An Interview with Dirtwrm, August 2026
How did you develop your sound as a group? Did it click instantly or has it evolved over time?
Our sound initially clicked in our influences and the music that inspires us, but we’re kind of always evolving. Originally we intended to be a Midwest emo/pop punk project inspired by our love of bands like Hot Mulligan and Free Throw. However, as time passed we found the Midwest emo/pop punk label too limiting for the music we want to make. Our sound right now is kind of a variation of emo, post hardcore, and math rock and we feel that it’s a bold, fresh new sound inspired by old school and new school stuff alike.
We’re always finding new inspiration and new thoughts and ideas that move us and that moves us towards unique and interesting directions. We don’t want to stay in one box: we want to make stuff that we like to play and hope that it resonates with other people.
How was the band formed? How/when did the members decide to start a band?
Adrian and Antoine met in 2021 through the Open Jam discord (UCI’s music club) by sharing their common interest in the midwest emo/math rock band TTNG. They met several times in Adrian’s dorm room to play covers at the Open Jam club at UCI and eventually found a drummer and bassist to play these covers live as well.
However, the band finally became complete once Adrian met Cam the drummer in 2023, who he met after jamming Linkin Park and All American Rejects songs in college dorms.
It took us a while to find our footing but on April of 2024, we officially became Dirtwrm.
From this point, we began writing original music from our dorm rooms and living rooms during our last year of college and played a few shows.
It wasn’t until we graduated that we actually started taking the band seriously, playing more live shows around the LA and OC areas as a three piece. In winter of 2025, Dirtwrm picked up Nathan as their second guitarist for shows. After writing new songs together as a four piece, the band decided to onboard Nathan as a full member in 2026.
Tell me about Overgrowth!! What was the creative process behind it? What importance does it hold to you?
The creative process was pretty much having our eyes open and witnessing what’s happening around us.
The song manifests the dread and anger that come from our present realities, but journeys from hopelessness to acknowledgement and hope for better. It begins with an aggressive snap to reality acknowledging the direness of our present moment, and by the end of the song, it molds this urgency to present a vital message: we must live in the moment and do what we can to build a future before everything fades away.
How do you deal with creative blocks as a band? How do you continue to come up with new sounds/ideas as a group?
We pretty much just try out ideas and if they don’t work we shelve them. We have a lot of ideas that we scrapped and just find things that we all like. Sometimes it’ll be Adrian with a riff idea or Cam with a rhythm idea, but we all chip in our thoughts while writing and make things that we like to play and hear.
Describe the average band practice! What does your creative process look like? How do these songs go from ideas to music?
Our practices start with us chilling and talking logistics or schedule regardless of if we are practicing for a show or writing. If we have a show coming up, then we work on technical parts of songs and getting the song down. After that we run a full set.
If we are writing, we show our ideas to each other and see if we like it and if not we change it so we all like it. At times Cam will usually have a drum idea and we add chords or a melody to it. And other times Nathan, Antoine and/or Adrian will usually have an idea and Cam will usually think of the structure of the song and flesh it out in terms of sections. We try to make the song sound like a journey rather than just repeating parts. We usually come up with lyrics after writing a song.
What is the hardest part about being in a band? What gets you through those times?
Probably the scheduling and time. We all are super busy and have full time jobs or are in school and have many responsibilities, so we have a lot to juggle while practicing. We just ge through it by having a similar vision and trying to work things out with our schedules.
Which song of yours was the most fun to write & make? why/what was the process?
For me (Adrian) I liked coming up with Window because we came up with it in one day and we were just having fun making it. I also like the lyrics the most of all our songs besides Overgrowth.
What helps bond you as a group?
We all have similar humor and are pretty chill people. We like to laugh and have fun and we all have similar interests like memes, video games, going to shows, and beer. We go eat after our shows and dissect what happened and horse around, usually we go to Dennys.
We also love to hang out with other bands and talk about technique, gear, pedals, and music that we like. We just are ourselves and that’s cool.
Aiming for the sky - what is your biggest goal as a band? (dream venue, collaborations, achievements, etc.)
I only started this band so that Chappell Roan could notice me. Just kidding, it would be cool to open for a big emo band, or go on tour, or make a career out of our passion. So many cool things to think about.
To me (Adrian) I don’t care how far we go, I’m just proud of how far we have gone and that that I chased my dream of making meaningful art. I do it because I like creating and expressing my art. If you are doing you are passionate about, you have to do it because you love it, anything else is a byproduct.
check them out HERE!!
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