Trent’s music is reflective of the hardcore punk movement of the early 80’s, and mimics many of the same themes prevalent, such as unapologetic political views, screaming vocals, screeching guitar and bass, and thrashing drums. In the music world, Trent operates under the moniker Jonny Blank, a name taken from the many ‘Johnny ____’ stage names that exist, such as Johnny Rotten, Johnny Cash, etc. While taking inspiration from this 80s punk sound, Trent seeks to still create his own unique sound, with many motifs such as bent chords, long, drawn out, layered vocal lines, and sometimes melodic and intimate music.
My music major project work, a 3 – track EP, simply titled The Jonny Blank EP, is a mixture of the distinct styles of music I write in. The title comes from my own appreciation for an artist’s first work to be self – titled. The Recording, Mixing, and Mastering were all accomplished by myself, with assistance from Ricky Joseski in recording live drums for the set. The EP follows a standard 3 – track format and explored the key styles of music that interest me. The EP opens with Humans are disgusting, a thrashing hardcore punk song to bring the energy of the piece up as soon as the EP begins, then is instantly brought down with the 2nd track, Hell is Real, and we All Go There, a somber, melodic piece, featuring only a blues box guitar, and 3 male vocal lines. Finally, the two styles are brought together with Sleepign (Misspelled intentionally). Sleepign combines the thrashing instruments of Humans with the somber and intimate vocals of Hell to create a kind of new – wave / post – punk sound.