Photo: Void Works Photography
Aberdeen's SUNDRAWN recently released their EP 'Recovery', We had the opportunity to talk to the band about their new release, its formation and what lies ahead for the exciting rock band.
SUNDRAWN is a relatively new project for you all. How did the four of you come together in Aberdeen, and what made this the right time to start something new?
Phil: Kieran, Andy and I were part of the band Broadsea, after a couple of line-up changes we felt the music we were writing was moving in a different direction, and as we started working on ideas, it felt like something completely different, something fresh and we made the decision to set this up as a new band so that our minds weren’t stuck writing for that band, and instead, we were completely free to take any direction we wanted. Then we made the decision to take someone else on for the bass parts. Dale was the obvious and only choice for all of us. He slotted straight in as if he had been there since day one.
You’ve said previous projects falling apart left you thinking you might never play music again. What shifted that feeling and led to SUNDRAWN and 'Recovery'?
Kieran: As Phil mentioned, we were in a band called Broadsea together prior to SUNDRAWN for the best part of a decade. We experienced some incredible highs through that band - moments where it genuinely felt like, “this could be it” but we also experienced some pretty heavy lows. Watching the band slowly lose momentum and seeing something we’d put so much of ourselves into eventually fade into nothing was difficult and I think there was definitely a point where we both questioned whether we wanted to do it all again. But during the final year of that band, Andy joined and brought a spark that we’d been missing for a long time. Things started to feel different again. Eventually, the three of us agreed that whatever this was becoming deserved a chapter of its own rather than trying to force life back into something that had run its course. The exploration and creation of Sundrawn, of this EP has really felt like a healing process in that sense. Not only do we feel it’s the best music we’ve ever written collectively but it gave us that excitement for creating music together again. Then Dale joined us earlier this year and somehow took everything to another level - we certainly don’t have any intentions of quitting music now.
'Recovery' feels like a very deliberate title. What does “recovery” mean to the band at this point — musically, personally, or both?
Phil: Recovery is quite literally the recovery of our love of music, both writing and performing, we purposely took everything slowly, took steps back to look at what we were doing. We go forward with everything we do open minded, making sure every band member is heard, and keeping communication open. If someone doesn’t feel good about something, they speak up and are heard.
You recorded, mixed and mastered the whole thing yourselves. What was that process like, and how did handling everything in-house shape the final sound?
Phil: This was a long process of learning on the job. I’ve been recording bands as a hobby for years, so it was just about broadening my knowledge, looking at each individual element in the process and making sure we do the best we can to get the recording we want. Doing everything ourselves has been so beneficial as we were able to listen back to what we were recording, and in a couple of cases we ended up rewriting entire parts, going back into the studio to re-record them until we were happy. It would have been a lot harder to do that if we paid for studio time somewhere else.
The tracks move between quiet, floating sections and sudden force. How important was dynamics and space when you were arranging these songs?
Phil: Dynamic changes in music is something that we all really enjoy. Getting these right was so important as if you don’t get the change from that solo guitar part to instant full band and backing instruments right, it just doesn’t sound powerful enough, but at the same time you don’t want it to be jarring to the listener. We spent a lot of time going over the same few seconds of music, trialling different techniques until it they felt right
Photo: Void Works Photography
'The Constant' opens the EP slowly before everything kicks in. What is that song about for you, and why did it feel like the right way to start?
Phil: The Constant is the first song we started writing where the music started to feel like something different to what we had previously written. We spent hours on that first intro riff, playing it over and over together in the room, making small adjustments until it became what it is now. I think for a start we were nervous about where the song would go after that because it would essentially go on to shape the way we were going to write together.
Kieran: It was one of those songs that immediately just screamed “opener” to all of us. We’d decided before the EP was even complete that The Constant would be track one. For me, this track really showcases all of our individual personalities. There are so many different elements to it and it almost feels like a salute to a lot of the influences that have gotten us here today. We’re all huge alternative rock fans and share that love for songs that take you somewhere and keep you guessing. The Constant does exactly that. It slowly pulls you in, keeps you guessing, hurts your brain a little before eventually opening up and I think that journey makes it the perfect introduction to what Sundrawn is.
'Smell the Rain' was the debut single. The lyrics feel very sensory and nostalgic — looking back at something brighter while dealing with present damage. Can you talk about where that song came from?
Phil: This song was written 7 years ago, it’s come a long way since then, the lyrics have stayed the same throughout but the music and melody has been through numerous changes, I knew it was always a song I wanted to release but could never quite find the correct arrangement, turns out it just needed space to breathe and the new fresh mindset of SUNDRAWN to take it where it needed to be.
As a DIY band from Aberdeen, what have been the biggest challenges and advantages of doing everything yourselves so far?
Andy: From the start of the project, we wanted to take our time, we never wanted to ever have to be constrained by time or money, we never wanted to ever have to say “that’ll have to do” in the studio because we were running out of time. We wanted to learn new skills and do them to the best of our abilities whether that be recording/mixing, to video editing, filming, screen printing merch. We just wanted to keep this our own thing for as long as possible.
Dale: For me from a Social Media and PR perspective it’s been great to share the work load. In every project I have been involved in I have always carried a heavy work load outside writing and performing when it comes to content and a lot of admin etc. and I don’t have any gripes about that, I’ve always gotten a kick out of what others would consider the boring stuff. With SUNDRAWN it’s been a much more collaborative effort in every aspect. Sometimes you can feel overwhelmed with it all, especially when you just have a life to get on with outside of music, and having everyone chip in relieves that stress. Having said that, it’s been a big learning curve for me to let that complete control go because it is just what I have become accustomed to, but it is a huge positive!
How has the local Aberdeen scene influenced the way you work and the sound you’ve developed?
Andy: We’ve all played the Aberdeen scene for years. The issue that we have coming from what would be classed as a “remote area” is that the touring bands tend to stop at Glasgow or Edinburgh, so bands from areas such as Aberdeen and further afield need to put that extra bit of effort in to get noticed and to broaden the horizons
Dale: I do think the Aberdeen scene is thriving right now, however some bands seem to get comfortable just playing the same venues every couple weeks. That’s always been the case and that’s absolutely fine if that’s what they want to do. With this band and my other band we don’t want to feel like we’re stuck in a rut and playing the same venues all the time, so we will look to play local shows 2 or 3 times maximum in a year. We’ve all been playing in various projects for a long time so we want to push ourselves and get out and around the country as much as possible and start grabbing those opportunities we might not get up north.
Kieran: We don’t really feel like we fit neatly into any pigeonhole with our sound. There’s a lot of indie, hard rock and younger bands still figuring out their sound but over the last few years a lot of the alternative bands we played alongside over the previous decade have slowly disappeared. I feel like SUNDRAWN brings a refreshing sense of familiarity to a scene we’ve been a part of for years, whilst offering a new take on what that scene was and what it can be now. We’re not trying to recreate what was there before but there will always be a piece of it living in what we do.
You’ve been sharing a lot of behind-the-scenes and play-through content online. How important has that direct connection with listeners been in the lead-up to the EP?
Dale: We’ve tried our best to build an identity early so people can gain an understanding of what we’re all about. Our content has been an opportunity to let people in and feel familiar before they can dive completely into the music. It’s been really important to us that people have that sense of familiarity and they don’t feel like they’re going in blind with a new band they’ve never heard of.
Andy: Our music does come across as very heavy in an emotional sense at points, but at the end of the day, we’re a group of friends with personalities and I think that’s quite an important part of getting to know a band, and it’s an important part of making music as a group. It’s important to see the humans behind where the music has come from. In a world which is becoming over-run with AI music, seeing real people having fun making it is more important than any prompt.
'Recovery' is out now and you can listen to the EP below.
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