Inside sundayclub’s Debut LP
Winnipeg-based dream pop duo sundayclub recently released their self-titled debut album, a hazy and emotionally rich collection built around memory, and identity. We caught up with Courtney Carmichael and Nikki St. Pierre to discuss the ideas behind SUNDAYCLUB, the role of imperfection in their creative process, and how they created a record that leaves room for listeners to bring their own stories into the songs.
In a musical landscape driven by singles and stream numbers, what made you decide to release an LP?
We’ve never really bought into the whole single thing, we always knew that we wanted our first collection to be a full length — the Bannatyne EP was originally a part the LP, so we still think of it as one prolonged release. There’s something special and sacred about an LP that singles just don’t have.
You describe this album as the first chapter of sundayclub, and memory seems to shape almost every song. Were there any memories that became less reliable the longer you sat with them?
Because these memories were solidified by writing these songs, the attachment to them have become stronger and have remained pretty vivid for us. But we were told by a friend of ours that every time you think about a memory, the memory itself changes slightly and becomes more unreliable. So who know’s if anything we’ve written about is even true.
Analogue photography played a major role in shaping the album's aesthetic. Is there something about imperfect memories or blurred images that feels more truthful than something perfectly in focus?
When taking photos, we set out to find weird analog filters or imperfect vintage lenses. There’s more room for imagination in a blurry photo than one that’s crystal clear. It’s the imperfections — purposeful or not — that makes art mean something, musical or otherwise. Otherwise it’s just an impressive skill. This is the kind of ethos we bring into making music as well.
The record keeps returning to moments that feel unresolved. Is songwriting a way of finding closure, or are you more interested in preserving those uncertain feelings?
Songwriting for us is more of an explosive exercise, one where you give into the feelings that you’re having in the moment rather than en exercise of exploration of thinking “what was I feeling when…”. When the song is written, it gives us a sort of closure that otherwise might not happen.
Are there any songs that have become more emotionally difficult to perform over time?
Not really, by the time we’ve performed them live, we’ve performed them to death in the studio and the time has passed since the feelings about them existed. If anything, its the pressure we put on ourselves to try and make the live renditions as close to the record as possible that can make things difficult.
A lot of records seem to have one song that unintentionally becomes the key to understanding the whole album, even if it’s not an obvious single. Which song does that for you, and why?
“Turquoise.” It has everything that the record is in one song.
When people discover sundayclub, what do you hope they'll hear in this debut that still feels unmistakably like the band you wanted to become?
We put everything we were at the time in this record but somehow still left room for people to project their own feelings and memories onto it. It’s hazy, dreamy, but doesn’t sacrifice the shiny hooks to do it — we somehow made the record we set out to, which is cool for us.