Behind the EP: SUNTWIST on the Making of Matchbox – Interview
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SUNTWIST Behind the EP – Matchbox
In true TOP8 fashion, we are back with another band that should be on your radar. If you haven't heard of SUNTWIST, we are here to tell you all about them and their brand new EP 'Matchbox'.
First off, we had to get the deets on the talent behind the band. "Hello! My name is Grant Baker. I am the rhythm guitar player in SUNTWIST. I also write, record, and produce a lot of the music as well."
SUNTWIST in three words no one would expect, Grant told us;
Chaotic.
"We’re by nature, individually, we’re pretty laid back. But something about us all being in a room gives this dynamic of outward, loud, exciting energy. We really feed off of each other’s jokes, laughs, yelling, and forward motion. Show days especially. A lot of emotion and energy in those few hours before rolling up to the venue. It feels like we’re a ball of pent energy waiting to get released. Unmatched feeling if you asked me."
High-Reward.
"There are not many other emotions in the world that compare to sitting back after hours of
recording and listening on the other side of the glass. Hearing it from a listener’s perspective
and getting super excited."
"It’s definitely not always like that. Far from that, actually, many fails didn’t make the final cut on this project. But the ones that did had to pass that feeling of reward and success."
Sculpting.
"Going from a demo in our house to hearing the crowd sing back the lyrics is a surreal experience. We recently played a release show the day of the release, and I laughed out loud seeing people sing along. The process of taking a raw, stripped-down, nothing-of-an-idea then bringing it out is a long and satisfying road."
The changing seasons of adulthood are something we are all trying to push through. Being away from home wasn't easy either, and all of this helped shape the new EP. "Kept a fire under our asses, that is for certain. But mostly kept us thinking and feeling the emotions in the songs throughout the entire process. Knowing things were going to change soon, and this really was a short chapter, was such an interesting experience. Especially now that we are in this next part of life and the songs are out. They already have this sense of nostalgia? Incredibly odd," Baker said.
"Truly a long-distance relationship in a lot of ways. Calling, texting, sending ideas back and forth. As well as just calling off the books to just stay in each other’s lives. I love these boys and would hate to put a project in the way of each other just being friends. Ultimately not an ideal situation, but it made the time we did have together feel super special and felt like we were opening a box of magic and shared that with each other."
Everyone has to start somewhere, and this Matchbox EP helped put everything into place when it comes to the band. "We changed as a band more in the last 8 months than in the last 3 years. Really threw us through the wringer. Truly many highs and lows. Taught us consistency, perseverance, grace for each other, and to be grateful for those willing. In those months also refined us, and I think made our music best."
SUNTWIST describes their sound as a combination and collaborative effort among the members of the band. "It’s a big melting pot. It can bring tension, but tension brings a check-and-balance of ideas. There is never one road to the destination," Baker said.
"This EP has many different meanings to us. It’s a marker for what is to come, to say the least. Feels like we’re getting somewhere, which is a great feeling. The songs themselves feel great. I took a long break listening to the songs after sending them out for mixing and mastering. I wanted to fall in love with them again and be with the listener in the listening process."
"It brought me such joy listening back. A fresh perspective and definitely the ability to not get lost in the weeds with thoughts of “oh this should be different” or “this isn’t adding anything”. It’s really easy to become a perfectionist in the mixing process, and we had the ability to skip that with the help of our dear friend Ryan Buckland. Shoutout the GOAT. Ultimately, we’re proud of these songs and excited to stand behind them and see how they age over time."
“Stay High (Chasing Ghosts)” explores the pressure to keep pushing your limits, while “I Just Wanna Dance” focuses on being present, and according to Baker, "'I Just Wanna Dance”' focuses on the present because that was when I had recently gotten the job offer to move away from Phoenix. Logan and I wrote that song as almost an ode to Phoenix, and it’s comparison to another city. The line “there’s always greener grass” stems from that as well because Phoenix is quite brown, hahah. But the song definitely is focused on being in the moment, trying not to think of the end of this era, all living together in this house writing songs and just writing a song about the place we are in."
"On the contrary, 'Stay High' harps on the idea of coming into a room that has this tension and expectation on you. I kind of look at that as a reflection of coming into the American workforce as a young worker. Navigating all of these expectations of how to act and how to behave."
SUNTWIST influences include The Strokes, Tame Impala, and Flipturn, and to them, it all comes down to what they think is "cool."
"These bands all have one thing in common, and it’s the coolness factor. You listen to their songs and just can’t help but think, like, “man this song is just so cool.” When we pull back to see the big picture, I think to myself, “is this song cool?” Sometimes it really isn’t, and I get really sad when that happens. Although not every song has to be cool. But it is awesome when it makes you go, “wow,” this song is exciting," Baker said.
You can see SUNTWIST this November at the DUSK Music Festival in Tucson, Arizona and again in March at the M3F Music Festival in Phoenix.
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