Sunbather On Their Debut EP, Brown Bread
{interview by Holly Blackmore}
Hailing from sunny Brisbane, dream-pop duo Sunbather is made up of housemates-turned-collaborators Sally Latter and Mike Todman. Although fresh on the scene, the duo proved they were ones to watch with tracks ‘Softly Spoken’ and ‘Wide Open’ which set the tone for their most recent drop – their debut EP Brown Bread.
Brown Bread is nothing short of a dream — transporting the listener through authentic reflections on love, friendship and everything in between. What began as an artistic outlet in a Brisbane share-house soon transformed into a brilliantly thematic EP, fusing the real-world experiences of the pair (such as humanitarian work in Myanmar) with their joint passion for creativity and growth.
We caught up with Mike in the days leading up to their wedding to discuss all things marriage, pandemic and Brown Bread.
First things first, congrats on the release of 'Brown Bread' — we've been loving it around the WARRANT office. How does it feel to have an EP finally out, and in the middle of a pandemic?
Thanks so much! We’re really proud of it and the way it all came together, so we’re glad it’s finally out. These were 5 of the first songs we wrote, so it’s fun to be able to hear this timestamp of our band first forming. Releasing it during a pandemic has certainly been odd, not being able to support our releases with live shows, but we feel grateful to be able to have some creative output during this time.
How has this period been not only for you both as artists, but as partners as well? (PS; congrats on wedding plans)
It’s obviously been pretty tough on a lot of people - and definitely those in the arts. I’d say we’ve felt pretty fortunate that we’ve been able to be together this whole time - save for a very stressful week getting Sally back into Australia from Myanmar (where she was working) while airports were all shutting down! We have a little bedroom studio that has allowed us to work on demos, so I feel like we’ve still been able to be creative in the midst of a period of great uncertainty. We had a lot of plans for the year that have changed dramatically, just as they have for everyone, but we’re grateful to be able to release music over this time and, most of all, still get married.
Does any particular track off the EP hold a special place in your heart/s?
Personally, I feel most strongly about the last track ‘Life to Come’. It’s probably the proudest I am of my own guitar playing, but more significantly, it’s a love song that Sally wrote (hopefully!) about me. Writing and recording the EP over the course of our relationship, and then having it released a month before getting married maybe punctuates the sentiment in the song for me. Plus it gets really dark right at the end, which I like to hope might lead us in a new direction for our next release.
What does the creative process look like for you two? (i.e. is it spontaneous or structured? early morning or late night? etc)
The songwriting for the EP came to resemble a fairly structured approach, although perhaps we’ve only realised that on recollection. We’d really try to make time every night after work to workshop different ideas. Often a song would start with an idea from one of us, perhaps an ambient loop that Sally had made, or a guitar part that I had written, and would lead to a back and forth between us, just trying to add further ideas until we had a basic structure. We’d then step back and discuss the bits that worked and the things that needed a revamp until we settled on something we were both excited by. There are still plenty of moments of spontaneity where something will come to one of us, and we’ll rush to our little home studio to record it.
Do you think this approach is informed by other aspects of your life? For example, did elements of your work or travel experiences find their way into the process & production of 'Brown Bread'?
Our work lives perhaps made the process a bit more regimented - we did the bulk of the songwriting and recording in the evenings after work - although not at all in a way that felt like we were constrained. The release for our second single ‘Wide Open’ was definitely tied to our time in Myanmar earlier this year, particularly in regards to all of the imagery for the release. Sally had a job as a humanitarian for an organisation working with the Rohingya in Myanmar. It was a challenging space to be in, but we’re so grateful for our time there. We were able to film a music video that catalogued our time in the country. We also needed press shots for the release but had nobody over there to take photos of us, so we just took pictures of each other with a little point-and-shoot we brought with us, and then sent them to our friend Amy Ossola to set in a collage - something we might not have done had we been back in Brisbane, but I’m so glad we did.
And last but not least — what can fans expect from Sunbather in the future?
Hopefully as things start to open up we’ll be able to start playing some gigs! We’re planning for an EP launch show in late October pending restrictions easing. Fingers crossed!
You can stream Brown Bread here.