I sat down with the musicians that make up the alternative rock band, Wicked Wombat. The band is a Bloomsburg original, chalked full of personality and a shared passion for music. The band members describe their sound as punk, grunge and their own kind of alternative rock.

The members

Wicked Wombat is made up of three powerhouse musicians. Bryce Turner takes over on lead guitar and vocals. Turner is a junior Bloomsburg student who is studying music. The drummer, Austin Kash, is a junior media and journalism student. The bass guitar and backup vocals are covered by Ethan Kauffman, a Bloomsburg resident who independently interns at 8 Days A Week studios.

The band shares its members with other organized music groups. Kauffman and Turner fulfill roles in the Bloomsburg band, Serene Euphoric Association.

Wicked Wombat’s origin story

The band officially banded in the fall of 2025, however Wicked Wombat has existed ever since 2022. It started off as Turner’s solo project four years ago. The name was inspired by the My Chemical Romance album “Danger Days”, and the term “Wicked Wombat” has been thrown around by Turner for years. “It was just something I would throw out a demo under once a year,” said Turner.

However, things changed when Kauffman and Kash entered the scene. It began with a Sunday night jam sesh. Kauffman and Turner were going to the Haas Center to play together, the two met through a mutual friend. “Austin (Kash) called me and asked to jam and I already got someone playing bass… so we all jammed,” said Turner.

Soon, an opportunity for the trio to become a real band opened up. Kauffman and Turner’s other music group, Serene Euphoric Association, were organizers for the “Make a Scene” Micro Tour. The tour included other local bands such as Cigarette Yellow, Motel Oblivion, Better Tell Jazzy, and soon; Wicked Wombat.

Turner explains how he thought it would be cool for Wicked Wombat to be an opener in the tour. “I didn’t have a band at the time, but I knew these guys,” Turner said, “So I asked if they wanted to do this and they said yeah. Now they’re sticking around, we’re a band.”

The band ended up becoming an opener on the tour, travelling across four Central PA towns. And just like that, it wasn’t friends jamming in Haas. Wicked Wombat had made its debut.

Their love for music

What bonds these guys together isn’t just playing together, but it’s their love for the art of music itself. Kash explains how he got into music because his sister would have a violin lesson every Wednesday. With nothing to do and a piano teacher next door, he decided to learn the keyboard. “So I started piano and then my mother forced me into marching band. From there it just kind of grew,” Kash said. The drummer also notes that his instrumental inspirations are Keith Moon from The Who, and Animal from The Muppets.

Kauffman grew up on music. “My dad always played the radio, and he always sang along to everything even though he couldn’t carry a note to save his life,” says Kauffman, “But the radio was my introduction to a lot of things.”

He also explains how his inspiration is derived from Joy Division, The Cure and 90s punk influences.

The bassist dives into how he always wanted to play an instrument. His family was involved in the local church, where there was a summer camp where he could learn to play piano or guitar. Kauffman shares how he wanted to play guitar, but couldn’t grasp it. “Throughout elementary and high school, I was in the marching band. I played clarinet, and that’s how I learned bare bones music theory” Kauffman said.

However, his love for punk was much greater, which led him to picking up bass guitar.

When it comes to Turner, the first thing he said was “there was music all the time.” He shares how his family always had music playing, and his dad played guitar. Turner explains that his musical journey started in 8th grade when he joined marching band, similar to his fellow bandmates. Then when he got to college, he decided to continue that musical journey by majoring in music at Bloomsburg. His inspirations come from Nirvana and The Smashing Pumpkins.

“Every little thing I learn makes me fall more in love with music. It’s just a really cool art form,” Turner says. His bandmates agreed.

How to keep up with Wicked Wombat

You can follow Wicked Wombat on the following:

Instagram: @wickedwombat_music

Youtube: @austinkash

Spotify: Wicked Wombat