Page 126 - ION Indie Magazine_MayJune 2022

Music by AV Super Sunshine
Interview by Tim Board “Show Business (Glamorous)”
www.ionindiemagazne.com/eye-on-jamz-radio
Photo credit: Anthony Scarlati

Out of Fond du Lac Wisconsin, “AV Super Sunshine has been living the peace, love, and rock n roll
life,” according to his bio. Since his first release in 2015, AV Super Sunshine has been able to
generate the support of fans and radio stations from around the world. His songs have appeared on
several charts over the years. AV Super Sunshine has recorded albums at Ben Fold’s studio and
House of Blues in Nashville. AV Super Sunshine was kind enough to take some time and answer a
few questions for this article.

Tim Board: How did you get started in music?

AV Super Sunshine: I had a weekly gig for years at a coffee house in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The place
would fill up with a lot of high school aged kids. They’d get really loud if I lost their attention, so I
started paying attention. I had a simple strategy, any part of any song which they’d get loud during I
would rewrite until they’d listen. Only until I’d get them to listen to each song in its entirety would I
consider a song finished. I wrote a lot of songs that way and folks started taking notice. I was
eventually invited to Nashville to record by songwriter James House. He currently writes for Joe
Bonamassa. In Nashville, James introduced me to a whole bunch of really connected musicians who
suggested I try to make a career of it. Those early songs are what got me here. It’s also where I first
met my current producer, Michael Bradford.

TB: Who have been some of your big influences?

AV: I like the psychedelic pop music best. A sound first created in the mid to late 1960s by artists like
The Birds, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, Hendrix, and the Stones, as well as a lot of tracks by one-
hit-wonders like Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Raspberries. This psychedelic style of music carried
into the 1980s by artists like Echo and The Bunnymen, Bowie, and even Duran Duran. In the 90s, a
harder psychedelic sound was created by artists like Oasis and Nirvana. So many of these sonic
gems have been able to cross over from rock to pop. I like music that can do that.

TB: To someone who has not heard of AV Super Sunshine, how would you describe your
music?

AV: Think of AV Super Sunshine as a name of a group, and of a person (myself), and, most certainly,
of a sound. My songs are thoroughly modern, elegantly contemporary, and drenched with echoes of
the past, which I like to refer to as ‘Modern Classic Rock.’

TB: You released your first album 'Baby Goodbye’ in 2015 along the EP 'Just Like Kurt.’ Talk
about those first two releases for you.