A reunion of the original Sunny Day Real Estate lineup has been a dream ever since the Seattle quartet first split in 1995, after releasing the now-classic Diary and LP2 (a.k.a. The Pink Album). Well, it has finally happened, neatly coinciding with new reissues of the above albums. And what’s more, the band is coming to Australia for the first time in February.

Fans of the seminal band’s dreamy, complex post-hardcore couldn’t hope for much more, but here it is: Sunny Day is writing again, with plans to record. After 1998’s expansive How It Feels To Be Something On and 2000’s disappointing The Rising Tide, each recorded with three-quarters of the original band, the proper lineup is back in action at last.

Singer-guitarist Jeremy Enigk, guitarist-singer Dan Hoerner, bassist Nathan Mendel (also of Foo Fighters), and drummer William Goldsmith are currently touring the States to widespread admiration. We spoke with the incredibly gracious Hoerner, who basked in the band’s good fortune and shared his four favourite Sunny Day songs.

How does it feel to be playing the early songs with all four of you together again?

Ah, it’s incredible. It’s wonderful to be able to play with Nate again. He’s a fantastic musician. Everybody seems to be really enjoying the energy.

What’s it like playing to crowds where everyone knows all the words?

It’s incredible to hear a couple thousand people sing your song back to you. It’s really humbling. There’s really no words to describe that feeling. The shows have been fantastic. People have really tried to give us a lot of love, and it feels really good.

Despite its tenuous creation, the so-called Pink Album is a fan favourite and also the favourite of Nate, Jeremy, and producer Brad Wood. Why do you think that is?

I don’t know that everybody in the band thinks The Pink Album is the best album. I know there’s some guys that really like How It Feels To Be Something On. I think it’s mixed. But for myself, I’m really fond of it because of the tension, because there was such a brooding intensity to the actual session. The one thing that Sunny Day is really good at is capturing those feelings and expressing them. And there was a real essence to the music … it was troubled but it was beautiful. And so that’s definitely one that sticks out for me. But after having really gotten back into the catalogue and starting to play the old songs, I don’t have a favourite record anymore. I tend to gravitate now more towards songs. There’s great songs on every record that I love to play, so I’m sort of spread out amongst songs now as opposed to records.


Sunny Day Real Estate - 'In Circles'
 
The band mellowed a bit on the last two albums. Was that just a gradual evolution?

I don’t know. Sunny Day has always been trying to evolve in terms of sound. I think each one of our records is a departure from what’s been done before. We have had a mantra of not repeating ourselves and not just repeating the same thing again and again and again because it works or it’s easy. I don’t know about mellowing … there’s some songs on The Rising Tide that are pretty heavy.

I was curious partly because you were all quite young when the band started.

Yeah. We had come straight out of hardcore, so in terms of slowing down tempos and finding more space in music and being able to let things breathe and open up a little bit, that is part of a natural progression, yeah. Definitely. I can see that.

Sunny Day is coming to Australia next year for the Soundwave Festival. Have you been here before?

No, we have never been. We’re thrilled. We’re beyond thrilled.

Are you guys working on new material?

Yeah. We wrote a new song just before tour that we’ve started to play live. It seems to be going pretty well. We definitely love writing music together, so I think that we will keep writing songs and hopefully be able to record stuff soon.

Is it just the one song that you’ve written so far?

Well, every time we get together or do anything, we jam. We just have a musical language we speak together, and sometimes it spits out songs. Right now it seems to be pretty active. We only have one song that we’re playing live so far, but I think that as time progresses, hopefully we will have more.

Has it been strange for you beholding how influential Sunny Day is?

Yeah, it is. Again, it’s really humbling and it’s a huge honour that anyone listens to our music at all. So the fact that some people may have experienced some inspiration is a great validation of our music. It makes me feel really good.


Sunny Day Real Estate - 'Every Shining Time You Arrive' live 1999

Since the band’s first incarnation, there’s been much more acceptance in the mainstream of cathartic, quiet-loud rock. Has that been strange as well, since you guys were pretty much on the fringe at the time?

Yeah, I don’t know. We were definitely weird. It was a unique thing. I think it’s cool. The fact that our music has aged pretty well and seems to still be relevant and entertaining; that’s as much as I can hope for. I don’t know about strange … it’s delightful. (Laughs) I’m amazed that we still get to play it. I’m thrilled.

You mentioned that you have a few favourite Sunny Day songs. Could you name some?

Sure. I really love to play ‘J’Nuh’, which is a weird song from The Pink Album. And I very much enjoy playing ‘Sometimes’ [from Diary]. I find that to be a really beautiful, emotional experience, and I love Jeremy’s vocals on that song. And of course I love to play ‘In Circles’ because it’s so wonderful to hear the crowd sing the song so beautifully. And I’m really loving to play ‘Guitar And Video Games’ [from How It Feels…] with Nate on bass. It really is a powerful rock experience. (Laughs) That’s my top four.
 
Doug Wallen

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Sunny Day Real Estate are playing the Soundwave Festival early next year. The remastered reissues of Diary and LP2 are out now on Sub Pop/Stomp. READ OUR REVIEWS.