New Music
Sunday (1994): “Trust is what makes a band magical”
Get to know the transatlantic melancholy and melodrama of a band about to go big
Paige Turner and Lee Newell made music together for ten years before starting cinematic indie-pop band Sunday (1994). “We were writing a lot of music for ads,” Newell explains. “It doesn’t sound terribly sexy but we were honing our skills and learning what we didn’t want to do.”
Turns out what they did want to make were gut-wrenching anthems dripping in romance. There are subtle nods to The Smiths, The Pet Shop Boys, The 1975, Motown and The Carpenters across their self-titled debut EP and now they’re going even wider with second EP Devotion, with every track a spin-off, sequel or prequel to what they’ve already put out into the world. Add in their strong visual identity and Sunday (1994) are quickly building a world to get lost in.
Ahead of a final rehearsal before tour, including performances at The Great Escape festival, Lee tells us why the pair finally decided to go all in, the impact of playing their melancholic songs live and their festival headline dreams.
Sunday (1994) - Rain (Official Video)
You and Paige have both been making music for a while – why now for Sunday (1994)?
Every band I’ve been in before this just never felt right. It didn’t seem like the final destination, and I know Paige feels the same. I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently and really, before this, I didn’t think I had the skills to articulate myself in the way I wanted. I just wasn’t good enough. Now though, I’m comfortable enough with what I can do, so the music we’re making finally feels like it represents us both.
What is it about this creative partnership that works so well?
We really do spend every minute with each other. As cliché as it sounds, we know what each other is thinking and we can finish each other’s sentences. More importantly though, we trust each other. That’s what makes good bands magical – that space in the middle where you meet and create something unique. We both have our favourite bands and they’re very different from each other but when you blend it all together, you get Sunday (1994). At our shows, we get fans of Taylor Swift and Gracie Abrams but there are also people asking me how I get that Echo And The Bunnymen guitar sound.
So how quickly did things fall into place?
We’d always written songs together but one day during lockdown, Paige was bored and wanted to learn guitar. I taught her the easiest chords I knew and that turned into (breakout hit) ‘Tired Boy’. It was effortless, we loved how it sounded and wanted to do more…so we did. Once we decided this band was important to us and was going to be our life, we just threw ourselves into it. You don’t get those gut feelings often.
There’s also such a strong look to the band – did you always want Sunday (1994) to be more than just a handful of great tracks on a playlist?
It was important that we represented the songs visually in a way that wasn’t just our faces or us in a car singing along, because it never felt like we were one of those bands. I guess because we’re in our 30s, we don’t have that hunger to be famous either. Instead, we wanted to furnish our music with beautiful images. We are inspired by the films of Sofia Coppola, which are timeless and eerie. I also love the old English sitcoms that I grew up with such as Open All Hours and Steptoe and Son. Coming from America, Paige finds them utterly fascinating as well. We use a lot of film for our photos and videos because we wanted to make sure this band felt like you could reach out and touch it.
Sunday (1994) - Tired Boy (Official Video)
Your second EP Devotion is out soon – how different is that to what’s come before?
All of our songs tend to be a hodgepodge of different experiences from both of our lives, so ex-partners, people we’ve met or things we’ve gone through. A lot of the first EP was about Paige starting antidepressants, which sounds terribly dark but it actually really helped her. For Devotion, we wanted each song to reflect a song from Sunday (1994), so lyrically it’s similar but it’s a lot more technicolour. It’s more sure of itself and is more maximal. The next set of songs we’re writing right now are more insular though, so it’s going to be interesting to see how this all evolves.”
What do you hope people get from Devotion?
I don’t really make music with the hopes of anything. That can be quite dangerous. All I hope is that we’ve done ourselves justice and told our story right, for better or for worse. I’ve been in bands where I’ve tried to please the listener and it’s backfired so much. You know the classic Cobain quote, “I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I’m not”? Well, I tell you what’s worse than that is being hated for who you’re not, because I’ve being through that as well. I hope fans enjoy the music but we make it for us, first and foremost. It’s what every artist should do in my opinion – it’s how you treat the listener with the most respect.
There’s death, despair and melancholy with your music, but also a lot of humour and love. How validating has it been to have people embrace songs that are so raw and vulnerable?
It’s been the joy of my fucking life, to be honest. It’s been unbelievable. I wake up and feel so lucky because I know not many people get to experience this. It has been a really difficult 15 years getting to this point but it feels amazing to be here and I don’t take a minute for granted. I love our music and I think it’s great, so I wasn’t that surprised that some other people also liked it – but the amount of people that are interested and the fact we’re already selling out shows is pretty insane.
Talk to me about those live shows. What’s the vibe of a Sunday (1994) gig?
Before we played our very first show, we planned to be super moody and mysterious on stage. We weren’t going to say anything, we were going to let the music do the talking but it was so much fun, we couldn’t help ourselves. Now we’re cracking jokes and making sure we’re as in the moment as possible.
Sunday (1994) shows are a lot more energetic than maybe you’d expect. There’s also a dress code that’s encouraged but never enforced. It does feel like there’s a true connection between us and the people in the crowd. There is this community, which is what every band dreams of happening.
You mentioned your songs are all based on things that the pair of you have gone through. Is it cathartic playing them live and seeing them connect to other people?
I don’t know if it’s cathartic, it’s just ridiculously fun. It would probably be more cathartic if I wasn’t so focused on not fucking the songs up. We do feel so present playing shows though and that’s a really rare thing in this day and age. Not being worried about the future, just enjoying the moment, there’s definitely therapy in that.
So where can you see this all going?We would love to headline festivals one day but we’d have to do it on our own terms or not at all. We’re not going to start writing songs with a load of “woah-ohs” to try and get there but we do have massive ambition. Right now, we’re just thrilled to be able to do this so we’re going to keep on pouring everything we have into it.
Devotion is out now via Arista Records
