Goodnight, Sunrise is a 7.2 on the Richter scale. Goodnight, Sunrise is the feeling of orbiting the sun on the back of a unicorn. Goodnight, Sunrise is a 4-piece Toronto-based rock and roll hurricane pulling funk, metal, soul, pop and prog into its vortex. Goodnight, Sunrise is releasing its debut album, Create/Destroy/Create, on March 8th, 2013. Goodnight, Sunrise is your destiny.

Really, how can you argue with an introduction like that?

I first met my destiny at NXNE 2012, where Rancho Relaxo beckoned me out for one final night on the town.  Exhausted, scarcely able to stand, I found myself crowding near the stage, utterly enthralled by a band with the proverbial balls to bust out a keytar and rock the joint senseless.  Part Heart circa “Magic Man”, part ZZ Top, all brilliance and insight, Goodnight, Sunrise beckons forth the night and unleashes their own brand of sunshine.

As this article goes to press, their forthcoming CD Create/Destroy/Create (available March 8, 2013) is blasting on the speakers.  It might not be the wisest decision, as it continues to pull me away from the act of expressing why they’re one of the strongest bands in the Toronto indie scene, but perhaps that truth speaks volumes in and of itself.

Recently, I was lucky enough to pull the band onto my virtual couch (now gluten-free and drenched in whiskey!) and chat music, life and Quentin Tarantino’s future award-winning music video.

Please welcome the members of Goodnight, Sunrise:
Andrew “Chowder” Charters, bass
David Kochberg, guitar/vocals
Vanessa Vakharia, keys/vocals
Paul Weaver, drums

OTM:  The Mayan Calendar was lyin’! Now that we’ve lived to see 2013, what albums are you looking forward to this year?

David: I had been waiting for the new Hollerado album for about 4 years! White Paint did not disappoint, and they are one of our biggest inspirations as a band – the indie-rock pioneers of just doing whatever the hell they feel like.

Paul: The Strokes, baby. The Strokes.

 

OTM recently was able to scratch Roger Waters from the“Bucket List of bands/artists to see before I die”. Who’s on top of your musical Bucket List?

Paul: Radiohead. Tragedy struck their last attempt at a show Toronto, so perhaps it’s fate.

Vanessa: Is it weird if I say Phish? Because seriously, Phish.

David: Fingers crossed on the Hootie reunion. Til then, I’ll hold on to seeing The Who back in November – those old dudes have still got it.

 

If you could recruit anyone to direct a music video for you (Go wild! You’re not footing the bill), who would you choose and what song would you want them to tackle?

Paul: Michael Bay directing “This is Yours” set on a World War II battleship.  Starring Will Smith and Optimus Prime.

David: Quentin Tarantino presents “The Ocean” – our 10-minute epic album closer. It would star Harvey Keitel as Captain Chowder, and would be an homage to the piratexploitation films of the late 70s. Uma Thurman would play Vanessa the mermaid assassin, and Quentin himself would cameo as Paul, the lonely peg-legged crew member who delivers a poignant and timely monologue in the final scene, before going on a comically grotesque samurai-peg-leg murder spree.

 

Name five essential albums you can’t live without.

Paul:
1. Weezer- Blue Album
2. Pearl Jam- Vitalogy
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers- One Hot Minute
4. Elliott Smith- Elliott
5. Led Zepellin- IV

Vanessa:  Right now – changes from hour to hour
1. Rah Rah – The Poet’s Dead
2. Florence and the Machine – Ceremonials
3. Hollerado – White Paint
4. Metric – Fantasies
5. The Jezabels – Dark Storm

David:
1. The Beatles – Abbey Road
2. The Who – Tommy
3. Tenacious D – self-titled
4. U2 – The Joshua Tree
5. The Darkness – Permission to Land

 

Your favourite guilty pleasure?

Paul: 7-11 Taquitos

Andrew: Nickelback and bologna – both are made of by-products but both are good

Vanessa: I own every single Britney Spears album. Like, on ACTUAL CDs.

 

Share with us something that fans would find intriguing, but no music writer has managed to draw out of you yet (sorry about that).

Vanessa: I have a Master’s in Math Education.

David: I have a Master’s in Industrial Engineering.

Paul: I have an MBA in International Business.

Andrew: I played in Christian Rock Bands in the ‘80s, wore tight jeans and had long hair.

 

The great debate of our lives: who would win, ninjas or pirates? More importantly, why?

Andrew: Ninjas, hands down. Pirates are a bunch of undisciplined rouges and would likely end up killing each other, the Ninjas would slip in while the pirates are all smashed on rum and quietly slit their throats…no contest

 

If you were to be sponsored by a board game, what board game would you proudly bear the name of?

David: Hungry Hungry Hippos

Paul: Scene It. I am a walking, talking movie quote machine.

Andrew: Trouble

Vanessa: Chess. Old school, straight up, badass to the core.

 

Thinking of concerts you’ve attended as a fan/spectator, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen someone else do in an audience?

Paul: Not too long ago at Rancho Relaxo there was a guy dressed in a pink cotton candy outfit made of insulation swaying back and forth to this trance-rock jam. Well, now that I think of it, that’s pretty normal at Rancho.

Andrew: George Thorogood, Massey Hall….some Grampa banging away at his old lady from behind
over a row of seats, house left…disturbing.

 

Bastardizing a Metric lyric: who’d you rather be, The Tragically Hip or Rush?

Paul: Hip. Your fans would be less creepy.

Andrew: Rush music, Hip lyrics

Vanessa: Rush all the way. They are so goddamn cool!

David: I think really we’d rather be Metric…

 

Chicken or the egg question: which usually comes first, the music or the lyrics?

David: Depends on the song. Some start with a riff and build into music, some start with a flow of words or just an idea that inspire a melody. For example, “Love Fortress #9” was the first song that David ever wrote but it never had lyrics until this band, while “This Is Our Wanting” started as a set of lyrics that Vanessa wrote and we created music around it.

 

The music industry can be daunting at best. What keeps you going in a world flooded with talent, each person or group jockeying for listeners and airplay?

Vanessa: A sincere, relentless, and unextinguishable love for the creation and expression of music.

David: Our secret is a complete lack of inhibition, and a commitment to pursue any idea we think is a good one, regardless of how ridiculous it may seem.

Paul: No expectations and a love of performance….and a day job.

 

Your first concert: who was it, and how old were you? More importantly, how was it?

Paul: Pearl Jam, 1994. I was 11 years old. Eddie Vedder rode a bicycle on stage drunk.

Vanessa: NSYNC 1998 – ACC – I stood in line for EIGHT HOURS to get a ticket – and got the FIRST one IN THE FRONT ROW, OMG AND JOEY THREW HIS TOWEL OFF STAGE AND I CAUGHT IT!!! 

 

The best music-related film ever made?

Andrew: High Fidelity

Paul: Once, followed by Searching for Sugarman

David: Hard to beat The Last Waltz, but I still haven’t seen Sound City yet.

 

The world is ending in ten minutes. You can listen to one and only one song before the world ends. What song do you go out on?

Paul:  “Tonight, Tonight” by Smashing Pumpkins. I’d say “The Ocean” by Goodnight, Sunrise but you’d be cutting it pretty close on time.

Andrew:  “Panama” by Van Halen….might as well go out on a high note.

David:  “Too Many Dicks (On the Dance Floor)” – Flight of the Conchords (at 2:28, I could play it 4 times before apocalypse)

Vanessa:  This question stresses me out.

 

What can we look forward to from you in 2013?

After playing our whole album live for a spin class during CMW (For real! OTM will be there!), we’ll be hitting the road over the summer, writing new tunes, and making videos for the new album. We also fully expect that Metric will FINALLY take note and let us open for them before the year is up.

Oh dear God, yes please!  I’m already in line for that tour.

 

OTM has a surprise for you, dear readers:  we’re giving away a copy of Create/Destroy/Create this weekend, along with a t-shirt!  That’s right:  you can claim owership before official release, which makes you a lucky music fan (dressed in highly fashionable attire)!

To win, you must do at least one of the following:

a)  Follow OTM on Twitter and tweet out this interview, including a mention of OTM (@OTMidnight);

b)  Like OTM on Facebook, share this interview on Facebook and reference OTM (opentilmidnightblog);

c)  Email otmblog@gmail.com and tell us, in thirty words or less, what you love to create (or destroy, I suppose)!

Bonus:  you will also be entered to win the Canadian Music Week prize pack!

Check out the lead single from Create/Destroy/Create below and get entering!  Winner will be selected March 3rd at 11:59 p.m. EST!  You should also make friends with Goodnight, Sunrise on Facebook.

Congrats to Twitter user @three_squares for scoring GNSR swag!  You lucky gal!

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=262410353/size=tall/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/

 

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