Photo Credit: Haley Gunn

Calgary based noir-synth rockers Sunglaciers are back with their second album Subterranea. A collection of 13 tracks which builds on the atmospheric post-punk sounds introduced on their 2019 debut Foreign Bodies. The result is a more cohesive and captivating work that feels rich in emotion, anxieties and a sense of urgency to be shared. Album standouts “Thought Maps”, “Glue” and “Out of my Skull” each bring their own unique quality which keeps the whole project from going too far down one lane, making sure to take plenty of thrilling twists and turns along the way. With the album having been released on March 25th, the Canadian quartet are getting back on the road soon. Before they pack up and set out, lead vocalist Evan Resnik chatted with us about the new album, their process and inspirations…

Allston Pudding: Where does the name Sunglaciers come from?

Evan Resnik: Over 10 years ago I was hiking through Italy with my partner at the time Jess, who used to mispronounce words to come up with new ones. We were walking out of the woods into a clearing and she turned to me and asked me for her “Sunglaciers please“. In that moment I was like “someday I’m going to start a band called [Sunglaciers].” I think this is the first time I’ve divulged the true origin story. But as we evolve the name seems to fit. Might allow us to write about climate change going forward. The branding is all there. 

AP: [The other founding member of the band] Mathieu Blanchard once mentioned writing songs vertically instead of horizontally. I was wondering if you could explain that process a little further…

ER: My memory is sketchy as hell. I seem to remember him saying to layer things horizontally not vertically. But I’ve seen it in both forms now. I think the underlying theme is layering, and stacking. Approaching a song like a painting rather than A-B-A-B-C… Being able to step back and look at a whole piece almost topographically to see what else we can put on top of the landscape. 

AP: That fits with some of your earlier music too. You really felt those different textures and experiments going on. On the new record it’s more honed in. 

ER: We used to add elements in a linear form, and just tack them on the end and keep going. But now with Subterranea, we decided to sort of fold things back in on themselves. Folding new ideas in rather than making long, meandering songs.

AP: Who are your main influences/inspirations? I know your bio mentions Deerhunter…

ER: Deerhunter is huge for me. Saw them in Vancouver back in 2009, I wasn’t making music back then and they really turned my world upside down in terms of what live music could sound like and could feel like. I think for this record we were listening to a lot of McCartney II. The nature of the studio that we recorded in was that we kind of had to leave no trace so there was always 20-25 minutes of set up and there weren’t many great records in there except McCartney’s. Also listening to a lot of Jeff Parker, the guitarist from Tortoise, super interesting and really outside the box… a lot of Miles Davis, Velvet Underground. A bit of Bowie.

AP: It’s fitting it would be all of those different influences coming together. As I was listening I liked how I couldn’t really pigeonhole this into any sort of genre or sound exactly.

ER: Yeah and a big inspiration is any artist who is willing to just be honest and go in whatever direction that their creativity takes them.

Photo Credit: Haley Gunn

AP: I read you swapped instruments while recording this album, what was that like?

ER: Yeah, we had a mandate just in the interest of making different music and challenging ourselves. We wanted to start these sessions outside of our comfort zone. We picked up a synth and wanted to write with it primarily as opposed to our traditional set up of just jamming and figuring it out from there. I started experimenting with arpeggios and really had fun making melodies on the fly. We started at the beginning of the pandemic and had more time as a big tour had just been canceled. So we had this opportunity to really go into the cave and not come out for a long time. 

AP: Sounds like the positives outweigh the negatives…

ER: The whole thing has been positive. We’re very fortunate that we were able to pivot and focus on something else. At the end of the day I’m sitting in a room full of records that I have to mail out to listeners. But we are certainly aware of our good fortune and privilege. 

Subterranea Artwork

AP: What’s your favorite song on the record?

ER: Dang. I love all my babies [laughs]. I think the funnest, both recording and now live, is “Out of my Skull”. It came about so innocuously, again just kind of wrote a simple, borderline cheesy sequence on a synth and jammed on it for a while. It’s probably the simplest thing I’ve ever written and there’s something in there that really works. Getting to do the video for that one was really fun too. This is the first time I had been at the helm so that was a really great experience. Most rewarding. 

AP: How has tour been so far? Any interesting differences from pre-COVID to now? 

ER: Back in October we went to the UK, in between the Delta and Omicron variants. Again, just super fortunate, threading those needles all over the world. But, people in the UK were insane. They were really stoked. So many people we talked to hadn’t been out since pre-Covid. 

AP: How would you describe the Calgary music scene?

ER: It’s really nurturing and vibrant. There’s like two or three different “scenes” just music and genre wise. But there’s a lot of overlap. Going to shows you see a lot of the same folks. Really sweet, super chill and supportive. Actually just last night I went to a benefit show/party for one of the community moguls in Calgary. It was partially a fundraiser for the Sled Island Festival and a foundation called Skipping Stone which is geared towards supporting transgender youth. That kind of sums it up. Probably the biggest reason we’re still in Calgary: the community.

AP: With the album having just dropped, what does life look like for you guys right now?

ER: We have some plans to tour starting in late May into June. Then starting again in September into October. We have additional video planned for another song on the record. Hoping to get that out soon for summer or early Spring!

AP: Lastly, you had mentioned hiking, where is your favorite place to go?

ER: Ooooh. I haven’t really been in a couple of years but obviously the Canadian Rockies are just incredible and breathtaking. My backstory is when I was kind of drifting around in my 20s I really fell in love with the GR Trail in France. Huge network of trails that goes through villages and just such a varied landscape. The Pyrenees are also great. You can really tackle them on foot. 

Sunglaciers are Mathieu Blanchard, Kyle Crough, Evan Resnik and Helen Young. Check out Subterranea, the new album, below! Follow Sunglaciers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more!