Clare Thornton chats to Nathan McLaren-Stewart and Luciano from Captain Suun, the garage-psych Bristolians played Astral Fest earlier this month, have been touring with L.A.’s Levitation Room, and recently released their brand new single ‘Sound Of The Sky’.
Interview by Clare Thornton
MOOF: Firstly, if you could all give yourselves a little introduction that would be great.
Nathan: My name is Nathan and I’ve been playing drums since day one, and also Luciano is here and he sings and plays guitar.
MOOF: How did you guys all meet? Was it a mutual love of the same music or just a lucky chance meeting?
Nathan: The original line up met through uni, but I met Luci a few months after that when he was playing in town with another band. He joined, and after a lineup change became the singer, and I met Tom in a dingy bar in the early hours of the morning and said he looked like he digs Deep Purple. I was correct. But overall that bond of music is probably what made it work.
MOOF: What are the origins behind the name Captain Suun?
Nathan: Drinking beer and listening to Parquet Courts. I don’t really remember how the connection was made but it was and here we are over years later still going with it.
MOOF: You describe your music as psychedelic surf rock, is that still your direction or has it changed as the band has evolved?
Nathan: I guess it’s still the direction, but what does psych mean anyway? I feel our latest single shows a much more mature sound to the early days. There’s not quite a specific direction, we just enjoy writing similar music so it happens very organically.
MOOF: One of the founding members Harri has recently left the band do you have any plans on replacing him?
Nathan: Times change, but still we roll on. We will miss Harri but will see where the future takes us and who we will end up playing with.
MOOF: Is the songwriting process individual or a group effort?
Nathan: Most certainly a group effort. People will come in with their individual ideas, a riff or whatever, and then it’s worked on in our studio. Teamwork is key.
MOOF: Who have been or are your main influences?
Nathan: It’s pretty varied. For me it’s contemporary bands like The Growlers, but also I’m mad into Zeppelin and Sabbath. For the band there’s a lot of influence from Del Shannon, 13th Floor Elevators, Ennio Morricone.
MOOF: You’re playing at Astral Fest this July is there any one in particular you would recommend seeing? Is there any particular bands you yourself want to see?*
Nathan: The whole line up is pretty massive, but of course, our friends in Creatures. We will be doing a couple of shows before with Levitation Room, and I recommend watching Mattiel, she’s one of the best out there right now.
MOOF: You recently released your new single ‘Sound of The Sky’ what’s the story behind the song?
Luciano : It just started with the main riff at the beginning and I took it to show everyone. It developed from that. Usually when I write lyrics for songs I try and pick some sort of theme to topics from something I have an interest in. At the time I’m pretty sure we were seeing some great sunsets so I went off that. I was also reading about corrupt Gods, or something, so I snuck in a few lyrics on that theme.
MOOF: Finally, what does the future hold for Captain Suun?
Nathan: Hitting the road as much as we can. We have a few singles to share soon too.
With thanks to Captain Suun for their participation
*Interview conducted at the beginning of July, prior to Astral Fest
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