7" Survey: Pet Sun

Photo courtesy of the band.

Every edition of this season’s Long Winter, we’re releasing a free split seven-inch, each side featuring a song from one of the night’s featured artists. To compliment the releases, we’ve issued a seven-part questionnaire to each of the artists involved, giving the subjects an inch (about 85 words) of space to answer each of our questions.

Pet Sun’s music relishes, values, and evokes garage rock’s social origins: hazy, beer-splattered suburban spaces that are at once detached from and connected to both the domestic and the public. So it seems appropriate that, in advance of their performance at Long Winter tonight (Feb. 19) and the release of their track “Wish It Was” on this month’s split cassette with Pavilion, the Hamilton four-piece answered our seven-inch survey collectively over beers from a cottage this past weekend.

Long Winter: Who are you and how did Pet Sun come together?

Pet Sun: Pet Sun is four ’burby cock-stars obsessed with shredding and blowing up eardrums. Siamese brothers attached by the musical testicles (new song name). We’ve been best buds forever, a happily ever after scenario. When we’re not writing new tunes or jamming on our shredders we’re wandering the bar scenes in Hamilton and T.O. making friends with all the grungy regulars in the dive bars. Expect us all to enter in a polyamorous relationship with each other in 2016.

How about “Wish it Was” – what inspired that?

Kind of a sappy cliché thing to say but it’s a break up song. Or like a pre-breakup track. It was one of those more rare instances where a song just kinda comes together in one sitting… We demoed it really soon after I wrote it so we skipped the long period of over analyzing our tracks before laying them down as a band.

For lots of listeners, this will be their first point of access to your music. Where does this song fit into the rest of your catalog?

It’s the third addition to the Pet Sun semi-tone canon lol. Usually we write two kinds of songs, ballads, and heavy nut-smashing bangers. This song does a bit of both. We think it fits in with the rest of the LP with its grungy vibes and boy complaining. We were probably listening to too much In Utero at the time.

Once they’re turned on to this, what releases (songs, EPs, albums, or otherwise) should people pursue as logical next steps to getting to know your music?

Step one would be to pick up our self-titled debut LP coming out in March 11th on The Hand Recordings. We released an EP in early winter 2015 which has some non-album tracks that might tickle your fancy. The other stuff is out there (the Feel Like I’m Going Away EP, the Serpent Buzz EP). Our first demo ever evaporated into space but it might make a comeback in 30 years if anyone ever cares LOL!

When you think of winter, what’s a memory that stands out for you?

As a touring band we HATE winter. It mostly stems from major PTSD we got driving the Pennsylvania Turnpike last February. Picture no streetlights, blowing snow, no visibility. Scratch that. Picture the movie Jack Frost where Michael Keaton is driving through a snowstorm, SPOILER ALERT he dies. We got home eventually and kissed the fucking ground. Nowadays we pretty much avoid any highway that isn’t the 403.

How do you survive winters in Toronto? 

Honestly, most of the band stays in Hamilton and Ajax. The industrial radioactive waste keeps the snow away. But seriously we wear toques all year round so we’re pretty well prepped for the cold. This winter though we’ve been rocking Billabong surf shorts and “Hang Loose Hawaii” tanks with this fifteen-degree weather. Global warming fuck ya. Long Winter? More like long summer LOL!

What are you most looking forward to for the Jan. 16 edition of Long Winter?

We’ve been really excited to play Long Winter for a long time now! We’ve been working on a new set list and will be premiering some new songs from our upcoming LP so naturally we’re pumped for that. The Great Hall is a sick venue and the combination of amazing visual artists and musicians in a massive old space makes for a super memorable event. We wanna trip out the whole night. We’re also stoked to see our old buddies Walrus lay down some slick psych. The wooden sky and For Esme definitely won’t disappoint too. Get ready to have your brainz blown.