In January 2011, Kevin Donohue and Andrew Clymer embarked on a journey to make songs unlike any in the electronic music world. The dynamic duo began working on their first album “Enhance” in 2011, and since then the fan base of their band, Sunsquabi, has grown tremendously. Donohue is the band’s lead guitarist while Clymer is responsible for producing their unique bass lines. In the Fall 2011, Sunsquabi was joined by Chris Anderson, a drummer from Boston, Massachussetts. Sunsquabi spent the majority of 2016 touring nationwide and making debut appearances at Electric Forest, Summer Camp, Camp Bisco and other venues. The trio is now trying to reach their goal of performing for larger audiences every time they are on stage. They’ve worked with well-known artists like Griz and Odyssey. As Sunsquabi continues to perform, they’ve been redefining what it means to be an electronic group. We chatted with Donohue in anticipation of their show at Druid City Music Hall this Friday night.
Q: What is your favorite concert memory as a fan?
I remember this one moment during Primus at Wakarusa 2012. These people in the audience are manning a giant octopus puppet with all kinds of LEDS on it. They’re slowly making their way through the crowd to the front of the stage when Les Claypool sees them and goes, (in his weird Claypool voice) ‘Larry I spy me a giant Oct-O-Pie! Take it out with your guitar!’ The guitar player then runs right to the front of the stage in front of them and rips the nastiest, meanest, weirdest guitar solo I’ve seen. The whole crowd is freaking out and the people controlling the octopus puppet are like wiggling it’s arms like crazy, it was unbelievable.
Q: What is your favorite concert memory as a performer?
That’s so hard to say. Performing at Red Rocks is something that I can honestly say is incomparable. The feeling of looking at the rocks and the stars with 10,000 people between you is just beautiful. Sharing your energy with people is such a beautiful feeling and Red Rocks is the most beautiful place to do that.
Q: Who are some of your musical influences?
This is sort of a constantly changing thing but I’d say what really has influenced me the most is music from the early ’70s (Jeff Beck, Herbie, Stevie Wonder) and a combination of electronic music (Pretty Lights, STS9, Ratatat, SquarePusher). But I try to constantly find new music to listen to and draw inspiration from everything.
Q: In what kind of ways has social media helped your career grow?
Social media definitely makes it a lot easier to connect with your fans, so I think that’s been very helpful for us. I would also say in reaching out to other artists. Most of the time you can tweet at someone about collaborating or playing a show together and they’ll usually get back to you that way.
Q: What is your favorite part of touring?
All of it! We love traveling to different places, meeting new people, seeing old friends too. I guess the most rewarding part is just seeing so many people smile and put so many good feelings into people’s lives through music.
Q: What is the song that you enjoy performing the most?
This is also hard to answer – it’s so hard to pick a favorite. Each song has its own story and feeling to it, and we love expanding and performing the songs live together because they’re each going to be a little bit different each night. But I guess you could say my current favorite is our newest release, “Deluxe.” It’s very rewarding to play your new music for people that haven’t heard it yet and give them a fest experience.
Q: What can the audience expect at Druid City Music Hall on Friday night?
A massive light show, great sound, the Boys of Recess will be opening things up with the funk and then we are going to have one hell of a 4/20 dance party for y’all!
Tickets for Sunsquabi are available at www.druidcitymusichall.com. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. with the show starting at 8:30 p.m.
