THE SUN LEE SUNBEAM (BLOG)

‘make it in l.a.’ was written for a friend who’s been struggling against greater forces for most of his life. he’s a soulful person who i loved instantly. something about who the both of us were when we met enabled us to see a rare truth in one another. he was one of the first people i ever shared and played my music with. without his talent, excitement and encouragement, i probably never would’ve gotten the courage to take it (my music) out of my bedroom and onto the stage.

those greater forces he was battling unfortunately trickled into other aspects of his life–even the things he loved the most. it was tormenting to witness at times because you knew he was meant for a special kind of ‘greatness’.

a couple years after we met, he headed out west to get his shit together in hopes to fully immerse himself into getting healthy and living the dream. things were seemingly going great for awhile. and then suddenly it was clear that changing locations and starting fresh weren’t all that he’d need. he went through a really rough patch. in that time, i’d get texts and calls about how he was doing. sometimes i felt that bond that we had from the start and was able to be the friend that he needed. and other times, there was a distance i could feel in his voice and i knew that helping him was beyond my reach. all i could do was hope with all my heart that he’d make it out there in l.a.–and not just in music, but life in general. like many others who knew him, i saw that he was too special to not.

when i wrote this song, mary and i were playing with eric o. and we had most of our focus on the harder rock songs. it just didn’t seem like it’d fit with the band at the time. but when we found jeff c., he expressed interest in it, as did some of the auditioning second guitarists. it always had a special place in my heart, but i was surprised that people could hear the song working for THE ‘BEAM. and when mike w. came on board and gave it that magical–almost eerie musical box sounding–touch, i knew it was a keeper. the four of us spent some time working it out and gave it the love it deserved. many people have told me it’s one of their favorites. in a way, it became a gateway to expanding our sound.

here’s the version i recorded on the newdster at home on 6/24/08:

and here’s the album version, recorded @moontower with the band in june of 2009:

more legible lyrics are here.

we’ll be playing this song live @ o’brien’s in allston on friday, april 23rd. we’ll also be celebrating our good friends STEREO SOUL FUTURE’s 10th anniversary. bo barringer of ME and JOAN COLLINS will be opening the night with a rare solo set, and FIRST CHILD will be closing the night out.

xOx
jlee

i know what you’re thinking: “why review a song with obvious meaning? it’s clearly a song about wanting someone’s body!” well my friends, although you are right, there’s more to it than that.

when i wrote this song i was battling many vivid, intense dreams that were seeping into my waking life. whenever my subconscious tries to take control of my conscious self like that, there’s usually a message trying to break through. at the same time, i was frustrated with my boyfriend–who is great in many other ways–for his lack of focus and attentiveness in conversation at a time when i needed it most. when these kinds of things happen, you do what you’ve gotta do. sometimes that means amping things up, and sometimes it just means letting go.

as much as ‘naked’ is about leaving the head and being in the body, it’s also about revealing your true self to someone and finding both freedom and excitement in the process. it’s about craving a deeper understanding and presence between you and your lover and finding beauty in each other’s flaws. it’s about living in your truths and accepting someone else for what’s revealed when they do the same.

i seem to write all of my songs slower than they end up being once ‘beamed. my guess is that when i’m writing a song, although in my head i hear it much faster, as i’m processing it, i draw it out. kinda strange–i know. but luckily, i’ve got the ‘beam to hear through that to the spirit of what it should be. i always thought of this as a danceable rock song, and luckily, they did, too. listening to the original recording on the day it was written, it’s hard to believe anyone could imagine it as dancey.

there are some songs that do better stripped down to the bare necessities. and then there are songs like ‘naked’ that depend on hard hitting beats, thumping bass, and crazy melodic texture to come to life. as i wrote it, i liked the idea of having doubled vocals in the verses and none in the chorus which is pretty much the opposite of most of our songs. once mary stepped up to the mic, we knew it was the way to go.

this is one of those songs that we have the most fun playing. it came together amazingly fast at the practice space and kind of ignited something in us from day one. everyone brought their own instincts to this song and they all just magically fit. in a way, as it happened, we were musically naked. hehee. each of us was uninhibited and ready to try something different and new. mike was only officially in the band for a month at this time. and because the song worked out as it did, it reinforced the positive feeling of the four of us being ‘the band’.

here is the incredibly slow version, recorded on two tracks at home by myself on 2/24/09:

and here’s the album version, recorded @moontower with the band in june of 2009:

quite a difference, eh?
you can find more legible lyrics here.

xOx
jlee

The Sun Lee Sunbeam — Great Scott — Feb 15, 2010 (Live Video Premiere)
February 19th, 2010

At Great Scott the lights shine on Jessica Sun Lee. On an otherwise dimly-lit stage, The Sun Lee Sunbeam’s frontwoman led her band through a hard-driving set. Moving in and out of the shadows around her, bassist Mary Flatley and drummer Jeff Clarke drove the band forward while guitarist Mike Ward painted texture and ambiance into the spaces between the choppy rhythmic strokes of Sun Lee’s rhythm guitar.

The track “Sitting In An Open Cage” from the band’s second album “Beneath the Burning Sky” proved to be the standout song of their set. With a distorted almost-ska-like guitar riff propelled by Clarke’s rapid hi-hat work, the verse dances between lightness and heaviness before launching into a powerful chorus with Sun Lee singing out “Sitting in an open cage / too afraid to be free.”

Enjoy a Foundwaves live video premiere of the song below (courtesy Extraneous Noise) and don’t miss The Sun Lee Sunbeam at their next local show on Saturday, February 20th, 2010 at the Armory Cafe in Somerville with Big Hurry.

click here to visit their page and post >

THE SUN LEE SUNBEAM
Beneath the Burning Sky
15-song CD

I find the sound of this CD matches my mood perfectly. That is, when I’m in the mood to be aggressive and melodic, but singable and structured. What I like is the punk rock type melodisicm. At times I also am reminded of running a loud lawnmower over a basketball court, in a nice powerful way. I find it easier to describe images in my mind. This band is tight and hard (opposite of loose and soft?) and they know what they’re good at. I like that. Some moments remind me of good Babes in Toyland tunes, with attention paid to the construction and the production of the song. Crankable tracks, nicely balanced with just enough mellow songs, a couple of them. Jessica Sun Lee is the mastermind behind this well rehearsed entourage, and I admire her tenacity… you can hear it through all the ones and zeros. Only one question to Jessica: why BMI and not ASCAP? (Mike Loce)

click to the noise’s page or pick up a paper copy in the february 2010 edition.

want to win tix to our show on 2/6 @ GREAT SCOTT with reverse, dirt mall, and full body anchor? we’re playing live with anngelle wood on boston emissions this sunday 1/31. and thanks to the very generous rock revival king–carl lavin of great scott–2 pairs of tix will be given away for FREE!

tune in @ 100.7FM or online to hear us live and win.

so, the BEST OF BOSTON 2010 nominations are underway and we would really love for 2010 to be THE YEAR OF THE ‘BEAM–not in the chinese zodiac kind of way, but in the making things happen and playing better shows kind of way. wouldn’t that be cool?

we realize it’s unlikely unless we call on our friends to help us get a little recognition, to spread the good word and all that. we don’t really believe in art being competitive–more collective–but it’s a harmless way to help get some press. so, HUMOR US IF YOU WILL.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: click on the link below and vote for THE SUN LEE SUNBEAM under ‘rock band’ 3/4 the way down the page. click ‘SUBMIT’–but that won’t register unless you also hit the ‘FINISHED’ button and put in your name and email address. they promise not to spam you. and you can VOTE EVERY SINGLE DAY you can remember to do so in order to better our odds.

>> vote for THE SUN LEE SUNBEAM for best ‘rock band’ here <<

we also realize there really is no ‘best rock band’ and wouldn’t be so full of ourselves to think we’re THE BEST if there were. but it’d be nice if someone like us got a boost for a change, instead of all the same big bands who everyone votes for every year. whaddayasay, eh?! vote for the underdog! REHR!

we’d also like to recommend our friends:
Comedy Night: Mortified
Dance Club/Night: Great Scott/The Pill
DJ: Videodrome
Folk Venue/Night: The Plough & Stars
Rock Venue/Night: either Great Scott or The Middle East

thanks so much for your help!

although i’m more steadily getting it on with music, writing is my real true love. we’re more seriously involved on a deeper level, whereas music is my lifelong crush. each one excites and satisfies me in different ways. they both make me feel alive. i don’t think i’ll ever want to give either of them up. it’s a tough battle, giving each the attention they deserve, but a problem i’m glad to have.

i’m currently writing the fourth (and hopefully final) version of my third novel. i have high hopes that it will be my breakthrough work and create an understanding that i’ve been struggling to feel and convey my entire life. it’s the most personal work i’ve done. it’s not one of my children, it’s that thing inside me that makes me want to go on. to me, writing fills me with a sense of purpose; it’s the blood in my veins. without it, i might as well be dead. in fact, when i’m not working on a big writing project, the better part of me is.

funnily enough, all of my work is about people on psychological journeys, searching for the answer to something they don’t realize they have buried somewhere inside themselves. i’d like to think it’s more fun to read than it sounds, but that’s the underlying theme. i had an agent committed to selling my first two novels–‘mourning malyssa’ and ‘waiting for the music’–to publishers, but unfortunately, without much luck. i received hundreds of encouraging rejection letters from publishers who said that although they admired my writing, couldn’t find a place for my work on their ‘lists’. it wasn’t fitting into any of the categories well enough to enter the industry with. i’m now okay with that.

just like with any art, in my opinion, the easiest part is creating it. the difficult and grueling work is getting it out to the public and having someone believe in it enough to bank on. my old agent found my newer work more serious and literary than the other two and chose not to represent it. i was admittedly crushed, having to go through the tedious and lengthy process of querying for a new lit agent all over again. not to mention (but i will!) how confusing it was to learn that literature could be too literary. as it turns out, ‘literary’ is a genre. go figure!

‘o rly?’ was written while i anxiously awaited responses from agents who had requested samples of ‘the sleepwalking serial killer’. it was my way of letting off steam since i couldn’t really knock on their doors and kick them in the balls for not making my manuscript a priority. there are few things that do it better than banging out powerchords and howling about how tough life is. trust me. i’ve tried them all.

like most of our music, ‘o rly?’ was a way to lighten up heavier feelings. it helped me transition negative energy and frustration into something that felt really good. in the song, i could be a little cocky and live vicariously through it since i wasn’t able to kick and scream at the prospective agents in real life. not that music is fake life, but, well… it’s a more productive venting mechanism, is safer, and with less repercussions.

when i brought the song to the band, mary’s bass line immediately gave it a lift and made it more fun because she’s just good like that. her bv’s gave the chorus more depth–which it desperately needed. jeff had the great idea for me to start the song alone and for him to build up the tension with the drums, letting us all ride out the release like a surfer dancing on a gigantic wave. (think: “the humunga cowabunga from down unda”. if you get the reference, i kind of love you.) mike’s playful post-chorus riffs gave what would’ve been a straightforward punk rock song a more interesting twist. people actually dance to it now. the first time i saw that happen at a show, it blew my mind in all the right ways.

so, if you’re wondering about the title, see these. this one in particular.

below is the home recording when it was first written compared to how it ended up with the full band recorded at the moontower.

HOME DEMO VERSION:
written may 4th, 2008

ALBUM VERSION:
sped up and with the band, recorded in june of 2009

you can find the lyrics here.

xOx
jessica

disclaimer: this may not be the most interesting song story, but it was requested from stu–our beloved UK fan and supporter. if you find it a snoozer, feel free to blame him.

THE SUN LEE SUNBEAM @ THE PLOUGH & STARS
Special stripped down performance
Cambridge, MA | January 20, 2010
Apologies for the poor video quality! Best viewed small.

Hover over the vid and click on the right arrow to skip to the next song.

012010 Get Out
by Stuff Boston | January 20, 2010

There’s a natural human hesitancy toward stripping down: it takes a supreme level of confidence to remove all your layers, stand in front of a roomful of people, and show your stuff flaws and all. While we wouldn’t recommend throwing dollar bills at them (not that they’d necessarily mind), that’s the musical approach The Sun Lee Sunbeam is taking during their show tonight at The Plough & Stars (912 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 617.576.0032). The two-guy, two-gal quartet will take the stage to perform music from their newly released album Beneath the Burning Sky, plus some of their more rarely played tunes. But instead of their usual trussed-up indie-pop rock spiced with a Veruca Salt-ish sound, they’ll take it off — take it all off, baby! — with a stripped-down acoustic presentation of their goods. If you’d rather experience them with all the dressings, check out their website for info on a February 6 gig at Great Scott (1222 Commonwealth Avenue, Allston, 617.734.4502). Otherwise, hit up tonight’s free Stars show at 10:30 p.m.

LINK TO ARTICLE

we’ll be playing a FREE SHOW @ THE PLOUGH & STARS tomorrow night. it’ll be a stripped down set with jessica on the newdster (acoustic electric), mary on bass & bv’s, jeff on a slew of percussive and melodic items, and mike on some fancy schmance texturizing pedals.

there’ll be both rare and REHR! songs and a meaningful cover. come on out and have a drink with us! (their moscow mules are to die for.)

chick from scarce is on at 10 and we’re on at 11. invite is here.