Sun Airway
Exclusive Interview: Sun Airway
by Chuck Norton
June 6, 2011
Forming from the ashes of the defunct emo band the A-Sides, Jon Barthmus and Patrick Marsceill released their highly regarded, full-length debut album, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier, in 2010. The album was recorded in Barthmus’ home studio where he was able to experiment with samples and electronic instrumentation. The result was an dream-pop album chock full of both synthesizers and literary references.
Several songs on the album, including “Oh, Naoko” and “Waiting on You”, were influenced by the works of Haruki Marukami. And as noted in the session the band recorded with Daytrotter on February 9, 2011, Barthmus thanked a number of literary powerhouses on the album; including four of whom died during the recording of the album (Kurt Vonnegut, J.D. Salinger, David Foster Wallace and John Updike).
The Philadelphia bliss-pop band has performed with a number of other acts like Bear In Heaven, Lower Dens, White Lies and Asobi Seksu. Sun Airway will be performing at the Northside Music & Arts Festival in Brooklyn on June 19, 2011 as well as the Pitchfork Music Festival on July 16, 2011.
For more on Sun Airway, visit their Web site or follow them on Twitter.
DeadJournalist.com brings you this exclusive interview with Jon Barthmus of Sun Airway.
Having just wrapped up touring with White Lies and Asobi Seksu, what was the experience like touring with those bands? Did you have a favorite city or moment during the tour?
JB: The tour was great. We did some dates in March with Asobi so it was great to see them again. White Lies and their crew are great people too, was a pretty amazing time all around.
This run for us was only four shows, all of which were excellent, NYC was probably being the best, just because Terminal 5 is such a massive space, was a little surreal to be playing there.
What are the biggest day-to-day challenges you have while on the road?
JB: The biggest challenge day-to-day is trying to keep one foot in reality. It’s easy to fall off the grid on tour and just stop checking emails and returning phone calls. All of us have busy lives outside of this so it’s always a strain on one or the other.
What is the biggest challenge of your live performances? Do you try to maintain consistency in your live performances or does the mood of the band and the energy of the crowd effect an individual show?
JB: Our live setup is fairly elaborate to pull off with no crew whatsoever. We have a pretty intense system setup involving creating networks and wireless transmissions for our projections etc. It’s a lot to setup and make sure is in good working order.
In D.C. we had mega tech problems because of it all. We try to stay consistent; there’s really no rhyme or reason for us with what makes a great show. It’s always a mystery.
Sun Airway – “Put the Days Away”
You spent 18 months writing and recording your full-length album, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier. What was the biggest thing your learned from that process that you will carry over to future albums?
JB: I’m always learning. Really for me it’s just becoming more familiar with the software I’m using to make music. Picking up little lessons here and there and trying to apply them to future recordings.
As you have matured as an artist how has your song-writing process changed? What drives the creative process behind writing and recording your music?
JB: For me there’s really no specific way that I like to write music. Sometimes I have words floating around for a while and find a melody for them or vice versa. What’s most changed this time around is that I’m creating the recordings as I write the songs, so the two really grow together as opposed to Nocturne where I wrote and demoed all the songs in advance and then recorded them all one by one.
Are you in the process of working on material for a new album? Is so, do you have a target for completion?
JB: I am working on a new album. Trying to find the time anyway. We have a 7″ coming out in June/July with two new songs. One or both of these should be on an LP but will probably be re-mixed and changed around a bit. I’d like to finish it early next year, so we’ll see. I have pieces of maybe six songs for it right now.
Who inspires you most as artists?
JB: Brian Eno, David Foster Wallace, Wim Wenders, there are tons of artists who have created an impressive body of work but also are great interview subjects. I could read interviews with Brian Eno forever, they’re always so thoughtful and illuminating.
I can’t imagine ever getting to a point of being so eloquent off-the-cuff. I like reading interviews with people that have the power to change my approach or way of thinking about something.
With the rapid evolution of social media and marketing bands have faced since the advent of social networking do you find that promoting the band is a 24/7 process?
JB: It can be if you let it. I try to spend as little time doing it as possible. It’s difficult to see great artists posting on Twitter every five seconds. There are bands out there where I want a little mystery, I don’t want to picture them writing these songs with a cell phone in one hand. There’s more a risk of overexposure now.
Sun Airway – “Oh, Naoko” (Live on YoursTru.ly)
Yourstru.ly Presents: Sun Airway “Oh, Naoko” from Yours Truly on Vimeo.
Have you seen benefits or detriments from the intimacy your fans have to the band because of Twitter, Facebook, etc.?
JB: I haven’t noticed a whole lot. If anything, it has been beneficial and it’s nice for us to have that contact I think. Especially with people from faraway places.
Is there an artist that you’ve encountered recently that you’ve been recommending to your friends?
JB: I find myself recommending Dirty Beaches to a lot of people. I bought the Sweet 17 7″ and play it fairly constantly. He played right before us at a show at SXSW this year and was just so cool it was ridiculous. At one point he busted out a switchblade comb and started combing his hair. Who wouldn’t like that?
What were you listening to in 2001?
JB: 2001 I remember the big records for me were Circulatory Systems self-titled album, still one of my favorites ever, The Strokes Is This It? and Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots.
Which do you prefer: MP3, CD, Tape or Vinyl?
JB: I’m a vinyl person all the way. Really just love the scale of it. And the whole ritual of putting a record on. It’s a much more active listening experience.
Web site(s) you read regularly?
JB: New York Times, Pitchfork, ffffound, butdoesitfloat, booooooom, selecticism, philebrity.
One Drink. One Movie. One Album.
JB: Rye Manhattan, “Wings of Desire”, Kid A.
