SUN DONT SHINE (previously EYE AM),the band that includes Kirk Windstein (guitar, vocals; CROWBAR, DOWN, KINGDOM OF SORROW) alongside former TYPE O NEGATIVE members Kenny Hickey (guitar/vocals) and Johnny Kelly (drums),plus Todd Unusual (CROWBAR, DOWN),has launched the official music video for its new single, “The Promise Track”. You may test it out under.
In a November 2024 interview with cult San Antonio video present Robbs MetalWorks, Windstein said about SUN DONT SHINE: “We’re truly gonna go to Europe for a few ten-day, two-week little tour, play a number of festivals. And it will be our first time taking part in stay. Fuck, we have not even truly performed an entire tune in a room collectively. It was form of a get-together-and-writing-type factor, and now we have a seven-song EP popping out. So, I will be busy with that.”
Concerning the musical path of SUN DONT SHINE, Kirk stated: “We wish to suppose, us 4 guys, that it isn’t what individuals suppose once you’ve obtained half of the unique CROWBAR and half of TYPE O NEGATIVE. It would not sound like both band, so it is its personal factor, which I am very pleased with.”
Noting that Hickey handles a lot of the lead vocals in SUN DONT SHINE, Windstein stated: “Once I heard his voice, I am, like, ‘Dude, you are the singer. We do some call-and-answer, and we do quite a lot of vocal harmonies. I advised him I am extra nervous about attempting to harmonize proper with my gravelly voice, and he is obtained this excessive, clear, highly effective voice. And he is, like, ‘Oh, you are gravelly voice blends good with mine. It’s going to be nice.’ Yeah, he is obtained an incredible voice — he actually does. An important sense of melody. It is actually nice stuff.”
Underneath the band’s authentic identify EYE AM, SUN DONT SHINE launched two singles, “Goals At all times Die With The Solar” in June 2023 and “Cryptomnesia” in November 2023, through Corpse Paint Data. The songs’ accompanying music movies had been shot and directed by Mike Holderbeast at OCD Recording And Manufacturing.
With Windstein‘s earth-shaking riffs and Hickey‘s evocative, typically ethereal melodies, the band strikes a fragile steadiness between heavy and haunting. Kelly‘s drumming retains issues tight however by no means feels constrained, whereas Unusual‘s bass strains act because the spine, holding down the underside finish with a ferocity solely years within the rock trenches can domesticate.
But what actually units SUN DONT SHINE aside is the chemistry amongst its members. You may hear it in each notice, a uncooked, nearly unfiltered power that comes from taking part in with individuals who have been by means of all of it collectively — each the highs and the lows. Their music is about embracing imperfections and channeling them into one thing transcendent, capturing a second fairly than chasing perfection. It is messy, it is visceral, and it is actual.
The group’s dynamic mix of heaviness and atmospheric nuance makes them a standout, however SUN DONT SHINE‘s identification goes deeper than their sound. With influences spanning all the things from BLACK SABBATH to THE BEATLES, their music tells tales of resilience, reflection, and catharsis. Each tune appears like a journey, guided by a way of objective that is as intense as it’s unpredictable.
“I do not need our music to be one-dimensional,” Hickey beforehand stated. “I do not need it to be simply darkish and doomy or at all times so heavy. I would like it to be each gentle and darkish, dynamic and unpredictable.” It is a sentiment that runs deep of their sound, the place every monitor takes on a lifetime of its personal, exploring contrasting moods and textures that reveal extra with each pay attention.
For Windstein it is about “breaking new floor.” Whether or not they’re delving into bone-crushing riffs or taking a melodic detour, SUN DONT SHINE is much less involved with becoming right into a style and extra centered on creating music that resonates with their very own expertise and feelings.
Talking to Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF radio station, Kelly said about how SUN DONT SHINE got here collectively: “That was began with Andrew Spaulding. I met him; he was a merchandiser for DANZIG. After which TYPE O went on tour after that. We introduced him out and he labored with TYPE O up till Peter [Steele, TYPE O NEGATIVE frontman] handed away. And all of us remained good mates and stuff. And he began an indie label; he began a small little label. And he recommended placing me and Kenny along with Kirk Windstein and Todd Unusual from CROWBAR. We have all been mates — I’ve identified Kirk and Todd for, like, 30 years at this level. So we have at all times been mates and we have at all times crossed paths and frolicked and this and that however by no means actually had the chance to get in a room and play collectively. And Drew had it labored out. All of us met in Florida. We obtained right into a room, got here up with that tune, recorded it the subsequent day, and that was it; it was performed.'”
In line with Kelly, “Goals At all times Die With The Solar” was written and recorded in lower than a day. “Drew actually picked me up from the airport and drove me to rehearsal,” he stated. “And the blokes had been within the room. And I simply put my suitcase over to the aspect, arrange the package and we began engaged on the tune. After which the subsequent morning we went to the recording studio, tracked all of the drums. After which I used to be on a airplane. I do not know the place I used to be going after that, however I needed to depart proper after we had been performed monitoring; I believe my flight was at six within the morning the subsequent morning. So I used to be there simply actually for a number of hours.”
Concerning how “Goals At all times Die With The Solar” turned out, Johnny stated: “It is a cool tune. I actually wasn’t positive what to anticipate. I suppose one of the best ways to match it — on a distinct scale, in fact — can be like Scott Weiland and VELVET REVOLVER [got together]. You are taking these individuals from these bands and you place ’em collectively and you’ve got a sure expectation of it. Then you definitely’re unsure if it is gonna meet it, if it is exceeding it or if it falls manner under. However I used to be pleasantly shocked at how straightforward it was and the way a lot enjoyable it was to work with everyone.”
Along with their work with TYPE O NEGATIVE, Hickey and Kelly had beforehand collaborated in a band known as SEVENTH VOID, which launched one full-length album, “Heaven Is Gone”, in 2009, and SILVERTOMB, which issued “Edge Of Existence” in 2019.
In a 2018 interview with Rock And Roll Fables, Hickey said about his chemistry with Kelly: “I have been working with Johnny lengthy earlier than TYPE O. I met Johnny in all probability in 1986. TYPE O shaped in 1989, so we had been already in a thrash band collectively. Principally, we grew up and discovered all the things the fallacious manner collectively and needed to work it out over the course of the years. [Laughs] For me, it is fully pure with him. We obtained higher at it. Dude, you do one thing for 35 years, I hope you are getting higher at it.”
Unique CROWBAR bassist Unusual returned to the band in 2016 for the touring cycle in assist of the band’s “The Serpent Solely Lies” album.
Unusual, who initially left CROWBAR again in 1999, caught round for 2 years earlier than departing as soon as once more to give attention to his household life.
Windstein, who additionally performs within the New Orleans supergroup DOWN, launched two albums with HATEBREED‘s Jamey Jasta underneath the KINGDOM OF SORROW banner. Kirk‘s debut solo album, “Dream In Movement”, arrived in 2020.
