Following their visceral single ‘Higher Fire’, Franco-German brutal-pop outfit SUN have now announced the release of their debut EP.
With an intense, brooding sound that is uniquely theirs, SUN is the embodiment of founder and sole member Karoline Rose’s brutal pop aesthetic, creating utterly captivating, atmospheric soundscapes.
We caught up with Karoline to find out more…
Hi Karoline, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about SUN?
Hi Get In Her Ears! SUN is my music project. Live we play as a two-piece (I’m on guitar/bass and vocals and I have a mysterious drummer with me). Since I was a teenage metalhead in Germany I wanted to blend Pop and Metal with just a hint of Riot Grrrl. I came up with the term Brutal Pop. For years I was chasing after that Brutal Pop sound. I went from Church Choir to Death metal bands, then did Contemporary Theatre and Musicals as a performer. All in order to gain the skills to create the Sound and the Live show I had in mind since my childhood. SUN was born two years ago and SUN’s first EP Brutal Pop just came out in December. I feel so relieved that I finally have my very own musical language together and out in the world!
How did you initially start creating music?
I would imitate my mom (who is a French chanson singer) as a toddler and go through some classical training on the piano as a child. When I was twelve I discovered Courtney Love and Tairrie B and from then on I knew I had to make heavy music. My American aunt would send me cool CD’s from oversees and I would analyse the song structure and the lyrics and create my own. I had my first band at 12 (they were between 18-25) and it all started then.
Your latest single ‘I Killed My Man’ is out now – can you tell us what it’s all about? Are there any themes running throughout the track?
‘I Killed My Man’ is a goodbye to a toxic relationship/ toxic relationships in general. Sometimes we mistake admiration for love and lose ourselves in the process. It can make us accept the unacceptable and it is very hard to get out of that kind of situation without casualties. I wanted to say goodbye to that relationship but also to all the toxicity in my life. I also wanted to say goodbye to someone I lost a long time ago.
You’ve been compared to the likes of Chelsea Wolfe all the way to Pink, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
I think my top 3 would be Michael Jackson, Hole and Devin Townsend! It’s really representative of the mix I wanted to hear for so long: Groovy Pop, Indie Grunge (life through this era) and powerful yet original Metal.
How is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
In Paris we have some really cool spots and cool bands. Local promoters like Hypergéante or Morsure organise great gigs at Olympic Café, Espace B or the amazing Bus Palladium. In my second hometown Karlsruhe (Germany) we have an amazing club called Substage. In both cases the local scene is very small and especially in France promoters and festivals prefer to welcome foreign bands than giving the locals a shot. That’s why I try to support locals as much as I can.
And what can fans expect from your live shows?
Our live performances are a Brutal Pop show. My background in Contemporary Theatre and Musicals helped us to make our shows more 360 degrees, not only – foot on wedge – rock n roll (even if there’s nothing wrong with that!). I wanted to be able to create a space in which I can let loose, run, jump, come from different angles without cables and surround my drummer like a wild lion playing with his prey. I would say that our live performances are pop shows but we headbang… a lot!
As we’re a new music focused site, are there any new/upcoming bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
I recommend my Parisien friends Toybloid (female fronted riot grrrl) as well as one of the craziest french bands ever, Igorrr!
And how do you feel the music industry is for new bands at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
It is difficult to get past the algorithm. if you don’t want to force your music on an audience that you’ve targeted and paid for you have less chances to be heard. . Things are chaotic right now and no one really knows what to do (labels, press etc) no one can be certain of any strategy, but maybe that is a good thing! Great music might take root in chaos and take off out of nowhere.
Finally, what does 2020 have in store for you?
SUN’s first EP Brutal Pop just came out in December 2019 and the second EP is already finished. It will come out in April 2020. In the meanwhile we will be touring Europe from January until April in a theatre play (‘Nous l’Europe’) in which I am an actress and SUN is the play’s music (for real! We play ‘Higher Fire’ and ‘I killed My Man’ amongst others). We will then go back to touring normally, and get our debut album ready!
Massive thanks to Karoline for answering our questions!
Brutal Pop, the debut EP from SUN is out now. Watch the new video for ‘I Killed My Man’ here:
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