The band have taken a long time to release this album but it was well worth the wait.
I wanted to find more about these guys and Sun Voyager kindly agreed to this interview.
Thanks to Mike, Stefan and Kyle for this cool interview.
Hi guys. Thanks for doing this interview. How are things with you today.
Mike: We’re on our way to Boston.
Stefan: Having a couple beers in the car [we were in Connecticut at the time]. Feeling pretty good.
Kyle: Pappin’ on some road sodas.
Before we discuss your new album. Can you give a brief overview of how the band formed and where it is today.
S: We all went to high school together and linked back up after college over a mutual hatred of the world and a mutual worship of Satan.
Stefan: Having a couple beers in the car [we were in Connecticut at the time]. Feeling pretty good.
Kyle: Pappin’ on some road sodas.
Before we discuss your new album. Can you give a brief overview of how the band formed and where it is today.
S: We all went to high school together and linked back up after college over a mutual hatred of the world and a mutual worship of Satan.
K: And marijuana.
S: Now we’re a band.
S: Now we’re a band.
Why did you choose Sun Voyager as the name for your band.
K: It’s the RV.
S: Yea, there was an RV called a Sun Voyager.
M: And we thought that had a nice ring to it.
S: But we were originally called Black Masses.
M: Yea, the reason I liked that name was because Electric Wizard had just put out their album Black Masses and I straight up just lifted their album name.
S: At that time, we were just starting though. We only played like one show at Valentine’s in Albany under that name and then we changed it.
How would you describe your overall sound.
S: It’s a combination of all our influences. We like to listen to a lot of doomy stuff, classic rock, krautrock, heavy psych. When you look at our sound, I think there’s traces of all that in there and more.
You’re about to release your superb debut album – Seismic Vibes. What can people expect from the album.
S: To be rocked.
K: Next question.
What is the main theme of the album.
K: It’s just a collection of songs.
S: Yea, punchy tracks.
M: I feel like the only way to sum it up is that it’s very riff-driven with a lot of groove. Every song has a wicked riff or groove that we’re riding.
Who is releasing the album and what formats is the album being released upon.
S: King Pizza Records out of Brooklyn. It’s being released on 12” vinyl limited to 100 Galactic Gold, 100 Heavenly White, and 300 black.
What influenced you when writing and recording the album.
S: I think playing the same songs over and over again for some time prior to the album drove us a bit.
M: I don’t think there’s one driving force or a single thing.
S: Like a combination of being around a lot of heavy music and listening to a lot of heavy music. The scene we’re part of in the city is amazing but a little garage-y and we come from a heavier upbringing. We’ve always enjoyed the more stoner, doomy, psychedelic, kraut kind of stuff. So when we wanted to put an album out, it was sort of a tornado of all those influences genre-wise.
Was recording the album an easy or hard experience.
K: The only thing that was hard about it were the basic logistics. I don’t think the process of writing and recording is difficult for us. Recording was smooth and it’s not like we got hung up on writing the songs. Getting to Asbury Park may have been tough but being in the studio was great because our engineer [Paul Ritchie] made the experience feel easy.
How has it taken such a long time to release your debut album. As you’ve released other records over the last five years or so.
K: I don’t know. Why are boobs good?
M: Why is the sky blue?
S: Joe Dirt. We were gonna do a debut album a while ago but we ended up splitting it up into an EP and a split tape instead. This time it just felt right.
What is the song-writing method in the band. Is it a group collective or down to one individual.
K: Rule number 1, I’m number 1. Rule number 2, croc’s number 2. Alright. Next question.
S: It’s always been a band. Ideas come to the table from each of us and it’s very collaborative after.
Will you be promoting and touring this album heavily. Or will you just be focusing on gigs closer to home.
S: We’re not focusing on anything.
M: We will do nothing. No, that’s a yes and a yes. We’re constantly on the road.
K: It’s the RV.
S: Yea, there was an RV called a Sun Voyager.
M: And we thought that had a nice ring to it.
S: But we were originally called Black Masses.
M: Yea, the reason I liked that name was because Electric Wizard had just put out their album Black Masses and I straight up just lifted their album name.
S: At that time, we were just starting though. We only played like one show at Valentine’s in Albany under that name and then we changed it.
How would you describe your overall sound.
S: It’s a combination of all our influences. We like to listen to a lot of doomy stuff, classic rock, krautrock, heavy psych. When you look at our sound, I think there’s traces of all that in there and more.
You’re about to release your superb debut album – Seismic Vibes. What can people expect from the album.
S: To be rocked.
K: Next question.
What is the main theme of the album.
K: It’s just a collection of songs.
S: Yea, punchy tracks.
M: I feel like the only way to sum it up is that it’s very riff-driven with a lot of groove. Every song has a wicked riff or groove that we’re riding.
Who is releasing the album and what formats is the album being released upon.
S: King Pizza Records out of Brooklyn. It’s being released on 12” vinyl limited to 100 Galactic Gold, 100 Heavenly White, and 300 black.
What influenced you when writing and recording the album.
S: I think playing the same songs over and over again for some time prior to the album drove us a bit.
M: I don’t think there’s one driving force or a single thing.
S: Like a combination of being around a lot of heavy music and listening to a lot of heavy music. The scene we’re part of in the city is amazing but a little garage-y and we come from a heavier upbringing. We’ve always enjoyed the more stoner, doomy, psychedelic, kraut kind of stuff. So when we wanted to put an album out, it was sort of a tornado of all those influences genre-wise.
Was recording the album an easy or hard experience.
K: The only thing that was hard about it were the basic logistics. I don’t think the process of writing and recording is difficult for us. Recording was smooth and it’s not like we got hung up on writing the songs. Getting to Asbury Park may have been tough but being in the studio was great because our engineer [Paul Ritchie] made the experience feel easy.
How has it taken such a long time to release your debut album. As you’ve released other records over the last five years or so.
K: I don’t know. Why are boobs good?
M: Why is the sky blue?
S: Joe Dirt. We were gonna do a debut album a while ago but we ended up splitting it up into an EP and a split tape instead. This time it just felt right.
What is the song-writing method in the band. Is it a group collective or down to one individual.
K: Rule number 1, I’m number 1. Rule number 2, croc’s number 2. Alright. Next question.
S: It’s always been a band. Ideas come to the table from each of us and it’s very collaborative after.
Will you be promoting and touring this album heavily. Or will you just be focusing on gigs closer to home.
S: We’re not focusing on anything.
M: We will do nothing. No, that’s a yes and a yes. We’re constantly on the road.
S: We don’t really have one central location.
K: We’re burning gas and smoking grass.
The album cover is very cool indeed. What’s the story behind the album cover. Who designed it and how much input did you have into the final design.
S: Our friend TJ from Boston put it together. Great artist. I basically directed him to the Tee Pee Records website since we love all their bands and all their artwork is great. We wanted something earthy, spaced out. He ran with that and we were pretty much sold immediately.
Thanks for doing this interview. Before you go do you have anything to say to your fans. Best of luck with the new album.
K: We’ve got one hitters and we’ll pack them up for you if you come out to a show.
Words by Steve Howe and Sun Voyager
Links:
Facebook | BandCamp
K: We’re burning gas and smoking grass.
The album cover is very cool indeed. What’s the story behind the album cover. Who designed it and how much input did you have into the final design.
S: Our friend TJ from Boston put it together. Great artist. I basically directed him to the Tee Pee Records website since we love all their bands and all their artwork is great. We wanted something earthy, spaced out. He ran with that and we were pretty much sold immediately.
Thanks for doing this interview. Before you go do you have anything to say to your fans. Best of luck with the new album.
K: We’ve got one hitters and we’ll pack them up for you if you come out to a show.
Words by Steve Howe and Sun Voyager
Links:
Facebook | BandCamp
