Welcome Sunday Driver! Please could you introduce the band members and share how you first came together to form Sunday Driver.
Singer Chandy started Sunday Driver back in 2000. She had just returned from an expedition to Antarctica with the British Antarctic Survey where the silence and emptiness of the ice sheet filled her with a passion to make music. She put an advert up in a local music shop in Cambridge (the old fashioned way, a slip of paper saying “singer looking for guitarist” pinned to a notice board). Joel took the bait and in spite of the fact he was looking for a thrash metal singer and Chandy was looking for a folk guitarist the two hit it off and started turning Chandy’s half formed ideas to proper songs. Bassist Mel joined the band (we think) because he lived with Joel and it was easier to join in than to put up with rehearsals in their small flat! But he later acknowledged that Joel had some talent. Harpist Kat was doing a PhD in genetics at Cambridge Uni, she was classically trained but in her final year discovered that she had a penchant for writing three minute pop songs and thought Sunday Driver was the best place to do this. How wrong she was! Joel and Mel decided they couldn’t live together and be in a band as well, so Mel went to live with his friend Chemise, who later became the guitarist in the band. Drummer Pete was still in primary school when Sunday Driver started up so the band had to wait about 10 years before he could join – during which time they worked their way through most of the drummers in Cambridge.
Your fourth album Silk and Filth is out 7 March on Trapped Animal Records. What are the main inspirations behind this album?
Silk and Filth is the second part of what we call our “Spaghetti Eastern” which started in 2022 with Sun God. As with so much of our music it is inspired by a myriad of different influences, styles, people, stories and places. As with our earlier work, we all bring different influences to that band – classical Indian, jazz, grunge, rock, western classical – and in this album we don’t think there is any one influence that is heard over another – we finally managed to seamlessly blend them all together. Ennio Morricone has been a big influence. Mel made Chandy watch a Fistful of Dollars on repeat when the songs were first being crafted, giving the songs a sort of Gold Rush feel with lots of space.
In terms of concepts, the album weaves together many backstories, the central one being of two south Indian housewives who escape their loveless arranged marriages and rob a bank (hence the track ‘bank job’), a sort of Indian “Thelma and Louise”. Silk and Filth draws inspiration from the juxtaposition of extremes and was inspired by a trip to a luxury saree shop Chandy once found nestled away in the insalubrious backstreets of Mumbai. Themes of maritime exploration and discovery weave their way through the album and its artwork. The final track, ‘The Death of John Company’, evokes a sinking ship, and is a nod to the demise of the East India Company (which was nicknamed “John Company”) and to the colonial legacy of the British in India fading away into insignificance.
Has your creation process changed since your debut album?
Totally! Kat and Chandy used to write their own songs and bring them almost completed to the band. But now our songs are truly a group effort which start from a tiny seed of an idea and build up layer by layer with each band member adding their bit to the mix (often not at the same time). Some of the tracks like ‘We Don’t Belong’ were constructed in the studio and we’ve never played them live!
‘We Don’t Belong’ has a distinct reggae vibe. Please can you share the origins of this track?
Mel made the backing track on his ipad and handed it to Chandy and this is what came out. IIt was more of a dub bassline when he whistled it first, it morphed in the rehearsal room towards a reggae vibe. The mandolin is played by the producers house mate, Scuzz (Scott Brophy).
You have a wonderful mix of instruments on this album, including sitar and harp. ‘Red Dragon’ is a highlight, a track of epic proportions. It weaves a spell as it progresses. How did you create this song?
This song was the longest in the making. It started with a little sitar riff Joel wrote many years ago. The riff is so old that we have just released a special secret 10″ with Trapped Animal that was only made available to those that pre-ordered our album, the B side is a 2014 demo of ‘Red Dragon’. And from listening back to that it was fairly developed even at that far away time. We jammed the riff for years and took it in many different directions, there was a key rehearsal when the sitar riff and recorder parts took form, giving it the hook that the chorus (if you can call it that) builds up to. It’s been in our live set for about 5 years now, so it’s good to actually let people hear the song on record finally. Never a rush in Sunday Driver!
Sunday Driver have two live dates in support of the album’s release: 7 March at The Portland Arms, Cambridge and 21 March at The Lexington London. Are you looking forward to the live dates, particularly as Cambridge is the release date for the album?
Absolutely! We can’t wait. We’ve been making music together for over two decades now. We’re really excited to partner with Neev on these launches, and The Portland Arms is like a second home to us. Our first show there was way back in 2001, when it was a completely different venue. Playing on the actual release day is always special it hits hardest and has the most impact, because it’s the first time people can experience the album live while it’s still fresh. We’re going to pretty much play the album track by track. There’s a real energy to that, and we can’t wait to share it with everyone.
As we have just had Independent Venue Week, I wonder if you can describe what independent venues means to Sunday Driver.
They are the gateway, the staple, the bread, the butter, the everything of a band’s soul. Each time we lose one the universe becomes a little emptier and opportunity a little thinner.
If I looked in your fridge right now what would I find?
A mouth watering array of home made pickles from Chandy and Joel’s last trip to visit the family in Bangalore.
For more information on Sunday Driver please check their website and instagram.