LiveMusicDaily.com
Exclusive Interview
with Harris Culley
Today we bring you an exclusive interview with one of the most talented new acts in live music, Sumilan. The 5 piece outfit delivers high energy rock shows with a variety of influences ranging from heavy progressive rock to blissful electronic ambience. They’ve performed at Wakarusa Music Festival and shared the bill with Lotus, The Heavy Pets, Papadosio, & Boombox among other acts. Sumilan is garnering a strong following throughout the Southeast and will soon be rocking your favorite venues across the country. Below is an interview with Sumilan’s lead guitarist/vocalist Harris Culley.
Before we delve into Sumilan’s most recent developments, could first explain the initial formation of the band? At what point did you all decide that this had the potential to be something greater than a great college-town act?
Alex and I met in high-school and played in a couple of “bands” together. Nothing more than a few high-school talent shows, dances, etc. When we went to college at UGA, we kept playing together and met the rest of the guys. We went through a few different lineups, but the current lineup we have started in 2010 when Mark joined the band.
As far as knowing that the band had bigger potential, I think it was more of a gradual process. Being a successful band was something that all of us wanted, but it took us a little longer than most bands to settle on our sound and identity. A lot of college bands form because all of the guys have the same taste in music and like all the same bands. When this is the case, the band can jump right into a sound, category, and identity and will be able to sound cohesive right of the bat. As for us, we all came from pretty different musical backgrounds and tastes, and as a result, we did not sound cohesive – not right away, anyway. We did know that we liked playing music with each other, and everyone’s different tastes really pushed each member to get outside their comfort zone stylistically and learn from each other.
The local music scene in Athens, GA ranks among the best in the country, plain and simple. The obvious benefit to this is that the enthusiasm for live music in the Classic City encourages and inspires musicians. However, this also means that there are so many acts trying to gain recognition. In what ways do you feel Sumilan differentiates from the typical Athens band?
While we were in college we were never the “cool” band to go see. I think that this was a blessing in disguise because it always made us hungry to improve. We never had to rely on imaginary friend fanbases that a lot of popular college bands seem to have. If some college guys form a Grateful Dead style band and get all their friends to come out that’s great, but when they graduate college a lot of times their fans graduate too. They never had to earn their following, it fizzles, and the band gets frustrated and breaks up. As for us, we have always kept an underdog mindset and really worked to win over audiences with some sounds that hopefully they have never heard before.
Your studio sound is similar, yet distinctly different to your live approach; could you explain the difference in your approach when recording your debut album Natural Selection ?
Natural Selection was our first album, and we learned a lot from that experience. When we wrote the songs for it, we hadn’t played a lot of them live before recording them. As a result, a lot of the songs don’t translate live as well as we would like them too, and we now consider them more album oriented material. Also, there is no improvisation on the album, which is a huge part of our live shows.
You guys have been taking the improvisation to another level recently, in what ways has the dialogue on-stage improved? In regards to song-structure how has your perspective on composing music has expanded?
The more we play together, the easier things seem to get. In the live improv situation we have started to have more of a musical conversation with each other. We listen to each other and respond, as opposed to everyone just playing their favorite licks. In terms of the writing process, the better we all get the better we can express our visions of songs and be able to understand others visions. We now write from a broader perspective. For instance, we think in terms of what we want the next song to achieve, what kind of emotional response it will get from the audience, and not just does this riff sound good next to this riff type thing. As we write for this new album, we are all very happy with the speed at which we can write and communicate. This also comes from each individual’s ability to write the music they hear in their head right on the spot, where in the past it wasn’t so easy.
I know that you guys definitely differentiate yourselves with the sole label of a “jamband” due to your HARD rock edge. What do you see your evolving into as you guys continue your career as a top rising artist in the Southeast?
Yes I do think a lot of our stuff is heavier than the average jamband. As far as being classified as a jamband, that not is something we are actively trying to be. Yes we do improvise live, but a lot of bands who improvise live aren’t considered jambands. Led Zeppelin used to go off on 10 to 15 minute jams in their live shows, but I don’t think anyone considers them a jam band. We are going to play how and what we want to play, and people can classify us however they want to.
We play a good bit in the jam scene because it is a great, grassroots way to get exposure, and it places a lot of importance on the live show. The live show to us is the main way bands are going to have success, because people don’t buy records like they used too. Playing in the jam scene is a great way for us to build that up. However, we don’t want to get stuck in one scene. I have seen a lot of bands have success in the jam scene, but get stuck in that world and never really get out of it. We want our band to not be dependent on one type of crowd, but be able to attract fans from all different types of crowds. If you go to for instance, a MUSE concert, there will be fans there that are jam fans, metal fans,indie fans, and so on. They are one of those bands that can draw anyone and that is the type of band we want to be, because we want our music to reach as many people as possible.
Harris in what ways has your time in Bombtrack (Rage Against the Machine cover band) carried over into your work with Sumilan ?
Playing in Bombtrack helped Sam and I in a number of ways, as does any different live music situation that you can put yourself in. The three main ways it helped us were stage presence performance, songwriting, and for me: creative use of guitar effects.
Stage Presence: If you are going to be in a Rage cover band you cannot shoe gaze the whole night and expect people to get into it. You have to jump around and act like a caveman for 2 hours. Performing like that was something that I had never experienced, and I have been able to bring some of that live energy into the Sumilan show.
Songwriting: To me the best way to learn music is to learn music. When you cover an artist you learn their songs note for note and how they constructed hit songs. This will translate into how you approach writing your own songs. For Rage, most of their songs are constructed with two or three heavy, groovy, awesome, riffs and sound effects. This was a breath of fresh air for me to play this type of music in college. In college, I started learning a lot of progressive music, jazz, and stuff with a lot off chord changes and complicated riffs. As a result, that was the type of stuff I wanted to play which was great. However, one can forget that simplicity is often times more appropriate and better for the song. Just because a tune is simple, doesn’t mean it’s easy to pull off or means that it has less musical value. Rage was a band that I loved as a kid, and it was a great way for me to get back to reconnect with that type of music. We have tried to remember in Sumilan that every song doesn’t have to be some huge, orchestrated, Magnum Opus. We can write simple, powerful tunes as well.
Creative Use of Guitar Effects: Tom Morello is one of my favorite guitar players. I tried to imitate his stuff as a kid but fell short. As I progressed as a player and revisited him, I found that his stuff was more feasible and I could actually pull it off. Learning his stuff was a breath of fresh air as well, because I found that he can get hundreds of amazing sounds all from about five cheap guitar pedals. I have always been into guitar effects, and learning the Morello stuff helped me to always remember to experiment and get the most of your gear. The gear does not make the player, the player makes the gear.
You all are set to hit the studio later this Spring, could you tell us what we can expect from you all regarding the recording process?
Like I said earlier we learned a lot from the first record. Our songwriting, songs, and the way we approach the studio has drastically improved. Most of the songs that are going on the album have been played live, and all of the songs are the most representative of who we are as a band right now. In a lot of ways it feels like this album will be the one that people can identify us with. I would say expect a cohesive album with great songs, and top notch production from our friends at “The Stu” up in Nashville who have worked with great bands like Cherub. We can’t wait to make it!