The Sumner Brothers

Well, I’m back from my vacation in the great Maine woods. Nothing better than camping with a bunch of suburbians, with their little toy dogs, accusing my dog of trying to eat theirs for lunch. I should have let it happen.

Anyway,now that I’m back home, it’s time to grab a beer, kick back, and listen to The Sumner Brothers. These guys from British Columbia have really grabbed that gritty, hardworking man feel reminiscent of the REAL country guys (i.e. Cash, Waylon). The perfect music to just throw on some headphones and just wonder off to. A real vacation.

My personal favorite: Both Back



I recently had the chance to ask Brian, one half of The Sumner Brothers, a few questions:

1. How Were The Sumner Brothers Formed

- well……we’re brothers……..so I guess it was kinda bound to happen….we’re not too far apart in age…..so we do a lot of things together …a lot of the same friends etc….so why not a band…….I think our writing might have matured around the same time… …we both reached a point where we had written literally hundreds of songs and we’re getting to where we felt like we could express ourselves…that was about 3 and half years ago and that’s when we decided to put the group together.

2. How Would You Describe Your Sound

- my brother likes indie-roots and I like alt-country……but I don’t know …if you come to our live show you’ll hear one thing….and if you listen to the album you’ll hear another…..the album is folk–roots–blues …we recorded that live in a cabin on Galiano island …we were out in the woods for 2 weeks with a keg of beer, our gear and a pro-tools rig……so it has that sound …for sure………at our live show, on the other hand, we’re playing stuff that’s not even going on the next record….but the one after that….and it’s different …a little harder to put your finger on………my brother and I can’t hardly sing though …so I imagine everything we do sounds a little folky.

3. Who Are Your Main Influences

- Johnny Cash for his truthfulness, Willie Nelson for his guitar playing, Toots and The Maytals and The Who for what a band could sound like, Darcy Lougheed and Phil Saylor Wisor for their conviction, The Streets for their wit, Hank Williams for his humor, John Coltrane for his power and Kurt Cobain for his song writing,

4. What Music Are You Listening To Now

- we got a new band in town here now called The Star Captains…..bunch of buddies in that one…they’re brand new and real ^&*$&^% good……they do like a 70s hype – heavy – dance thing ….it’s exhausting telling people you like their music when you don’t …usually I just say nothing….keep my mouth shut……that’s why it was such a breath of fresh air when Jimbo (The Star Captains guitar player) showed me this E.P. they had put together with the same producer that recorded our album (Derek Defilippo) and I liked it…..really liked it....finally I could tell someone that and mean it……......other than that I’ve been listening to the Frida sound track a whole bunch ….and I know my brother has been listening to a ton of our fellow Canadian …Chad Van Gaalen

5. What Was Your Best Show So Far

- our Christmas show……..we do it every year and next year’s will be the fourth annual….they’re crazy….we get about 150 people out…..it’s loud …..people are dressed up….we got a giant inflatable snowmen…….we do a deal where you get a Sumner Brothers shot glass, a shot of whisky and your picture taken with Santa Clause for 5 bucks….the whole thing is pretty fast-paced and intense…..and I love Christmas so that would have to be it.

6. What Does The World Need To Know About The Sumner Brothers

- that this is what we do……write songs ..play shows and sell records…..we don’t have day jobs …we don’t have a college degrees ……we don’t have a trade…..we’re not going to disappear ….there’s no back up plan…no safety net…………..if you like the music …you need to buy the album….then we’ll take that money and make another album….and so on and so forth……and in each and every case I can guarantee we love our supporters and fans more than they love us

DEAD LIKE DEATH

As I’ve said before, I grew up a huge fan of Boston Hardcore. Bands the likes of Tree, Stompbox, and Sam Black Church only scratch the surface of a hugely diverse scene that continues to thrive.

I’ve been seriously neglecting my roots.

Dead Like Death shows what Boston Hardcore is to all of us. Unforgiving, aggressive PUNK that you will not find in any other city in the world.




1) What other bands were you guys in before DLD?

DLD: Well Steve (drums) was the front man/guitars in a sick power rock 3-piece called the Underdogs and Age Rings, a really good spacey indie rock band, and is currently also playing drums in a bluesy/poppy rock band called I Have Ears… he is a music making junkie… he is a source of constant output and a great manufacturer of songs. Chris (bass) was/is in a bunch of bands too... Pivot, Pipe, is currently in Monolith, and we are lucky to have scooped him up recently... I (yelling boy) was in a hardcore band called Van Three, and Al (guitar) has also been in a bunch of bands and is also a ridiculous, music creating madman, Little Room, Mancain and Age Rings with Steve as well as currently being in I Have Ears and a heavy rock/metal outfit from Dorchester called Beneath the Stone...

2) How did you all meet to form the band?

DLD: Al, Steve and I had met during the Mancain/Van Three days... Steve used to show up at Mancain shows and do sound so we had him do it for us too when we played together... we all jammed a bunch together and when al and my bands broke up the opportunity arose for us to get things going and we did.. Chris is the newest addition to DLD but also used to play in a band Pivot that played a bunch of shows with both van 3 and mancain, so fate has drawn us together again...

3)Your sound seems to draw heavily from older Boston hardcore. What bands have influenced your sound?

DLD: Our influences are extremely diverse and encompass the spectrum of music but hell yeah, definitely draw from a lot of old Boston bands... for me personally I love a lot of the old BHC stuff and still listen to a ton of it today.. I know Al is into a lot of local Boston music too... actually all of us are... even though we don't get out as much as we used to... haha... bands like SSD, Tree, Blood for Blood, Jerry's Kids, Gang Green, Overcast, Only Living Witness, Slap Shot are some of my favorites... bands we draw from.. scissorfight, crash and burn, Pantera, Superjoint ritual, Ratos de porao, S.O.D., Guns -n- Roses, Foo Fighters, Queens of the stone age, Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth,Refused, Faith No More, Quicksand, Living Colour, Nirvana are just a few others...

4)What bands are you listening to now?

DLD: Everything up above of course... lately i've been listening to alot of different stuff... Dismantle the Cyborg, Raw Radar War, The New Revocation, Rampant Decay, Jesu, Gojira, Superpower, Milo's Syndicate, The New Satyricon, Outlaw Order, Shitty Carwash...

5) Talk about one of your most memorable shows.

DLD: The show that never happened..

We had a show at the Midway in JP with our buddies Beneath the Stone, GUT, and We're all Gonna Die.. it was a reunion show for GUT who hadn't played in forever, and a 1st show for Beneath the Stone who used to be Medicine4Tim and have a pretty big following of faithful friends and fans.. the place was friggin packed to the gills.. i have never seen that many people at the midway.. GUT went on first played like 2 songs and the fire marshals showed up and shut it down. Everyone was so pissed... DLD had been looking forward to that show for months as had all the other bands... when bands that your band is friends with play it makes it so much better.. Not to be daunted... Beneath the Stone said fuck it they brought anyone who wanted to go back to their practice space in Southie and we had the show there... every band played a full set and kicked the shit out of it... it went from being psyched, to completely let down, to awesome drunken fest all within the space of an hour.. .it was really cool to see it happen.

6) What’s coming up for DLD? Shows? Recording?

DLD: Well to be honest.. in typical DLD form, we are sorta slacking/sorta getting shit done… when Chris signed on we had a furious month getting the songs down and rehearsing for an upcoming show that we had scheduled before our previous bassist quit… so after that summer was upon us and we have all been pretty busy doing other shit so our writing has suffered… but we are back writing now and almost have enough material to record another full-length and actually have been recording some material down at Mad Oak with our good friend and engineer Joe Saliba.. so far we got 3 new songs done and i gotta say it's the best sounding stuff we have put down to date… so hopefully we can keep on with that..

Shows-wise as of right now we don't have anything booked until November 13th at O'Brien's... but it's going to be a fucking awesome show... us and Chris Evil & the Taints, Bonestorm, and Hot on the Heels.. I’m really looking forward to this show. It will most definitely be entertaining and full of hops and barley. I'm hoping to book a couple more in the meantime but until that happens Nov. 13th is my reason to live…haha..