INTERVIEW: Bad Suns – Bunbury Music Festival 2014

The emerging young Los Angeles-based band Bad Suns are set to play Bunbury Festival tonight on the River Stage at 6:45.  Along the banks of the Ohio River will be the perfect setting for fans to witness their energetic, sun-drenched and danceable arena-worthy indie-pop anthems in person.  Bad Suns’ very promising debut album, Language & Perspective was released just last month to great praise on Vagrant Records.

In anticipation of their performance, I interviewed vocalist/guitarist Christo Bowman about their musical influences, remixes, their favorite song to play live and more.    

In the sparkling reviews of your debut album, you have been compared to many great bands and even your label mates in The 1975.  In your own opinion, who are some of your influences?    

“Sonically, we're huge fans of bands like The Police, Talking Heads, The Cure, and hundreds more. Inspiration comes in several forms, within and outside of music.” – CB

You will soon play Bunbury and later Riotfest, what do you like best about playing the big outdoor fests?

“We only have a few under our belts, at this point, but we love festival shows. It's a bit daunting to play on such a big stage, in a big open space. There are definitely moments when you're wondering if people are going to care to show up for your set. So far, our experiences at these shows have been excellent, so we're really excited for the rest of the summer.” – CB

A lot of people are excited to see you guys play on Friday but what bands are you most excited to see at Bunbury?

“The bummer about these shows is that you rarely get the chance to catch other bands' sets. If time allowed for it, it'd be great to see Flaming Lips.” – CB

My favorite song on your excellent debut album is the infectiously upbeat and 80’s-tinged “Dancing On Quicksand”.  What is your favorite song to play live and why?

“As of right now, that song "Dancing On Quicksand" is probably my favorite to play live. It has a really great energy, gets people excited, and all of the guitar licks are really fun to play.” – CB

After your first EP, Transpose dropped, many great remixes of the tracks started to appear from the likes of Peter Thomas and Nicita.  Do you have plans to release more remixes of the tracks from the new album? 

“Remixes are a bit scary, because what they sound like is really out of our control. We record the songs the way that you hear them, because we feel they come across best that way. It is an exciting feeling when a producer does a great job at re-imagining your song. The first time I heard Nicita's remix of "Transpose" I was very, very impressed. We hope for more good ones to come along.” – CB

Stream the Talking Heads-like “Dancing on Quicksand” here: https://soundcloud.com/badsuns/bad-suns-dancing-on-quicksand

For more info and tickets to the Bunbury Fest: http://www.bunburyfestival.com/ and http://badsuns.tumblr.com/