IT'S A CRIME: We have a chat to Capital Sun!

 

PART 1 - "THE INTERVIEW"

 

1 - What was your earliest musical memory and what pushed you towards pursuing a career in the music industry?

 

"When I was a kid in the early nineties I was obsessed with Queen, Brian May was a god to me and my tiny child mind, he is the reason I wanted to play guitar. Then later on in my early teens I borrowed ‘LA Woman’ by The Doors off my dad, that made me want to write music."

 

2 - Had you been involved in any other band prior to Capital Sun?

 

"I was in a band called ‘Loose Joints’ with our bass player Luke Weston, we played classic rock and I was the lead singer."

 

3 - How did Capital Sun begin?

 

"I had always written my own acoustic music outside of Loose Joints, it came to a point when I wanted to pursue my own music full time. After gigging solo for a year I decided to make a band that played my material. I recruited my mates Andy Smith on electric guitar and Luke Weston (of Loose Joints) on bass and we auditioned Chris Taylor on drums. After a few years of being together we’re now starting to write more as a band. We all put in ideas in the pot and we are getting some great results."

 

4- Where did the name Capital Sun come from?

 

"We went through a short period of being called 'The Mute Existence', we all thought it was a bit of a dreary name, so we all went away after a band practice and we had to come up with a name for the band, which we would pick out of a hat. I came up with ‘Capital Sun,’ I can’t remember what the lads came up with? We drew ‘Capital Sun’ out of the hat, and the lads pulled a face, so I said 'put it back and we’ll draw it again', low and behold ‘Capital Sun’ came out again so we took that as a sign that we should call it 'Capital Sun'. I chose it by cutting words out of a magazine and combining two together, that was the best combination."

 

5 - How would you describe the sound of Capital Sun?

 

"I find it easy by describing it in the form of two bands ‘Crosby Stills And Nash’ and ‘Led Zeppelin'."

 

6 - Your latest single is ‘It’s A Crime’. What is this song about and what influenced it?

 

"It’s a tale of a friend who won’t tell you what’s wrong with them. So when you go out with them and some other friends, you end up having to babysit them because they have drank too much and made a fool of themselves. When I wrote it I was listening to lots of the band ‘Love’ especially the ‘Forever Changes’ album."

 

7 - You worked with Grammy-nominated producer Chris Tsangarides for this single. What was it like working with such an experienced producer and what did he bring to the song?

 

"Working with Chris was an amazing experience for us, his more traditional approach to recording (i.e. using an analogue desk and lots of vintage outboard studio effects and not using auto-tune) suits our sound to a tee. He would throw in ideas for backing vocals that would sound cool, he just sings from the same hymn sheet as us. He wanted our songs to sound the best they possibly could and his relaxed attitude to recording, made us feel like we had no pressure to do so. He also has some amazing rock and roll memoirs, he should write a book, (I think he is)."

 

8 - Your debut album will be called ‘Mr. Nobody’. Why did you choose this title and why is it appropriate to the tracks on the album?

 

"In the grand scheme of things we are a musical 'Mr. Nobody'. With all this manufactured nonsense in the charts, bands like us go under the radar. The thing is we can’t not do it, I have to write songs and go to practice every week, gig up and down the country. Sometimes playing just to the other bands on the bill, but we don’t give up. We have put everything in to this band not only creatively but also financially. Sometimes you feel like Mr. Nobody, when you’re a part of the machine that is life, the repetitious nature of work and play and ‘Capital Sun’ is our escape from that, and a way for us to vent our opinions and frustrations with life."

 

9 - What can fans be expecting from the album?

 

"Its music is heavily influenced by sixties and early seventies song craft, but with modern lyrics. A lot of social commentary and not too much ‘ooo baby’… well there might be a bit. I’m very excited to release it, because it’s the result of two year’s worth of writing and crafting these songs, it's like a section of my life on a record."

 

10 - Do you have any 'rituals' before you go on stage?

 

"We stand in a circle like ‘Prince and his band’ and we say a prayer, then we do some yoga lunges for twenty minutes, then we do some Gregorian chant for ten minutes…not really, I just tune my three guitars and we all rush around setting up."

 

11 - Any live dates coming up?

 

"We are in London at The Islington this Sunday, the 27th. Then we have our 'It’s A Crime Single Celebration' at The Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham on Saturday 9th November."

 

12 - Any new songs in the pipeline?

 

"Lots and lots of ideas that need linking together somehow."

 

13 - When can fans be expecting the next release?

 

"‘It’s A Crime’ is out next Monday, 28^th October on iTunes, Spotify, GoogleMusic, Amazon and all sorts of internet places. We have hand made some very limited edition CD Origami versions of the single, these are available at the Single celebration on 9^th November at The Sunflower Lounge, there is only 50 made, we won't be making any more because it took ages."

 

14 - Who would be your dream collaboration?

 

"I’d Love to work with ‘Doves,’ I have all their albums, I love what they do."

 

15 - Who would be in your dream supergroup?

 

"Vocals - Cedric Bixler Zavala, lead guitar - Lindsey Buckingham, rhythm and backing vocals - Todd Rundgren, bass and keys - John Paul Jones and drums - Bill Ward."

 

PART 2 - "THE QUICKFIRE ROUND"

 

1 - Favourite Beatle?

 

"George."

 

2 - Favourite band?

 

"At this second, The Beach Boys."

 

3 - Favourite new band?

 

"Beware of Darkness."

 

4 - Favourite song?

 

"At the minute, Lady Grinning Soul by Bowie."

 

5 - Favourite album?

 

"A Wizard A True Star by Todd Rundgren."

 

6 - Vinyl, CD or download?

 

"CD."

 

7 - Style icon?

 

"David Crosby."

 8 - Favourite clothing brand?

 

"Luke 1977."

 

9 - Favourite film?

 

"The Good The Bad And The Ugly."

 

10 - Favourite TV show?

 

"Monk/Pointless."

 

11 - Who would play you in a film of your life?

 

"Zack Galifianakis."

 

12 - Favourite food?

 

"Cypriot."

 

13 - Football team?

 

"Don't follow it."

 

Hope you enjoyed this feature on Capital Sun! Check out our previous feature on Mayfield!

 

Check out Capital Sun here - www.facebook.com/CapitalSun www.soundcloud.com/capital-sun www.youtube.com/CapitalBrum

 

You can also like our Facebook page to keep up to date with all future interviews at the following link - https://www.facebook.com/aldorabritainrecords

 

AB RECORDS