After a name and lineup change, Richmond’s young indie band Solar Tantrums is set to drop their first self-titled EP at The Camel tonight as part of Radio Rubber Room’s Triple EP release show.
After a name and lineup change, Richmond’s young indie band Solar Tantrums is set to drop their first self-titled EP at The Camel tonight as part of Radio Rubber Room’s Triple EP release show.
Their debut record is a four-song EP that you can’t really pigeonhole into one genre, which is very refreshing in a city where many bands all sound alike or churn out the same, tired sound.
“There’s definitely some psychedelia in there, there’s also some hard rock, there’s lo-fi and surf,” said bassist Eric Kalata.
Vocalist/Guitarist Conor Sheridan said a mashup of different genres was sort of the goal when making their first record.
“We have a lot of words to describe what kind of music it is, were not confining ourselves to a specific genre, we’re kind of just like, ‘oh this sounds good, let’s make this’,” he said.
The lyrics revolve around something that everyone can relate to, a subject that songs have built their success on since the beginning of time: love; and the heartbreak and drama that come with it.
“They’re old songs and that’s one of the easiest things to write about when you’re a youngster, when a girl’s being annoying or stressing you out you can crank that out real easy,” said Kalata. “All four are about relationships.”
The band started recording the EP in March and they just wrapped up this week at Success by Design in Northside, where they rented out garage space to keep their equipment and make the record.
“We pretty much recorded everything on my computer and then we took it to the studio to get it mixed and mastered,” Sheridan said. “We got it miixed at Sound-Check Studios with Brian {Farquhar}.”
Kalata and Sheridan started playing together in 2013 in a band called the B-sides while they attended Cosby High School and the childhood friends, now VCU students, have been jamming together ever since.
The band started out as THe Phosphenes in October 2015, eventually adding drummer Bryce Molony.
“He’s {Molony} actually one of my roommates in my dorm,” said Kalata.
Finding the band name “Phosphenes” to be quite popular, the band decided to switch theirs to Solar Tantrums in February and round out the group with keyboardist Sarah Wright just two months prior.
“We got Sarah in December, we’ve known her since middle school and became friends with her in high school.”
Kalata and Sheridan said they draw on musical influences such as the Velvet Underground and Arcade Fire when it comes to their sound and the other band members have varied tastes which according to the band mates sets them apart of other acts in the city.
“Bryce listens to Muse and The Police which is where his drumming style comes from,” said Sheridan. “Listening to that variety gives us a perspective on music in general on how to stand out.”
Kalata added to that sentiment.
“I don’t know if that’s the best idea to go into being a musician and only listening to punk rock or something, you gotta throw in a few weird jazz shuffles…and punk jazz, that stuff’s wild.”
They may be fairly new to the local music scene, but Solar Tantrums have been working hard to make an impression on this town with their upbeat, poppy tunes by playing gigs at The Camel, Endeavor, Josie House, Belly Timber, Emilio’s and Strange Matter.
And after they take a brief hiatus this summer, Sheridan said you can expect to see Solar Tantrums back playing a gig at The Poe Museum sometime in August.
The Solar Tantrums will play The Camel for their EP release tonight at 8 pm along with performances by fellow RVA bands Josie McQueen and Turbo Mansion who will also release new EPs.
Download codes for the album will be available at tonight’s show and physical copies will be available at a later date.
