Neu Get To Know… Sunday (1994)
Their forthcoming debut EP is an exercise in intoxicating indie that’ll put you in mind of cinematic road trips and long summer evenings.
Hello and welcome back to DIY’s introducing feature, Get To Know… which aims to get you a little bit closer to the buzziest acts that have been catching our eye as of late, and working out what makes them tick.
There’s an air of hazy intrigue to Sunday (1994). Maybe it’s the cinematic stylisation of their name; maybe it’s the air of nostalgia surrounding their Americana-tinged indie; maybe its the unlikely combination of Slough and suburban California as breeding grounds for the outfit’s aching, romantic melancholia. Whatever the exact alchemy, the resulting tonic is a potent one - think Lana meets The Cure - and their impassioned TikTok fans will no doubt be thrilled to learn that the band’s six track, self-titled EP is due to arrive next month (3rd May, to be precise). To mark today’s announcement, we meet Sunday (1994)’s writing duo and core members, Paige Turner and Lee Newell.
What are your earliest musical memories?
Lee: I remember being carted about in the backseat of my dad’s shabby white Citroën BX. It was back in the early 1700s, so we’d be listening on cassette. He’d play The Prodigy, Skunk Anansie, The Smiths, Nirvana, Pet Shop Boys and everything in-between. I was an only child to teenage parents, so I got a very contemporary musical education. The backseats were right next to the speakers; it sounded tinny and harsh, and I absolutely loved it.
Paige: Being in a Jazz club on a weeknight with my parents and grandparents watching my grandfather play a set. It always seemed to end so late that I never wanted to get up for school the next day. My first songwriting experience was on my grandparents’ couch with my brother and an acoustic guitar. I was so nervous to try and write, but I remember being so proud and then my mom forced us to perform it at a family dinner. It was awful.
You come from Slough and California - two backgrounds that seem on the surface to be very different. What were these places like to grow up? What would you say is the common thread that creatively ties you two together?
Lee: I found it extremely difficult. It was a very violent place to grow up, and as exciting as exposed brick. As soon as I stepped outside the haven of home, I was a nervous wreck. It felt like I was stolen from another world and left to decay on a planet that did not breathe the same air as me. When I found other people that felt the same I would cling on to them, and they’re still my best friends to this day. It was the same when I first met Paige - I couldn’t spend a minute away from her. It was like we were part of the same cosmos.
Paige: The suburbs of California were quiet and mundane; smoking weed in the Costco parking lot wasn’t exactly Camden Town. I was trying to escape to gigs and festivals every chance I had, dreaming that I could be the singer of one of those bands I was seeing. When I met Lee my whole world opened up; I haven’t been bored since.
There’s a real sense of nostalgia to your output; does this stem from a yearning for a particular time/place, or from a more general escapist desire?
Lee: We get that a lot! Although I have to say, it isn’t intentional. Lyrically, the songs are about significant moments of our lives, so perhaps the nostalgia stems from there. Sonically, we just write from a place of instinct - I just throw my guitar around the room until it makes a noise we like. Then we record it.
Who would be your dream collaborator, and why?
Lee: Paige - because she’s the only person I’ve ever understood and the only person that has ever understood me. Or Seal.
Paige: Haha touché. Now I have to say that I am already working with my dream collaborator!
The stylisation of your band name is a nod to the formatting of film titles, but who would play you all in the band’s biopic? Which of your songs would soundtrack the title sequence (and why)?
Paige: I think the intro to ‘Blonde’ could be in any film - it always makes me feel like I’m slow dancing at an ‘80s prom. Someone please tell me who my doppelgänger is, I’ve been searching all my life!
Lee: I look like a mixture of Barry Keoghan, Rick Astley and Paul Whitehouse. So perhaps we could Frankenstein them all together? And I think ‘Tired Boy’ would be a good fit for the end credits, it’s melancholy in a Richard Curtis kind of way.
Tell us the best and worst advice you’ve ever been given.
Paige: Best: “If you got It, you got it. If you don’t got it, stay home.” - My grandmother. Worst: “Don’t ever change.” - My grandmother.
Lee: Best: “Never walk down the stairs with your hands in your pockets.” - My dad. Worst: “Save your money for a rainy day.” - My mum. (This doesn’t work in England).
Finally, DIY are coming round for dinner - what are you making?
Lee: Vegan burger and fries. It’s simple, easy and delicious - just like me.
Paige: My pasta and red sauce always slaps suspiciously hard.
The self-titled EP 'Sunday (1994)' is out on 3rd May.
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