Raw, Psychedelic Duo to Release Debut Album

Courtesy Photo
Courtesy Photo Samuel Emerick (left) and James Rose (right) together form Of The Heavy Sun.

Aggressive riffage, a crazy bass/guitar rig, grungy vocals and psychedelic effects make up the raw sound of new Fayetteville rockers Of The Heavy Sun.

Fresh on the scene starting early this year, Samuel Emerick (drums, vocals) and James Rose (bass/guitar, vocals) were looking to make music as their previous bands Animal Noise and The Ugly Suns dissolved. Emerick has had his family room set up as a recording studio for years, and the two started jamming without trying to fit any conventions. Throughout a period of six months, the two wrote and recorded an entire 12-track album. This weekend, the band plans on sharing it with the world — or at least Fayetteville for now.

The release self-titled album will be celebrated at the band’s album release party at the Syc House Saturday, June 27. The DIY venue is located at 20 W. Sycamore in Fayetteville, and has a BYOB drink policy. Along with Of the Heavy Sun will be Vintage Pistol, Witchsister and Meatsweat.

Check out our conversation with Samuel Emerick about Of The Heavy Sun:

TFW: Let’s talk origin story. How did Of The Heavy Sun come to fruition?

EMERICK: Both of our former bands were coming to an end. At first we talked about doing something with just the bass and drums. We jammed together and we had the same exact music style, as far as wanting to do something in the psychedelic kinda realm. So he had this pedal board system to turn his bass into a guitar and I learned how to sing and play drums at the same time — which is pretty weird. We jut started riffing on that and it all came together. Neither of us do one thing. The two of us try to produce what a three or four-piece band would sound like.

TFW: Wait a minute, how does your stage rig look when you play live?

EMERICK: Nobody has really understood it until they’ve seen it. Basically what it is, I sing and play drums, and James plays a bass that goes through a pretty crazy rig he’s set up to make it sound like a guitar. That sounds a little weird, but it actually does work live. It’s a series of octave pedals and a loop pedal…but honestly I couldn’t explain it. James also sings background harmonizing with me. Usually we’ll switch in the middle of the set and he’ll play drums while I play his bass thing. Right now it’s just a four string bass, a drum set, two microphones and a lot of jammin’.

TFW: What’s at the core of Of The Heavy Sun? What are you guys going for?

EMERICK: Between the both of us, James’ a classically trained musician. I’ve been playing on Dickson since I was 16, and I’ve been in a ton of bands. This would be James’ first or second band. When you boil it all down, we’re trying to be a two-piece band that produces as much sound as a four-piece band. We take everything we do really seriously. We’re not sitting around goofing off at rehearsal and we practice hard for two or three hours. We want people to hear us and think, “How are two guys doing everything?” The goal would be to try to bring a weird style of music to the area. There’s so much amazing music in Fayetteville. There are the best bands there’s been as long as I’ve been in the scene, so we’re trying to keep up with how good the local music [is]. We’ve got Shawn James, Thunder Lizards, Dead Indian, SW/MM/NG, Teenagers, there’s a lot of great local bands. It’s awesome cause we have the opportunity to get to play with a lot of great people.

TFW: So, you guys psyched for the album release?

EMERICK: Definitely. I’ve recorded several albums and played with other bands, and I’m really the most proud of this album. James and I did all of it ourselves. We’re going to be playing with a band called Meatsweat, and the bassist used to be in Animal Noise with me. They’re sort of a punk rock outfit. Witchsister, as I’m sure you know, are a bunch of kick ass sisters. We’ll be with Vintage Pistol, who are some dope rockers. I saw them at George’s and thought it was awesome.

Anna Hutchinson will be doing a live performance music video and we plan to mosh it all up. It’s also our last show in Fayetteville. After this I’m moving to Seattle, and I’m doing everything we can here and get shows lined up. Don’t expect to park at the Syc House on Saturday though. Carpool if you can and park at the McDonald’s off Sycamore. Parties can get crazy there!