Things that are happening and shoegazing.

Testing, testing, 1, 2..

Woah, it’s dusty in here. It’s been a while I guess. Anyway, welcome.

The emergency broadcast is over and things will come back to life. I speak metaphorically of course, unless you’re reading this from the nuclear asbestos-lined bunker you locked yourself in on the 21^st of December last year, in which case: Come out, we’re all alright because the world will exist long after we’ve become extinct you fucking nutter. Expect snow though.

Right then kids. You missed a treat if you didn’t come to the last Watchfires show, which you probably didn’t and if that’s the case then you’re not reading this because you don’t care.

We teamed up with Bristol based record label Howling Owl Records. They brought three of their bands with them and basically blew us away. We had a strong side though, which consisted of Eat Y’Self Pretty and Bad Apes, oh and us but we don’t count.

What ensued was a night of sonic devastation. Say no more and if I learnt anything from that night then it’s this: The Naturals are fucking incredible.

What’s new with us? Well, the wheels are in motion.

We are recording a single at the end of April. The B-side(s) to which are currently being recorded.

We’re also writing an EP. All being well, we’ll record it in the summer.

Before all this though we have some recycled sounds to fill in the gap... 

We’ve banged on about a remix album for a while and the good news is that it’s coming out on the 20^th April as a free download on Minor Artists. It features remixes by Arc Vel, (label mate) Ebenezer, MOVEMENT and many more. Leading up to release day we’re streaming a different selected track off it on our soundcloud page every week and there is also a video. How fun! The keen eyed about you will have noticed that it’s released on Record Store Day so if you download it in the morning then you have a soundtrack for your day trawling through vinyl. Keep checking our soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/sunrise-over-europe) and facebook pages. Oh and twitter, depending on how zealous you are with your information pursuit. 

You know what I’ve noticed? I’ve noticed that post-rock/math rock/shoegaze bands bond incredibly quickly and that happens because of effects pedals. It starts with a simple question: “How did you get that sound?” What ensues is a long conversation about each others pedal boards and what you want to get next. This conversation is usually filled with grunts and sounds that resemble a climax yelp. You know what? It’s bloody great!

These conversations last for hours at a time and you go away with some new sounds to track down. Late nights on youtube mentally masturbating over circuitry and metal boxes is the outcome. If you like what you hear, you then fight yourself for days trying to justify spending £200+ on the pedal. Then you do and tell your band friends. This is greeted by the sound you hear at the end of a fireworks display and occasionally audible jealousy. Our main competitor/comrade in this is George from our lock-up buddies, Prayers. Although, Matt from Arbor Lights is quickly taking the mantle for pedal king due to his crowning purchase: An Eventide Space.

Needless to say, everyone in our little fold is jealous.

Anyway, enough of this. Keep your eyes peeled on our Facebook and Twitter pages for the tracks we’re streaming over the next couple of weeks. Don’t have too much fun.

Transmission over.

Will

Another year older.

Good day gang.

It’s taken me nearly two days to do but I am now over an horrific hangover caused by the wonderful new years celebrations. Highlights of which are dancing on top of Chris’ guitar amp to ‘Welcome to Jamrock’ by Damian Marley, our mate Ginge falling through a fence panel, our other mate Harper hitting the deck mid skank, cock blocking Prayers guitarist George, kissing loved ones at midnight and Chris doling out drooly kisses all night. Anyway, welcome to 2013!

So, 2012 is done and dusted and what have we done with it? Well mainly, we recorded and released an album, which you can buy from www.minorartists.com/store. We played a lot of gigs, had a lot of successful Watchfires nights and we began sifting through the heaps of ideas we had lying around and started to shape them into cogent music.

The highlight of the year was being given the chance to support one of our favourite bands. The gig we played with Leeds miserablists iLiKETRAiNS was one of the best moments in Sunrise history and will no doubt go down in folk lore or our wikipedia page that’s peppered with fake quotes and facts completely pulled out of the authors abhorrent arse. We don’t have a wikipedia page and if you intend to make one then ask us for whatever information you require and you’ll promptly be told to leave us alone, what have we ever done to you?

2012 was pretty good to us but what has 2013 got in store? We’re writing lots of new stuff and there’s a remix album on the horizon. Christmas brought an abrupt halt to demos but you’ll be pleased to hear we’ll be picking it back up ASAP.

This years gigs begin in style at The Flapper on the 5th with Watchfires. We’ve put together a post rock treat to start your year in good stead. Us, Post Descartes, Those Amongst Us Are Wolves and Arbor Lights will play you some music. Its going to be rather special and you should join us. Not in a weird neo-Christian cult kind of way but a grimy gig in a venue by the canal kind of way. Here’s the event page on facebook, look at it, love it and most of all, join it. http://www.facebook.com/events/475638252478318/?fref=ts

Here’s to humanities demise.

See you on Saturday

Will

A good school report.

Allo allo.

I’ve just read through a few old posts and got all nostalgic, but I also quite sickened by how pig ignorant I am of proof reading my own babbling. I mean, there’s spelling and grammar mistakes, some of which I put down to using Microsoft word (a poorly coded bag of toss) and partly because once I’ve written something I don’t tend to look at it ever again. Like when a dog cannot look at your leg once he’s shagged it. Anyway, I’m the grammar police in human form so it disgusts me that I’ve got away with it for so long, why didn’t anyone tell me? Probably because no one actually reads this blog. I don’t blame you.

I write to you in post iLiKETRAiNS gig glory. We’re still wandering around with stupid grins on our faces and we almost like each other (I joke, we're BFF's, like Paris and Nicole but with dignity). It was a wonderful night. We were complimented by a lot of people for a performance that we thoroughly enjoyed giving and then we got to have our minds twisted by Talons and then gently straightened out by iLiKETRAiNS. We got talking to them afterwards and it was really overwhelming to be complimented by them. It was like getting a good school report from your favourite teacher. I must say a huge thank you to them and Birmingham Promoters for having us on, thanks chaps!

The drive we had post album release has been boosted tenfold and don’t intend to slow down anytime soon.

New material seems to be coming at a rapid pace, which is really keeping things fresh and really letting us flex our creative muscles, that are completely metaphorical, we have no physical muscles but as they say, up there for thinking down there for dancing.

In fact we are now at the exciting point of demoing some new stuff. I listened to the demos for ‘We Raised the Flames…’ the other week and became excitable, I cannot wait to start it all again! Naturally we’ll be gassing at our various online pie holes about what we’re doing. You never know, early 2013 may see something new from us.

Back to the here and now. Last month we shipped all the songs off ‘We Raised the Flames…’ to a load of our electronica friends to re-jig, reupholster, remove and realign for a remix album that will be out on Minor Artists in the not too distant future. From the ones we have received so far, there is more there is every reason to be excited; we are getting some truly wonderful stuff back! Keep your eyes peeled and ears to the ground.

Nothing else to say other than that we have a meeting with the gaffer in the next couple of days. He has exciting ideas, we’ve got exciting ideas, no one will be able to get a word in edgeways. It’ll be like the stock exchange, except it wont be a load of fat lifeless cockends mentally masturbating over inflation rates.

One last thing...

Buy our album: www.minorartists.com/store :) You’re the best.

Winter is coming

Will

Space Music, Bog Roll, iLiKETRAiNS, Giants.

So I've just sat down with a couple of free hours and popped on the preview listening of the new Efterklang album, I'm in a good place. If you don't know about Efterklang then I prescribe an immediate dose of THIS VIDEO:

It's palliative effects are endless, in all the numerous times I've watched it i've yet to fail in smiling like an absolute lunatic at the pure joy of it all. I'm three songs in and I can already tell that Piramida is obscenely brilliant, it sounds like music recorded in the crevices and on the precipices of the earth and then produced in space.

In band related news, Watchfires WENT OFF last saturday, if you came then thank you, if you didn't then i'm sorry. Everyone was fantastic: Oh Stockholm!, Terrors and not least our lock-up partners and homies Prayers who stepped up to the plate for what was, i believe, their second gig (they smashed it).

For interested parties (you!) the next Watchfires is on the 10th of November, we've got some treats for you

HIGH FIELDS (Liverpool)

BEN WILLIAMS

And thats just the start, we're awaiting confirmation from another bunch of bad hombres, we'll keep in touch. If you're rearing to reserve your spot drop an email to watchfires@hotmail.com and we will reserve you a ticket for four English pounds, thats a saving of one pound on the door price! Thats the value of three tins of pop, a multipack of penguin biscuits or a six pack of one-ply toilet paper. Don't say we aren't good to you. If you reserve a ticket before the gig, you'll also get a free SOE poster which, incidentally, you could also use as toilet paper should an emergency arise.

In even more exciting news, we will be supporting iLiKETRAiNS on the 21st of October at the Hare & Hounds Kings Heath. If you were ever planning on coming to stare at our miserable faces at any point, make it this point, if only to witness the rare occasion of a smile on Will's face. We are ridiculously excited be playing this show with what has been one of our favourite bands for quite some time. If you want to reserve tickets you can use this link. We will also be selling tickets at a lower price, drop an e-mail to watchfires@hotmail.com to get your thrift on and reserve one.

Well, this has been nice but I think thats about it i'm afraid. On Saturday we're playing a small acoustic set at the one of the stations along the Severn Valley Railway for their Autumn Steam Gala. Yeah, apparently it's autumn, shit. We'll be playing amongst a bunch of model steam trains, so we can stomp around and feel like vengeful ostracised giants. Anyway, we're looking forward to that. We will post photos.

T'ra a bit,
Christopher
x

In the darkness, I will find you... oops sorry, I thought that was your elbow.

Afternoon all.

Right, the first blog in a long time! Chris did write one but never posted it. Shock…

So this is the friendly catch up, imagine its over a cup of tea and we're bitching about someone that is really fat no and the people from school who have got 7 kids. 

Ok, so down to brass tax, a lot has happened since the last time we spoke. A little bit of sport in London called the Olympics happened but mainly we released our album ‘We Raised the Flames and Built a City on the Ashes’ on 6^th August and so far seems to be receiving a positive response, which is a huge sigh of relief for us after all the self doubt and nail biting that we (well, I) had about it.

Thank you to everyone who has brought it and listened to it so far. If you haven’t and wish to, you can purchase it at www.minorartists.com/store.

The album has also brought our first in depth review, which was done by the lovely folk at God Is In The TV and you can read it here: http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2012/08/13/sunrise-over-europe-we-raised-the-flames-and-built-a-city-on-the-ashes-minor-artists/.

A particular favourite line in it for me is “during ‘Escape is an Art, Art is an Escape’, there are a few seconds before the chorus, when (mixed incredibly abrasively) a bass note practically says ‘ fuck this, fuck you, you are a twat, this is all bullshit, I’ll be at the bar watching the world burn …’ In case it isn’t obvious, this is a very VERY good thing.”

I’m glad that listeners pick up on the little details in the music like that as when we recorded the album they seemed so throw away.

The other big news over the past month is that we have released to music videos. They aren’t full of women in bikinis, money, bling and big cars so we havn’t yet reached the heights of west coast rap but you never know, our next album may well have that quality. Check them out below

Little Spoken Wars

The video for ‘Little Spoken Wars’ was filmed in St Nicolas’ church in Dormston where we recorded the album. The last time the church had heard this track it was in separate parts, so it was nice to come back and fill it with the sound of the complete article. It was directed by (ever increasingly) renaissance man Chris Donald and filmed by Verity Milligan. It was a fun day although we were all sick of the song by the end! Thanks to them for their direction, time and effort.

Follow Me Around

The video for ‘Follow Me Around’ was the vision of Yorkshire based director Benjamin Poffley, a friend of Chris Donald’s. He was given the album and it was left to him to choose a track that he could create something for. It’s a truly wonderful piece of work that we incredibly proud of and we are so grateful for Benjamin’s time and effort!

More virgin ground upon which we are walking is merchandise. We have t-shirts and posters based on the plethora of fine artwork Katie Maxted gave us for the album and it is available from http://sunriseovereurope.bigcartel.com/ or from us at gigs.

What else?

The next Watchfires is on 15^th September down at the Flapper and playing we have new post-rock boys Prayers, loud frantic extraordinaire’s Terrors and mellow evocative folkers Oh Stockholm! We’ll be playing our moaning shit-cake music as well. This will be a good one (they all are though aren’t they?) so we expect to see you there. Yeah you.

Quick story about Prayers. Prayers are very likeminded to us as they are also morbid post-rockers who like the darker side of things, see why we like them? The Sunrise Lock-Up curse has struck again. The band we were previously sharing with split up which is the second time that’s happened to us. Leaving our third lock-up seemed inevitable until newly formed Prayers came along and saved the day. I was on holiday when they played their first gig so I can’t comment with authority on their sound but everyone else in the Sunrise camp speak very highly of them.

Ok, now we’re all caught up I’ll let you get on with your life.

Thank you all for your support and see you soon.

Good hunting

Will

Short, sweet and informative. Possibly, maybe, probably.

Hola, just a little one this time. Keep it clean.

Greetings friends. I will open this post by saying I began writing this whilst hungover as I had watched the football in a pub just like a real man and I learnt some of the England players’ names. Just when I thought being a Eunuch was they way forward for me. No more!

I’ll shut my fan boy pie hole.

Trust me, music is coming your way! First we have to get through all the logistical gonk that goes with releasing an album, which is getting done and everything is coming together nicely. If you’re interested August 6^th looks to be the drop date. Excited? Please be.

We filmed a music video for ‘Little Spoken Wars’ in St Nicolas’ church last week, which was fun if not a little soul destroying. We had to play the song about 25 times and I think I hate it now. Still, we await the result and look forward to sharing it with you.

I am told the artwork is imminent as well. I cant wait for that. I love album artwork, I think it’s just as powerful as the music behind it. For example just flicking through my CD collection the first one that instantly grabs my attention is Ágætis Byrjun, the second album by Sigur Rós. It depicts a fetus surrounded by a glow in nothing more than a dark blue, it’s so simple yet so emotive. Ágætis byrjun literally translates to English as “a good beginning” and this linked with the image suggests that they wish to restart and grow into a band that will do great things (good foresight there), especially as they were/are incredibly scornful of their first album.

Something more complex such as The Sound Of Animals Fighting’s Tiger & The Duke re-release artwork conjures up the same surreal feelings as the music does and gives you a character to apply to the organized noise you’re witnessing.

That’s enough pretentious tosh from me.

July isn’t that far away and that means Watchfires, hoorah! Luckily we have a blinding line-up for you lovely folk (providing someone actually cares enough to be reading this). We have Spectres, a marvelous grimey shoegaze outfit from Bristol, so we would love for you to make them welcome to our city and they will no doubt blow everyone’s mind in the flapper. We also welcome Bad Apes from Wolverhampton, who can only be described as lunacy in music form. If you enjoyed God Damn when we had them on a few months back then these will definitely be right up your street. Youth Man, described as paranoid garage rock, fills me with some severe intrigue and will no doubt be something rather special. Finally we have the new project from Niall of Inca Hoots fame called We Used To Have Horses, what we are going to experience from this is one man battling instruments and loop pedals to create something beautiful, tell me that won’t be incredible. You cant.

Here is the event page on facebook, ay it: http://www.facebook.com/events/420044901352348/

All my love, or something.

William

War and Peace, nahh. I'm more of a Hungry Caterpillar man myself.

Long time no speak in 0’s and 1’s. I’m sitting here writing this blog instead of revising for my biological psychology exam. Don’t judge me. Saying I’m in a band makes me look cooler than if I say something like lesions or a tumour in Broca’s area (located in the temporal lobe on the left hand side of the brain and associated with the construction of language and meaning) causes Brocas’s aphasia whereby an individual can no longer construct language into a sentence, write or read comprehensibly. See what I mean? Boring.

Right back on the cool side of the fence (well as cool as being in a small time post-rock Balkan folk band can be) we have been listening to the fruits of our labours from the start of the year for a week now. Chris Donald dropped us the message we’d been waiting for since January and Thursday we converged on Chris’ house with our gaffer to listen to our album in full. The excitement was almost too much to bear.

In our opinion the week of freezing to the bone in St Nicolas’ church in Dormston for a week was worth every second. The atmosphere of the place has been captured and really added a transient quality to the songs.

Hearing your own music back is really bizarre because of their subjectivity. For instance, I can only hear them as the scribbles on the back of bank statements that became a fun pastime for me and my friends to do a couple of times a week. To be honest I don’t hear real music. I hear a selection of ideas that I have been with since their birth that never seem to have the same effect upon me as hearing someone else’s music. I hope this is a shared experience for musicians everywhere (?).

It becomes more than a selection of ideas when you take it out of the setting of you and your friends and play them in front of strangers. You get feedback from people who have virgin ears. This is something I wish you could do for when you listen to something you have recorded because in our case I hear all the mistakes and problems or, me personally, I hear all the lyrics I scribbled down in a hurry on the back of a phone bill or frantically typed into my phone with one hand while I was driving and thinking “this is nowhere near as good as anyone else’s lyrics”. I feel they are like the Hungry Caterpillar in comparison to War and Peace. Self doubt is a dangerous gremlin to have but perhaps it brings a certain quality to our music, maybe not.

When you listen to music and something really connects with you, it dawns on you that you wish you’d written it but you’ll probably never write anything as good but I’d like to think that when they listen to that song they think “fuck, I’ll never be as good as….”

This is why I’d like to borrow someone else’s ears/auditory system/cortex and listen to our music to lay my demons to rest.

Anyway, enough of this shite.

We are so happy with the end result and cannot wait for you to hear it. All being well we have set the release for about 2 months time and there is a lot to do before then so we’re busy busy busy. We would like to thank Chris Donald in infinite amounts for all his hard work recording and mixing the album. He is the mother fucking man and that is no lie. 

Me love you long time.

William