A&E

 

nderwater Sunshine

ct 23

erview by Kim
ust this past Wednesday, I took
the opportunity to interview four
local guys with bright, shining
ent. They call themséfves Underwa-
Sunshine. We met in a Starbucks
ile the rain poured down outside.
me introduce them to you:
ohn Nikolic, is the main vocalist
d plays guitar. Tim Bonikowsky is
second guitarist and vocalist. Enzo
he bassist, and perhaps the most
arre of them all, and last, but
finitely not least, is the talented
mmer boy (pa rum pa pum pum
nir.
ey Guys. When did you form
derwater Sunshine?
Blair: About 4 years ago.
Tim: We decided to work together
ing socials class. We passed notes
pach other.
‘ow did you come up with the
e?
John: From a Jimi Hendrix lyric.
Tim: And a lot of brainstorming.
hat kind of things have you done
he past musically?
Blair: We made a tape called Feel in
ade 12, which sold over 250 copies.
had made it ourselves with a 4
k in John’s garage. Then a year and
alf ago we made Glimmer.
John: It sold about 550 copies in
y a couple of months.
‘ve seen many of your shows over
past few years, I’ve noticed they
bp getting better, what's the secret?
ohn: We’re maturing by playing
re. Not enough time to practice as
ch with the whole band as needed.
still playing lots of shows makes
for it. Our song writing skills are
initely better.
im: We seem to pick things up
im watching others. The more we
y live, the tighter we get. I find the

_ think T also noticed blue nail polish

opa&e@siwash.be.ca

beh, practice is. to play live.
Enzo: I got.a new amp! I paint my
toenails for good luck. Play more,
think less. Watch and learn from =
others.
Blair: We're maturing asa band. We
don’t really practice more, we just play
shows. We know more of
to make a better live

_ show. We also learn a lot from

watching other bands play live.
How.would you describe your

 
  
 
 

  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 

grueling bull fight, blood, and fear,

sweat and domination, yet artistically
choreographed and the bull fighter
wins, but he is wounded.

Your image has always been neat,
no outrageous statements. Yet recently
John, has bleached his hair, andI

 
 

     
 
 
 
 
  

once, what other image changes.can
we look forward to seeing?
Jolin: More mascara.
Tim: Elbow length spandex gloves
and an occasional fingernail painting.
Enzo: | intend to start dressing like
The Tick. The blue tights of justice.
It’s tingly, it’s uncomfortable, but it
gets the job done, and oh, the job of it.
Blair: A tattoo of my drum. set on
my face.
Tell me about the new album.
Tim: It won’t be as polished, and
hopefully it’ll be able to capture our
live sound.
Blair: It was recorded in the
basement of a house.
Do you have any gigs coming up
soon?
Blair: No gigs planned because of
recording.
John: Except for club 3:16 Novem-

 

Tattooed?
Pierced?
Otherwise

Mutilated?

he Other Press
wants to take
your picture!

 

weeks recording Suckertree. It’s full

length, 15 songs. Hopefully we'll have...

our CD release party at the Town

‘Pump, or an other major club in town.

At your last show, you did a
fantastic cover of ‘Ontario’ by the
Posies. Are you planning of doing
covers on your next CD, or was that
purely for the live show?

John: No covers, it costs money.
Covers aré just for fun, live.
Where will be able.to find it?

John: A&B sound in.the independ-
ent section, HMV and Sam the Récord
man stores.

What kind of touring any do you
have once the new album is released?

John: Promoting the new album,
we'd either tour as a supporting group,
or get licensed by someone. Basically,
the album will hopefully bring us
some sort of deal.

Tim: We would like to go to
Alberta really soon, after the CD is
released.

The guys have been quite busy
recently working on a new album

They call themselves Underwater
Sunshine, but by no means are they
drowning. You can look for their new
CD Suckertree sometime-in.the new
year.

If you'd like to see more about the
band, they have a website that has
had 1500 visits so far and is
currently being updated, but you'll
be able to find them in the search. Or
you can contact the band through
their mailing list:

Underwater Sunshine
7903 109A Street
N. Delta, BC
V4C 4G7
Or by e-mail: bbonikow@direct.ca

 

   

  
 
 
 
    
  
 
  
     
 
  
     
      
  
 

   
   
 
   
 

Glimmer
underwater SUNSHINE

Glimmer starts off with a tinny sounding tune that is
strangely familiar as an intro, but then breaks into the
song itself which in stark contrast has a heavy bass line.

*‘Rollercoastermind’ is a pretty good song. Although
every indie band you've ever heard of from Vancouver
gets compared to Grapes of Wrath, I think that kinda
true here. This song (and a lot of the album) sounds like
old Grapes of Wrath stuff like Treehouse or September
Bowl of Green. The song ends with a smattering of

_teenage girls cheering & screaming, proving that deep

down every young musician wants to be a “rockstar.”

One of the overriding traits of Glimmer is how young
& clean cut these guys sound. No grunge here folks.

underwater SUNSHINE takes on the task of covering
the Beatles’ I feel fine on their first album, and in my
opinion they manage to pull it off. The song is familiar,
but has an original quality to it.

The last song ‘Grind’ ends
with an instrumental that
sounds like something that
Kevin Eubanks & the
Tonight Show band might
play for the audience
during the commercials. I
| don’t quite understand
: how this fits in with the
rest of the album, but hey
maybe that’s the idea.

by Chad Iverson

 

eare

preparing
a feature, and
need your input.
In exchange for
your time, we
will give you -
prints to keep
and look at
when you’re old
and wrinkly.

Contact Eric, room
1020, The Other
Press, e-mail:
cirrus@intergate.bc.ca

 

 

 

The Other Press October 291996 17