Today, we sat down with Sunrunner to talk about their start in music, tunes they jammed to growing up and much more! Be sure to check out their social media below as well as their music video “Where is my home” after the interview.
Interview:
How did you get your start in music?
My father was a drummer in a rock band throughout the 1970’s and early 1980’s. The band was called Seth (no affiliation with the metal band), out of Boston. So even while I was in my mothers womb, I was exposed to live rock n’ roll! They were actually really good. You can hear influences from Zeppelin to Sabbath and Rush. They were a bit heavier and slightly more progressive than the typical rock band of the 70’s.
What type of music did you listen to while growing up?
It started with my parents’ music. My dad’s music being Black Sabbath, Rush, Yes, Zeppelin, Rainbow, Purple, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Grand Funk Railroad, The Who, Saga, ELP and all kinds of rock, prog and early heavy metal.
My mom listened to lots of Motown and also the pop that was coming out through the 1980’s. So I naturally love motown and 80’s pop as well.
My first cassettes and records were Guns N Roses, Motley Crue and Poison. I liked the hair rock when it was coming out. I was very young, so it’s o.k.! But I mostly had all my dads Black Sabbath records recorded to cassette. From the first one up to ‘Headless Cross’. Those were my favorite tapes.
Then I saw the video for ‘One’ by Metallica when it came out. That was the next big influence for me. At which point I abandoned the hair rock and got all the Metallica tapes. I started getting more into my dads records too, like Rush and Rainbow.
The final kick in the pants to me is when I got my first cassette based solely on the album cover. I had no idea who the band was, but it looked very interesting. ‘Keeper of the Seven Keys part II.’ by Helloween. That totally blew me away. It steered me down a new path. I now realized I could go to the heavy metal section and pick out tapes and records by the cover.
Next would be Candlemass. Then Forbidden and just countless other bands. Thats where I am today. Thirty years later, I’m still collecting and looking for music I don’t know!
What are fun stories you can share while you’re in the studio recording music?
Well, I can’t think of anything specific at the moment. We’ve been in the studio 5 times for 5 records in the past 12 years or so. But I can tell you that it is always a fun time. A bit of pressure, getting creative, time constraints and being with the band for usually a week. There are always some shenanigans. Lots of laughs. Lots of coffee. Eventually coffee becomes beer. But we never get drunk in the studio. By the time the night comes and we are putting back some drinks, we are usually finishing up. We keep it mostly professional, but we have a lot of fun too.
What is your latest song or album you can share with us?
‘Sacred Arts of Survival’ is our latest full length. It was released almost a year ago now. March of 2022. We released 2 singles from it. And we just released the first video from the album, ‘Where Is My Home’. A fully animated video by Costin Chiorenau.
Where can our fans find you on social media for any music updates?
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2MFyT74yPmjEltiBN5bnFZ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlvIDzMqZFo
https://www.pandora.com/artist/sunrunner-metal-prog/ARrg5vjtt75mkwP
https://www.facebook.com/sunrunnermusic/
Music:
