A PSYCHEDELIC AFFAIR WITH SLEEPY SUN_INTERVIEW

Posted by Justin Ward & Brian Blakely on 23 November 2011 | 0 Comments

On this particular day the sun was beaming beyond Australia's deep winter cavity and I was fighting my chub from embarrassing my shorts. It's not usually such a quandary, but dreaming about the sleepless nights awaiting my arrival in the United States was toying with my mind.

I had half of the west coast to taste, rumours to probe (and potentially abuse) and a pouch of important people to greet for the first time. Come to think of it, as I cast my mind back in time I really had an agenda so far from stone it may as well been classified an architectural nightmare. Heading to a show in Los Angeles to digest the sounds of two bands I'd only ever heard online was however, something that was not to be crushed. This was going to be a psychedelic affair well worth having.

The night of Friday, September 16, 2011 finally kicked. At 6pm I was collecting bottle tops alongside Soggybones skate editor Brian Blakely and my newly found American homies inside a quaint Japanese hotel in Little Tokyo, downtown LA. Preparation for a series of events that could potentially morph darkness into light was well at truly streaming. We were staring down the barrel of amusement provided by White Hills. The climax of the night was to be Sleepy Sun. This was all to be absorbed inside the very intimate Nomad Gallery & Art Compound. We wiped the table and finished our pre-event obligations, jumped inside a cab and fifteen minutes later, arrived at the venue.

As we rolled towards the venue the music bleeding from inside the walls was raw. It penetrated the quiet neighbourhood with ease. I found it strange that the venue was surrounded by tiny houses with picket fences. Every house had lights on. The White Hills threesome were in full flight and I doubt the neighbours were vibing off their riffs. My first impression of the sound was "fuck, these dudes are impressive. Just totally doing their own thing, in their own little world." They were intense, from personal appearances right through to their sound. They were fucking rocking out, totally captivating a very artsy crowd mid set. This was already looking like a legitimately "out there" night and I doubt anyone in the complex was complaining.

[ Photo by SANS35.com ]

I was so engrossed in this trio's performance that I forgot about the cold beer in my grip. Everyone listening to White Hills just stood there like baked zombies trapped in a bizarre trance. The audience seemed robbed of any typical concert type emotion. It wasn't as if the music was killing souls or sucking. The vibe was still ripping, and the music was insane. Everyone just acknowledged and respected the sounds that were unfolding. To be honest, I half expected the audience to be thrashing. But nope. Shit wasn't hitting the roof, well not yet anyway. Hundreds of sound sponges stood infront of the monitors, loving every drop of music, soaking up the space rock, jamming their heads back and forth, and downing beer like good ol' civilised american citizens. I'm sure everyone in the room was too stoned for their own good.

Dave W, Mrs Ego Sensation and Lee Hinshaw put on a show you'd struggle to forget. Even if you were downing everything and anything under the sun, you'd still be able to think back and find them on that ground stage, burnt into your memory, rocking. Absolutely killing the stage in their psychedelic world. We had all become true fans of White Hills overnight.

A film clip from youtube and this set of live photos taken on the night by Chenee Tharpe, Sans35.com and myself will serve more justice than any words I can imagine. All i remember was feeling their music and riding the euphoria. If you ever get a chance to catch White Hills in the flesh, do so.

[ Photo by SANS35.com ]

[ Photo by Chenee Tharpe ] [ Photo by Justin Ward ] [ Photo by Justin Ward ]

[ Photo by SANS35.com ]

[ Photo by Chenee Tharpe ]

After one hour of pure White Hills enegry the guitars slumped to an appreciative room of fans. The trio thanked the humans, said their goodbyes and retreated back stage. I wasn't in any rush for White Hills conclusion, but the room was turning into a sweaty fest pit. Cold beer coupled with Sleepy Sun live, sounded beautiful. Time for a lurk.

[ Photo by SANS35.com ]

- SLEEPY SUN -

[ Photo by Justin Ward ]

It didn't take long for Sleepy Sun to take control of the party. We were outside drinking when we heard the band fire up. We walked into the room and the crowd had done a complete 180. The same civilised people were now smoking blunts inside, climbing up, on and around the attic to get a senior view from above and moving more rhythmically and wild than i'd previously seen before.

What can I say to desribe their performance? I'm not going to say much at all. Epic comes to mind. I remember losing my marbles and dancing like a caged rooster. The intimacy of this show was tight. Watching Sleepy Sun perform was most definitely up there with one of the top live performances I'd ever seen. Does that say enough? We locked into their whole show, there wasn't one dull moment. We even debated over who would go and get the next round of beers. None of us wanted to miss a beat and we didn't.

In true style to SB, we hadn't organised any interviews after the show, but this one was meant to be. We made it back stage for a few beers with the bands and had a buckled chat with the group. Everyone was fucked up. Thank god for technology because there is no way in hell this interview would be here without it.

[ Photo by Chenee Tharpe ]

[Brett Constantino, Evan Reiss, Jack Allen, and Brian Tice make up the band Sleepy Sun. Interview w/ Evan Reiss by Brian Blakely and Justin Ward.]

When did you guys get together and start playing music? Most of us went to school together and grew up in a little beach town called Santa Cruz, California and we all met there.

When you say school, are you referring to college or high school? Jack and I grew up together in high school but most of us met in college. We started out playing house parties and moved on to the rest of world from there.

Sick. Where have you guys been other than here in LA?We've been lucky enough to go to Europe five times in the past few years and hope to go back again soon. And yeah, we've been all over the country, most of the states.

Is this the original lineup? No, Jack is the newest member I guess... it's mostly the original lineup though.

[ Photo by Chenee Tharpe ]

*The sound of voices interrupts the interview. "We got red wine, tequila... wait, two bottles of red wine." A few friends of the band come through the doors backstage and begin talking about all the booze leftover from the show.In the midst of conversation, we see lead singer Brett Constantino walk up and light a cigarette and ask him a few questions*

Brett Constantino (lead singer): Where do you guys draw inspiration? Do other bands inspire you? Do you guys inspire each other? Well it depends on the day I guess... I mean, I get a lot of inspiration from the environment and the coastal regions of California. Traveling... just living, ya know? In the eternal moment of uh -- sorry im trying to find my cigarettes -- but yeah, lately inspiration has been coming from the desert and the woods. I don't know... it's kind of like a vague question.

Justin Ward: So we're here at the Nomad Art Gallery in downtown Los Angeles, it's a pretty small little place, is it something you're used to playing at? No, no. This is cool. It's our first time here... this place is different but we've played a few other places in LA. This city is just so large and spread out that its different everywhere you go. But it is cool playing a space like this like in a residential area with like hired security... some guy named "Risk" (laughs).

[ Photos by Chenee Tharpe ]

Is music all that you guys do? What else do you guys do in your down time? I read a lot, but as of lately music has been the number one activity for the past 3 years.

How old are you?I'm 26, and uh yeah, but I'm going to have to get a job or something soon because the money's running out.

What about right now? You're just cruising with the band? Yeah, yeah.

Do you guys live together? No. We used to when we first moved to SF but I lived without a place for like 2 years... we all did, just on the road. There was never more than a couple weeks in between traveling.

Justin Ward: How did you find music? Is it like a family thing? That's a good question. Yeah, like my folks played records when I was growing up but I wasn't really inspired to play music until I moved away from home I grew up in a really small town, redneck, like rural.

[ Photo by Justin Ward ]

[ Photo by SANS35.com ]

[ Photo by Chenee Tharpe ]

What was it called? A town called Meadow Vista... it's kind of in between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe... like the inland foothills of the Sierra Nevada's. So I really didn't start thinking about playing music until I moved away. It was the same ol' story... you like start listening to the beetles in a "different way," you know? (Laughs). It was like my parents always played it growing up, but it was like something happened like where I started listening to different things and that's how it happened.

Justin Ward: Are you guys working on any new materiel? Yeah, you guys heard some tonight. We have two records out and we're starting to go on a different path naturally with our newest one.

What are the names of the records? The first one is called Embrace, and the second one is called Fever.

So are you guys going to make it out to Australia anytime soon? I hope man, like we tried to get on the FALLS Festival but they said none of our songs were able to play on the radio and that was a huge thing apparently, we didn't get enough radio play out there, but this new record will have more songs -- like not that we're writing them more for the radio, but naturally they'll be able to play more.

Do you guys get radio play out here in the states? Yeah some stations in LA and SF, KCRW down here in LA, Henry Rollins has a show and he got a hold of our first record somehow and played some stuff like a couple years ago we got an email from Henry Rollins like "right on man!"

Are you guys are fully independent or are you on any labels? Well right now we are, we released our first two records on ATP it's like an English label and they've been really good to us but they don't have much presence in the US so we're looking for a label in the states.

Well that's a wrap, solid. Cool, thanks.

Featured below is an assortment of lifestyle/crowd/art photos taken on the night by the rad crew at Sans35.com

[ Photo by SANS35.com ]

The night finished with us peering out the windows of our hotel, zombified, on edge, waiting for the Sun to rear it's disgusting head so we could get the fuck out of the hotel, on to the streets to eat Sushi and continue our affair with LA.

Lets just leave it at that.

sleepysun.net

myspace.com/whitehills

sans35.com