When we interview musicians here at Studio One, we don’t usually ask about their living arrangements. It’s almost never relevant to the music, and it’s also not necessarily information someone might want to broadcast to the world.
So when I was speaking to the Iowa City band 28 Days Later in our studios and lead singer/ guitarist Gino Hale revealed that they all live together in the same house, I was definitely caught off guard. Should I have done more research? Is this the sort of thing that would have come up if I had? I had to follow up, and we’ll get to that in a second.
Origin story
28 Days Later formed in January 2022, when the bandmates were students at Norwalk High School. Natalie Fulscher (guitar) and Joey Gulbronson (bass) were the founding members of the band, at the behest of their fathers, who were friends and insisted they hang out.
“They made us play together and practice,” said Gulbronson. “I'd be on drums, (and) she was on guitar, and we did a bunch of '80s covers. It was a good time!”
“They had their sights (set) high, I'd say,” said Fulscher. “Most times when they'd come back downstairs after we'd been down there for a couple of hours, they'd be like, ‘Oh, you got any shows? Getting ready for Norwalk Music Fest or anything like that?’”
After a little while, Gulbronson and Fulscher decided they did indeed want to get serious about the band. Jake Walker came in to play drums, Gulbronson switched over to bass, and they brought in Hale to sing.
“Joey invited me into the mix, as we were in the show choir together,” said Hale, in a follow-up email. “I’d been doing solo gigs since I was 14 and had a little experience with the music scene. From there on we have been going strong and plan to continue with that.”
About those living arrangements
After graduating from high school, three of the four members of 28 Days Later enrolled at the University Of Iowa. In order to keep building as a band, the teens made the decision to relocate to Iowa City, and they moved into their house (where they also created a basement recording studio) in fall 2023. The natural result? Almost daily band practice and constant late nights writing music together.
“Ever since we moved in (together), we have been working on new music and are gearing up for the next chapter of 28 Days Later,” said Hale. “Our goal is to make this a full time thing, and I believe we are getting pretty close to that dream. Our house has given us many memories, and a lot of them have inspired our new music that we are currently working on.”
An up-and-coming band
28 Days Later recorded their self-titled debut album at Golden Bear Studios in Des Moines, which they released in 2023. The band takes on this weird, transitional period of life they were in with the first track of the album, “Phases.”
“We had the song title 'Phases' before we wrote it,” said Hale. “I ended up writing some lyrics I really liked that I thought go through certain phases of life, with the early struggle of adulthood and trying to find a successful story at the end of the tunnel.”
28 Days Later are, at heart, an alternative rock band, with the classic two guitars, bass and drums configuration. Still, they have a wide variety of influences, which shows up in their sound. They’ve experimented with keyboards and autoharp, and Fulscher often plays the flute on their songs.
“I've played the flute since 5th grade, I believe,” said Fulscher. “And there was one night at band practice at Jake's house, when we ended up getting out his older sister's flute, and I started playing ‘Can't You See.’ And then we all just kind of took it from there and started writing with the flute in mind since then.”
The band is actively working on their second record, and last September released the new single “Who We Really Are.” Like many bands, they’re constantly working on new material. Of course it helps that they all live together, but their living situation goes far beyond making it easier to be a band.
“The band isn’t just the four of us, it’s kind of a reflection of everyone who’s been part of the journey,” said Hale. “When we’re all under one roof, those memories and that energy fill the space. That’s what makes it feel inspiring. It reminds us what we’re building isn’t just music, it’s something shared. We just try our best to translate those emotions to our music.”
For us here at Studio One, it's exciting to catch a hungry young band who are putting their stamp on classic alternative sounds here in Iowa. Whatever the future holds for 28 Days Later and their household, we'll be following along.
28 Days Later's music can be found on streaming services. A list of their upcoming live shows is on their website, including an appearance at xBk Sept. 17.
