Sun Dried Vibes recently released “Stay Hopeful” around Labor Day weekend, and this album goes to show that summer isn’t over just yet!
Their lead singer and guitarist, Zach Fowler took some time to talk about the album as the band celebrated their release at the Surrounded by the Sound Music and Arts Festival at beautiful Longcreek, South Carolina.
Omayra Lopez [AltWire]: What was the writing process like for this album, are there any tracks that are particularly meaningful?
Zach Fowler [Sun Dried Vibes]: The writing process for me is always different. I don’t like to keep my process limited to any one style, so I keep it open in order to keep the songs fresh every time. There were a lot of collaborations on this album, so it was a great pleasure to work alongside a lot of my closest musical friends. It was incredibly cool to have Eric Rachmany of Rebelution, a major influence on me personally, want to be a part of the song “Smoke Session.”
I didn’t write the song and then solicit him to be on it. Rather, we were hanging out at his house in San Francisco a couple years ago, jamming in his backyard when he asked me to show him some stuff I was working on. I played him the song and he was really into it. He said then and there that he wanted to be a part of the track when we started recording it, so for me that was a pretty major milestone in my musical career.
Omayra Lopez [AltWire]: How did this year’s Surrounded by the Sound Festival compare to previous ones for you?
Zach Fowler [Sun Dried Vibes]: This years’ SBTS was extra special because the festival was sort of like our Album Release Party for Stay Hopeful. We spent so much time on this record and it was an incredible feeling to see it debut at #1 on iTunes the first day of the festival. I couldn’t think of a better place to drop an album that has meant so much to me.
We also debuted our new line-up at SBTS this year, as we lost our founding bass player, Evan Tyler, but added three new members, making us a five piece band – Tyler Vickery on vocals and guitar, Cliff Bundick on bass and Kody Farris on auxiliary percussion. These three guys are a major addition to the SDV line up and I think people are going to be even more impressed with our live sound now with these guys in the band.
Personally, my favorite track so far has been “Hopeful”. It’s that perfect song to help you rise above any tough situation and an awesome reminder that tough times don’t last forever.
“Smoke Sessions” is another great gem, which features TreeHouse as well as reggae stars and the mentioned, Grammy nominees, Rebelution! This track is pretty self explanatory in that one of the most therapeutic things one can do is introspect over a smoke session.
Overall this is a great album to celebrate the end of summer. Currently on tour, catch their vibes at a city near you!
Follow Sun Dried Vibes on Social Media:
Official:
http://www.letsgetsundried.com
Instagram and Twitter:
@sundriedvibes
Spotify:
iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/sun-dried-vibes/460553339
SoundCloud:
