Law School by Day, Alt-Rock by Night: Meet Bana

Pulling directly from the DNA of late 90s and early 2000s alt-rock, Bana channels the sounds of bands that once dominated radio stations across the country. Raised on KROQ out of Beverly Hills, Bana is now pursuing law school alongside his musical career in New York City. He shares, “I make music because I genuinely love it, and right now I’m just enjoying the process and seeing where it goes”. Growing up to the sounds of alternative rock icons like Weezer, Third Eye Blind and Sugar Ray, Bana credits much of his sound and creative process to what his dad played in the car as a kid on the way to school.

First picking up the guitar his freshman year of high school, Bana’s journey as an artist began making and releasing music on Soundcloud. The release of Dominic Fike’s EP, Don’t Forget About Me, Demos, changed the way he approached making music; he noticed how similar Fike’s sound was to the music he grew up listening to, with a little bit of a modernized twist. He notes, “It was cool to see someone make music that was sort of KROQ inspired in that way, especially because he started from rap and a lot of the [stuff] I was putting out on Soundcloud was also rap”. From there on out, Dominic Fike became a huge influence and inspiration to Bana, particularly in trying to find his own sound. In terms of his creative process, Bana approaches studio sessions like a pop artist– pulling inspiration from his own favorite artists: “I go into a lot of my sessions and just like listen to music that I’ve been enjoying, and kind of just take parts from different songs I like and try to make it my own.” 

We see these influences break through in Bana’s own work, notably his latest release, “miss jones”. Built around laid-back guitars and an instantly catchy melody, the track radiates that nostalgic, early 2000s sound that Bana draws so much inspiration from. For Bana, it was the guitar riff at the very beginning of the track that brought the song to life. After hearing the riff written by Philadelphia-based producer, Nickyboy, the chorus and first verse came to Bana very quickly. By the end of the session, the scratch vocals were already recorded. While developing his own sound, Nickyboy has been a big help in Bana’s own creative process: “He knows exactly the sound I’m going for and kills it every time.” Following the release of his two latest singles, Bana shares, “seeing the reaction to “rough patch” and now “miss jones” has been kind of crazy in the best way. It’s starting to feel real, and I’m just grateful people are connecting with it.” 

With early momentum building, Bana is focused on continuing to find his sound and is looking for the right team and label to support him as he puts out new work. As he grows in popularity, Bana is ready to take the next steps to “turn it into something real”, and we can’t wait to hear what’s to come.