Exclusive Interview with Art Pop Band Sure Sure

Sure Sure is an art pop band from the Eastside of Los Angeles, California comprised of Chris Beachy (keys/synths/lead vocals), Charlie Glick (guitar/vocals), Mike Coleman (bass/vocals) and Kevin Farzad (drums). The band just released their new EP, What’s It Like?, and the lead single/title track is currently in rotation on SiriusXM AltNation and The Pulse.

I got the chance to talk to the band – who has an impeccable sense of humor as you can see in their answers – about their musical influences, what inspired their song “What’s It Like?”, what they’re nerding out about and more! Keep reading to see what they had to say!

For those who might not have ever heard of y’all, can you give us a brief history of the band and how it culminated into what it is now?

Of course. We were teenagers living in New York City. To save on rent, we took up residence in the sewers, where a man named Hamato Yoshi took us under his wing. One day, we accidentally fell into some glowing mutagenic goo, whereupon we transformed into our current form: Sure Sure. Then, Hamato Yoshi AKA Master Splinter, a genius multi-instrumentalist who specializes in drums, bass, guitar and synths, put us through a rigorous musical training program. He also trained us in ninjutsu. We also love pizza.

Where did the name Sure Sure come from?

We were observing deep space with a radio telescope when we received a signal that said “Sure Sure” out of the muck of the background radiation. It seems that “Sure Sure” is a phrase that’s been around since The Big Bang.

I’m always genuinely curious about what artists want to convey to listeners with their music. Your sound could be classified as alt-rock, but if you had to describe it without using genre names, how would you describe it?

It’s like throwing a frisbee at the park with four of your friends, and one of your friends is clearly the weak link, but you work together to create a positive frisbee flow.

Kind of going off of that, who are some of your musical influences?

It’s all over the place. Usually a combination of what we’re listening to/reading. Lately, we’ve been listening to Juana Molina, LCD Soundsystem, Daft Punk, Adrianne Lenker, Big Thief. We’re also inspired by Pluto’s fight to reinstate itself as a planet.

Let’s talk about your new EP, What’s It Like?, which is also the name of the EP’s lead single. Why did you want to name the EP this?

We wanted a title with a question mark to make formatting as difficult as possible.

What was the recording process like for this EP? How long did it take for this to come together from start to finish?

2018 was the first year we toured, so we wrote and recorded these tunes whenever we had a chance between touring and moving houses over the past year.

As I mentioned earlier, the lead single is “What’s It Like?”. What inspired that song?

Charlie was reading Proust, who is an author who wrote novels. And Proust has this thing about the seed of love being the unquenchable desire to be apart of someone else’s world when you don’t know them and their whole world is a mystery. And all you wanna know is What Is It Like to be a part of their world? It’s like that feeling of falling in love with every stranger on public transportation, or seeing someone in the trail mix aisle of Trader Joe’s and wondering, What Is It Like?. Charlie reads novels.

What was the songwriting process like for this song specifically?

We stuck this song in a set-list and went on tour where we tried it in front of a different audience every night. We hadn’t ever workshopped a song live like that, and it was really fun. I highly recommend it. I recommend starting a band with your 3 best friends and then driving around the country in a Ford Transit.

In general, do you guys tend to write by yourselves or do you like collaborating with other writers and artists in co-writes?

Usually Chris & Charlie will come in with some kind of melodic/harmonic/lyrical idea, or Kevin will come in with a spicy groove, and then we start to build the song together. Then we get stuck and go to the park, where we throw a frisbee and wonder what we should eat for dinner. Stir fry? Pasta? Lentils? One thing is for sure: there will be a salad on the side.

As a band, what are some music industry-related goals or benchmarks that you’re aiming to reach in the next couple of years?

By Q3 2020, we’d love to become completely liquid.

Last question — we’re called Talk Nerdy With Us because we all have an inner nerd so what is something that you’re currently nerding out about?

Chris is on a Magic The Gathering trip. Kevin studies Scrabble 7-letter words by probability. Charlie recently made a kaleidoscope. Mike wears a lot of spandex and rides bikes.

For more information, make sure you visit the band’s website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Photo Credit: Matthew John Benton