{"id":618039,"date":"2026-09-08T08:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T08:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/618039\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T08:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T08:58:11","slug":"bugs-jordan-brunoli-is-30-and-may-have-weeks-to-live-but-the-band-are-making-the-most-of-their-time-together-australian-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/618039\/","title":{"rendered":"Bugs\u2019 Jordan Brunoli is 30 and may have weeks to live \u2013 but the band are making the most of their time together | Australian music"},"content":{"rendered":"

For most bands, releasing a new album is cause for celebration. For Brisbane<\/a> band Bugs, the moment is much more bittersweet. Last month, before the release of their fourth album, Head Noise, bass guitarist Jordan Brunoli took to Instagram with a devastating update.<\/p>\n

Diagnosed with stage-four colorectal cancer at just 29, Brunoli revealed that his treatments had been unable to stop the disease from spreading. \u201cI am now entering the final chapter of my life, after being told in June I had a prognosis of 3-4 months,\u201d he wrote, inspiring a flood of heartfelt comments from fans. The band announced they would play two album launch shows at a formative home town venue, Crowbar Brisbane; both swiftly sold out.<\/p>\n

I join Brunoli and his two bandmates \u2013 guitarist and lead vocalist Connor Brooker, and drummer Brock Weston \u2013 for a video call. While each member is in a different location, the easy warmth between them carries through the pixels, alongside a palpable fatigue and just-under-the-surface emotion.<\/p>\n

The making of Head Noise was an unhurried, three-year process until it was suddenly fast-tracked by Brunoli\u2019s diagnosis. \u201cHonestly, all of the bad news has kind of given us a bit of a boot up the backside to get moving and get it out,\u201d Brooker says. \u201cSo, got to take the positives in a pretty shit situation like this.\u201d He pauses. \u201cSorry for the swearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last 12 months Brunoli has endured have left little room for levity. He knew something was wrong after discovering blood in his stool and experiencing debilitating stomach pain. As he detailed on Triple J\u2019s Hack<\/a>, his first doctor dismissed his concerns over multiple appointments \u2013 which Brunoli feels may have cost him precious time. \u201cAdvocating for yourself in a doctor\u2019s office is difficult as a young person,\u201d he told Hack. After a second doctor confirmed the diagnosis, his treatment included major surgery, resulting in a permanent stoma, followed by an intensive course of chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

But a \u201cmutation that causes rapid growth of tumours\u201d has meant none of the treatments have been able to stop the cancer from spreading. He has now shifted to palliative treatment for pain in the final months of his life.<\/p>\n

Brunoli, now 30, is sitting in a red-carpeted rehearsal room, with a drum kit and a bass guitar propped against a speaker. For the first stretch of the call, he sits quietly, listening as his bandmates discuss the early days of Bugs and the Facebook posts that brought them together over a decade ago. Finally, I ask Brunoli what his day-to-day life is like right now. When he talks, he is strikingly clear and matter-of-fact.<\/p>\n

\u201cFunny you should ask that today,\u201d he says, before revealing he has just received a call about a potential medical trial involving an extreme dose of chemotherapy aimed at the mutation. \u201cI\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m gonna do it because I\u2019ve had weeks and weeks now off chemotherapy. Obviously I\u2019m technically getting sicker and sicker, but I\u2019m feeling better and better. The side effects of the chemotherapy were shocking, and it lingers in your body for a while. So that\u2019s all started to dissipate, and what\u2019s left in the last couple of weeks has been just physical pain from cancer pushing on certain nerves.\u201d<\/p>\n

His days are now largely about \u201cdealing with the pain in a responsible way, trying not to get hooked on painkillers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bugs drummer Brock Weston, bassist Jordan Brunoli, seated, and guitarist and lead vocalist Connor Brooker. Photograph: Nikita Oliver<\/p>\n

Before their shows, the band are meeting twice a week for rehearsals and making the most of their time together. \u201cIt\u2019s generally talking shit for like an hour or two, and then we get around to rehearsing,\u201d Brunoli says with a laugh. \u201cActually, it\u2019s got to the point where my partner\u2019s a bit like, \u2018Hey, I love that you\u2019re seeing your Bugs boys, but after the gig, can we please have some time?\u2019 Obviously, with time being limited, things get like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brunoli has played through the pain \u2013 \u201ceven when I had neuropathy so bad I couldn\u2019t feel the guitar I was playing,\u201d he revealed last month<\/a> \u2013 and is determined to make it on stage, whatever it takes. I ask how it feels physically to rehearse. \u201cVery tiring,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd my ileostomy bag sits basically where the guitar wants to rest. So I just have to be mindful of not shaking the guitar around too much and not jumping around.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Brooker says he wrote most of the songs on Head Noise before Brunoli\u2019s diagnosis, the album\u2019s earnest indie-pop sensibility now feels especially poignant. The band\u2019s sound has evolved from what Weston describes as \u201cloud guitars and drums\u201d, with Brooker pointing to their Like A Version performance of Mallrat\u2019s Charlie as a turning point \u2013 both in their growing popularity and allowing them to be \u201ca bit more tender\u201d. Most of all, it feels like an album made by three guys who love jamming together in a room.<\/p>\n

In an Instagram post<\/a>, Weston reminisced about Brunoli helping him rebuild his house after it flooded, and \u201cnever asking for anything in return\u201d. \u201cLooking back on all the things we\u2019ve gone through together, it\u2019s pretty remarkable,\u201d Weston says now. \u201cSpending that much time with your two best friends, and we\u2019re still here, we\u2019re still doing it. It\u2019s pretty incredible, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band were wowed by the turnout at their fundraiser show for Brunoli at the Tivoli last October (title: Saving A Bug\u2019s Life), which followed a GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $100,000 to cover his ongoing medical costs. \u201cGood people show themselves in those kinds of scenarios,\u201d Brunoli says. \u201cIt\u2019s fucking cool.\u201d For Brooker, the outpouring of support comes down to Brunoli himself. \u201cHe\u2019s like letting a puppy dog loose in a room full of strangers,\u201d he says. \u201c[Jordan will] just go up to everyone and make friends with them, and not just on a superficial level either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brunoli says it helps to have the upcoming live shows as a \u201cbig event to look forward to\u201d, but admits he\u2019s worried about how he will feel once they are done. Two weeks ago, he and his partner celebrated their wedding at \u201cthis beautiful little Italian restaurant\u201d with their closest family and friends, having already eloped. \u201cIt was exactly what we wanted it to be,\u201d he says. \u201cWe got to dance. We got to drink. We got to have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since sharing his diagnosis last year, Brunoli says multiple people have reached out to thank him for encouraging them to be firmer with their doctors. I ask what advice he would give to anyone who wants to support someone with a terminal diagnosis. He mentions how much he appreciated Weston cooking a \u201cbunch of meat\u201d for him, so he could get more protein.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone you know has cancer and they\u2019re tired all the time, going to their house to talk might just make them more tired,\u201d he says. Instead, he suggests \u201cacts of service\u201d, like offering to do their dishes or washing.<\/p>\n

Bugs\u2019 new album, Head Noise. Photograph: Bugs<\/p>\n

With Head Noise now out in the world, Brunoli is \u201ctaking each day as it comes\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to a day where I forget or don\u2019t think about cancer for one day,\u201d he says. \u201cThat would be fantastic. Navigating it is tough, because there\u2019s a lot of people around me who, especially with this album release, are going, \u2018Oh my God, congratulations!\u2019 But then in the back of their mind, they\u2019re like, \u2018This is the last time you\u2019re gonna do something like that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In facing that reality, Brunoli has shown the selflessness his bandmates admire in him. \u201cI try not to go, \u2018no, fuck you, you need to act a certain way because I\u2019m the one dying\u2019,\u201d he says. \u201cIf I pass, the memory of me is still there, and people have to deal with that in their own way. So if I can make that any easier on them, I think I have a responsibility to do that too.\u201d<\/p>\n