LFK’s Lavender Bride culminates college collabs with upcoming LP
Three years ago, Regan Virnoche moved to Lawrence with a dream to create and share music with others. Before the end of her freshman year, Virnoche and a few new instrumentalist friends had formed Lavender Bride.
Lavender Bride, also known as “LB,” is an indie-pop group that fuses elements of jazz and alternative music into their sound. Throughout the past three years, LB has welcomed in a total of 15 members—eight of which have since moved, graduated, or parted ways.
The group now consists of seven musicians, most of which are in college: Vocalist and lyricist Regan Virnoche, Spencer Addis on saxophone, guitarists Daniel “Danny” Zoller and Cole Seifert, keyboardist Hannah Bacud, drummer Huck Langford, and bassist Scout Matthews.
“I love having the space to be vulnerable, authentic, safe, and uplifted by the band,” says Virnoche. “I feel that a lot with this crew, it’s a family feeling. I’m able to be myself and show up 100%, and they do the same. We accept each other for where we’re at, and I’m grateful for it.”
Lavender Bride started out as a Midwest emo band inspired by groups like Pinegrove. Through additions like the saxophone and keyboard, LB has allowed its music to change and expand over the years into the sound it has today.
“Even our originals and long-time favorites are constantly evolving. We’re still changing up every now and then to keep them fresh and keep us on our toes,” Addis says. “I’m glad that I’m a part of it. I love the lyrics Regan writes and how all of us come together to make music we love.”
For the first year and a half, LB often rehearsed in an attic, eventually moving to various basements and living rooms around town. The group has since performed in venues across Lawrence, Kansas City, Virnoche’s hometown of Madison, WI, and more.
“When I wrote those first few songs, I knew that I couldn’t just play them at a coffee shop; I wanted a band to play them too,” says Vircouche. “My roommate at the time—and best friend in the whole world—played bass, and from there, we were looking for others to join.”
In the fall of 2022, Virnoche and several bandmates created a joint Tinder account in an attempt to gain a new bass player to add to the group. This resulted in Carter Crosby contributing to LB until they moved away in August 2023.
“We were looking for a queer, femme bassist at the time, and we knew we wanted to find someone that fit that,” says Virnoche. “We wanted to continue bringing opportunities to other artists in the queer community, and, ironically, Tinder was what worked at the time.”
Between members graduating and moving away, Lavender Bride has given a variety of artists an opportunity to showcase their work within the band. Matthews joined as the group’s new bass player three months ago and has since been able to perform more frequently around LFK.
“I love getting the opportunity to perform because I belong on that damn stage,” Matthews says. “We’re about to play at The Bottleneck, plus some DIY shows, and that’s all I ever wanted to do growing up. I never cared about playing at bars; I want to go play in a stinky, dirty basement.”
Lavender Bride’s music can be heard live at venues like Replay Lounge, The Bottleneck, Lucia, DIY venues and more across LFK and KC. The band also has live demos of songs such as “pbr,” “archie,” “hunter & the prey,” and “Eastern Goodbye,” available on all music platforms.
Last year, Lavender Bride eagerly recorded their first album in room 114 in Murphy Hall at the University of Kansas. Now, songs in the upcoming record range from fan favorites and new songs such as “adonis,” “killing me,” “lose sleep,” “casualties of war,” and more. The album has been a year in the making and Lavender Bride is looking forward to the full release.
“I hope listeners see the vision that Regan is trying to project with our music, and I hope that they think our instrumental additions match that,” Addis says. “I want to produce something with my best friends that I’m proud of, and I hope that the people listening can resonate with it.”
In the next two months, Lavender Bride plans to spend a week in a cabin in Wisconsin to record their second, if not also their third album. Virnoche says the goal of the next two projects is to create an acoustic sound similar to their live demos and performances.
“We’re planning to lock ourselves in a cabin in Northern Wisconsin, and the goal is to bang it out in one week,” Virnoche says. “Breakfast, lunch, and dinner—We are recording music. That’s what we are feeding our souls on. That’s what we’re nourishing ourselves with.”
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