I think the entire Sound House community already knows of and supports The Sunstones at this point, but here’s an overview for the new folks: The Sunstones are a five-piece, indie rock high school band formed right here at Sound House. Vocalists and multi-instrumentalists Melody and Jaina flaunt versatility as they swap off on lead and harmony lines. Bassist/guitarist Julianne grooves as the heart of the band. Guitarist Cole layers sizzling rhythm and lead guitar. Drummer Mack locks down the beat with pizzazz. Four of these musicians study here at the studio with me, and it’s been a joy guiding them as a band over the past couple of years.
We’ve been working on recording a 5-song EP here at Sound House for months now, and while I still have a lot of mixing work to do on the full record, we were able to release the first single – “Skipping Seasons” – on January 31st at 7:00 p.m. Julianne actually wrote this song 3 YEARS AGO at my Nitty Gritty of Songwriting workshop, so it seems only right to release this one first.
About the song: On the surface, “Skipping Seasons” is a straight-forward song about seasonal depression. Beneath that, it’s a song about coming of age while trapped in a rapidly changing world barrelling toward dystopia. The Sunstones bassist Julianne Carr wrote the original version of “Skipping Seasons” three years ago, and as she’s grown from sophmore to senior, from solo artist to band leader, the song has grown with her. The song’s upbeat indie music contrasts hopeless lyrics, symbolic of how young people fight to remain optimistic despite a barrage of warnings that the future looks bleak. The Sunstones have been playing out for two years now, and their producer worked hard to make recordings that sound like the band does live. We want “Skipping Seasons” to feel real for our listeners, like you’re in the room with us, dancing off despair and making room for a bit of hope to break through.
Support The Sunstones by following their accounts:
To support these musicians, I have decided to start up my own little indie label, Sound House Record Makers. Nestled within our existing music school and songwriting studio, SHRM will serve as a platform for my clients to release the work we make together. This is a new frontier for me, but I feel confident that we will learn as we go and build a label that amplifies all the goodness that makes Sound House our musical home.
I know that there are quite a few folks excited about the potential to release music on the SHRM label. Please be patient with me while I figure how much of this work I can actually handle at once. At this point, I can’t possibly release ALL OF THE MUSIC we create here at the studio, so I’m developing some guidelines to help determine which projects are ready for such a big investment of my time and energy. If you’re really enthusiastic about making this happen, consider offering to volunteer at the studio to help me free up some bandwidth.
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