Since picking up Justin Hoard on drums and Allison Owens on bass last December, the group has hit its stride, playing a string of shows in Deep Ellum and Denton, with more planned for August.
“It definitely upped the ante for us,” frontman Gunner J. Hardy says. “When we were looking for a bassist, Ally was our first choice. We went to her with a bent knee.”
Before joining, Owens was already a huge fan of Curl.
“I followed them around in Denton because I was also in the scene playing in other bands,” Owens says. “But I always caught Curl shows when they were in town.”
Hoard, also known as Deepnthcut, joined after moving from Tennessee and meeting guitarist TJ Novak. The two played together often, and after playing some shows with Curl, Hoard signed on for good.
Their chemistry as a band has afforded each member the freedom to experiment and grow musically. Hardy used to be a screamer in a few metalcore groups but attributes his current vocal style to Curl’s open creative environment.
“It really comes from playing with them,” Hardy says. “It’s the openness to be able to explore more stuff. I approach it like the vocals are an instrument. I want to try to keep pushing myself to do more, like learning stuff that TJ will show me, or Ally will bring something in.”
“I find myself wanting to play more like TJ or Gunner or to lock into Justin’s pocket, so I definitely bounce off of them,” Owens adds. “As a bassist, it’s expanded my horizons being surrounded by talented people like they are.”
Their 2023 single “Star” is dominated by Hardy’s weighty, atmospheric vocals, while Novak sprinkles in color with his Q-Tron auto wah pedal. “Modern English” comes out fast and full of energy, with Hardy frantically belting out lyrics to match Novak’s spastic energy on guitar. Hoard lays into the cymbals, and Owens’ basslines are heavy but fluid, the perfect counterpart to Novak’s distorted higher end. It’s simply sick how easily the band can get a room moving while Hardy vents his frustrations and personal experience with police brutality.
The band currently has two singles available on streaming services but plans to release more soon.
“There will be three more and they’re gonna be released slowly starting in October,” Novak says. “It’s going to be more singles for the foreseeable future and, hopefully, an album at some point.”
This might sound a bit obvious, but a big part of being able to function well as a group is having a solid individual foundation. Everyone in the band has played music since before high school, so they have the confidence and experience necessary to trust others creatively.
“I’ve pretty much played the whole time,” Hoard says. “I can’t live without playing. I used to play on pots and pans and just freak out every time I saw drums. We’d go to church where my mom was a choir director and some churches would have drums, but we didn’t for a long time. I would just sit there salivating. My parents saw that and thankfully, they were like, ‘We’ll hook you up.’”
Beyond the support of working with each other, parental support has been fundamental in both the formation of Curl and the members’ journeys as musicians.
“I grew up with my dad always playing acoustic guitar in the living room while I was sleeping, just obnoxious as fuck, and eventually I was like, ‘Wait, this is actually pretty cool,’” Owens says. “So, he taught me chords when I was young, and I played in jazz band in middle school and high school. I picked up bass after high school, which has been my newfound love because it makes you think harder. It’s not as flashy and is a lot more challenging.”
Cool Kids
The feeling of rocking a stage and controlling a crowd is unmatched, but so is having steady familial backing.“My mom was a musician, but my dad couldn’t sing a note,” Hoard says. “He was a pretty business-minded man, but he helped fund most of, if not all of my gear. He looked out for me my whole career — I always had sticks, little doodads, whatever. Growing up and looking back now, for him to do it was very special, because my mom was always like, ‘You should be a lawyer, you should be a doctor,’ but he never really said those things. He was like, ‘Man, you can make a way doing this, just make sure you handle your business.’ He said it with his actions, and I really appreciate that. It definitely makes you play better.”
Most of the band members also pursue a solo career or take part in other projects. Novak recently released his Live in Deep Ellum album, a one-take performance of some of his solo material, on which Hoard also played. Hoard, who releases music under his Deepnthcut alias, recently dropped a record named BUTTERFLY. Owens plays bass in Lady Winters, an indie-rock group based in Denton.
The name Curl was chosen by Hardy to embody and embrace his background, but as the group has grown, the moniker’s meaning has shifted.
“I’m from a family of Black Panthers, so I wanted to see more kids who look like me,” Hardy says. “With time, it’s developed into a state of mind more than anything. We just wanna be able to do what we do: come out, play good shows and make people feel whatever they’re feeling pretty intensely.”
Hardy hopes to use his influence to make everyone in the scene feel welcome, especially by playing shows at venues with younger, impressionable audiences, such as Zounds Sounds B-Side.
“Creating that comfortability is a very positive thing to be doing,” he says. “That’s all I’m trying to do. I’m trying to have a good time and make cool music, but we have a very diverse, interesting group of people and that’s what I like showcasing about us. I’m very lucky to be playing with my friends, just having fun trying to get to Glastonbury.”
