Suuns Talk Keeping Guitar Rock Fresh Ahead of Jun 23 Yue Space Gig

If you had to guess Suuns’ influences, you might start with Radiohead, seeing as the Montreal rock band's frontman, Ben Shemie's falsetto shares the similarly desolate timbres of Thom Yorke's. Suuns' music, meanwhile, is rife with esoteric textures – from the muffled percussion on “Look No Further” to the instantly pulsing synths on “Minor Work” or the whirring and blurting synths over the otherwise more conventional “Make It Real” – that would all make many an alt-rock fan nod along with approval. However, during an interview ahead of the band's Jun 23 Yue Space gig, Shemie listed other early influences that might not spring so quickly to mind upon first listening: '70s classic acts like Cream, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix. Below, he tells us more about his love of guitar driven rock, and how tough it is to keep the genre relevant in this pop and hip-hop dominated era.

I love the video for your song “Make It Real.” The Fader said the clip is “probably what blockchain looks like.” How does it feel to elicit a response like that?
I don't have an opinion about blockchain because I don’t really understand what it is. But I like the response and I think it fits the aesthetic of what we are going for. It’s a techy video and I think [director] Sabrina Ratté did a great job. We have worked with her before and she really understands what we are like, and always makes works that fit with our sound.

I also love the lyrics on “Make It Real”, especially: “I wish I could say what I wanna say.” It’s such a simple yet universal line. What inspired it?
Well, like a lot things, it’s hard to articulate yourself nowadays. It’s really about that feeling of being lost, about being overwhelmed with everything. In that song the refrain is “I get the feeling” and the whole song revolves about mixed feelings – towards politics of course, of trying to understand how other people feel and respecting that, and understanding that you are not alone in the world. There is also a little undercurrent of a love song, so there is the classic idea of wanting to tell someone how you feel. And that's hard sometimes.

You also sing about being “aimless and freewheeling” on that song. Funny enough, few people would have described your band that way until they heard your 2018 LP, Felt, in comparison to your other LP’s. In fact, one critic at Exclaim! said “Since the release of their first record, Zeroes QC, in 2010, the band has been building towards a progressively darker sound, burrowing deeper and narrowing the focus. On Felt, however, they have found a bit of light on the other side.”
There was no intention of making a lighter record. We have never really entered the process with that kind of intent. Our records develop as we make them without a master plan. Part of the reason I think the sound is lighter is because we are trying new things. We like dark music and we make dark music, and I still think the music has a dark edge to it, but I also think we have grown as a band to work with new sounds and work with new musical ideas. I don't think this record is a huge departure from what we have made in the past, but there is a lighter side to it, and that makes me happy. I’m happy that we can move in different directions.

Who are some of your earliest musical influences?
As a youngster, I was listening to my parents’ record collection and that was mostly classic folk and rock. Bob Dylan, Cream, The Who, Jimi Hendrix. That's where it all started with me. A lot of that era of music is guitar driven music, electric guitar mostly. So that is something that I grew up with and wanted to emulate.

In Suuns, we are always trying to use the guitar in a new way. At this point, the electric guitar is an old instrument. It's really fun to play and fun to make noise with. And fundamentally Suuns is a rock band, so there if focus put on having those sounds. I like that we have guitars and that we can use them in an original way. Despite it being an antiquated sound, it still moves me.

Montreal has been a bit of legendary music hub since the early 2000s, when Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, and other bands made a name for themselves there. What was the Montreal scene like when Suuns got its start there about a decade ago, and how do you think it’s changed since then?
I think it’s more experimental now. The glow of indie rock has dissipated and there isn't that focus anymore. I think the scene has moved on from that, and like everywhere else there is a focus on electronic sounds. There is a very strong experimental music scene and that,s what I'm attracted to. To be honest, maybe there is a strong indie rock scene, but I guess I'm not paying attention to it ... that,s also very possible.

What’s next for Suuns?
I guess to try and stay together as a band. We've changed a lot and we have grown a lot. The music scene has changed a lot and we have toured like crazy for so long. I would like to continue to record and push the envelope. On our last record, I feel like we had a minor breakthrough and I hope that we can still do that. Who knows?

Suuns will perform at Yue Space on Jun 23 at 8.30pm. Tickets are RMB 147 presale, RMB 167 at the door. For more information, click here.

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Photos: Telekom Electronic Beats,