Posted by Paige Leoni & Paula Rainsberger on March 20 2015

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SunSquabi, a band based out of Boulder, Colorado has been gaining a lot of attention recently with their unique sound. We sat down with Kevin Donohue (Guitar, Keys & Production), Andrew Clymer (Bass & Synth), and Chris Anderson (Drums) to find out more about what SunSquabi is all about.

SUNSQUABI IS ON TOUR [ GET TICKETS HERE ]

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Q: Where did you guys first meet, and how did Sunsquabi come to be?

Andrew: Kevin and I met when we were about 10 years old through a mutual friend who had moved right down the street. We started just hanging out... Doing what ten year olds did.. making ruckus, launching off potato guns and crashing dirt bikes. We met Chris on a bus to Bassnectar, just raging.

Kevin: Before that we were in this 9-piece band and it was just too much, too complicated. So we left that and started making music on our own. Andrew got a computer for Christmas and we started putting some tracks together for Global Dance Festival. Chris practiced with us all the time and finally he came and played with us and we were like, alright, sweet we're a band!

Since then we've just been grinding.

Q: How has living in Boulder helped you all musically?

Andrew: Living in Boulder, you always have other artists around you, musicians that have been doing it for 10-15 years, a lot of different inspirational people.

Chris: I'm actually originally from Boston, I moved out here for school in 2010. Crushed it at CU, and now I am surrounded by all these great musicians who live in and around the Boulder area.

Q: Whom do you guys consider a major influence in your life?

Andrew: My father, because he always works hard and keeps grindin. He started his own business and has been successful with that. Just on a personal standpoint that's huge and I have been lucky to have that inspiration in my life.

Kevin: I think everything is pretty influential, I mean we've all had pretty crazy lives and have gone through all kinds of stuff, good or bad. To pin down one thing is hard, but I would have to say people in general... from playing in all the different places you learn something new from everyone, and of course PRINCE! The guy is a legend.

Chris: My mom, she always pushed me to be successful in whatever I do and pushed me to work as hard as I can to pursue success in not only a job, but in my personal life and character overall.

Q: What does SunSquabi even mean?

Andrew: It means us; it's a made-up word. We have tried to embody that. We are the definition of SunSquabi although we're not quite sure what that is yet.

Kevin: We are figuring out more and more what it means. It's us; we had to create something original because we don't want to be restricted by anything. We're just writing music and letting it flow. SunSquabi is freedom and everything you want it to be. It's a good time!

Q: Your sound seems to be such a blend or different sounds, do you see it taking any particular direction in the future or see any huge projects or collaborations?

Kevin: We're really lucky to be around so many cool people here in CO as well as the people we've met through traveling. Everyone always wants to make music, and everyone has something to bring to the table. One other thing we're really excited about is Grant's next album. We got to do a song with Manic Focus this time last year. We spent a night in the city and all worked on it. It took all these different sessions for it to finally be what it came to be. We learned a lot from one another by doing that.

Andrew: We have really been trying to get more female vocalists on this next album, and trying to do more of a live aspect with everyone. We just have to decide what we want to do; do we need to bring a sax out? More vocals?

Q: Are there any artists that you want to collab with soon that you haven't already?

Kevin: We are trying to collab with The Geek x VRV for sure, Ratatat... that would be a dream, or FKJ.

Andrew: There are so many, in particular we've been talking with Michal Menert.

Q: How did you guys connect with Grant?

Kevin: Nick who runs thissongissick.com was working with Grant for a while and we've known Nick for a number of years before that. At Sonic Bloom the first year and Grant saw us play... When he headlined the Ogden that March and asked us to open for him! We just clicked and all this stuff we've been recording with him this past fall has been easy- we're just down the block from him in Boulder. He'll hit us up on twitter and be like hey come over, and we would literally just drive down there and hang out, smoke, and make music!

Andrew: It's been a developing relationship, our paths just aligned and it worked out.

Kevin: He is a genuine person and he remembers you. That's something we've learned from being around all these musicians, you have to be personable and make lasting connections.

Q: Kevin, Can you talk about your contributions to 'Say It Loud', Grant's new album?

Kevin: I ended up doing, I can't remember exactly how many tracks (3 or 4), but I did some guitar work on 'The Anthem', and also some organ parts. He would build his own horn parts and I would do the guitar part. He brought in a whole bunch of people to do vocals, and there were two or three other tracks that I added some layers too.

Q: If you guys had a favorite show to date, what would it be and why?

Andrew: The Ogden with the Floozies, opening for the Disco Biscuits, and headlining in Atlanta...

Chris: 1up last December too, that was a phenomenal show!

Kevin: it's hard to pick one; we've been very blessed. The first show at The Ogden with Grant was our first big show in Denver. We got asked to play with Conspirator, I think because of that show. It's so hard to pick a favorite, even the after party for Beale Street Fest in Memphis was amazing, it was just a vibe thing.

Q: What do you do to unwind?

Kevin: Well were sponsored by this dispensary in Boulder... they help us keep our head at chill levels.

Andrew: We mainly smoke weed, and play more music, hang out with friends, or go to the mountains for a weekend and get away from everything.

Chris: Or Grab a marg at the Rio.

Andrew: Also we still enjoy going to shows. We're just normal kids from Colorado who like to party and listen to music.

Q: Do you have hobbies outside of music?

Kevin: When we have time to. You cant be one dimensional ya know?

Andrew: I've been snowboarding since I was 8, and Chris loves to work out, he goes to the gym everyday. It's all about feeling good and taking care of yourself. When you're on tour all the time you have to make sure you are taking care of yourself. I still love live music though.

Kevin: Even when you're not playing it's still nice to be around it, and it's nice to meet new people at those shows.

Q: What are your favorite venues?

Andrew: Definitely Red Rocks, or The Fox in Boulder.

Q: Any favorite memories from being on the road?

Andrew: Too many.

Kevin: We always talk about having a camera on our dashboard so we could record some of the shenanigans that go on.

Chris: When we got Jeffrey!

Kevin: The story about Jeffery is... We were camped next to this band from Minneapolis called Four On The Floor, it's like an Americana rock band. They've been touring for 5 or 6 years already, successful. They were some badass dudes; we partied with them all weekend and got to know them pretty well. At the end of the weekend they left us this staff... Its like a walking staff with a skull on the end carved out of wood.

They left us the staff with a note that said, "We were given this at our first festival 5 years ago and it has brought us so much good luck and success, and we want you guys to have it because you are young and upcoming. We are passing it down to you and you do the same when you are ready."

The staff has magic powers; we've been incredibly blessed.

Q: What are your favorite movies or TV shows?

Kevin: Game of Thrones, South Park! We love South Park, like Chris is Butters, and I'm Kenny.

Andrew: Anything with Will Ferrell, like Talladega Nights or Anchorman. Recently I've been watching a lot of House of Cards.

Q: What were your initial thoughts your first time on stage at Red Rocks?

Kevin: The first sound I ever actually heard from those speakers was the sound of my own guitar and I just straight wind milled it! It was amazing, hard to describe.

Andrew: It was just one of those nights you look back on and think did that really happen? We've never actually played a full set as ourselves at Red Rocks, so this show with Grant in September is a big deal.

Q: Is there anything you guys would like to promote or talk about in terms of SunSquabi and what is to come?

Andrew: We have our tour coming up; it starts March 26^th and goes until the 12^th of April ending at Euphoria Music Festival in Texas. We're super excited about it. We've been putting a bunch of time into our new music, we also have a bunch of new merch coming out... and we've working on a new Grassroots hat!

Kevin: We have an EP coming out April 13^th, and we will be announcing all the details regarding that. We've also started working on a full length album that we are planning on releasing sometime in the fall.

Andrew: We are always refining the live set, and working on new live remixes and ideas. We are just trying to bring a new, live, innovative set each time we go on tour!

SUNSQUABI IS ON TOUR [ GET TICKETS HERE ]

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