Photo: Dan Gschib

If psychedelic rock is your thing then today you got one more record on your list “the best albums of all time”. But ‘What Is Real?’ is much more than pure psychedelic. Written over five years and inspired by, among others, Motorpsycho, Can, Wine Lips and Totalt Jävla Mörker, the new album got a very varied mood. But at the same time it sounds surprisingly harmonious in its diversity. See for yourself – find ‘What Is Real?’ on your preferred streaming service or get your copy on vinyl 

Read the interview with Karl Erik Djupnes of Sunshine Reverberation talking about “life in a postcapitalism society” and evolution of the band’s sound 

Sunshine Reverberation creates a very impressive soundscape where psych rock meets garage and kraut. How are these genres close to you each on their own? And where do you see the band’s sound evolving further?

It’s simply all music we like. The band internally has wildly different tastes and we’re never into the same stuff at the same time. So our music draws from a lot of different genres. We as a band are always evolving but it’s something that happens organically through jamming and shared experiences so it’s hard right now to say anything about what we sound like in a year.

The title of the new album is ‘What Is Real?’ How did you come up with such existential themes?

I guess it spurs from existential dread and the anxiety and stress of modern adult life in a postcapitalism society. And the times we live in with ai, influencers and social media. Everything is staged and paid for.

You are from Tromsø. What would you say about the Tromsø music scene these days?

Tromsø always has an extremely active and vibrant underground scene with venues like Bastard and Blårock being easy to work with. The electronica scene is also worth checking out with a lot of creative work happening. The Bukta and Insomnia festival are also important for the music scene

Two singles of the new album – ‘Light Rays’ and ‘Four Weeks’ – were released previously. They gave us a hint of the multi-faceted mood of the new record. But what could you say about the balance of the album?

The album has a very varied mood. Some slow burners and some more energetic tracks. The album was written over 5 years and as I was into a lot of different stuff over years the songs on the record will naturally vary in style and mood. 

You previously mentioned bands such as Can, Velvet Underground, Olivia Tremor Control and The Stooges as main inspiration for your music generally. Has anything changed recently? And could you name some bands or albums that became the inspiration for this particular album?

We recorded two albums that we scrapped over the years and this is the third attempt and we feel that we got it right. Bands that we draw inspiration from are Motorpsycho, Can, Nora Brokstet, Crub, Wine Lips and Totalt Jävla Mörker

You play a release concert for the new album at Blårock Café Tromsø January 11th. Are you planning to play any other places after this?

We are currently making a music video and we have taken it easy with booking. We want to play more live but as this is our first album in a long time and due to COVID some of the people we worked with stopped booking. We will definitely go on another EU tour but we’re in the planning phase right now. 

Sunshine Reverberation
Karl Erik Djupnes – vocals, guitar
Erik Sigurd Jorung – guitar
Roger Tunheim Jakobsen – drums
Jon-André Dalbakk – bass

Listen to ‘What Is Real?’ on your preferred streaming service: https://orcd.co/realiswhat