[R]evolution of a Sun

Who and what is [R]evolution of a Sun?
We are a band based in cork in the south of ireland. There are six of us in the band; 2 guitarists, bassist, drummer, vocalist and a vocalist/percussionist.

How long have you been together?
We’ve been together now for around 2 and a half years, but the lineup has changed alot since we started.

When did you first start playing together?
Well we started from the ashes of another band called Half Mast who played a kind of sludgy hardcore but we were significantly changing with regards to the music and 3 Half Mast members left so we decided to start a new band. We initially were playing straight up metallic hardcore but after about a year the other guitarist left and the vocalist did soon after. We found a new guitarist after a conversation with him in a pub and the vocalist joined when he came up to see what all the noise was about. The old drummer from Half Mast joined then as a second vocalist and floor tom basher. We changed direction then, playing more discordant and faster. All in all the whole lineup at the moment came about via a series of happy accidents.

Where was the first show you guys ever played?
The first show we played with the old line up was in dublin with Bastard Youth. We were shit. The first show we played with the new line up was in cork with Coldwar which we were also shit at. Things didn’t get off to a great start either way.

Where did the name ‘[R]evolution of a sun’ come from?
Right, strap yerself in for this one. We see revolution as the catalyst for change, and i’m not talking specifically about insurrection just revolutionary ideas, different ways of thinking etc. So revolution is related to evolution hence the brackets around the [r], one and the same etc. And the reason why the name refers to “a sun” and not “the sun” is that it suggests an open paradigm, i.e. it is applicable to anything you want to apply it to, it’s pretty generic. I know all this sounds like self important pseudo intellectual babble but we wanted to have a name that meant something to us and not just the usual hardcore orientated cliche.

Musically who would you say are your biggest influences? and lyrically who and what influence you most?
Musically we are all major Breach fans. Other influences are bands like Converge, Neurosis. But for the most part we try to stick crust, hardcore, noise, post rock etc into what we do. We just like playing negative, aggressive music. Also we’re big into layering stuff ala God Speed You Black Emperor, but we haven’t really played much of that live yet. Lyrically, well we all right the lyrics, some are in french and some are in english. What each person writes about is up to themselves but mainly it’s to do with frustration and emptiness, you know the usual alienation people feel in contemporary society, a pretty universal theme really. As long as the stuff has a good flow, a decent rhythm and sounds pissed off, paradoxically we’re happy.

What has been the best show you guys have ever played?
We’ve played with some really cool people over the last two years. Castlebar with Sherman M4 was one of my favourites. We played in Nantes with Watertank and Casper and that was really enjoyable. Anytime the Naut are in town we have a
good time and also our emo friends My Remorse always make sure we are always enjoying ourselves.

Name three GOOD things about being in [R]evolution of a sun?
Jamming, jamming, jamming. There is nothing better to me than being in a room with 5 other people who, because of a shared vision and outlook, can put the sounds in my head into music. That is one of the only things in the world that makes me 100% happy

Name three BAD things about being in[R]evolution of a sun?
Playing gigs. The kick i used to get out of playing live for me is well dead, the rest of the band still have it but they can see that i really don’t like it. I guess it’s just all the shit that goes with playing has eventually eclipsed the actual playing itself. I much prefer to make music. I still play live but only because i get to meet new people and make friends in different
places. I’m probably the wrong person in the band to ask about this because i’m the most grumpy/moany hahaha.

If you were locked in a room with George w. Bush what would you do?
Well not use any big words for a start. Jesus where do you being about this? This man is endemic of the celebration of ignorance that has become global culture. He is disillusion manifest. We are dumbing down at a rate of knots and the end result is twits like Bush. I have no idea how this is all going to pan out but it’s very frustrating to watch it happen and being effectively powerless to stop it. I suppose the only thing the individual can do is become more informed and make decisions that are morally sound as opposed to what’s convenient.

I’ve heard that you plan on doing an Irish tour around September, tell us more?
We were supposed to do that tour with My Remorse but we are just after coming back from a 6 date tour in France so we just want to take it easy with gigs. Also our vocalist is still in France and we don’t know when he’s going to be back. So it’s very doubtful if we will do that tour. At the moment we want to focus on writing more stuff for a full length that we are planning to record at the end of this year.

You’ve just released an e.p called Titan, can you tell us a little about that?
Titan was recorded in November last year. We recorded six tracks but only released 5. Overall we’re not that happy with it so we don’t push it that much. At this stage if anybody wants a copy just email me and i’ll send it on.
The last words are all yours…
Thanks very much for the interview, and i mean that, it’s our first one. Hopefully we might make it up to Bray sometime this year. Take it easy.