If you’re talking about bands to watch in 2015, you have to mention Sunset Sons.
The band came together after Jed spotted Rory playing cover versions in a bar called Le Surfing in the French surfing resort of Soorts-Hossegor.
The pair started chatting and before long, they had recruited Pete and Rob and begun playing gigs as Sunset Sons.
“He saw the first gig and I think was more intrigued than impressed but we got talking and it was really due to the bar and mutual friends that we all met. We started from there and it was really just to keep us out of a real job!” Rory tells us during a phone call from the UK, where they are currently on tour.
Whatever their motivation, the group quickly began to gel and decided to make the leap from performing cover versions to writing their own music.
While he admits their first song was “terrible… I don’t even know what genre it was”, the second was She Wants and Sunset Sons had officially found their sound.
“We always spoke about going to London but we didn’t want to leave the nice lives that we had for something that might not happen. We were pleased with what we were doing but we didn’t know if it was going to relate to people in the UK.
“Our manager Steve said, ‘don’t mind that, we’ll make the labels come to you’. We did our first EP and that was released in the UK and got to number six in the charts. From that, we basically popped up on the radar.”
Before long, they were signed to Polydor, touring the world and had released second EP No Bad Days, with single Remember garnering almost 350,000 views on YouTube.
Fast forward a year and Sunset Sons have kept up the momentum with The Fall Line EP released in March, a BBC Sound Of 2015 nomination under their belt and an album almost ready to go.
So, have they had time to catch a breath in the last 12 months?
“It happened really quick, even though parts of it felt really slow because we spent so much time together! On the last tour in Feb/March, the response to the songs was incredible,” said Rory.
“We went from people kinda knowing one or two of the songs to having this strong fan following, which is what you aim for as a musician.
“I’m not going to lie, we were upset that we didn’t win the BBC award but we were told that just to be nominated is amazing. I mean, there’s people on there that have won MOBO awards. We were quite honoured to be on it.”
The band’s guitar-driven pop sound and Rory’s gravel-edged vocal have drawn comparisons with everyone from Brandon Flowers to Kings Of Leon and while Rory says he can’t quite hear the similarities, he says he is more than happy to be placed in the same league as Caleb Followill.
“I’ve been a fan of Kings Of Leon for a long time but when people mention them as a comparison, I don’t know why, I just don’t hear it! Maybe it’s a tone thing but I take it as a compliment… it’s mad, to be compared to them is definitely not a bad thing!
“I think we have a different vibe that we’re bringing to it. You could get precious about it and argue ‘oh we’re different’ but I take it as a massive compliment. Unless you don’t like Kings Of Leon of course!”
As someone whose career was launched on the back of social media buzz, Rory is predictable enthusiastic about the role of streaming in modern music and says that artists have to “change with the times” and embrace the new model available to them
“I know there’s a massive controversy about streaming in music but a lot of our music is getting heard because of that, which we are very proud of and grateful for.
“There’s a tune we hadn’t even released to radio called On The Road and I remember checking on Spotify and I couldn’t believe the number of views on that one song. I remember people saying ‘I wake up to that song every morning on Spotify’ and you’re like ‘OK, woah!’.
“If you’re an independent artist and you’re not signed, you can get yourself out there. If you’re doing good music and people like it, the social media world will respond.
“If they don’t like it, they’ll probably respond as well! I’m all for it. If people get our songs off Spotify, they’re hopefully going to come to the gigs… that’s the aim!”
The upcoming album was recorded during a six-week stint in Nashville (during which they were gutted to miss the chance to visit Dollywood) but first, there’s the small matter of their debut Irish gig at Whelan’s tomorrow night (Saturday May 9th).
Rory reveals that it will be his first trip to Dublin and the band are still enjoying the buzz of the tour.
“We love it. To be honest, there are times where you think ‘I’ve been in a band for a long time, I’d love to sleep in a real bed’ but on the other hand, you could be complaining about a 9-5 job somewhere else.
“On the European tour, every date was somewhere I’d never been before and it’s just so enjoyable to play with the buzz that’s around us right now.
“I’ve never been to Dublin. I always hear good things so I’m really looking forward to it! It’s quite nice to say that being in a band is our job now, it’s amazing.”
Sunset Sons play Whelan’s on Saturday May 9th. Tickets priced at €13 are available here.
