Eternal Summers, a Haiku.

''If beach were forest:
Drums like sticks cracking and voice
Like waves in the trees''

Eternal Summers are Nicole Yun and Daniel Cundiff, self prescribed “country” kids from a dark spot of forest in Roanoke V.A. The duo brings a laidback sound they’ve called “dream punk”. The style is built on minimalism but isn’t prude about serving up tasty guitar riffs and honey sweet vocals over a side of memorable melodies. Success has been knocking recently for Eternal Summers. They signed to Kanine Records this summer and their first full length album, Silver, is being swarmed already with internet buzz. With their down-home congeniality and seemingly prolific song writing pace, they are posed to make a home in an industry of temporality. Here Nicole and Daniel talk about the short songs, their friendship with Kanine, and how Imagination is the only Marijuana they need.

REAX: In the past you have claimed to be more punk than like, hazy beach rock. Has that changed with Silver?


Nicole Yun: No not at all. Silver has a strong punk streak, though there are hazy
shoe gaze and slow core tones to it.  This is definitely not a beach album. 
Perhaps a 90's resurgence album, but who am I to say that sort of thing?



REAX: Do you think the name Eternal Summers gives the beach vibe more than the music itself? What is the story with the name if you don’t mind me asking?
NY: People definitely expect us to be a “beachy” band but our name is actually 
a reference to Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 which talks about a woman's unfading 
beauty, perhaps that of her soul, as her "eternal summer."  I think that is 
one of the most romantic things you can say about someone; that who they are 
as a person is beautiful forever!



REAX: Nicole, I know you’ve been in a lot of bands before, what made your musical partnership with Daniel special?
NY: What I love about being in a band with Daniel is that there is no
 censorship or apologizing when we make music. Sometimes we will experiment
 in practice and some really unexpected and sort of embarrassing stuff comes
 out.  Nu-metal? Bossanova.  We try it all, or at least get it out of our 
system.  I love that about our band.  No limitations.



REAX: Do you ever feel pressure to multiply from “two piece” to “more piece”? And will you give in?
NY: I think we are totally embracing the two piece aspect of our band, now 
more than ever!  I see a lot of two piece bands trying to sound raucous and
 loud, which is cool since only two people are making that huge sound.  I
just think that there is something courageous and real about sounding 
sparse.  We try to do both really.  Maybe one day we will add more members, 
but I don't know when that will be!
Daniel Cundiff:  Being in a two piece is almost an experimental process for me.  It
might not sound that way but just dealing with limited instrumentation is 
challenging at times.  There are sounds between sounds.  We don't try to be 
a 3 or a 4 piece.  We are aware of our options and we try to get the most
out of space and sound.  I don't feel an outside pressure to be a group with 
more members.  If people don't like what we do then that's fine.  I don't 
think it would be a "give in" thing.  It would be more of an evolution
 thing.  I like the dynamics we have as a two piece now.

REAX: Why the short songs?
NY: Why not?  I hate being bored and I hate filler!  But we have some longer
songs on Silver.  As long as all parts of a song are necessary I don't mind,
even if a song is 20 minutes long!


DC: Within punk music there has always been short songs.  I don't think our
 songs are terribly short, but i realize they aren't 4 minute pop tunes.
 It's just how we write.  We don't wanna put a bunch of filler in there.  
believe we cut the fat off songs but it's not intentionally, we just write
 short concise songs.  But as Nicole said, we do have longer songs that we
 have written.



REAX: You’ve mentioned The Velvet Underground as an influence, any other 60’s avant-pop bands that tickle your fancy?
NY: Avant pop?  Oh dear I know I'm about to make a mistake with anything I
 answer. I really like Tommy James and the Shondells, the Moody Blues,
 Donavan.  Those were 60's and pop and influence me!  Other than that I would
 say the Smashing Pumpkins, early Liz Phair, the Clash, and Sonic Youth are 
influences whether you can see it or not.


DC:  Moe Tucker was a big influence for me on our early E.P. so was Damon 
Krukowski.  On earlier material there was a simplistic and bedroom like 
feel.  No crazy drumming just a good steady tom beat.  That also had
 something to do with me being sort of unfamiliar with playing the drums in a
 real band.   As far as the 60's go?  There's so much good music from that 
time.  It was the building blocks for the next 4 decades and beyond.  I 
don't know if i listen to avant pop but here's some good bands from the 60's
 i like to hear.  Love, Kaleidoscope (from U.K.), The 23rd Turn Off, The 
Doors, The Grateful Dead and The Everly Brothers. Soft Machine is pretty
 fun too.  There's so much music!

REAX: I really love your artwork. It’s very post-hippy, Native American kitsch, so super groovy? Who is responsible for the artwork and the ideas behind it?
NY:  A lot of our art is the genius brainchild of pal Sarah Everton, drummer
 for Reading Rainbow from Philadelphia.  She is an amazing artist, and did 
the covers for Silver, Summer Reading (our split with Reading Rainbow) and
 the design for our blog.  Our 8 song
 EP was a close-up of Daniel's ex-girlfriend's dress.  I love patterns 
sometimes more than specific images because they don't tell the listener 
what to think about, but imply a general feeling instead.


DC:  Yea, Sarah has helped us out a lot.  I had a vision for the cover of 
Silver where there were glittery, shiney and metallic images on a dark 
background.  I tried my best to execute the cover that was in my mind to no
 avail.  I called Sarah and we chatted a while and she sent us the cover.
 It's really beautiful!  It looks so late 70's punk to me. It's a dark, 
mysterious and interesting image.  It looks like the record sounds to me.

REAX: So, Kanine Records, that’s a big deal! What has the experience been like with a major indie label?
NY: We've had such a great time working with Lio and Kay of Kanine.  They 
are so down to earth, hard working and totally on top of the smallest 
details.  It hasn't been some mind blowing experience, more like having a few 
more friends you email a few times a week!




DC:  Kanine Records are wonderful.  I really like working with them.

REAX: Daniel, you have a nice voice, what is like singing together on "I’ll die young for rock n roll?" Might we expect more of that in the future?




DC: Thanks.  It was a real fun track to record! We used an acoustic for
that tune!  Nicole lets me write a song here and there.  We both have 
pretty distinct styles of writing or at least they are different from one
 another.  I have a few tunes that fit into the Eternal Summers world and
 it's always fun to switch up and play guitar.  In the future there will be
 more songs by me at the same percentage as they are now. I'm the drummer
 that steps out once in a blue moon.  We have a new song were I am a singing 
drummer called "Girls in the City".

REAX: Twelve songs is a very strong full length freshman release? Were there songs that you had to cut or was that pretty much your present arsenal 
exhausted?
NY:  Yes we did have to cut some songs but not too many.  All the songs that 
ended up on Silver just seemed to fit together nicely. Right now we have
 enough material for another EP and another LP.  We are writing new songs 
almost every week which is both overwhelming and invigorating!



REAX: Have you ever smoked marijuana and has it ever contributed to writing a song? (I don’t like to make assumptions)
NY:  There is a marijuana I use called imagination.


DC:  No. Yes.



REAX: Ok, parting shot for both of you. What was the Last CD in the player or song on the iPod?
NY: "Down to the Wire" by Buffalo Springfield


DC: Flying Burrito Bros. "Sin City. Best of..."  CD in my car.

REAX: Favorite summertime beverage?
NY: Hefewiezen with a lemon!



DC: Homemade juice / Beer / Water

.

REAX: Last time you felt threatened in a foreign city on the road?
NY: Driving through Tennessee from SXSW 2010.  Crazy drivers without fear
 of death and we did the whole stretch from Texas to Virginia in one shot.
 Daniel is a trucker!




DC: I always think theft is a corner away in larger cities.  I'm a paranoid
 country boy, but I'm not stoned.