INTERVIEW BY ALEXIS PASCHAL
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY WESLEY BUNCH
Though the band known as has been around since 2011 and toured throughout the United States, as well as Tokyo, SUBURBAN LIVING has always been about Wesley Bunch. Raised in Virginia Beach, Bunch’s music and lyrics combine elements of late 80’s influenced dream pop, as well as late 90’s emo. Along with a rotating band of friends, Bunch has truly captured something special that is unlike anything that anyone is doing in the Hampton Roads music scene. His latest EP Cooper’s Dream, which Bunch produced with Mark Padgett and Brad Rosenburg, is described by Bunch in the following manner: “This is an EP I wrote on my own when I was jobless and out of college periodically. I also wrote it while watching Twin Peaks pretty heavily. The TV show provided miniscule inspiration and is just a fun fact about my life during the writing/recording process of this record.”
I saw that you said you’ve been writing music for about eight years now? How has that been for you?
It’s been awesome. I’ve gotten great satisfaction out of it, and I can’t really imagine a life without being focused on songwriting as much as I am.
What’s your favorite part about making music?
There’s always a moment in the middle of working on a new song when you hit the right melody or when “everything clicks” and you’re like, “Yeah! This is awesome!” That’s my favorite part; there’s no better feeling than that in the world.
You have claimed to be sort of introverted. How does that work with your fans?
I’m definitely introverted when it comes to exposing my music. It’s tough with SUBURBAN LIVING because it all falls back on me, but I’ve been working harder at being more confident on stage. It’s different with fans, because those people are generally really vocal on how much they like SUBURBAN LIVING so it’s like, “Whoa! You really like it? Sick!” I engage with every fan who reaches out, because I’ve engaged with so many bands that can be real assholes to their fans.
Do you have any weird fan stories you’d like to share?
Almost every single fan experience in Tokyo was different. We had this one teenage girl who was super into the band and barley spoke English. She wanted to buy some merch and picked up our 7’’ record and had no idea what it was. She tried bending it and held it like it was some alien life form or something (laughs). I tried really hard in broken Japanese to explain to her that it wasn’t a CD. I wound up just giving her the record because she bought a t-shirt. It was awesome, and she was stoked.
Do you like the direction in music you’re heading towards right now?
Definitely. I’m super excited about the new record; it’s shaping up really well. It’s a lot darker sounding, and every song has more lyrical depth than anything else I’ve put out.
What is your favorite song you’ve recorded?
Definitely one of the new full length songs. As far as a song that’s currently released, “I Don’t Fit In” was awesome to record. I tracked and mixed the song in six hours. It was the last song we needed to do for the Cooper’s Dream EP. Then immediately after finishing it, my engineer and I drunkenly mastered the EP, and I had a final product the next morning.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO COOPER’S DREAM EP
Do you prefer house shows or venues?
They’re both different. I’ll play anywhere. I’ve had amazing experiences at house shows and also really, really shitty experiences at house shows. Some bro kids got in my face at this house show in New Jersey one time because I wasn’t comfortable with them using my drum set. One of them drunkenly tried to fight me and called me something along the lines of a ‘Rick Moranis looking mothafucka’. Looking back at it, it’s a funny story, but when you’re out on the road for a week playing shows and some stupid stuff like that happens, it can really piss you off. I guess the same experiences can be said for shows at bars too. You never know what you’re gonna get yourself into out there, but I love that about playing shows.
What do you do outside of music?
Work at a music shop in Virginia Beach. I’ve been pretty obsessed with the NBA playoffs lately. I also DJ from time-to-time.
Do you have any music goals as of right now?
Just to finally put this record out and play a ton of shows afterwards.
For more updates on SUBURBAN LIVING, be sure to “like” their Facebook page, follow them on Twitter and Tumblr, and check out their music on Bandcamp.
