Time Traveling to the ‘60s with Sun Room
[UNPUBLISHED:] Thank you for taking the time to talk with Unpublished! How are you all?
[LUKE:] Hey! Yeah no worries, thanks for havin' us. We’re good, all super stoked to be back in San Diego for a bit.
[UNPUBLISHED:] 2022 was a big year for you guys with touring. Is there a favorite venue or city that you guys performed at? Or a fun memory you would like to share?
[LUKE:] Yeah, 2022 was nuts! So much fun. I think a couple of cities that come to mind as our favorites were Copenhagen, Denmark, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Another one of our favorites was Munich. After our gig there, our Tour Manager went to bed early, but we all wanted to go to the pub for a bit. When we got back from our night on the town we couldn’t figure out how to get back into our Airbnb, mind you our Tour Manage was fast asleep so we just curled up and slept on the street that night. I think it was like 40 degrees. Turns out our TM had texted us all the directions of how to get in and left the door unlocked too. Soooo beat.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Your new single “Cadillac” came out this month, congratulations! It’s such a fun, energetic listen. Is there a story or specific inspiration behind the song?
[LUKE:] “Cadillac” was inspired by a lot of the early ‘60s garage bands I’ve been super keen on lately. I wanted to make something loud and fast that reflected what we actually sounded like playing live, in our garage, or at a front yard show. This being our first year being in the band full-time and getting more attention from the industry, I felt a lot of pressure to make music that is more commercial and tame. But I had to remind myself that at the end of the day, we’re a garage band and not a pop group. I think this song was almost written in response to that pressure I was feeling.
[UNPUBLISHED:] “Cadillac” definitely compliments your classic, beach rock sound, but also explores a faster, louder, and heavier direction. Are there any new creative approaches you’ve experimented with for this single?
[LUKE:] Yeah, we experimented with some new recording styles and sounds on “Cadillac.” Our recordings have always come out a bit tamer than our live shows and we wanted to capture the chaos of our live shows on this track which (I think) we accomplished.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Can we expect more of this sound in the future?
[LUKE:] Yeah!
[UNPUBLISHED:] What would be the perfect place to listen to “Cadillac?”
[LUKE:] I feel like the best place to listen to “Cadillac” would be in a kindergarten class. The kids could get super fired up which would be sick. That or the Great Wall of China or any of the other seven wonders of the world.
[UNPUBLISHED:] The music video for the song is extremely fun and hones in on the timeless aspect of your sound with the black-and-white film look. It feels like a scene out of a movie. What vision or feeling were you aiming to capture with this video?
[LUKE:] Yeah, the music video was inspired by a lot of old footage of garage rock bands in the sixties. The idea to use an old Cadillac Hearse in the video came from our buddy/videographer, Kelly Hammond, who had bought one for like 400 bucks a couple of years ago. His mom was so mad about him keeping this creepy Hearse in their front yard, hahaha. Anyways, when we were in the tour van one day he exclaimed, “Let’s bolt drums to the top of the Hearse and film it!” That’s kinda how the idea started.
[UNPUBLISHED:] The location and setting of the music video are beautiful! Where was it filmed? Any fun moments on set you’d like to share?
[LUKE:] The music video was filmed near Borrego Springs which is the desert area in eastern San Diego. The funniest part of the whole day was watching Gibby’s face when we were bolting his drums to the roof of the car. Honestly, in hindsight, I don’t know how nothing went wrong, he was playing drums on the top of a moving car. It was so sketchy.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What have you all been listening to lately?
[LUKE:] We all have fairly different music tastes, so I can’t speak for all of them but lately I’ve been really into The Sonics, Skegss, The Pesos, Surf Trash, and Thee Midniters.
[UNPUBLISHED:] It’s been almost three years since the release of your debut EP Sol Del Sur, what are some things that you all have learned so far as a band?
[LUKE:] Ashton learned how to do Rubik’s Cubes, Gibby learned how to drum off the roof of moving cars, Max learned how to play the bass, and I learned the importance of not losing my passport a week before we were supposed to go into Canada.
[UNPUBLISHED:] As we have entered 2023, what are you guys most excited about for the new year? What does the future of Sun Room look like?
[LUKE:] I think we’re all excited to record a bunch of really sick songs. I’m excited about the direction we’re heading sonically and how to pair that with sick art direction and music videos. Also, I’m excited to keep touring and seeing new places.
