Growing And Flourishing
Photo by Jessica Flynn.
Indie band The Burgeoning plan to hit the road this fall to reach new fans. Logan Thierjung sits on a couch in the basement of the Levittown home that doubles as a practice space and studio. His house/bandmates stand with their instruments. Behind them, a mural made by friend Pierina Medina depicts a forest and mountains with the band’s name, The Burgeoning, in bold letters across the sky. “The name was a 10th grade vocab word and I thought it was amazing,” explains Thierjung. “It means to grow and flourish.” The Burgeoning consists of Thierjung, the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist (described by his bandmates as “the guy you pay to see”), his brother Alex Thierjung on bass, Mark Menkevich on lead guitar, keyboard and synth, and drummer Brandon Bradley. The band went through a few lineup changes to get to their current formation. “Every time we would have a big show, someone would quit,” says Bradley. The member who Menkevich replaced quit after a 2013 show at the TLA, the biggest show they had done up to that point. The drummer before Bradley left to follow a more professional career path. Bradley pats Menkevich on the back and refers to
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him as the missing piece of the puzzle that finally makes the indie pop rock band whole. Although the Thierjung brothers – the founding members of the band – are from Bensalem, they consider Philadelphia their home music scene. The other two current members are from the city. “All of our shows are in Philly,” says Alex. To broaden their fan base, the band is planning to embark on their first official tour this fall. “Normally how Philly shows go is: people come to see their bands,” explains Bradley. “Then they leave.” With all the competition from great bands coming out of Philadelphia, Logan wants The Burgeoning’s live performance to have a lasting impression. He wants to engage the audience so much that the relationship between the band and fans is familiar, like family. “Our music is real strict with placement,”
says Bradley. “That’s why Nirvana was good. Everything was there for a reason. That’s what we’re looking for.” “Alex has this really fine ear that catches the slightest things when we’re playing,” adds Menkevich. “Then we fine tune it until we get it right.” The Burgeoning’s most recent release was their EP Love Alchemy, Life Algorithm back in 2012. “We’ve changed our sound three times since then,” says Alex. The band has been working on a new single and debating what to do with the 54 gigabytes of stored up music from their practice sessions. They have at least 16 full songs written by Logan at the ready, although not yet recorded properly. Whatever they decide, the band is confident that their next move will be major. “We’re at, like, the last piece of the engine before we drive that shit,” says Logan. - Donte Kirby