“I WANNA BE YOUR BOYFRIEND / GIRLFRIEND!” | Sunday Mourners In Conversation

As the question “Is rock ‘n roll dead?” hangs in the air, the Sunday Mourners offer a lively answer. Combining proto-punk, new wave, and a Velvet Underground-esque attitude– amongst many other influences– they bring a fresh, modern twist to the genre. Formed in Orange County by guitarist Max Pugh and guitarist/vocalist Quinn Robinson, alongside bassist Casey Hoerman and drummer Z Long, this band has crafted a distinctive sound in their latest album, Boyfriend/Girlfriend. We chatted with them over the phone one afternoon to dive into their journey and uncover what drives their creativity.

The band’s origins are rooted in a chance meeting of minds. Quinn and Max met in college, having bonded over a mutual love for bands like T. Rex and The Velvets. Quinn recalls their initial connection: “I saw Max’s Facebook post, and we listed the same favorite bands. I was like, ‘oh, those are my favorite bands too!’” This encounter is what then started to set the stage for their future musical collaboration.

Casey, who had been playing in bands with Max since high school in Missouri, was later drawn into the fold. Then, the discovery of Z as their drummer further solidified their lineup. “We have the same birthday, and we lived across the dorm,” Z reminisces. “I was watching ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ in the lounge, and Casey saw me and Quinn asked her to ask if I was a drummer”. Quinn recalls, “He showed up and he was wearing turquoise jeans and a big Union Jack belt buckle, and he had a beard and Dahmer glasses on. I was like, ‘that guy would look really good as our drummer, ask him if he’s a drummer’, and he was.”

The band’s dynamic thrives on collaboration, an idea echoed by all members. Quinn explains, “There’s something really nice about the presence of a band… And, who knows, if anything, maybe rock music is dead, maybe bands are dead—you don’t know. There’s something nice about having other people to experience that with.” Casey adds on, “We enjoy it. It’s fun, and there are a lot of people around us that are in similar situations, so it’s encouraging.” Max agrees, adding his own point, “It challenges me more as a musician and a creative person to be in a collaborative project… It’s like cooking almost, where you’re creating something that has some substance.”

Their debut album, Live from the Pearly Gates, was a product of their early, formative years and, according to Quinn, “I don’t even consider that an album, you know what I mean?” The band members view it as a collection of ideas that didn’t fully capture their evolving sound. “We were sitting on it for so long,” Casey admits. “It was just residuals from the dorm, like, we couldn’t play together, and we just needed to do something with it”.

In stark contrast, Boyfriend/Girlfriend represents a more mature and deliberate effort. Quinn acknowledges the past growth and recognizes room for future improvement, “Even now, as much as I love Boyfriend/Girlfriend, it still feels like a debut to me in the sense that it’s somewhat amateurish in many ways. However, it has more bones and is more grounded in something. I already feel like I prefer the songs we’re writing for the next one over the last record.” The album’s development reflects their journey, from initial, less cohesive efforts to a more refined and intentional sound.

The album’s theme emerged organically. Initially, they considered titles like “Sunday Mourners in Transit” and “Hate to Have You Haunt Me”, which was named after a potential track, but Quinn’s offhand suggestion of Boyfriend/Girlfriend stuck. “I think it’s grown on us. I mean, I said it as a joke, so I was like, ‘wouldn’t it be dumb if we called it that?’ Then we realized a lot of the songs have this loser—the narrator is obsessing about something in terms of love, like the ‘American Commuter’ song— everybody wants to fuck an airplane. We’re all just weirdos who are kind of juvenile and adolescent about their approach to love, so it kind of just worked.”

Tracks like “Carnival Cruise” and “People Mover” showcase their eclectic influences. Quinn describes “Carnival Cruise” as a favorite, citing his spoken word part as requiring a lot more spontaneity, whilst other parts of the song maintain their structure. “It requires a lot more improvisation… It’s different when we do it; who knows how it’s gonna grow.” Meanwhile, Z reflects on their penchant for exploring new sounds: “I think what we find most fulfilling is improvising. If it’s not too abstract and still makes sense, creating a unique event with others—a shared artistic and musical experience in the moment—becomes something that can be remembered. It affects us and the people watching. That’s what I do it for.”

The recording process for Boyfriend/Girlfriend was swift but rewarding. The band recorded with Jonny Bell at Jazzcats in Long Beach, appreciating his ability to understand their vision without extensive communication. “He just set us up and let us go,” Quinn says. “That was really nice and special.” The limited studio time, only two days for 8 hours at a time, further pushed their creativity, exemplified by Max’s riff for the title track that had developed during live shows and was later brought into recording.

Reflecting on their influences, the band members draw from a diverse array of sources. Quinn cites Marquee Moon by Television as a perennial inspiration. Casey points to Young Marble Giants for their choppy guitar work being influential during recording, and both Z and Quinn admire James Chance’s saxophone influence. “You can hear that on ‘People Mover’,” Quinn notes. “I was in a James Chance craze at that moment, too.”

Boyfriend/Girlfriend is more than just a collection of songs; it’s a testament to the Sunday Mourners’ growth, both as individuals and as a band. Their dedication to collaboration and willingness to evolve are evident throughout the album. As Quinn puts it, “It can only be very good when you sit down and know what you’re doing, but at the same time, it can be fun to not know what you’re doing.” In a music scene often focused on solo ventures, the Sunday Mourners stand out with their dynamic collective spirit. Their album reflects a journey from college experiments to a distinctive sound that’s both eclectic and evolving, reaffirming that rock ‘n roll is alive and thriving—and it’s just found its new boyfriend/ girlfriend…

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