Sense Field was an American post-hardcore band from Southern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, formed in 1990. Originally consisting of vocalist Jon Bunch, guitarist Chris Evenson, guitarist Rodney Sellars, bassist John Stockberger, and drummer Scott McPherson, the band formed from the ashes of hardcore punk band, Reason to Believe. Sense Field disbanded in 2004 although briefly reformed for two

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, Sh ...

anniversary shows, as well as a pair of memorial shows in 2016, following the death of Jon Bunch.

History

Formed in 1990, Sense Field were one of several contemporary bands to popularize the post-hardcore or "

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 ...

" subgenre. The band was initially signed to

, releasing three albums: ''Sense Field'', ''Killed For Less'' and ''Building''. They signed with

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 ...

in 1996, however, problems within the label caused the band to sit in limbo for five years as the label re-staffed multiple times. The band was eventually released from their contract and Sense Field won the right to re-record the album they had originally written for Warner Bros. Records. The album, initially titled "Under The Radar" but released as "Tonight and Forever", arrived in September 2001 via the Canadian independent label

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 ...

. While Sense Field had been considered an influential band within their scene since their inception, the band achieved commercial success in 2002 with the single "Save Yourself." The song was included on the band's fourth album, "Tonight and Forever," as well as the soundtrack to '' Roswell''. The success of the song allowed the band to perform on late night television shows such as ''

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 201 ...

'' and '' The Late Late Show'', also seeing the song place on numerous 2002 best-of countdowns. The group quickly followed up the release with the 2003 album ''Living Outside'' which became their only album to chart, reaching #37 on U.S. Heatseekers. Billboard

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Sense Field announced their breakup in January 2004.

Post break-up

Following the demise of Sense Field the band members went on to other outfits. Jon Bunch became the vocalist of

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 ...

. They released one album with Bunch in the line up before that band also parted ways. Bunch then went on to form the post-hardcore band War Generation, and the tongue-in-cheek punk band Lucky Scars. Original drummer Scott McPherson became a sought-after session and touring player and also was a member of both Elliott Smith and

Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician who is known for being a member of Crowded House, Split Enz (which he co-fronted with brother Tim), and Fleetwood Mac. Finn rose to prominence in the late ...

's touring bands, Rodney Sellars created the shoegaze revivalist outfit, The Year Zero, Chris Evenson appeared in tandem with The Juliana Theory's Brett Detar for a song under the Belasana moniker (featured on 2004's "Maybe This Christmas Tree), bass player John Stockberger moved to Texas and became a yoga teacher and later drummer, Rob Pfeiffer, went on to record the theme song for Last Week Tonight. Jon Bunch died by suicide on January 31, 2016 at the age of 45.

Reunion shows

Sense Field reunited for a Revelation Records 25 Year Anniversary Show on Thursday, June 7, 2012 at The Glass House in

Pomona, California Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Pol ...

. As a warm up to that show, they played The Slide Bar in Fullerton, California on Wednesday, June 6, 2012. They also played the Rev 25 show in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on January 6, 2013. All three shows featured mostly original members, except filling in on bass for John Stockberger was

Ian Fowles Ian Fowles is an American musician, author, and actor, best known as the current guitarist for the Orange County rock band The Aquabats, in which he performs under the stage name and persona of EagleBones Falconhawk (originally Eagle "Bones" Fa ...

, who also toured the U.S. filling in on guitar for Rodney Sellars in 2003 while supporting ''Living Outside''. The band reunited twice more: March 20, 2016 at The Yost in Orange County and June 25, 2016 at The TLA in Philadelphia, with both shows serving as fundraisers for Jon Bunch's son, Jack.

Discography

Albums

* ''Sense Field'' (1994) * ''Killed for Less'' (1994) * ''Building'' (1996) * ''Tonight and Forever'' (2001) * ''Living Outside'' (2003) U.S. Heatseekers No. 37

EPs

*''Sense Field'' Cassette EP (1990) *''Sense Field'' EP (1991) *''Premonitions'' EP (1992) *Sense Field / Jimmy Eat World /

Mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

split EP (1997) *''Part of the Deal'' EP (1999) *''Fun Never Ends'' EP (2001) *Sense Field /

onelinedrawing Jonah Rzadzinski Matranga (born Jonah Sonz Matranga, August 11, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who has released a variety of solo material under his own name and onelinedrawing, and has previously been part of the bands ...

split EP A split album (or split) is a music album that includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There are also singles and EPs of the same variety, which are often called "split singles" and "split EPs" respectively. Split albums differ from " va ...

(2000) *''The musings of Sense Field and Running From Dharma'' split EP (2004)

Compilations

*"Caribou" - ''Where is My Mind? - a tribute to The Pixies'' (Glue Factory Records, 1999) * To End a Letter (2004) (Japan)

References

{{Authority control Emo musical groups from California Musical groups from California American post-hardcore musical groups Revelation Records artists Good Life Recordings artists