Foto-© Lulu Syracuse

Mit Mortal Primetime veröffentlichte die New Yorker Band Sunflower Bean am 25. April ihr viertes Album und gleichzeitig ihr erstes komplett selbst produziertes Werk. Schon die erste Single Nothing Romantic verbindet persönliche Verletzlichkeit mit Stadion-Powerchords und stellt dabei auf ganz eigene Weise das Klischee des leidenden Künstlers infrage. Entstanden ist ein energetisches, emotional aufgeladenes Rockalbum, das die Vergangenheit nicht verdrängt, sondern reflektiert – und gleichzeitig mutig nach vorn schaut. Nach über zehn Jahren Bandgeschichte, persönlichen Umbrüchen und räumlicher Trennung haben sich Julia Cumming, Nick Kivlen und Olive Faber für dieses Album neu gefunden. Im Interview erzählen sie von dem besonderen Entstehungsprozess, der Kraft von Freundschaft und Liebe – und warum sie gerade jetzt sagen: This is our prime.

First of all, thanks for taking the time to speak with me, and congrats on the upcoming release of Mortal Primetime on the 25th of April. This is your fourth record and your first self-produced one, which is a big step. The album title feels really bold, even rebellious. What initially sparked the concept behind this album for you guys?
Julia: Well, Mortal Primetime — we pulled it from the lyric of the first song, Champagne Taste. It’s kind of like a callback. As we got further into making the record, it just felt really pertinent because the record was influenced by our experiences in the past 10 years. I think all of that brought us a lot closer to the feeling of mortality, because everything felt a lot more fragile and sacred, knowing that there were a lot of reasons that this record wouldn’t have happened. I think with Primetime, it’s also reflecting on us writing for so long and feeling like we are the strongest writers and musical thinkers that we’ve ever been. Just kind of choosing ‘prime’ and putting it forward and being able to sit in it.

So I guess it’s a certain emotion that pulled you into the process — or was there also a sound or a vision?
Nick: Yeah, the vision for the record was to really embrace the chemistry that the three of us have when we play together, because we’ve been a band for over 10 years, and that’s increasingly rare, special, and old school. A lot of magic is in the way we communicate through playing live. So the vision for the record was to record it in a way that was closer to 1965 than to present day. We were in a room together and rented a studio for two weeks. Every song was cut with us playing together as a three-piece, and all the overdubs and additional production were all done live as well. There was no sampling, no copying and pasting. I don’t think there’s a single synthesizer on the album. But yeah, we wanted it to sound very organic and live. We were in this really amazing studio that our friend built, that looked like it was 1965 in there. It kind of got us into the headspace to treat ourselves as seriously as the Beatles treated making an album, haha.

Before we continue on with the album, I want to jump onto something you mentioned earlier. You said you’ve been a band for over 10 years, which is really special. When you think back to the beginning of Sunflower Bean in 2013, what were the core inspirations that shaped you then — on your identity — and do they still shape your sound?
Nick: I think yes and no. I’d be curious to hear Julia’s thoughts on that.
Julia: I think you’re right — yes and no. A lot of the ethos that brought us all together initially is largely intact. People would always ask me for advice about starting a band, and I said: more than anyone’s talent or even anyone’s taste, it’s most important to find people that are willing to go all the way, because that’s the hardest part. You have to have a dedication to all of it. A big part of that is the sacrifice and the delusion. So I think that the four of us — counting our manager and creative director — got very lucky in finding sort of like-minded people. That ends up influencing the music as well, because you get to a record like this. You know, it’s funny because we were just doing a different interview, and they asked what kind of pressure we felt on this record. And I definitely still feel the same kinds of pressure that I did in the beginning of our career. But it’s just to kind of try to make the truest work, I guess. We’ve been trying to keep that alive since we started.

So would you say there were specific moments in the past few years — whether globally, culturally, or in your personal life — that directly shaped the stories and sound of Mortal Primetime?
Julia: Well, a lot. Nick can speak on this too. Sunshine, the last song on the record, is more about Nick moving to LA. I think part of the record is about that kind of reflection on a different kind of separation that the three of us have experienced. But also, more than it being about the experiences that have sort of separated us, it’s about what has connected us again. Us coming back to do the record wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t really aligned on what we wanted it to sound like. We were all into this idea of the record being very straight-up. When we were putting together our inspirations, we were watching a lot of YouTube videos of Sonic Youth playing live in 2003 — just literally the sound of live sessions on YouTube. We all thought the coolest way to show who we are and to show our writing would be in this manner. I think being able to find that point of connection after we had experienced separation was the key to doing this. We couldn’t be separated and also have different goals for the record — then it just wouldn’t have happened.

So more than it being about any specific moments in your lives, it’s you guys coming back together and connecting with each other that really shaped this album.
Julia: Yes, exactly.

That sounds really wholesome. Since this is your first self-produced album, did this change how you guys work together as a band? Did it open new possibilities?
Nick: Because we had a 100% clear vision of what we wanted the album to sound like, and it was based around the three of us, it really was effortless. We carefully prepared before we went into the studio, everything was demoed out, and we knew exactly what we were going to do. Then we went in there and executed it. Once we were actually recording it, it was the easiest album we’ve ever made.
Julia: We’ve also had great experiences with producers and learned a lot from them, and we still want to work with them. But for this project, because of the vulnerability we aimed for, it felt important to take full responsibility ourselves. Producers often become the “adult in the room,” because they are in this mentor position. So in the challenging moments, there’s always someone to turn to in order to solve the problem. This time, we wanted to be the ones solving the problems and pushing through those moments on our own. It felt like the right step to develop mentally. That way, when we do work with producers again, we’ll bring a stronger sense of ourselves into the process and make even better records.

Compared to your previous records, Mortal Primetime feels emotionally raw. What has changed — besides producing it yourselves — especially since your last record in 2022?
Julia: I feel like what has changed the most is the experience of growing up itself. It kind of has felt like a shedding of expectations — even in the seemingly open world of indie rock, there are still so many restraints and boxes we put ourselves in. With this record, we recognized how fragile its creation was, which made us want to be emotionally direct and raw. We asked ourselves: What do people actually need, and how can we avoid wasting their time? No one needs a middle-of-the-road indie record that’s afraid to say what it’s trying to say. It just would’ve been a waste of time, you know? For example, Nick had written the song Please Rewind years before this record. When he sat there and played it the first time for me, Olive, and our manager, it brought tears to my eyes. I’ve known Nick as a creative collaborator for so long now, and I knew there were sides of him personally that hadn’t yet made it into our songs — because he still wasn’t ready back then. Similarly, I had written There’s a Part I Can’t Get Back years ago, but it wasn’t until this record that we were ready to take ourselves seriously enough to fully share that vulnerability. I think that’s kind of the raw feeling you’re talking about. But I also believe art should be raw — especially art like this, that is using the history of rock and pop music to just show what it is. I think that’s the coolest thing we could be doing.

Definitely. While looking at the tracklist, titles like Please Rewind and There’s a Part I Can’t Get Back, which you just mentioned, suggest themes of memory, nostalgia, and melancholy. There’s also a bit of sadness to it. What can listeners expect from the emotional journey across the rest of the album?
Nick: Hmm, I think people will have their own interpretations of it. There’s a lot of nostalgia and hope on the album, which I often write from. A lot of it is about finding strength, looking back and appreciating the past, and looking forward to the future — like in Waiting for the Rain. There’s also a good amount of humor on the album too. I always try to write from a place of humor — like, a lot of the time, songs to me are kind of like telling a joke where you’re setting up a punchline that could hit people in a way they’re not expecting. It can either make you laugh or cry, depending on the message.
Julia: You know, I also think it’s really a love record — which I know sounds kind of silly when you think about love within songwriting, because it’s such a topic that is perfect for songs, like all songs are kind of love songs in a way. But love, to me, feels so embedded in every part of this record. It couldn’t have been made without the love we have for each other as friends and collaborators. It couldn’t have been made without the love of our manager, our creative director, and our record label, Lucky Number, who wanted us to fully be ourselves and believed that it had value and was worth it. Also, our love for songwriting and production. So these songs are really about our imperfect attempts at loving and being loved — which I think is one of the most human things you could be going through. So there might be some sadness, but I think it’s more within the viewpoint of the nuanced, complicated side of love. I hope when people listen to it, they feel like they can relate to it — not just think, oh, this is a bummer.

I definitely don’t think they will. I guess, sadness often ties into feelings like nostalgia and melancholy — and ultimately, it comes from love. I mean, why would you miss something if you didn’t love it, right? Speaking of love: In Nothing Romantic, released on March 11th, you reflect on how suffering and loneliness are often romanticized — when in reality, both just hurt. You also reject, as you said, the myth of the tortured artist. Could you talk a bit more about that idea, and how it influenced the writing of the song?
Nick: A part of the song that first inspired it was the fact that I don’t have any faith in terms of religion or believing in a God. Sometimes, when people talk about their relationship with God, it confuses me — and I’m like, wait, what do you mean you feel loved by God? I just don’t have that, even though I wish I did. For me, I really find my “God” and peace in life through relationships and friendships. That’s how I find meaning. I don’t think there’s anything better than being with the people you love and sharing laughs with them. From there, the idea of Nothing Romantic kind of developed: There’s nothing romantic about being truly alone — in terms of being alone in the universe. Also, within the context of being an artist, I don’t create my best work or feel great creatively when I feel alone or depressed. There isn’t anything romantic about destroying your life, sequestering yourself, or pushing people away. That’s not going to make you a better artist — and sadness isn’t the only profound emotion that deserves to be sung about.

That’s such a moving and honest idea behind the song. I want to refer to something that you once said, and which Julia already touched on earlier in this interview. You said you get to decide what your prime is — and you fight for it — which is a really strong statement. In what ways do you feel like this is your prime as a band right now?
Julia: It’s our prime because of the amount of work that we’ve put in, where we just have so much perspective on songwriting as a whole, while also feeling more confident in what we’re making. That feels exciting. I think you can waste a lot of time wishing to be more prepared, braver, and better in your “prime.” That’s also another thing we’re kind of fighting against — trying to get a little bit of control back, even in how we interpret ourselves. There’s no reason why this moment can’t be everything that we want it to be. I hope by following through with that, we can show people that they don’t need something external to tell them that they are in their prime, or that they’re worth it.

So I guess it’s like a feeling of contentment and accepting — not idolizing. Since we live in a society where we always try to be the best and most perfect version of ourselves, it’s more like feeling whatever you’re doing is the prime itself, right?
Julia: Yeah, I mean, “accepting” and “contentment” imply that it’s more like settling — but I think this is certainly more forceful. Saying it’s your prime is saying a lot. It’s bold, because normally you shouldn’t be allowed to say that about yourself. And that’s kind of what we’re saying — because we’re like, why not? We’re the ones that know what it took to make it. So why can’t we say that we’re the strongest we’ve ever been?

That makes perfect sense. I really like that viewpoint. So do you feel like with this record, you’re closing a chapter or opening a new one?
Julia: I think it’s opening a new chapter. One of the cool things about having this career for a long time is getting through some of those growing pains. My dream for us is that we will be an international institution of creative and exciting music. I feel more confident than ever now, being on this side of the record. I feel like we could explore so many other things together.

What can fans expect from you in the future?
Julia: I think you can expect from a Sunflower Bean show that we’re going to give it our all, no matter how big or small the audience is. I feel like being on stage together is where we’re really happy. We think of shows in a very sacred way. To anyone seeing us live, I hope they can feel that we’re really being present.