Between dorm room demos and shows across the state, Twin Suns have spent the past two years finding their voice. In their newest EP, it emerges fully formed
The Florida-based surf rock band consisting of Nathan Manning, Adrian Walker, Evan Vogel, John Powell and Zack Sjuggerud released their debut EP, “The Suns Up,” Aug. 23. The EP consists of six tracks reflecting on the members’ perspectives on the world.
Rising from the remains of Sjuggerud, Manning and Powell’s previous project named Red Lights, Twin Suns released their debut single ‘Under the Moon” on April 8. The band recorded the EP in October 2020 after sending hundreds of early-stage demos to one another.
“‘The Suns Up’ is a collection of songs we’ve written over the past year and a half,” guitarist Vogel said. “It was a bunch of demos sent back and forth since we all live so far in different places and whenever we got the chance to meet up we try to jam on it live as much as we could.”
With members scattered all over North and Central Florida, the band functions in a remote dynamic consisting of members sharing ideas virtually and then testing songs by playing them live.
“You can tell a song is decent when we can come together as a band and really play it,” bassist Powell said.
The earliest version of the EP’s opening track, “The Hermit,” dates back to October 2019, when Sjuggerud and Powell came up with it in their University of Central Florida dorm room.
The song’s lyrics tell a story of “esoteric love and it’s capacity for personal fulfillment,” according to lead singer Manning.
“Over time, the speaker follows the hermit and finds his reclusiveness alluring,” Manning explained in an email. “Fully aware of the wandering boy’s appreciation and intrigue, the hermit speaks to him at his deathbed. He reminds the boy of how fast his experiences went by, simply through loving all that he did.”
The band’s eclectic sound draws influences from Australian indie, psychedelia, 80’s rock and reggae to create energetic and colorful songs. Ranging from breezy summer-like songs like “Making Sounds” to heavier-sounding tracks like “Ruk”, the EP showcases all facets of the Twin Suns sound.
Their lyrics create fictional characters through which the band questions the role of materialistic values in modern society.
The song “Further Down,” which Manning describes as “an exposé of time,” narrates a fictional character’s fixation on money and time as he descends into his fate.
The band’s debut single and sixth track in the EP, “Under the Moon”, impressed a listener to the point of securing funding for the EP.
“My roommate’s girlfriend’s dad heard ‘Under the Moon’ and he said ‘these guys are really talented, and I hate seeing talent go to waste due to a lack of funds,’” Sjuggerud said.
The band continues to frequently play live shows and meets up once or twice a month to work on new material.
They will be playing at the Soundbar in Orlando this Friday alongside The Forum, Venture Motel and Woodlawn.
“It’s way too much driving,” Sjuggerud said. “But it’s worth it.”
Contact Kristine at kvillarroel@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @ktnedelvalle.
Kristine Villarroel is a UF journalism senior and The Alligator's Summer 2023 Engagement Managing Editor. She previously worked in the Avenue and Caimán desks as an editor and reporter. In her free time, she looks for dusty fur coats at antique shops and pretends not to be a hater on Twitter.
