Bonanza Jellybean - Tooth Police

Words: Eerie Rose Photograph credit: Bonanza Jellybean Single Artwork: Drawings by Madeline Rolt and Designed by Lea Judge

Cornwall is well known for it’s magical properties. From tales of Cornish Piskies to the area being renowned for it’s links to creativity and great artists, it’s beautiful landscape and extraordinary coastlines are inspirational to any who witness it. It’s incredibly fitting, therefore, that this would be the home of Bonanza Jellybean: a playful, absurdist and raucous band of friends from the North Cornish seaside town of Bude. Choosing to rebel against the tidal wave of sea-shanty singers that form the local music scene, the trio coined the genre ‘bunk’ (Bude-punk).

The first single, Tooth Police, was self-released under their record label Bunk Records on October 1st, and is a perfect debut, capturing all of the band’s fun and exploratory nature in one humorous and yet impactful track. Lea Judge, Madeline Rolt and Lily Montague become multi-instrumentalists of instruments they can’t actually play, blending a blissful naivety with commendable skill and dedication. It appears lighthearted, almost childish in nature but creeping in are the undertones of deeper emotion, relatable feelings of loneliness and sadness woven into an amusing, imaginative story about being arrested for not cleaning your teeth. When life gives you lemons, you may make lemonade - but when life gives Bonanza Jellybean lemons, they make bunk.

*Photograph Credit: Bonanza Jellybean | From left to right: Lily Montague, Madeline Rolt and Lea Judge*

The band met at the community centre The Pearl Exchange which runs free workshops for young people aged 18-35. "The Pearl Exchange gives us space to meet up and be creative, we are so grateful for that space and everyone there," says Rolt. Pendeen car boot functions as the band’s music store with flutes, miniature banjos and children’s cat keyboards being bought and repurposed.

"The drums on tooth police are from this drum pad I picked up from the car boot for £30. Our recording set up is one audio interface and we haven’t worked out how to record and hear the drum pad at the same time so until Lily puts the track together I’m never quite sure what I have played or if it was in time (it normally isn’t)," describes Judge.

Sunset beach jams are where wholesome sea-side ukulele songs are born but these are soon taken to the industrial cow barn - now repurposed as the BJ Beat Barn - to be turned into something darker and more true. "Making music in the cow barn is fun because there’s always strange objects lying around to be used as potential musical instruments. Same on the beach…there’s always rocks and beach rubbish to use as a drum kit. Often we’re on a secret beach, just us, so can dance around too. The slide guitar on tooth police was made using an old water bottle," says Rolt, describing the ad-hoc ways Tooth Police came together.

"We didn’t set out to create a band, we just started playing music together and loved it. Before we knew it we had a whole load of songs," says Judge.

"Bonanza Jellybean should be illegal it's so fun," says Montague, "it is so refreshing to be out of that grind where you have to be good at the instrument you play. None of us even care how we sound becuase we love it and that's all that matters".

"I feel like a kid when we are making music, we are free to try anything, experiment, nothing is ever considered bad or wrong, if it feels good we run with it and see what happens," adds Judge,

"Bonanza Jellybean is complete freedom to have fun and see what happens."

BJ’s magic is set to continue with the upcoming singles “Gorpecore Horse” and “Sims 2” while the band is also in the process of planning the release of their debut winter album: “I don’t understand the solar system and I don’t want to”.

Tooth Police Song Credits:

Written by Lea Judge, Madeline Rolt and Lily Montague

Guitar, Lead Vocals - Lily Montague

Drums, Backing Vocals - Lea Judge

Slide Guitar, Backing Vocals - Madeline Rolt

Mixed and Mastered by Lily Montague