Trophy Eyes New Album ‘Suicide And Sunshine’ Out Friday

Newcastle punk rockers Trophy Eyes start their Suicide and Sunshine Australian Tour tomorrow night in Perth and with album out on Friday via Hopeless Records. Just like the title Suicide and Sunshine, Trophy Eyes’ fourth album is about contrast. About light and dark. About beauty and tragedy. About the full spectrum of human existence, with each song plucked from the pages of front man John Floreani’s life.

The album’s title comes from a lyric in the song Sean, Floreani writing that it was sunny when he heard of his mate’s passing, and that the Uber that took him to a gathering of Sean’s friends was playing poppy Top 40 hits. It is, however, a concept that’s long inspired the singer’s work. Frontman John Floreani talks to Hi Fi Way about the album and tour.

Congratulations on the album Suicide and Sunshine, you must be really itching now to have people be able to hear it?
You know, it’s a weird process. I’ve had the album for almost a year now, I think. So, very ready for it to be out people to hear it and enjoy it.

Is that really hard having the album ready for a year and having to sit on it for that long?
It’s a strange experience because at the time you do the record, if you’re lucky, it’s your best work, you know what I mean? It’s your life’s work and then all of a sudden you start writing again and you’re onto bigger and better things. It messes with your head a bit for sure.

Did you expect the new album to be as deeply personal lyrically as what you may have originally intended?
Yeah, it’s always my intention when writing music. I always want to write about something in my life. If I’m going to be emotional or write dramatic music or perform with like such high energy, then it’s got to be something that means something to me. Otherwise, I’d just be acting, I’m not a very good actor. So, it’s always the intention which is to write something as personal as and as emotional as possible. I think this one, because I’ve been doing it for so long, this one lyrically is better at displaying those moments, those memories and those feelings. I’ve been working at my craft for ten years, so I think this one comes across as more personal than the others. It’s always what I’m striving to achieve when writing.

Is it therapeutic in some ways, the whole songwriting process for you?
It’s funny, at the time not really, it’s exciting more than anything. Writing music and having a feeling hit with in a specific section, with a specific piece of music that delivers that feeling home more. It’s like a game. It’s like a Rubik’s Cube, sometimes they just align and it’s perfect and you are always working towards that, the way to best deliver it. I do think that after I’ve written them though, and after some time goes by that I don’t really think about those things anymore. I’ve noticed that from my earlier songs singing about breakups or something traumatic in my life or whatever. It does kind of act as a catharsis. I don’t really feel or think too often on those things ever again. It is therapeutic and that’s what you do in therapy is kind of talk over the same thing over and over and over again until it doesn’t have any control over your life anymore. I think it does work like that, but kind of subconsciously.

Four albums in, how do you think the Trophy Eyes sound has continued to evolve?
The Trophy Eyes sound was never locked in. We never sat in a room and agreed this is us. We wanted to always play high energy music that gave a feeling and felt emotionally driven. I think that’s why we explored so much. We went through many different phases of totally different sounds, and really trying to play with what we kind of accept is a genre. We wanted to mix up all of our things, but I think this where the sounds ended up is was the idea behind of getting all of those sounds now, being happy with what we’ve achieved and what we’ve experimented with and putting them all into one dynamic sound. I think that’s how it’s grown. We just wanted to explore. We’ve always just wanted to write our favourite music or have a go at it. I think it’s come full circle. We really have found our sound.

Did you approach this album any differently?
This was after lock down Trophy Eyes got together and we decided that this was probably our last ever record. We decided to call it quits. We were going to retire the band to go out on top to keep our dignity, to preserve what we’d achieved and our relevance in the world. We didn’t want to take it any further without having our whole hearts in it throughout lock down, our spirits were definitely crushed a little. So we went into the studio intending for this to be our last record. I think that definitely changed how the end product sounded. There really wasn’t the I hope fans like this, I hope this does good live, I hope this sells lots of copies. There wasn’t really that feeling. The driving feeling behind the record was to experience fulfillment and closure on our end personally. It was really, for us, our chance to say thank you to everybody listening. I think that’s why it sounds like it does. That was definitely a different approach compared to all the other albums.

With what you just said in mind what did you think when you listened to the album in full for the first time?
We thought we should probably not break up. It was great, we were all very, very proud. It was sobering, like it all came together and everything was worth it. The journey, all of the arduous, the backbreaking efforts and years that we poured into it. The endless hoping, it all became worth it when we heard it back the first time, and I knew that in writing something purely for us this is going to translate more than anything we’ve ever done to our fans, listening to it through the perspective of a fan.

Does it take on extra special meaning that the album release coincides with the first day of the tour?
I haven’t thought about that, but that’s really cool. I know that I’m going to go out, Perth is the first date, and I know I’m going to walk out on stage with a different kind of energy because it’s different in so many ways, not just another show. It’s coming back from the dead. Like it’s walking out of probably the hardest period of my life into what I suspect it’s going to be an ultimate high. It’s going to be a very different kind of show and I’m really excited to do it. With the album coming out on the scene around that time it’s going to be very special.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Suicide And Sunshine Is Out On Friday. Catch Trophy Eyes on the following dates. Tickets from https://www.trophyeyesmusic.com/ …