WELCOME TO THE GROOVE GARDEN
EUPHORBIA
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OCOTILLO
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YUCCA
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EUPHORBIA ✦ OCOTILLO ✦ YUCCA ✦
WHO WE are.
CATCHING INSPIRATION FROM FUNK & JAZZ, DANCE & ELECTRONICA, HIP-HOP & NEO-SOUL, LATIN & AFRO BEAT, AND MORE, POCKET CHANGE IS A TRIO THAT DELIVERS A UNIQUE SONIC JOURNEY THAT TRANSCENDS THE CURRENT CONCEPTION OF GENRE.
MEET OUR MEMBERS
Hunter Bragg grew up in San Diego and has been a drummer since his he was a 2 year old playing on his grandma’s pots and pans. An older brother of triplet sisters, he’s used to the chaos and disorder of group dynamics and excels at organizing thoughts, ideas and aspirations to keep the train moving. Hunter took music lessons from bassist and composer Glen Fisher, who helped him meet his first band members from a young age. Since then, Hunter’s pursued a career in music, from playing in orchestra pits in musicals to writing and performing with bands and recording and producing his own music. Aside from Pocket Change, Hunter performs with several groups in San Diego and spends his days teaching elementary school music, sharing his love of music with the next generation. Hunter pulls inspiration from artists like Stewart Copeland, Yussef Dayes, Jano Rix, Tony Allen, John Bonham, Karl Perazzo, Michael Shrieve, Animal and more.
Hunter Hartmann was born and raised in the coastal towns of Point Loma and Ocean Beach in San Diego, California. He is a self-taught, multi-instrumentalist with focuses in guitars and bass, in addition to wind, brass, percussion, and keyboards. He played bass for local ska/reggae band The Skains in the early 00s during high school, in addition to several other local projects. Hartmann grew up listening to a lot of 70s and 80s rock and metal, transitioning to strictly traditional Jamaican reggae, finally landing in the world of experimental, straight ahead, fusion, and acid jazz, among many other genres. His biggest influences are Les Claypool, Geezer Butler, Steve Harris, Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten, Flea, Jaco Pastorius, Aston Barrett, MonoNeon, Carrtoons, and obviously many more. When Hunter isn’t playing music, he is either cooking up some tasty goodies in the kitchen or in the water surfing.
John Hooper grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and was influenced early on by southern rock and blues piano. He became inspired by the improvisational styles of jam bands like Widespread Panic and Allman Brothers Band, eventually integrating Hammond B3 style playing into his sets in college. This caught the attention of other bands in other genres such as funk and jazz-infused soul, catching sounds more reminiscent of the Meters and Curtis Mayfield. He carries the spirit of the jam tradition and groove based funk music in his playing today as he explores more modern sounds with Pocket Change. Motivated by contemporary players such as Elijah Fox and Kiefer, he continues to push the limits of what’s possible in a trio setting.