Young Provo band might give up their day jobs - Daily Herald
12/11/98

Provo - Careful, steady and methodical. Examining the possibilities and slowly, meticulously choosing the best course. Though it's not exactly typical behavior for a rock band, it is nonetheless the modus operandi for Provo's Sunfall Festival - and it's paying off. Of all the local bands, Sunfall Festival is the one that is inching most closely toward landing a record contract and quitting their day jobs.

Somewhere between 20 and 30 record labels have contacted the 3-year-old band within the last few months, and while execs have been enthusiastic about the group's music, drummer Chris Peterson, 26, said their reaction has been cautious.


Never give up

And so Sunfall Festival keeps plugging away, confident that "hit song" is just about to be written and looking forward to the day the band makes the big time. It's a little different from the carefree attitude of many local bands, where the members are only interested in killing time while they're in college. But Sunfall Festival has always been a little different. For one thing, the members weren't always sure they wanted to BE a band, even while they were recording in a studio together.

"I remember recording songs and saying, 'Do we even want to play out?'" said Scott Wiley, 25, the group's guitarist. Wiley owns June Audio (formerly Basement Tapes), which is how Sunfall Festival has always been able to record for free. It's easy when your guitarist owns a recording studio.

The hesitation in leaving the studio and doing live shows wasn't because no one wanted to; it was a matter of quality.

"We wanted it to be a step above the usual," Peterson said. "We practiced for quite a while before we played out."

Forming a band

Peterson and Wiley - childhood friends who learned music together and who have played in three or four other bands together - were the original members of Sunfall Festival. At first, the point was just to record some songs they'd written. Who sang them didn't really matter; several different vocalists were called in to record with them.Then they heard about Amy Greetham, who was in high school at the time. Her brother was recording with his band at Wiley's studio when he overheard Wiley and Peterson talking about how they wanted a female singer. He volunteered his sister, and, in her words, "They dragged me out, and here we are."

Greetham had been singing since childhood and had always wanted to be in a band, but - and here's where her intentions meshed with Peterson and Wiley's - she didn't want it to be just ANY band. Greetham's soft, creamy vocals turned out to be perfect indeed, complementing the band's mellow, laid-back style very nicely. The group recorded together for several months in 1996, with Greetham recording vocals over pre-existing tracks, replacing the singers du jour whose voices had previously been used.

In the fall of 1996, when bass player George Brunt, now 24, was added, the band decided to start doing live shows. Now they do at least one
show a week, having played with notable performers like Everclear and Victoria Williams, and having recently opened for Utah sensation Clover at Kingsbury Hall - the group's biggest venue so far.

The business side

Their full-length CD, "Absolutely Splendid," and its follow-up EP, "On the Verge," have sold a combined total of nearly 2,000 copies, and the song "Modern Way to Go" was much-requested on X96's "Now Hear This" program.

Basically, as Brunt put it, "There's not much else we can do without a record deal." To that end, Sunfall Festival has acquired a high-power New York entertainment lawyer who has shopped the group to various labels and had some promising results. Peterson said that while most industry types have wanted that "hit song" first, a few have been more immediately enthusiastic, saying they want to hear ANYTHING new the band does, as soon as possible.

So the band continues to work on new material. Making a "radio-friendly" song has never been their primary goal. Indeed, much of their music must be listened to, not played in the background.

"We treat the band as an artistic endeavor," Wiley said. "But when it comes to the business side of it, marketing and everything, we have to think about business."

Making music

Songs generally get written with Wiley doing a guitar riff and the others joining in. Greetham eventually adds lyrics, giving the song its basic idea and giving the members a feel for what to do with it. The songs evolve from there, usually focusing on the "perception of different things," Greetham said.

"A lot of them sound like relationship songs - not with a specific person, but relationships in general," Greetham said. "The lyrics tend to be abstract," leaving people to interpret them how they will.

The band members agree their music has become more focused with time. While "Absolutely Splendid" was almost universally mellow and dreamy, there was still a wild divergence of musical styles tucked away, too. Now, the group has settled in to a more comfortable, adult, rock groove, and the music tends to be more upbeat and, according to Wiley, "poppy."

The music is getting simpler, too. Many of the odd, moody chords are gone, giving way to music that is somewhat more accessible, though still
retaining its distinctive attitude.

Staying firm

None of these changes are concessions or indications the band is "selling out" and trying to come up with a radio hit. In fact, most of the changes have been gradual, a natural procession over the course of time. And speaking of time: How long before they get that record contract they've worked so hard for?

"Most bands have to withstand the test of time," Peterson said. "We're trying to be smart about it, so we don't have to 'pay our dues' for 10
years." Peterson said, "Around here, people hear us and say, 'Oh wow, they're going to get a record deal tomorrow.' But it's really not like that."

So how long, then?

"I think we're close," Peterson said.

To find out about upcoming concerts and information on the band, visit their website at www.sunfallfestival.com.

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