Behind the scenes of Sunday (1994)
The band talk their well-honed aesthetic, tour and song-writing.
Photo: Press
With their ability to capture the magic of the mundane on grainy Super 8, Sunday (1994) are getting longing looks from indie-lovers on both sides of the Atlantic. Between their vintage visuals and 90s shoegaze sound, listening to the real-life couple and long-term collaborators is like stepping into a melancholic wonderland.
Formed by vocalist Paige Turner and guitarist Lee Newell a decade after the pair first bonded over their mutual love of film, it seems as though Sunday (1994) was always destined to have 90s cinema written all over it. As Turner explained: “Our music and our aesthetic is so heavily influenced by film and cinema that we wanted to stylise it [the band name] like a film, as though you’re searching for it on IMDB. I was born in 1994, and I feel like a lot of our sound is drawn from the 90s, so we called it Sunday (1994).”
But well before the camera began rolling on their sepia-tinged world of bittersweet nostalgia, these two sides of the same record grew up on opposite sides of the world: Turner in LA and Newell in Slough.
Newell “grew up listening to all the stuff his dad was listening to” – everything from Nirvana and The Smiths to Skunk Anansie and Pet Shop Boys – while Turner’s first musical influence was her grandfather: “My grandfather was a jazz drummer and a music teacher. He was a really big part of my life. I lived next to him my entire childhood and he had a little practice studio that all of us would play in at family dinners.”
Despite these distant upbringings and original influences, Turner and Newell seem completely harmonious when they chat to me from across the pond. From their mutual understanding that mid-tempo songs are the best vehicle for storytelling, to their shared view that visuals are just as important as the music itself, it’s hard to imagine a world where these two halves of the same mind didn’t find each other.
“We don’t like to veer outside of these set of rules we have for ourselves”, Turner said when discussing Sunday (1994)’s intentionally vivid world. “All of our videos are on Super 8 or on VHS, all of our pictures are taken on film. It’s just really important for us to have a clear identity…”
“I would say it’s equally as important as the music itself,” Newell added, instantly complementing Turner’s perspective. “We say ‘you listen with your eyes’ and, especially in this modern day, you discover bands through your phone, so we made a real conscious effort to articulate ourselves visually to the best that we can.”
This shared vision and high level of production goes hand in hand with Sunday (1994)’s sparkling sonic world. Brimming with soft, dreamy vocals, moody guitars and compressed beats, the band’s self-titled debut EP is so lurid that it’s impossible not to be transported to their wistful, cinematic landscape. Tired Boy’s pining guitar and sweet vocals take you driving through the streets of LA as your heart aches over unrequited love, while the dissonant guitar riffs and slightly grungier feel of Our Troubles traps you in a black and white photograph to mull over feelings of alienation.
By covering themes like love, connection, jealousy and heartbreak, the couple make music that is equal parts sad, funny and real. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they find the songwriting process to be therapeutic: “I find it fucking hard! I feel like it gives me more stress writing songs,” Newell told me.
“I mean that’s the honest answer that he’s giving,” Turner added, “but I think it’s therapeutic once you’re able to articulate it in the way you envisioned. That’s the best feeling in the world, to write something that you truly love.”
Stepping back from his instant rejection of the idea, Newell then continued: “I find it therapeutic when people listen to the songs, understand them and relate to them. That can be therapeutic to me, because sometimes we sing about things that are quite difficult to talk about, and strangely it’s easier to sing about them sometimes.”
With lyrics like “you’re so bad for my health / But I don’t want anybody else” in Stained Glass Window and “I’m gonna split my ends / Maybe my heart will mend” in Blonde, Newell would be glad to know that it is easy to relate to their tales of love. Especially since the band also add plenty of quick-witted humour and confessionalism to their songs. As Turner cleverly muses on Rain: “You’re a man / Of very few words but got a jawline / That can cut through the silence.”
Thanks to this combination of sure-fire wit and confidence in what they do, a Sunday (1994) gig is sure to be the beginnings of a dreamy night out, even if Newell claims he will be “talking shite”. Luckily, fans across the UK will be able to attend the band’s next premiere of their film-inspired show as Sunday (1994) embark on their debut headline tour of the UK this May.
Kicking off at London’s Village Underground, this highly anticipated run of 9-dates will see the band play a series of shows up and down the country, including sets at Brighton’s The Great Escape and Manchester’s Neighbourhood Weekender.
So, what can fans expect from a Sunday (1994) gig then? According to Turner and Newell: “There will be tears, beers and…” “Veneers!” Turner chimed in. “Yeah, tears, beers and veneers,” Newell laughed. Honestly, what more could you want?
Second EP Devotion is out May 9th via RCA.