A common denominator for the variety of styles of rock music is the target audience. The target audience is typically teenagers and pre-teens, but artists find themselves reflecting a simplified approach with songs dealing with familiar subjects. The members of Passion Cracked Bottle — who write all of their own lyrics — aim to create fun, creative and relatable music for everyone to enjoy.
Passion Cracked Bottle is a local band consisting of four members: Isaac Tackett on drums, Jonah Diddle on vocals, Brayden Kingery on bass and Tony Whobery on guitar. Diddle and Kingery are the two original members of the band, forming it after gaining inspiration from another band’s performance. Diddle recalls contacting Kingery right after the performance to persuade Kingery to create a band with him.
Tackett, a sophomore studying engineering technology management, discovered their new band through the Ohio University Snapchat class story. Tackett says Diddle and Kingery were looking for a drummer, and he just happened to fit in well with the group. Whobery, a student at Southern High School, already knew Kingery and Diddle, and he asked to play guitar because they knew his skills would make him a great fit for the band.
Kingery, a sophomore studying music production, says the name came from a metaphor he made up about vocals in a bottle.
“Basically, when we were starting out, I did screaming vocals, but I don’t do that anymore,” Kingery said. “But at the time, I kind of made this s---ty metaphor like normal vocals is like passion in a bottle. Completely fun bottle and unclean vocals would be like an exploded bottle. So if you combine the two it's like a passion cracked bottle.”
Diddle, a former student of OU, said the band writes all of its own songs. He said the process of their writing comes from an idea that usually begins with a bass line and then added structure and layers.
“I think my favorite part is whenever somebody sends out to the group chat, or like a drum beat, and I can hear the rest of everything else in my head and like holy s---, that's gonna be awesome,” Diddle said.
The members grow with anticipation to rehearse with each other every week because they cannot wait to share their musical ideas. They said they look forward to their rehearsals because it is a way for them to form their ideas together to create projects as a band.
“I like jamming bulls--- random parts and then watching it grow into something actually solid and actually sounding pretty cool,” Tackett said. “We get to put this out for people and there's people that also think it sounds cool. My favorite part is just watching it grow.”
Diddle said the message they try to share in their writing is something that everybody feels when no one is looking. He said when the audience listens to a song, he hopes they hear the lyrics in a way that makes sense to them. The band also draws inspiration from its favorite artist, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, for bass and guitar. Whobery said something that works well for the group is finding what they like to play and consistently practicing.
It is evident the band members are connected through music, something they love about being in a band together. Diddle said something he learned from working with previous bands is attempting to find a group of people that best resonates with each other.
“The biggest lesson I learned from my first band was just find a group of people that's very committed to the craft,” Diddle said. “Just find great people. These guys are amazing, and I click very well personality-wise with them, and it makes things a lot more fun.”
The band performed together on Milliron Fest. It was transparent that its hard work as a band has paid off. Passion Cracked Bottle got the crowd hyped during its performance and the audience matched the electric energy that was prevalent on stage. Interested parties can follow the band on Instagram to stay up-to-date on upcoming performances and song releases.
“Being with like-minded people that are always wanting to do something cool – that’s the best part,” Diddle said.
