Local musicians look to past for new style of organic alternative music
Pop music and rock ‘n’ roll. Some may say these two genres can never peacefully coexist — a cuddly bunny living in a den of lions or drinking fine wine with Ramen noodles. So what happens when musicians are able to harmoniously breed the Gin Blossoms with a self-professed Kiss addiction? Seventy Six and Sunny.
Columbia’s newest alternative pop quartet has been taking local venues by storm, inoculating the crowd with heavy doses of rock music tinged with the laid-back energy of ’90s throwback melancholy. Though their set list is heavily saturated with blends of tracks taken from a decade-spanning volume of influences — don’t be surprised when the Beatles’ “Come Together” is immediately followed by a Matchbox Twenty tune — drummer David Kesling says the band always tries to keep its distinct “Sunny” style in each performance.
“One thing we do a really good job of is putting our own spin on those cover songs to make them match our sound,” he explained, adding that he hopes the band can eventually slide the scales to include more authentic material to the set list. “Now that we have a little more of a following and have been around a bit longer, we’re definitely willing to play more originals in our shows.”
Kesling and lead vocalist and guitarist Austin Lang have been friends nearly eight years, alternately jamming together between a string of fledgling musical projects during their high school years in Chapin. While Lang learned the strings from a more technical aspect and Kesling draws on a natural ability to draw rhythm from sound, the duo was able to jam on into college, where the seedling sound of Seventy Six and Sunny started to take root. And when keyboardist Tim Byrd signed on last summer, things really started taking shape.
After taking a brief respite while Lang completed an internship at Paradigm Talent Agency in Nashville, Tenn., the boys reconvened in August with a new outlook on their musical direction. The next few months were a whirlwind for the band; August was spent recording three tracks at Greenville’s Sit-N-Spin Studios for an iTunes release, all the while booking shows for November and December. The issue? They were missing an essential piece of the puzzle: a bass player.
“We went through a couple of bassists to try and find the exact right fit,” Kesling said. “A couple guys signed off and some just didn’t like what we were doing. Then we met Jawann (Stuckey) in October, and that kind of completed the band.”
On paper, Seventy Six and Sunny seems like a formula that doesn’t add up. Each member has uniquely individual tastes in music that influences his sound; Stuckey may drop a heavy metal Disturbed bass cover while Lang idolizes the “golden voice” of South Carolina sweetheart Darius Rucker. But somehow this melting pot of music mixes beautifully, striking a perfect balance between an edgy rock sound and the alternative stylings of ’90s college tracks.
“All of us have a different taste in music,” Lang said. “All of us like the same bands, but I wouldn’t say that I like the same bands as [Kesling] does. We all just do our own thing.”
While this energy has led some bands to part ways, Seventy Six and Sunny instead chooses to thrive off the contrary, allowing each member to mold his own interpretation of the cuts. Kesling even admits to liking the unfamiliar territory of a new song, believing it engages him more naturally without being forced to imitate the original musician.
The Sunny songwriting process also seems to follow this organic path; all Lang needs is a guitar riff or a single chord to kick his musician’s mind into gear, crafting tracks that flow easily and embrace the cool vibes of traditional pop-rock without letting his technically trained side take over. Lang said while they enjoy the perfecting of each track during a studio recording session, it’s hard to match the spontaneous moments shared with a live audience.
“I think it’s the other side of the same coin,” he said. “It’s really fun to get into the studio and make the track sound exactly how you want it, but it’s even more fun to have that moment with a lot of people during a show.”
While the group enters into a show with a set list, they’re always open to audience requests, relying on the mood of the crowd to pick and choose what song fits at what moment. Their performances are energetic yet laid-back, with Lang’s melodic voice laying perfectly over Byrd’s tinkling keys or Kesling’s percussion. Their shows have garnered them a continuously growing fan base in the revitalization of live music in Columbia and a spot as the house band for Breakers Bar and Grill in Five Points. Seventy Six and Sunny is even slated to open for musician/producer impresario Nathan Angelo at Tin Roof March 27 — directly after playing the Contemporary Oyster Roast being held at the Museum of Art the same day.
And for those of you scratching your heads about what the name means, don’t worry — it doesn’t mean anything. Lang admits it’s a little tacky, but it has stood the test of time. As for the future, Kesling says the band is always ready for the next thing, whether it be another live set or a day in the studio. And those comparisons to the Gin Blossoms? It’s just fine.
“We’re not going to tell you we want to be at the Grammy’s one day or anything like that,” he said with a laugh. “We’re just kind of running with it to see where it goes.”
“We always get compared to bands from the ’90s, but that’s really what we were going for,” Lang added. “Seventy Six and Sunny is not trying to reinvent the wheel. This is what we really enjoy, and this is the music that we love. As long as we keep writing songs that we believe in, we can keep making music that we’re proud of.”