Biography
Nobunny emerged as a solo pop-punk project whose sound drew parallels to the Ramones, Hasil Adkins, and the Cramps. Its raw, home-recorded singles and LPs, most notably the 2013 release Secret Songs, distilled the project’s chaotic energy into lasting form.
The Nobunny identity served as the stage persona of Justin Champlin, who grew up in Tucson, Arizona, before moving to San Francisco, California. Champlin first gained notice playing drums for the garage-punk band the Okmoniks and later helped launch the two-piece punk-pop outfit the Sneaky Pinks. Nobunny distilled that same minimal approach into a one-person format. Beginning in 2001, Champlin performed under the name, sometimes alone and sometimes with rotating backing musicians, yet his first recorded statement did not arrive until the 2008 album Love Visions. Cut largely at home with Champlin performing nearly every instrument, the LP appeared on the small imprint Bubbledumb Records. Underground critics responded warmly, prompting a 2009 reissue on the larger 1-2-3-4 Go! label.
That same year Nobunny issued the Horizontal Action single “Give It to Me” backed with “Motorhead with Me” and the cassette-only album Raw Romance on Burger Records. Goner Records released the second LP, First Blood, in September 2010. Following a year without new material in 2011, Nobunny returned in 2012 with a single on Suicide Squeeze and an EP on Goner. He remained with Goner for Secret Songs in 2013, then concentrated on live shows for several years afterward.
After the 2020 collapse of Burger Records, Champlin posted an extended social-media statement in which he detailed his own misconduct and announced the retirement of the Nobunny name and character.
The Nobunny identity served as the stage persona of Justin Champlin, who grew up in Tucson, Arizona, before moving to San Francisco, California. Champlin first gained notice playing drums for the garage-punk band the Okmoniks and later helped launch the two-piece punk-pop outfit the Sneaky Pinks. Nobunny distilled that same minimal approach into a one-person format. Beginning in 2001, Champlin performed under the name, sometimes alone and sometimes with rotating backing musicians, yet his first recorded statement did not arrive until the 2008 album Love Visions. Cut largely at home with Champlin performing nearly every instrument, the LP appeared on the small imprint Bubbledumb Records. Underground critics responded warmly, prompting a 2009 reissue on the larger 1-2-3-4 Go! label.
That same year Nobunny issued the Horizontal Action single “Give It to Me” backed with “Motorhead with Me” and the cassette-only album Raw Romance on Burger Records. Goner Records released the second LP, First Blood, in September 2010. Following a year without new material in 2011, Nobunny returned in 2012 with a single on Suicide Squeeze and an EP on Goner. He remained with Goner for Secret Songs in 2013, then concentrated on live shows for several years afterward.
After the 2020 collapse of Burger Records, Champlin posted an extended social-media statement in which he detailed his own misconduct and announced the retirement of the Nobunny name and character.
Albums
