It started out around the beginning of December when I was looking at various local venues’ websites to see which concerts were coming up. The concert which stuck out the most was going to be at Freebird in Jacksonville Beach. There was going to be a band from Australia playing along with a few local bands. Doing some research on this band, The Sunpilots, I found that they had quite a following on Facebook. So, I made a note to go and photograph the show.

A few days later, my wife said she had been contacted via a couch surfing website we’re members of by a group of guys that were looking for a place to stay in Jacksonville for a few nights. When she said they were in a band called The Sunpilots, I let her know I was already planning on going to their show, and it would be awesome to have them stay with us.

Due to van troubles, the band arrived later than expected, sometime around midnight, so there wasn’t much hanging out the first night. We made introductions, showed them around our place, talked for a bit, then turned in for the night.

They are all a bunch of great guys with fantastic sense of humor and great stories.

A little about the band… (the info is primarily sourced from their website, and stories from members of the band)

The band formed in Australia in 2008, by frontman Raj and guitarist Bob. The current line-up is completed with Kay on drums and Adil on bass. They quickly gained popularity with their debut album, “Living Receiver”, which won Indie Album of the year at the MusicOz awards, as well has having two tracks from the accompanying single “Spotlight In The Sun” being featured as iTunes Singles Of The Week.

The Sunpilots at Freebird Live

Not to say that they outgrew Australia, but with the country’s population primarily split up into a few cities spread out across a vast country, making a living from touring just wasn’t working out. So, they did what any super-dedicated band would do, they sold all their belongings and hit the road in 2010. That was 4 years ago. Four years of living out of a suitcase and a van. They primarily depend on their friends and fans for places to stay. (Remember from earlier? That’s how we met them, via the couch surfing site.) Four years of not having a not having a home to call your own. But what an adventure it must be!

I’m so happy to have ‘discovered’ the band. Their music is amazing. Raj has quite the range of vocals, which I suspect is from his mother (from Sri Lanka) teaching him the Carnatic music of the East. Bob then jumps in with his energetic guitar, while Adil lays down a cool bass line, and this is all tied together with Kay’s drum beat.

Kay, of The Sunpilots, on drums

Check out this video of them performing their song “Faking This” live at a festival in Woodstock!

Whether there are tens of thousands of people in the crowd, or ten people in the crowd, they put this same amount of energy into their shows.

Bob, shredding on guitar.

Adil, laying down those smooth bass lines.

Raj, demonstrating his impressive vocal capabilities.

I’m in the process of working out some details to do a follow-up to this post with an interview with Raj. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this all works out.

In the meantime, please, go to their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/thesunpilots, and download their latest album. It’s free. You’ve got nothing to lose. If you like rock music at all, you won’t be disappointed!