiasm towards them. Since I moved to Eugene in 2021, I periodically saw concert fliers and stickers with the colorful cleaning item logo of the local jam band Spunj. From not knowing anything about their music, the sponge symbol alone was enough to catch my attention. The single-word misspelled band name is always something I have found clever, and it certainly is a trope of some of the all-time greats. After hearing Spunj live for the first time at Cervantes’ Other Side in Denver this last summer, I was an instant fan upon returning to Oregon. 

Members of Spunj at Cornucopia in Eugene. Photo by Jack Skidmore

On February 14th, I attended Spunj’s Valentine's Day show at the Big Dirty. They played alongside Portland’s multi-instrumentalist and genre-bending artist, High Gain Theory — as well as Connecticut’s groove-centric metal and electronic band, lespecial. This was my third time seeing Spunj, and I felt their energy at an all-time high. On March 1st, the jam band began a nationwide spring tour. Furthermore, the band recently recorded a five-song EP to be released while on the road. Prior to the show at the Big Dirty, I had the opportunity to sit down with the band members to ask about these endeavors as well as the roots of the group. 

McCommas, Harris, and Richards play onstage. Photo by Jack Skidmore.

From talking to each member, it was evident that each member of Spunj is incredibly unique. This greatly enhances the group’s originality in recorded material, as well as live improvisations. The group’s drummer, Sage McCommas said, “I think that's helped us to craft our own sound and not be super derivative.” Each member offers something different in regard to their musical background and upbringing. 

For starters, McCommas has had experience in a variety of musical spheres. “When I was eight, writing rap and hip hop was the first thing I was really into. My dad is also a musician, and he was playing a lot of festivals,” said McCommas. Having his dad involved in these festivals opened the door for McCommas to begin publicly showcasing his skill, which inspired him to continue to develop musically. “I would go on to the youth stage and do my little flows and whatnot. Then, in middle school, I did orchestra, and then in eighth grade, I started my first garage band. That's when I started playing drums,” said McCommas. He listed Modest Mouse, The Shins, and Arctic Monkeys as some of the inspirations for his first band. After graduating high school, McCommas moved to Arcata, California to attend music school at Humboldt State University where he would become enthralled by jazz and later jam music, which serves as the primary style of Spunj. 

The view of the crowd from McCommas’ drum set.Photo by Jack Skidmore.

The group’s lead guitarist, Josh Harris, has had an impressive progression to the role that he holds in the band. “Me and Sage met a couple years before we started the band, and I didn't really have any musical background. I played some school band stuff, but nothing serious,” said Harris. McCommas assumed the role of mentoring Harris as he built his musical abilities from square one. “I was going to school, and then I would come home and teach him stuff to try to catch him up to where I was,” said McCommas. From these practice sessions, Spunj was born. 

McCommas and Underkofler amidst a fierce arm wrestling match. Photo by Jack Skidmore.

More recently, Harris explained discovering new influences outside of the jam sphere. Specifically, he hopes to incorporate more well-polished lyricalism into his music. This follows recent admiration for lyrical artists. “I just found out about Mac DeMarco, and I'm like, ‘oh my god!’...I've been obsessed with Phish and the Dead, and now I'm going the opposite way,” said Harris. I am excited to see how this may impact the eclectic style of Spunj in the near future. 

Harris plays in his Mac DeMarco-inspired ‘Viceroy’ hat. Photo by Jack Skidmore.

Some time after Harris and McCommas started jamming together, they decided their passion for Spunj would require them to make some big changes to their lives. For starters, they decided to leave Arcata in search of larger opportunities for success. The choice was either to move south to the Bay Area or north to Oregon. “I had family up here, I had gone to the Country Fair for years, and it's a lot cheaper, so we thought Oregon probably seemed like the better decision, so we moved up to Eugene,” said McCommas. After this move, the other current members would join the band. 

Similar to McCommas, Spunj’s saxophone and bassist, David Richards, has extensive roots in jazz music. “I played saxophone in the jazz band and jazz combo all throughout high school, then I went to college for music doing saxophone. I got into playing bass. 'cause right after college I was just trying to figure out what I wanted to do and going through some stuff in life. So I started listening to a bunch of heavy music and got really into The Sword and Tool,” said Richards. He went on to play in a doom-metal band for some time. After meeting other members of Spunj, Richards was exposed to jam music and began playing bass in that style. 

Richards is on bass alongside Harris. Photo by Jack Skidmore.

The most recent member of Spunj is their keyboardist, Dan Underkofler. Like many of the other members, Underkofler got his start in music in his school band playing the clarinet. Following this, he casually played guitar but really got into keys as soon as he moved to the Pacific Northwest from Connecticut. The paths of the Spunj and Underkofler would cross at the Gorge Amphitheatre during the after-parties of a Phish concert.  “I came and helped them set up a sound system to run the show one night, and I sat in on keyboards the second night, and then like three weeks later, he called me and asked me to join the band,” said Underkofler. “I've been with them for like two and a half years now,” he said. More than the rest, Underkofler has significant ties to jam music in his youth. “I'd been going to this festival on the east coast, out in Connecticut, called The Gathering of the Vibes, since I was like 14 years old. It was like very much a celebration of Jerry Garcia kind of in post-mortem,” he said. 

Underkofler plays between keys and synth at the show. Photo by Jack Skidmore.

Since its beginning, Spunj has already had some impressive highlights. Some of these include organizing their own “Camp Suds” festival last year and playing alongside Ryan “Norb” Dempsey of the popular jam band Twiddle. Looking forward, the group remains in full pursuit. “This band is life or death for us.  Everything that we do in our entire lives depends on the success of this band right now,” said Underkofler. As fervent as this may sound, the group expresses intense passion for their dreams. Alongside their musical expertise, Spunj’s determination is bound to grant them fruition. 

Harris looks back at the camera amidst a Spunj song. Photo by Jack Skidmore.