The members of Sugarwall are not the ordinary musicians struggling to find their voice in a time of economic upheaval. While it may not seem like the safest path to take, these four musicians are taking a chance and reaching for their dreams. They believe that the opportunity to take your career choices into your own hands is still there. This could be true, and dreams come true for those who want it the most. Sugarwall is about to find out. They are heading out around the country on tour, bringing music they believe in to people everywhere.
The Making of a Band
Sugarwall has been a long time in the making. After touring the Midwest in 2008, they parted ways with their lead singer and new bassist Rick Barrio Dill was asked to help find a replacement. Without any hesitation, he called upon a close friend and 5th generation musician Ronnie Dee (son of legendary recording artist Joey Dee & the Starliters). Ronnie contributed a fresh new perspective to the music and from there, the two worked on re-recording and re-writing the material. Rounding out the band is the talented Joey Lowe on drums and North Carolina native Mitch on guitar.
A Melding of Sounds
Now, bursting out of the L.A. scene, comes a new Sugarwall. Their sound is a unique combination of old school rock fused with vintage soul, hints of country, and a modern edge that separates them from the rest. Think Matchbox 20 meets Rascal Flatts crossed with Train. Sugarwall delivers superbly crafted songs layered with ultra catchy guitar hooks, soulful infectious vocal melodies, and a solid groove that will keep listeners wanting more.
Praised as one of the best live bands you’ll see out there today, Sugarwall is an experience one simply cannot miss. Watch for dates near you and the new record “Find A Way” which was digitally released in June 2009. With notable tracks such as “Better Days,” “Video Star,” and “Nothing,” you must check these guys out.
LA’s The Place interviewed the band.
LATP: Your band is taking a risk during a very intense time in the economy. Besides the typical answer of “music is your true passion,” why are you taking a chance on your music over financial stability at a 9-5 job?
Sugarwall: Funny question really. I think the band comes from a place where we feel we don’t even have a “choice”…this is what we were meant to do and any other pursuit would just be lying to ourselves. Plenty of people love to tell you how bad the industry is, but if you are really following what you feel is your inner purpose and what gives you the most sense of “completion”, I think listeners and the public “get that” and the outcome will have positivity attached to it.
LATP: Tell us about your new LP “Find A Way.” What other groups can the sound compare to and how is it different from typical rock music in the scene today?
Sugarwall: We like to describe our sound as if Matchbox 20, the Goo Goo Dolls and Lifehouse all walked into a country bar and collectively picked some great Otis Redding songs off the jukebox…Sugarwall would come out the speakers. You could easily say that this is different from typical rock music today because our singer Ronnie Dee has a soulful and emotive aspect to his voice and tone that you don’t hear on this kind of Rock-Country-Pop…at all. It’s inspiring and again, I think the public get this too.
LATP: The Los Angeles music scene is typically either punk or singer songwriters, is that correct? How does that affect Sugarwall?
Sugarwall: I don’t know if I could say that about LA and the “scene”. I love Los Angeles with a passion, I just don’t personally feel any real “deep scene” just because the city is so big and diverse. Sugarwall is really simple and in some ways a new hybrid of a few different feel-good sonic elements. Our sound plays well in the other 90% of the country where life might be simpler, less hectic and maybe more traditional. Someone reviewed the record the other day and called us new “Nashville Rock” and I thought that kinda made sense. We really are a new twist on some of your favorite Rock, Pop or hint-of-Country bands so to speak, and we’re set up to be a touring band that lives wherever people understand this. Whether it would be Nashville, Britain, Sydney or Charleston South Carolina…we live where the music is at.
LATP: Why did you decide to tour as an independent band when the economy is keeping all the other bands at home?
Sugarwall: This gets back to what was brought up earlier. It’s not all “doom and gloom”, its just a different playing field. We know of plenty of bands that are doing great, but its because they are truly connecting with people, they have real talent to share and they have great songs to lead the way. They are building from the bottom up and not letting some “marketing machine” force feed to people what is cool or not. The people know true talent as opposed to something that is cooked up in the studio and live music is getting its day again. You can’t download that experience.
LATP: What do you believe is your stand out track on the album and why?
Sugarwall: That’s a real tough question. You will get a different answer from every 10 people you ask. As the producer on it, I know people might say this a lot, but I think every song we chose for the record is really strong with respect to our genre. We just shot videos for one of the ballads “Better Days” that kind of speaks about how you have to have the hard times to earn and really appreciate the good ones that are coming and then we totally changed feels and also shot a video for our Rock kinda country kitchy tune “Video Star” about a internet stalker. You have the catchy Rocking tunes “Missed You,” “Find A Way” and “Goodbye” and you have the sweet songs like “Forever Now,””Like Yesterday” and “For Your Love” which is the last song on the record, but depending on the time of day, my favorite. That’s the nice thing about the Itunes store…if you want to pick and choose songs for your ipod or mp3 player, get er done…if you want to enjoy all different flavors, pick up the whole record the way we intended the journey to be. Have it your way. (Laughs).
