Interview w/ Matt Reardon of Black Sunshine

Matt Reardon is a veteran of the extreme sports circuit, where spent years as a freeskier. But as injuries started to pile up, Matt decided to go after his other true love: rock music. So, Reardon put the extreme sports career on the backburner and decided to give his musical aspirations his full intentions.

After a few years of touring and working through the industry-his band, Black Sunshine scored a record deal and is preparing to release their self-titled debut album on April 13^th.

As the band was making their way through the desert from Los Angeles to a show In Phoenix, I had a chance to interview Matt before one of the shows with Soil & Smile Empty Soul. Matt and I discussed how the band formed, as well the perils of the extreme sports industry versus the music industry. Here’s my interview with Matt:

AM: The members of the band have quite the music industry track record, how did you guys get together?
MR: We’ve always played in various forms over the years. I was always writing music for ski films and commercials for Red Bull, things like that. We had always done shows at extreme sports shows over the years, like playing at the X Games and a few others. We’ve been friends for a long time, “Toast” (Matt Young- drummer) and I have known each other 15 years and he’s worked with plenty of guys, such as Billy Idol and a few others. Chris Serafini (bassist) played in a couple of bands for Wind-Up Records over the years, and we’ve all known each other. We’ve always been boys, and as a band, we’ve been gypsy-esque. It’s an interesting mish-mash of guys that are in this band.

AM: What did you use as the main inspiration when writing the album?
MR: Personally, I don’t write music about extreme music about this band, save for the occasional instrumental we may do. We decided to write about the environment and surroundings around us- the situations around us. A lot of the songs are about living for the moment, but there are plenty of love songs, and plenty of songs about getting drunk too (laughs). Our template for this record was to have a well rounded group of songs, and I think we did that.

AM: Is there a song that people have connected with the most so far?
MR: Defintely, there is a song called “Once in My Life”, which everybody that has heard it can identity with. The song is about near death experiences and in the past 3 years, I’ve lost 11 people around me- so it was definitely not a fun song to write, but it has meant a lot to the people who have heard it so far.

AM: What has been the best avenue for promoting this band so far?
MR: For me, I think its all about getting out on the road and proving your s—t to the audience. That is gonna be the true test if you’re gonna make it or not. There is a lot of promotion through the computer, but I personally can’t stand the computer, but the other guys are into it. We’ve just did our first show in a year, and I was stoked to get out there in front of a crowd and show these people who we are.

AM: Which line of work do you think is more treacherous: the extreme sports world or the music industry?
MR: You know, they are both treacherous to a point. The music industry can be dishonest, whereas with extreme sports, you’ve really got to prove your worth in order to make it. One is just more seedy than the other, but we love them both. Dealing with things in the music industry, its just a necessary evil in order to get where you want to be. At the end of the day, we pride ourselves at being good at our craft and that’s what matters most to us.

AM: How traveling compare for the two far different lines of work?
MR: Well, I haven’t competed in a while, but really- it’s the same thing. I’ve been living out of a backpack for as long as I remember. I’m just really stoked and really want to enjoy myself with this.

Black Sunshine play with Soil & Smile Empty Soul at Harpo’s on Saturday, April 10^th. Tickets are $10 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com. The band also plays at the Machine Shop on Saturday, May 1^st. Tickets are $10 and are available at www.etix.com. Additional band info and dates can be found www.myspace.com/blacksunshinemusic.