VIDEO 1: Show highlights inc. a few guitar solos, a bass solo and snippets from new songs ’3 Minutes to Midnight’ and ‘King of the Sugarcoated Tongues’:

VIDEO 2: New song -- ‘The Piper’s Mirror’:

VIDEO 3: ‘Eleanor Rigby’:

We’ve toured Australia 4 times now -- but there was something pretty special about this one. Friday 2nd October 2009 didn’t just mark the beginning of 3 months of touring -- it marked the beginning of a whole new attitude towards our music… and a whole new band. The new lineup has been creating some real magic on stage (and in the studio too) and our new tracks, which are very different to Living Receiver, have been feeling great. I think, after 3 years, we’ve finally started to find ‘our sound’ and we’re loving every minute of it. Be prepared for some real surprises when the new album comes out late this year. 

For now though, here are the 6 video diaries from the road (see previous post for the photos):

Tour diary 1 -- Newcastle (Oct 09)
Features: live performance of  ‘Animals In My Mind’, late night drivethrough shenanigans

Tour diary 2 -- Perth (Nov 09)
Features: roadtrip randomness, basketball and Guitar Hero skills, Monty Python references (shrubbery?), solar panels

Tour diary 3 -- Melbourne (Nov 09)
Features: trailer detaching from car in the middle of a highway, followed by car overheating the next day (also in the middle of a highway)

Tour diary 4 -- Eden (Nov 09)
Features: acoustic radio performance of ‘Animals In My Mind’, Justin EATING A BAR OF SOAP

Tour diary 5 -- Adelaide (Oct 09)
Features: live performance of ‘Medicated Shell’, Radio Adelaide interview, ‘where’s my tuna fork?’ and cross-country roadtrips

Tour diary 6 -- Brisbane (Nov 09)
Features: 4ZZZ radio drop in, random drunkenness

“Eleanor Rigby, no less; a personal favourite. It was a ballsy choice and a remarkable performance, considering that the original contained only vocals and string instrumentation. Yet The Sunpilots saw fit to add wailing guitar solos, ‘Achilles Last Stand‘-style vocal theatrics and slap basslines. Whoa! They sure got our attention. Footage embedded below, shot from the ground in the shade (and wind-chill) of a Boost Juice freezer. Frontman Raj Siva-Rajah’s advertisement at set’s end was noteworthy in its succinct effectiveness: “If you want to hear more of us, go to either MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter dot-com-slash The Sunpilots.” Respect!” -- Andrew McMillen

.

The talking bits:

We’ve got 3 minutes to midnight so drop the bomb. We had millions of 1′s and 0′s to save the world from. We’ve got 3 minutes to midnight so drop the bomb….

Two men walk into a bar – trade jokes between cigars and try to read the other’s scars… Like maps showing exactly where they’ve been; and all the faces the other’s seen; to feed into their little code breaking machines…

We’ve got 3 minutes to midnight so drop the bomb. We had millions of 1’s and 0’s to save the world from. We’ve got 3 minutes to midnight so drop the bomb. We had pieces of shiny metal to save the world from..

Two men walk into a store – the place their fathers’ shopped before to keep us safe and sound and warm. Ring Ring – each buying snazzy new machines. One in blue and the other green. Daddy would have been so proud if he could see…

From the new regime and straight into your living room. Sponsored sound and vision – drip fed all the latest news. Technical conditions -- people set to overload. No breaks in transmission messing with your thought control…

Save me ‘cause I’m falling apart under fire from grace. Such a curious thing when we’re shooting eachother down for space. And as the sky crashes down to the ground don’t be scared – it can be replaced, we’ve got machines to plug the hole…

iTunes exclusive – ‘Living Receiver’ available pre-release. CD out this Saturday

iTunes are doing an exclusive pre-release of Living Receiver. Which means that the album is available for purchase NOW! Just click on the button and let iTunes do the rest:

Aussies, if you want the pretty booklet and the album on CD (as well as all the extra stuff that’s on the CD, eg. music vids) hit up your local record store on August 2nd (yep, that’s this Saturday). The first 500 CDs are shipping with a limited edition tour badge and sticker.

For international fans or anyone who wants to buy it online, check out the website on Monday and you’ll be able to order it.

BUY LIVING RECEIVER ON iTUNES

New single and music vid released – ‘You’re Gonna Be a Star’

Our new single “You’re Gonna Be a Star” is out! If you missed the music video on Video Hits last weekend, you can check it out here:

(you can download it FREE for your iPod from the Backstage area of our website)

‘You’re Gonna Be a Star’ is track 2 from ‘Living Receiver’ and it’s available on iTunes now. You can head to the music page of the new website to check it out. It’s a bit heavier than the last single… we even pulled out a few 30 year old vintage synths for the song. Ooooooh. Anyone who’s watched a reality TV show will know exactly what the song’s about….

By the way, our awesome music vid producer Mediarize has just released a funky online series about the spirit of dance, called üBERgroover.tv. Check it out!

Hey everyone – talk about long time between updates, eh? A lot of you have been asking what has been happening with the new album. When will it be released? Does the album actually exist?!! We have the answer to both these questions:

Living Receiver, the debut album, will be in Australian stores on August 2nd
(and shortly afterwards will be available to international fans via our website).

So what took us so long, some of you may ask? To be honest, we had a lot of other stuff going on (touring was a big one) so recording got pushed back a little. Being our first album, we didn’t want to rush it. We experimented, we mixed, we drank, we re-mixed and finally ended up with something we were happy with. If you head to the music page you’ll be able to listen to an “album preview” (mash-up of several tracks from Living Receiver) – it’s track 2 on the player. We collaborated with some amazing musicians from all over the country (and the world) – from sitar and tabla through to hammond and a string quartet. Raj’s mum tracked a traditional Carnartic-style (classical Sri-Lankan music) intro to a rockin’ track called Medicated Shell. So there are a few cool moments to look forward to.

Living Receiver National Tour

We’re about to embark on the biggest national tour we’ve ever done in Australia. We’re travelling through NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA and TAS. For our NT fans, we promise we’ll head your way next time around! The petrol money would have killed us… All the dates are on our tour dates page. This is the big one for us, so we’d love to see you, your friends and your assorted domestic animals there.

Here’s a funky poster:

New single – You’re Gonna be a Star

Yep, that’s right, to kick off the countdown to the album, we’ve launched our second single You’re Gonna be a Star. Most radio stations should have the track by now, so if you feel like requesting it we’d love you long time. Here are a few links to request it on Nova. The trick is to request You’re Gonna be a Star by The Sunpilots:

Nova 969 (Sydney)

Nova 100 (Melbourne)

Nova 1069 (Brisbane)

Nova 919 (Adelaide)

Nova 937 (Perth)

You can check out the song on the music page (it’s track one on the player). What’s it about? It’s about girls who will do anything to get to the top. Fake girls with fake breasts and fake tans . We’ve shot a killer video for the song – check back in a few days and it will be on the site.

New music video – Metric System

Pretty much what the title says. Download it FREE for your iPod from the Backstage area.

New websites and a new look

We’ve launched a brand new look myspace page and youtube page, so check them out if you’ve got some time. This site is still being developed – we’ll be adding a photo gallery, a fans-only section where you can download free music videos and songs etc. very soon. Keep checking back over the next couple of weeks!

Cheers,
Raj

VIC
Fri Aug 10th @ The Espy (Public Bar), St. Kilda. FREE. w/ Crimson Flames, Silent Reprise, The Pass Outs. Doors open 9pm.

Sat Aug 11th @ Empress Hotel, Fitzroy. $8 at door. w/ Royal Parade. Doors open 8:30pm.

SA
Sat Aug 18th @ Grace Emily Hotel, Adelaide. $10 at door. w/ Foreshore. Doors open 9pm.

TAS
Fri Aug 31st @ Republic Bar, Hobart. $10 at door. w/ Enola Fall. Doors open 8pm.

Sat Sept 1st @ James Hotel, Launceston. $10 at door. w/ Enola Fall. Doors open 9pm.

NSW
Fri Sept 7th @ Northern Star Hotel, Newcastle. FREE. w/ Amy Vee & The Virtues. Doors open 9:30pm.

Wed Oct 3rd @ The Boatshed, Manly. FREE. w/ acoustic openers. Doors open 9pm.

Fri Oct 5th @ Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney. FREE. w/ Days Like Stars, Manilla Green. Doors open 9pm.

ACT
Fri Oct 19th @ ANU Bar, Canberra. $8 at door. w/ Days Like Stars, Jessica Cain. Doors open 8pm.

For more details on each show, head to our myspace page and check out the shows section. QLD and WA fans – The Sunpilots will be heading to Brissie, the Gold Coast and Perth early next year – so keep an eye out for dates!

Video Hits, Channel V, Nova, Triple M and more…
The Sunpilots’ first single “Spotlight in the Sun” has been airing across Australia on radio networks such as Nova and TripleM. The Nova network has just selected the single to be featured as part of the “Nova Unsigned” initiative, meaning more national airplay! Several college radio stations in the US and Canada have also added the track to their playlists.

In TV land, the film clip for “Spotlight in the Sun” was broadcast nationally on Video Hits (Ten) last weekend and has aired on several cable stations including MTV (in 13 countries) and Channel V. Don’t forget, it’s available for free download (video iPod compatible) from our Backstage Area. The clip has been viewed 40,000 times on Youtube and 95,000 times on Myspace so far.

A new Sunpilot joins the ranks
After months of searching, we’ve finally found a bass player who can put up with our quirks. Rob Ewan, bass player extraordinaire, joins the ranks as the fourth Sunpilot, completing the lineup just in time for the Australian tour and for tracking the rest of the album.

New album “Living Receiver” set for March 08 release
The band will be in and out of the studio between now and January with producer Phil McKellar (Silverchair, Grinspoon) finishing their debut album “Living Receiver”. Keep an eye on the site for the latest album-related stuff, behind the scenes videos etc. The name is a reference to something from one of our favourite movies – we’ll leave it to you to figure out which one… .

Europe 08
Honeytrap Records will be attending Popkomm in Berlin this September to lay the groundwork for a 2008 Sunpilots European tour. Exact dates and locations will be announced closer to the date, but initial plans place the tour around September next year. Where the band goes will depend on where the greatest demand is!

Hope to see you on tour!

The organ was recorded at Electric Avenue Studios in Sydney and the guitar and backup vocal overdubs were done in our home studio.

This is the second in a series of videos we’ll be releasing for fans to see what’s going on behind the scenes as we move towards the release date of Living Receiver in 08.

Stay tuned for part 3.

The first single “Spotlight in the Sun” will hit Australian radio nice an early (in a month or two) -- visit www.myspace.com/thesunpilots to hear the new track and watch the music video…