Hawai’i Indie-Punk Aura Bora Face Growing Pains on ‘Welcome to Heck’
The Hawai‘i-based indie-punk outfit Aura Bora has always managed to distill interpersonal friction and energy into something alive.
Their new EP, ‘Welcome to Heck,’ is the band’s most candid and compelling document yet, a five-song suite that confronts messy reality with honesty. Recorded in a DIY setup inside Honolulu’s old Blaisdell Hotel, the EP finds the band at their most direct and self-assured. Frontperson Jhune Liwanag steers the chaos with a voice that can axis from a bratty snap to something startlingly vulnerable. Alongside Joey Green (drums), Ed Panen (guitar/production), and Will Adair (bass), Liwanag pushes Aura Bora’s sound toward something more open-ended, and more personal.
Before stepping into the spotlight, Liwanag spent years documenting Hawai‘i’s DIY scene…shooting shows, organizing gigs, and helping shape the collective spirit that defines their label, Failed Orbit Records. That sense of community bleeds into every track here.
After a long quiet stretch, Aura Bora reemerged with support slots for Otoboke Beaver and Alvvays, channeling that adrenaline straight into ‘Welcome to Heck’. The result is a compact, emotionally charged release…five tracks that translate heartbreak, self-doubt, and growth into something loud, honest, and completely their own.
Liwanag’s own statement on the EP is a remarkably clear-eyed assessment of its genesis, offering a map through the emotional terrain of each track:
“‘Welcome to Heck’ is a collection of songs that came out of a rough stretch—full of misunderstandings, heartbreaks, and growing pains that most people can relate to. Aura Bora has always been about turning pain into understanding, finding clarity in the chaos, and learning how to keep moving forward with honesty and heart.
‘Junimo Hut,’ inspired by Stardew Valley, is about making mistakes and finding yourself through trial and error. Every experience is uniquely ours, and real growth takes time, reflection, and forgiveness.
‘Blinders On’ is about reclaiming your energy—letting go of anger and defensiveness, and choosing peace over the need to be understood. When we release what’s no longer in tune with us, we make space for creativity, connection, and freedom.
‘I Wanna’ is a letter to myself. It started as a song about heartbreak and blame but became an honest look at my own patterns and self-worth. Recording it in our DIY studio at the old Blaisdell Hotel—where so many of my personal shifts have happened—made it feel especially real. With Ed’s grounding presence and the support of my bandmates, it became a reflection on self-acceptance and compassion.
The final track, ‘Feelings,’ is for Ed—my partner and our producer—whose patience and care have helped me grow into who I am today. Our relationship reminds me that harmony doesn’t come from avoiding conflict but from meeting it with honesty and understanding.
We called this EP ‘Welcome to Heck’ because heck is other people—but it’s also where we grow. Even when our intentions are good, life gets messy. We can’t control how others see us, but we can choose how we show up, how we care, and how we keep going.
The world keeps turning. We grieve, we feel, we move on, … hopefully with love. Even in the messiest stretches of life, a compelling song is always waiting to be found.
Headline photo: Aura Bora (Credit: Jhune Liwanag)
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