Sound Colour Vibration (Music | Art | Film | Technology | Science | Culture)

Los Angeles, CA based label Plug Research has created a very strong partnership with the Allston, Massachusetts duo Sonnymoon. As one of our favorite modern electronic groups from the last year or so, it was really great news when we heard they had signed with Plug. It feels like yesterday when a good friend highly recommended I buy a new EP from Plug Research called 1983 by an artist named Flying Lotus. I knew nothing about the artist and after grabbing the record, I knew I would always take chances with the label. This was in 2006 and was a wave of new energy that has continued to spiral outward until this day. Fast forward 6 years and it feels like Sonnymoon has drawn upon a very similar new wave and presence of energy in modern music. Sonnymoon’s first official EP 2012 is a phenomenal record to us at Sound Colour Vibration, pushing boundaries of electronic music far into beautiful and unknown regions. We can’t tell you how excited we are for the full length coming from the group this year.

With the duo set for an east coast tour of the States and Canada with Teebs and Time Wharp along with the debut LP set to release in May, we had to request for an interview with Sonnymoon. We are very proud to present our exclusive interview with Dane Orr of Sonnymoon about the 2012 EP, the Sonnymoon full length, album art, touring and more. Included for your listening pleasure is the first single, ‘Just Before The Dawn’, from the Sonnymoon full length coming in May. The digital b-side features the superb composer Miguel Atwood-Ferguson of the Brainfeeder providing string work over the song ‘Just Before The Dawn’, you can purchase the single ‘Just Before The Dawn’ from itunes. Also included at the end of this article is the latest official music video from the group for the song ‘Morning Person’ off the 2012 EP. Enjoy!

‘Just Before The Dawn’ from Sonnymoon’s full length Sonnymoon.

Sound Colour Vibration interview with Dane Orr of Sonnymoon
Conducted by Erik Otis
January 2012

Hello Dane, I just wanted to first say thanks for taking the time. We were really blown away when we first gained exposure to Golden Age and when Jasmine De La Paz sent us the 2012 EP, all of us at Sound Colour Vibration fell in love with the record right away. With the debut full length planning for release with Plug Research in May of this year and 2012 so new to the world, what type of plans does the group have for touring this year? Will you be hitting Big Day Out or any of the other big festivals this year and next?

Dane: We are indeed about to embark upon our first tour ever with our good friends Teebs and Time Wharp. It’s going to be a Post-SXSW east coast run and then we’ll hit Cali and the West Coast this summer when the record comes out.

There is a lot of visual imagery in the lyrical presentation and synth work with a grounding of heavy beat experimentation on the rhythm side. Were there any artists or albums that you leaned towards more heavily for influence while constructing 2012 or do you try to isolate yourself from the current mediums of expression to channel something in that is beyond easy explanation?

Dane: I’ve discovered that you can pick apart any little riff or line or rhythm or metric/tonal modulation and pinpoint somewhere in the last 100 years where its already been used so I think the most important part about our process is just sitting down and discussing a feeling or problem or memory or vibe and go for it from there. We really dig the concept of sound painting or sound poetry, so it’s cool that you tapped into that vibe.

Knowing that your self titled debut full length is already scheduled for release in less than half a year, when did the sessions for 2012 EP occur? Was 2012 a collection of songs that spans many different periods and stages of growth or did they all take shape around the same time?

Dane: They all took place around the “same time” but that “same time” period was every second between when Golden Age came out and August of 2011, so yeah, it’s all from the same group of work.

Will Sonnymoon be a continuation of the 2012 sound or will this represent a new chapter and path in the bigger picture of the Sonnymoon story?

Dane: In some ways both. Like I said above, it’s all from the same group of work but they fit into different molds. Sonnymoon is really a journey, it takes the shape of a full 24 hour cycle on earth. 2012 is a lot more free form, as a group of tracks. However the same general, next-step-in-our-sound approach is prevalent throughout both the EP and the LP.

You mentioned recently that there will not be any collaborations musically on the debut full; which we were really happy to hear. Are you already working with any visual teams for music videos or other projects that will help shape the overall presentation of the record?

Dane: Yes!!! So glad you asked. We’re blessed to have amazing friends. We’re working with a couple of visual artists across the board, but the guys who did the “Near Me” video, Gordon Hendrick and Hunter Steinman are working on another for us as well. Lauren Santorio, who did the “run away” animation, has played a huge visual role in our artistic experience. We played numerous shows with her before we left Boston. When she’s available, Lauren is really the third member of Sonnymoon… she puts on one bitching visual set, and we all lived together for over a year, so you can imagine the closeness that experience incited.

Who did the album art for the debut full length and how was the process from conceptual stages of the art to now?

Dane: We worked with Ed Kramer (kramerart.net) for this whole gang of releases. The EP, the Singles, the LP, its all Ed. We talked a lot with him about what some of our favorite pieces of his represented conceptually and talked with him about our approach and what we’re trying to say with this record, then picked the pieces from there. We met each other in Boston the same time we both met our good friend Erik, who is also on the record. There were 7 of us in this apartment and the only request we had from the T-Mobile store below was to not play music BEFORE 8PM… which meant we had all night to make all the noise we wanted. Anyways, Erik invited us to his neighborhood music extravaganza, and that’s where we met his father Ed, and witnessed first hand the power of his work. His paintings are all over his house; we end up staring at his work for hours, totally enthralled. We knew we wanted to ask him to be involved, but it took a bit of courage because we almost felt unworthy of his work.

I feel his works compliment the music so well. You had the honor of performing with the Low End Theory family in San Francisco, November of last year. Thundercat, Knxwledge, Co.fee along with all the residents were there including special giests, something that must have been mind altering considering the diversity of everyones works. How was this night for the group and what type of set did you give the Low End Theory crowd that night?

Dane: Don’t forget Flylo, Dibia$e and Strangeloop!! That night was so fun. It really felt like we were all supposed to be there. Sometimes I have a bad habit of like being too zen when things like that just feel so in place and perfect and when a normal person would be freaking the fuck out or something I’m just like, Oh! Yes. Yes, of course we’re here. Would there have been any other way? It was a truly humbling and exciting experience though. As far as the set goes, we fit the vibe of the event like a glove. We gave DJ Nobody a treat that night and played “Houstatlantavegas”, which we never EVER play live anymore. We’re stubborn. Anna was up in the balcony “glitter bombing” the audience, which Fly Lo found annoying, then amusing, haha. Our friends Teebs, Time Wharp and Blum came out too, just to hang, which was dope. We are very very lucky, the whole Low End crew has been supportive and excited about our music. We are beyond grateful. What up Daddy Kev!

For live shows, do the both of you leave a lot of room for improvisation or do you try to nail the songs as close to the record as possible?

Dane: Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t. Depends on the crowd, the other peeps on the bill, how long we have to play. I’ll tell ya one thing though… we try to make it different every time, and we’ll never just be satisfied with what we got. Anna is constantly modifying her melodies and rhythms…We’re forever a growing baby.

I wanted to ask about stage backdrops, visual cgi and other visually enhancing elements that are available to artists. How much importance does this world mean to your live show presentation and do you have plans or visions of more ways to dive into this medium of connecting the audience into the music?

Dane: Yeah! Like I said above, Lauren provides the visual representation to our music. I personally feel that the visual aspect is incredibly important. Unfortunately we’re not lucky enough yet to make this happen every time, but I do think it’s an inevitable part of live performance. We seem to be breeding ourselves to be engulfed in multimedia!

Dane, 2012 alone sounds like you really dived into a lot of sound territory. What type of instrumentation, gear, hardware and programs did you trust the most for finding the sounds in your head?

Dane: I have musical ADD.

We are really excited to hear the debut full length coming in May. We wish you both the best of luck and will be tuning in closely, thank you again.

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http://www.plugresearch.com/sonnymoon

Teebs, Sonnymoon, Time Wharp announce North American Tour
Electronic artists plot East Coast US and Canada dates, March 22 – April 6 2012

After a busy 2011, forward-thinking electronic artists Teebs, Sonnymoon, and Time Wharp
have announced a run of North American dates to kick off what looks to be an even busier
2012. Fresh off the releases of Teebs’ recent Brainfeeder LP Collections 01, Sonnymoon’s
Plug Research EP 2012, and Time Wharp’s Astro Nautico EP BLK, the artists will begin the
tour in Athens, GA with a support date for internationally-acclaimed producer Four Tet before continuing on up the East Coast with two stops in Canada. Sonnymoon also tour in anticipation of their forthcoming eponymous Plug Research LP, due to be released in May.