Jon Bunch (October 25, 1970 – January 31, 2016) was an American rock singer and songwriter, known for fronting the

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has bee ...

band

Sense Field Sense Field was an American post-hardcore band from Southern California, formed in 1990. Originally consisting of vocalist Jon Bunch, guitarist Chris Evenson, guitarist Rodney Sellars, bassist John Stockberger, and drummer Scott McPherson, the b ...

and rock band

Further Seems Forever Further Seems Forever is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Pompano Beach, Florida. Over its initial eight-year run the band experienced several lineup changes, resulting in a different lead vocalist performing on each of their first three ...

. He went on to form the post-hardcore band War Generation, and, at the time of his death, he was the lead vocalist known as "Johnny Scars" for the band Lucky Scars.

Biography

Bunch was born Jonathan James Esbern Bunch in

Harbor City, California Harbor City is a highly diverse neighborhood in the Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, with a population upward of 36,000 people. Originally part of the Rancho San Pedro Spanish land grant, the Harbor City was brought into Los Angeles as ...

, and came up in the

hardcore punk rock Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier pu ...

scene in the South Bay of Los Angeles. He and Chris Evenson founded the hardcore punk band Reason to Believe (1986–1990). The band released ''The Next Door'' and ''When Reason Sleeps Demons Dance'' on the hardcore and punk label

Nemesis Records Nemesis Records was an American independent record label which released the Offspring's debut studio album, ''The Offspring'', in 1989 as well as their 1991 EP ''Baghdad''. Nemesis was founded by Frank Harrison, distributed by Cargo Records from ...

. Bunch and his Reason to Believe bandmates evolved to form the

band

(1990–2004), an

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

band. The band signed to

Revelation Records Revelation Records is an independent record label focusing originally and primarily on hardcore punk. The label is known for releases by bands such as Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Quicksand, Side By Side, Chain of Strength, Shelt ...

and later to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. Sense Field released five albums and six

EPs EPS, EPs or Eps may refer to: Commerce and finance * Earnings per share * Electronic Payment Services, in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, China * Express Payment System, in the Philippines Education * Edmonton Public Schools, in Edmonton, ...

in the United States. Under the Canadian

independent label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing. Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...

, the band saw its greatest mainstream success with the single "Save Yourself" from the 2001 album ''Tonight and Forever''. The song also appeared on the soundtrack for the science fiction series ''

Roswell Roswell may refer to: * Roswell incident Places in the United States * Roswell, Colorado, a former settlement now part of Colorado Springs * Roswell, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta * Roswell, Idaho * Roswell, New Mexico, known for the purported 194 ...

''. During that period, Sense Field also appeared on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 2010� ...

'' and ''

The Late Late Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

''. Bunch and Evenson were featured in a pictorial spread for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

''. The group disbanded in early 2004. Later in 2004 Bunch joined the Florida-based post-hardcore band

and recorded one album with them entitled ''

Hide Nothing ''Hide Nothing'' is the third studio album by the Pompano Beach, Florida rock band Further Seems Forever, released in 2004 by Tooth & Nail Records. It was the band's only studio album with vocalist Jon Bunch, formerly of Sense Field, who had repla ...

''. He sang with that outfit until 2006. That same year, Bunch and his Further Seems Forever bandmate, Derick Cordoba, toured Europe under the banner Fields Forever, playing acoustic versions of Sense Field and Further Seems Forever songs. In late 2012 Bunch reunited with his Sense Field bandmates for two Revelation Records 25 Year Anniversary shows on June 7, 2012, at The Glass House in

Pomona, California Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population ...

, and on January 6, 2013 in Chicago. Bunch was fronting the post-hardcore band War Generation, which he formed with Brad Lehmann (

Maylene and the Sons of Disaster Maylene and the Sons of Disaster is an American heavy metal band from Birmingham, Alabama. The group were founded in 2004, shortly after vocalist Dallas Taylor's departure from Underoath. In 2005, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster signed to Mo ...

). War Generation is currently signed to Rise Records. Their album, ''Start Somewhere, Never Surrender'', was released September 3, 2013. War Generation supported the album with a U.S. tour with

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is an American rock band that was formed in Middleburg, Florida, in 2003. The band has released five studio albums to date. The current members are Ronnie Winter (lead vocals), Joey Westwood (bass), Josh Burke (lead ...

in the fall of 2013. Bunch died on January 31, 2016 in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...

, at the age of 45. His cause of death was ruled a suicidal overdose.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunch, Jon 1970 births 2016 deaths American rock singers American rock songwriters American male songwriters Post-hardcore musicians People from Harbor City, Los Angeles Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Further Seems Forever members