motel void

Sun Era is an indie musician from Maryland, US.

You are from Maryland. To be honest, I don’t know many artists from this area, so could you please describe the local music scene a bit?

Maryland is right above Washington DC and has a pretty cool local scene that feeds into the DC scene. There’s a ton of clubs and other venues in DC so a lot of local bands will play down there. Pretty diverse genres around here.

Really love the sound of your new single ‘Bigfoot’. It’s cheerful but also kinda melancholic at the same time. Who is your biggest music influence right now?

I draw influence from a ton of different artists and sounds. Alex G has always been a huge one for me, as has Fog Lake and Built to Spill and others. But I think I’ve really started to come into my own sound with the sounds and the dissonance and the themes and the lyrics you know? Bigfoot was a more folky sound but I’m constantly mashing different ideas together.

I also like the single cover, it’s cute. Did you make it yourself?

Yeah I make all of my artwork and videos and stuff right now. I found a low res comic panel online and started messing around in photoshop. I tweaked it a bunch and ended up liking the art enough to use it. I was really stoked with how the lettering turned out and I think the whole thing matches the vibe of the song which is always a good feeling.

I’m not a huge numbers guy when it comes to my music, I like making stuff that feels good to me and when people also like it that’s all I can ask for.

Could you tell us more about your recording and writing process?

My writing and recording process is super weird. I rarely ever start with one idea or plan, I pretty much just sit down and start moving my fingers. Eventually I’ll land on something and start recording on my floor or on my bed and then I kinda check out and record for a few hours. When I hit that stride I can do a whole instrumental in a day. Vocals are always the worst for me so it takes me a little longer, but it’s the same idea. I’ll start writing lines and chunks and they all kinda click together at some point. I’ll come up with some sort of melody and then it’s game over. It’s really nothing special, it all just happens.

In 2022 you released your debut album Brother. ‘Chow’ was one of my most favorite tracks from 2022! It’s been a year since the release, so how are you satisfied with the record reception?

Thanks that means a lot to me! Hard to believe it’s been a year since that album. I have a tough relationship with my music, but I got a lot of great feedback on it and the album resonated with a lot of people which is the greatest thing in the world. I put a lot of my pain into my songs and when people tell me that those songs helped them through something it’s wicked cool. I’m not a huge numbers guy when it comes to my music, I like making stuff that feels good to me and when people also like it that’s all I can ask for. Maybe one day I’ll get up there but for now I’m cool with what I got.