Sun Wizard… Getting some sitting in before the standfest of SXSW

SXSW Q&A: Sun Wizard

Published on February 8th, 2012 | Jonny Abrams

It’s SXSW time in Austin, Texas next month, so Rocksucker fired off some carefully considered questions to bands who shall be performing there, specifically those on the really rather splendid roster of artist development agency Solid Gold. Next up, it’s Vancouver’s finest purveyors of sunnily disposed indie-pop Sun Wizard …

“World’s Got a Handle”

Hello! How are you?

Pretty good, just hunkering down recording our new record, staying away from the rain, you know?

If you’ve been to SXSW before, what were your most memorable experiences of it? If you haven’t, what manner of crazy crap have you heard about it that you’re looking forward to checking out for yourself?

You know, I have never been, certainly the band ain’t been before, so pretty stoked to cut loose a little. I know its a gong show down there, but I could be down with that.

Which other bands are you looking forward to seeing?

I haven’t even looked at who else is playing, but I am sure once we are down there, there’ll be plenty I am into. That’s a shitty answer, eh?

“Safe and Sound”

Have you got a decent place to sleep lined up, or are you going to be “roughing it”?

Our buddy Jason is organising a show down there, the Olio show, so he has a hotel room we can crash in. So yeah, we are living lavish for the week, like six guys in a room. It’s perfect, really.

Are you a fan of festival food? Any particular favourites?

I don’t even know what festival food is. Is that a thing? Like hot dogs or something? Can I get Texas toast, what is Texan food? I would probably Wiki it right now if it wasn’t blacked out. Damn it, you really need that site, eh? (Paid-up donator Rocksucker says: Amen to that!) Festival food is like sponsors realistically isn’t it; I heard you can get your tours sponsored by Taco Bell pretty easy, and then the only condition is you eat it on the road a bunch, which is pretty much what happens anyway. Sounds like a deal.

Will you be taking any of the following with you: hand sanitizer, baby wipes, earplugs, a fanny bag (or bum bag as we call them on our side of the pond), a flashlight, a miniature fan, a pop-up tent, an inflatable mattress and/or pillow, a fold-up chair, or other (please specify)?

Well, I don’t really believe in washing hands too much, I think it makes you sicker in the long run.
Baby wipes, now you mention it, are probably a good thing to have around if we are eating lots of Taco Bell. Don’t need earplugs, we just play rock music man.
Fanny packs are like a whole different genre,
Blow up mattresses are a summer festival thing, or for floating down rivers.
And I am gonna stand most of the time I am down there.

“Quit Acting Cold”

Do you have any helpful, practical advice for our readers (SXSW-related or otherwise?)

Yeah, go camping this summer; sometimes you forget to do it, but it is always worth it.

What else have you got lined up for 2012?

We gotta get this record finished, get it out maybe April, maybe Fall, and then tour the shit out of it, it’s really that simple. I personally am seeing my folks in May for the first time in a couple of years, so that’s pretty cool.

Do you have any suggestions for additional questions to use in the future should this particular Q&A catch on?

No, you got it down, the stupider the questions the better I think, the more abstract the answers the better.

Sun Wizard, thank you.

Sun Wizard Green Couch Session

Click here to read Rocksucker‘s 2011 interview with Sun Wizard!

For more information and a list of live dates, please check out the band’s Facebook and Bandcamp pages.

Artists: sun wizard

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.