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An Interview with Czech punkrockers, SUNSHINE...
15.03.2001
Czech band Sunshine manage beautifully the challenge of what many bands right now (outside of At the Drive In) find hard to maintain: energy and creativity in the face of a jaded world full of categories and hard independent knocks. Sunshine have been working it hard for years, scouring Europe and the US for cool tours with cool bands, and have developed their acute style in doing so. Their sound is hard to describe if you're not standing below the pulsating mike before singer Kay's heart: blistering almost-Thurston guitar licks and cauterwauls, undeniably new-wave keyboard machinations, soaring melodies and driving drums, Sunshine take you through varios musical portals in different spaces and times, and leave you in the end pleased as punch while stuck for words. We saw Sunshine live in Prague at the Roxy club, after which the band prepared to head off to the US for a massive tour in support of their USA license of album Velvet Suicide, on Big Wheel Recreation. In a fortuitous match-up of timing, Sunshine's new album featured a sound deemed downright suitable by the makers of film Blair Witch Project II, that a track will be included on the movie score. Way to go, Sunshine ;)
The following interview was done on email with lead singer Kay, after a heady bout of successful concert touring in Poland:
T: How many tours have you done now in the US, and when?
K: We had a two tours-first one 1998 with Hysterical Stereo Loops, Beats and Bloody Lips album just a low budget tour over a month, second-two months long tour in Fall 2000, 50 shows all over USA,with bands like At The Drive-In, Murder City Devils, International Noise Conspiracy, No Knife, La Shok, and many more...
T: Obvious question, but answer honestly: how do you like touring in the US? if you compare with touring in Europe....???
K: We don't care a lot about touring anywhere. I like the US tour better. I have lots of friends there and I miss them a lot. I don't think that is very different, tours in US and Europe. All the touring things are just about shows and lots of boring, mechanic work, that's simply true and doesn't matter if you're in USA, Europe or Japan.
T: What's going on with Sunshine and Big Wheel Records in the US? What new releases do you have planned and for when?
K: Big Wheel Recreation did such a good work for us, technically they supported our US tour and they sold lots of our records and try to make Sunshine more known band in the US. Of course, we should put out next album with Big Wheel too, seems like 90% chance Big Wheel again. We will see, it's as far as the new record isn't done yet.
T: Listening to your music and seeing you live, it seems like Sunshine is somehow simultaneously steeped in British post-punk and American avant-rock ... but you guys are from Czech, so how is this so, and would you agree? I guess I'm asking, what music/music scenes would you say have really influenced the current direction of Sunshine?
K: We used so many totally different influences, maybe that's simply the reason why many people think that we're hyper-creative, (joking.) We constantly feel much more American and British "roots" than influences from Czech's avantgarde-underground. It doesn't matter that we're from Czech, we're cosmopolitan people.
T: What would you say about the differences between audiences for live guitar-driven music today, and audiences say 5 or 8 years ago? Do you feel there is a change in people's interest levels in Europe and in the US? Do you get the sense that there is a division between electronic and guitar music crowds in Europe? More so than in the US? Where do you think Sunshine falls between this division, if there is one?
K: I think that near future will wipe off rest of differences between all those specific crowds. I felt it during the US tour. Yes, of course there still exist totally conservative fans, but not as much as before. Especially this was the case in shows with ATDI and Murder City Devils. ATDI brought many different kids from another side, which is great and look to other bands who experiment with mixing dance/electronic and guitar influences. That's future and progress I guess. Actually we experiment with many very old influences like a new wave or post punk stuff and we use progressive things like sequencers or samples. Anyway, I still think that audiences in Europe are more strictly oriented to each different sort of music. I haven't enough experiences about audiences for live music, so I wouldn't say something important about it. We just play shows as many as we can and we don't care a lot about it. Basically the feeling is about the self satisfaction from putting in such good work and sometime it is good, sometime it's bad ... this is not so much to do with the audience, this is basically about the bands.
T: Heck, about the internet: what do you think about promotions and using the internet to promote Sunshine's music? Do you have any plans for future downloads and if so, with whom? What's your take on Napster, before and now? How do you guys use the internet to help with Sunshine's booking, CDs, promotions, etc?
K: Internet most important for Sunshine booking, of course, almost all the contacts/deals with booking agency in USA, with our labels there, everything we do mostly through e-mails. That's really natural thing I guess, I don't know any bands who don't use same amount of internet communications like we do. It's totally necessary, I think. Also we have many fans and we should communicate with them mostly by e-mail. I am afraid that our web site is still under construction. Pretty soon will work and hopefully it will look good. 
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