Without further ado, meet the all-student indie rock band coming out of the University of Oregon: Bowl Peace. With Elizabeth Bailey sitting on the drums, Holden Hunt strumming the guitar, Owen Akiyama slapping the bass and Elise Benton providing the vocals, they band together to create fun, catchy music for everyone to enjoy.
Bowl Peace was a somewhat recent venture. They all met and started making music in November 2022. Holden, in his own words, was the “Nick Fury” of their beginnings. He — like Samuel L. Jackson in the Marvel Universe — recruited everyone, adhered to individual talents and skills and formed a band that was destined to be together.
“We immediately clicked and got along with each other so well,” Bailey said. As a group, their creativity sparked, and the rest is history: Bowl Peace was born.
Attendees of their shows can feel the inherent camaraderie and true intention which is “to just have fun,” said Benton. “We’re about going places and having fun.”
This concept, however, doesn’t derail them from their goal of gaining some attention and getting their music out there. “Right now we’re really focused on playing shows and creating a community in physical spaces. We’re honing in on establishing our presence,” Akiyama said.
The mark of any good band is a lasting name. “It came out of nowhere,” Bailey said. They were sitting around, riffing, thinking of lyrics and new melodies when she lifted the bowl piece up from a bong, and a lightbulb went off in everyone’s heads. Not Bowl Piece, but Bowl Peace. The name fits not only their band and the music they play, but their own individual lifestyles, likeness towards smoking and easy-going demeanor.
Their genre, according to Bailey, is a “softer indie rock.” Bowl Peace’s music isn’t as heavy and punk as many indie rock bands in Eugene. Hunt said they tend to “lean more on dream pop compared to most bands.” That’s why Bowl Peace is so unique; they have an interesting, contemporary style, and their surreal, dream-like melodies deliver a relieving, psychedelic mood. You can feel their cannabis-influenced, impressionistic flair in their narrative-driven songs.
The group currently has one track out on all streaming platforms. The song “Idaho” has an accompanying music video on YouTube, produced entirely by Hunt. You can also find it in our “Very Green Eugene 4/20” playlist on Spotify.
“It’s a Eugene take on a stoner movie,” said Bailey. “It’s about us trying to get to a show in Idaho but everything goes wrong.” The several obstacles along their way enhance the song beautifully.
