Our second album, You Are King Sunshine is out on Apple Music, Spotify, and a host of other streaming platforms today. Killer Kern Records is pre-selling the vinyl, which is to be pressed in the not-too-distant future at Burlington Record Plant, who do great work. Carl Saff did an amazing job of mastering the record.
After we handed over the mixes, we missed the comforting routine of working on the album. We took quarantine extremely seriously, and as we personally grew more physically distanced from the world, this record was a lifeline to the people who collaborated on it and helped make it better. The songs started taking shape in late spring of 2020. I (Geoffrey) would send little video clips of riffs to friends. My friend Brad complimented the riff that would become "I'm Going Home," and that made me decide it was a keeper. When Cesareo Garasa came over to lay his drum tracks, it was the first time we'd let anyone outside of our immediate family into the house. We sanitized everything first. He did the session in his mask, as far as possible from me in our little home studio, and made a beeline for the door without the usual visiting with the kids and chatting. After that, Cesareo would sometimes Zoom with us to give input on tracks and to co-produce "Pretty Pretty." Joey Romley did his piano and keyboard tracks in much the same fashion, a little later, and Paul Jacob Cartwright made his gorgeous contributions to "It Goes" remotely, from his own digs.
During the summer of 2020, Robyn and I worked on the record almost every day. Even if we were on a road trip to the woods, desert, or a park, we would listen to the mixes and develop parts. The home studio was our own little space station, decked out with gizmos to help us keep making stuff. Robyn wrote all the bass lines, some vocal lines, and played synth on "I'm Going Home." Sometimes we'd argue about mix decisions. It was good therapy. Sometimes the kids would jam too. Our daughter got pretty good at using parametric EQs to tremendous effect. The title (and cover) are our daughter's work. It's a costume she made for me in a game she invented where she's Princess Nightshade and I am King Sunshine. That kid has the best ideas. (FWIW, she also chose the band's name).
When Killer Kern approached us about helping to put out the second record, we thought it was almost done. Dylan Geurtsen proved to be a patient listener, a good friend, and a creative influence on the record. Poor guy listened to hundreds of mixes, gave honest feedback, and made great suggestions about the songs on the record.
The album is a little anachronistic at this point, as the perspectives and experiences of last summer already feel foreign and like a different life. We're already working on new songs. Thanks for checking it out. --Geoffrey