Exclusive Interview: The Sundelles

The Sundelles (Photo: JM Houle)

DeadJournalist.com Exclusive Interview: The Sundelles
by: Chuck Norton
05.22.11

Led by Sam Sundos, The Sundelles have found their way into an interesting musical dichotomy. Combining the West Coast garage feel the native Californians grew up on with the introspection gleaned from their current home of New York, the band is bridging two of the more popular sounds of current emerging music.

In 2008, Sundos decided to move east to New York. He brought with him friends and band-mates, Davey Sarantos and Trevor McLoughlin. They spent the next year performing as frequently as possible in-and-around New York. By 2009 they were recording demos which led to the self-release of the Dead Your 7″ record.

The band released their debut full-length album, Georgia Swan, in 2010. With ten songs that run just over 30 minutes, the Sundelles crafted crisp pop songs that Phil Spector would appreciate.

The Sundelles – “Kiss The Coast”

For more information on the on the band, you can visit the band’s Web site or follow them on Facebook.

DeadJournalist.com brings you this exclusive interview with Sam Sundos of the Sundelles.

How did you first get involved in music? What aspects of being a musician do you most enjoy?

SS: I’ve been listening to music all my life. My parents were always playing music in our house. I didn’t actually start playing music or writing songs until I was about 20.

I got into it because all my friends played instruments and I wanted to be part of their gang. I didn’t want to be left out when they got together to play. I started playing music so I could hang out with my friends and other people I admired.

My favorite part of being a musician now, its definitely songwriting and recording at home.

Given your migration from the West Coast to the East Coast; how did it impact you as a songwriter and a musician? Did you find that you style and/or process changed?

SS: I moved to the East Coast not knowing a lot of people. I had a couple friends but in New York, everyone is in their own world so you can go for a month or two not seeing a close friend even though they live less than a mile away. So it gave me a lot of time alone and time to learn about myself.

I spent a lot of time in parks alone – people watching, it was great way to really grow up. Lyrically I became way more conscience of myself and other people my age and I worried less about holding hands and falling in love with girls that didn’t love me back.

I love California, its my home but moving to New York really pushed me to work hard on my songwriting and allowed me to be who I am – I love New York for that.

How do you work through the creative process of writing a formulating the layout of a song?

SS: I usually just stumble over a chord progression/lyric/melody that I like and start building the song around whatever it is. If I stumble over a melody that I love, its the best – its easy after you find the melody.

The Sundelles - Georgia Swan

As a self-evaluation, how do you feel about the progress the band made in 2010?

SS: 2010 was great for us, in terms of growth. We recorded and finished our debut album. We were given opportunities to play with some really great nationally recognized bands and some great local ones. Went on tour in California and also went on tour opening for Sleigh Bells on one of their US tours, which was crazy.

It was really great – it is such a morale boost when you are given the chance to do what you love. It pushed all of us in the band to work harder and get better.

What are your plans for the rest of 2011?

SS: We’ve started writing new songs and we are rehearsing them with plans to record in the summer. We plan on touring the east and west coast as soon as possible. We’d love to head over to the UK/EU as well. We are all just really happy about how we are approaching the band – of course we want all this to happen immediately but we know as long we are working hard and putting out good work, we are doing what we are supposed to be doing.

How do you leverage social media to promotes your work?

SS: We’ll post upcoming shows or news on Facebook or Twitter but usually we just use that stuff when we are drunk and want to share a YouTube video of a song that we are all listening to at the moment. We are really bad a self promotion.

What is the most bizarre thing that has happened to the band while on tour?

SS: On our last tour, we had a day off in New Orleans on our way down to Austin for SXSW. We all went out drinking on Bourbon St. – it started at sunset with hand grenades and didn’t end ’til Davey and I finished a Bloody Mary drinking contest at sunrise which eventually led to Davey our bassist getting arrested for smashing in a car windshield.

So we spent the following day trying to find him knowing he had been arrested but they had arrested him under the wrong name. So a bail bondsman, who I am pretty sure was on a bender himself, had to help us locate him and post his bail.

It took us over 30 hours to get him out of jail.

So while the city of New Orleans was trying to find out where they put Davey, Trevor (drummer) and I went to play our show in Baton Rouge as a two piece.

Who is an artist that you have been recommending to your friends?

SS: Recently I have been listening to a lot of Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for my Halo and Cass McCombs – Wits End. Awesome records.

To whom were you listening to in 2001?

SS: 2001 was when I ended high school and started college, I was listening to a lot of Modest Mouse. I think I was only listening to Modest Mouse. I love you Issac Brock.

What Web sites do you read on a regular basis?

SS: Only ones that come up when I Google the band name.

One Drink – Coffee
One Album – Iggy Pop – Lust for Life
One Movie – “Basquiat”