The Sunpilots

Formation and early days

Born in Brisbane, Australia to a classically trained Sri Lankan mother, Raj Siva-Rajah began his music training at the age of 8. During highschool he played in alternative rock bands with friends whilst also learning the 72 basic scales of Carnatic music (the form of classical Eastern music his mother performed) at the same time.

Raj's move to Sydney in 2006 and the befriending of musician Bob Spencer (guitar) led to the formation of The Sunpilots. The band released their first EP in June 2006 and despite originally being recorded as a demo, the release found its way onto the airwaves through Australian radio networks such as triple J and Nova. The resulting buzz saw the band's MySpace and YouTube presence grow considerably over the year, eventuating in them winning the Producers Award at the Musicoz Awards.

Debut album and Australian success

Work on the debut album Living Receiver began in January 2007. While the band decided to do most of the production themselves, they enlisted the help of Australian producer Phil McKellar (Silverchair, Grinspoon, Powderfinger) as co-producer and mix engineer. Budget constraints saw the album put on hold after only 3 tracks had been completed (Metric System, Shooting Star and Spotlight in the Sun).

To help raise funds to complete the rest of the album, The Sunpilots embarked on the Cold Hands, Warm Heart Australian tour. Beginning on 7 August and spanning 5 states, the tour was the band's first national tour and marked their transition from recording act to touring act. To support the tour, the band released Spotlight in the Sun as the first single from the yet to be completed album. The single became the no. 1 most added song on Australian radio during the week of 14 February 2008. and the Spotlight in the Sun music video aired nationally on MTV, Rage, Channel V and Video Hits. The track was also chosen as an iTunes Single of the Week.

The remaining tracks from Living Receiver were recorded in early 2008 and the record was released through the band's own label Honeytrap Records in August 2008. The album won several awards, including 'Indie Album of the Year' from Soundscape Magazine and 'Indie Album of the Week' from The Brag. In interviews, The Sunpilots expressed pride in having recorded and released the LP independently and have voiced their intentions to maintain their independence.

The Sunpilots were now beginning to turn heads overseas: winning Best International Artist at the Toronto Independent Music Awards and a Single of the Year at the LA Music Awards. The band was one of 15 rock finalists in the International Songwriting Competition (nominated alongside fellow Aussie rockers Eskimo Joe). Judged by artists likes Tom Waits, Robert Smith (The Cure), Frank Black (The Pixies) and Joe Satriani, the ISC is the largest songwriting competition in the world.

In 2009 The Sunpilots toured Australia twice more for their March of the Drones (February to April) and Animals In My Mind (October to December) national tours. During the second tour the band performed at the One Movement Festival in Perth with the Hilltop Hoods, Sarah Blasko, Little Red and Kate Miller-Heidke. and were MySpace Featured Artists.

Concept album and transition to Progressive Rock

In late 2009, The Sunpilots began work on their sophomore record. In an interview with the Newcastle Post, Raj said of the new album "I think we’ve finally started to figure out "our sound" – and it’s pretty different to Living Receiver. We’ve been listening to a lot of 60’s and 70’s rock opera – The Who’s ‘Tommy’ and ‘The Wall’, that kind of stuff. So that probably gives you a bit of an idea."

Entitled King of the Sugarcoated Tongues, the album was completed in late 2010 and released in 2012. Produced entirely by the band and mixed by German engineer Peter Schmidt, the record is a concept album and marked The Sunpilots transition into the genre of progressive rock. An 8 minute track entitled "The Captain" was posted on the bands blog on 27 Aug as a preview of the new sound.

International touring

The Sunpilots performed during Berlin Music Week 2010 at the Popkomm Festival on 9 September. Following this the band played several shows and festivals across Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Poland, including performances at Nuclear Blast's Moshbusters Festival on 4 December 2010.

The Sunpilots toured Europe extensively between 2011 & 2014, performing at clubs in the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium and Poland. Festival performances included Breda Barst (Netherlands), Snowpen Air (Germany), Helfenstein Festival (Germany), Rockville Festival (Germany), AKK Sommerfest (Germany), Fete De La Musique (Germany), Suite Sommerfestival (Germany), Spring Rock (Poland), Summer Rock III (Poland) and Summer Sound (Latvia).

In September 2014 they performed 65 shows across the USA spanning 35 states.

Press

The Brag

Reverb Magazine

Access All Areas

Bendigo Weekly

The Drum Media

The Brag

Soulshine

Mediasearch

Current lineup

Previous members

Albums

Singles