Sunflower Bean on Becoming New York's Next Buzz Band
From The Velvet Underground to The Parquet Courts, New York City has been a vital breeding ground for young indie acts to be catapulted to national attention. Currently the band du jour is Sunflower Bean, a trio of early 20-somethings with a classic rock indebted sound that’s led to comparisons with The Strokes.
While that group’s frontman Julian Casablancas has given the trio his seal of approval by turning up at their shows, Sunflower Bean guitarist Nick Kivlen admits, “I was five when The Strokes came out. It seems like ancient history.”
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Rather he points to the Captured Tracks-driven Brooklyn scene starting in 2011 that produced releases by the likes of Mac Demarco and DIIV as a primary influence to the group’s 2013 formation.
“By then, there was more of a noise-rock, shoegaze and post-rock thing going on,” Kivlen adds. “We were doing the opposite of what other bands in Brooklyn were doing. We wanted to do things like have guitar solos.”
Although frontwoman/bassist Julia Cumming cheekily retorts, “Most guitar solos are kind of bad,” she notes the trio’s self-described sound as ‘neopsychedelia from the digital age’ is a result of the member’s musical differences.
“Nick really loves (Pink Floyd’s) David Gilmour’s guitar tone, which isn’t necessarily my thing. But when it comes together with something that I or (drummer) Jacob (Faber) brings in, it creates something different so it’s not like we’re rehashing the past,” she explains of their debut disc, Human Ceremony.
With tours supporting Best Coast and The Vaccines to their name, as well as a record deal with the revered Mississippi blues label Fat Possum (Black Keys), Sunflower Bean are beginning to outgrow their hometown. They admit to being a bit behind on which new bands are starting to emerge over the last year, since they’ve been busy touring around the world.
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Their travels are only continuing as they make their first visit to Shanghai on August 17 at Yuyintang and Beijing's Modernsky Lab on August 18 as a pre-festival showcase for the Split Works-curated Concrete and Grass Festival going down in September.
“A lot of the songs on the album had to be adjusted in the studio,” Faber notes. “So a live setting is almost the essence of a lot of these songs. We can kind of rock out and just do our thing.”
Shanghai: Aug 17, 8.30pm, RMB120-160. Yuyintang.
Beijing: Aug 18, 8.30pm, RMB120-160. Modernsky Lab, 5-108, Floor B1, Building D, Galaxy SOHO, Dongcheng 东城区朝阳门银河SOHO D座B1层5-108 (5773 3620)
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