Indianapolis, the second largest city in the Midwest—under the shadow of Chicago’s skyline—has a blossoming music scene. But music fans outside of Indy aren’t often exposed to Circle City’s great bands and artists because they rarely tour.
“We have such a cool scene, but no one ever gets to see it except us,” laughs Mike Allen, of Indianapolis punk four-piece Sundown. Sundown are one of the most talked about bands in Indianapolis right now, and that buzz is beginning to spill outside Indy and even outside the Midwest.
The band formed when bassist Carter Seaton decided he wanted to play in a band again. “I was having a bad day, and going through a lot of personal things,” he says, “I literally went down to my basement and just played acoustic guitar and belted out a couple Saves the Day, Jawbreaker, and Hot Water Music songs, and was like, ‘Fuck that felt so good.’ And I was like, ‘I wanna play music with people again.'”
After Seaton made a Facebook post to gauge interest, the lineup was solidified, with Seaton on bass, Mike Allen and Bake Henry picking up guitars, and Seaton’s former bandmate Brett Sibley on drums. All four members share vocal duties, an approach that brings multiple perspectives to the songs.
It’s easy to see why the band has been getting so much attention. They blend heavy and melodic so seamlessly that a broad range of alternative music fans can enjoy it. “We do have elements that appeal to people that are into hardcore; we have elements that appeal to people that are into metal, and people that are into pop punk. We kind of hit all the bases in a weird way” says Henry.
The band doesn’t need to look outside of Indianapolis to find an influence that hits that same sweet spot. “I wanted to do something with a bit more melody and shit,” Henry says. “One of my favorite bands of all time is from here, About the Fire. That was my biggest influence in the band.”
With influences like About the Fire, when people listen to Sundown, they’re not only hearing one of the best punk outfits in Indy; they’re hearing echoes of the city’s past. Now, it’s come full circle for the four Hoosiers—at the record release show for Keep Moving, they saw in the audience the same hometown heroes they looked up to years ago.
“I looked out, and I see Brent (Schindler, from Gwen Stacey); I see Scott Wilson (of Demericus), Ben (Sutton) from In the Face of War,” says Seaton. “Right before the last part of the song “Keep Moving,” I look out into the crowd, and I see all these guys looking at me, these guys I looked up to when I was in high school … it was so sick.”
It feels like the entire Circle City is rooting for Sundown. They’re one of few recent bands to break out of Indy’s insulated music scene, and with so many local influences, they’re sharing Indianapolis everywhere they go. So, when Sundown come to your city, and you find yourself falling in love with them, look to this infamous Kurt Vonnegut quote to understand why: “All my attitudes are Indianapolis. My adenoids are Indianapolis. If I ever severed myself from Indianapolis, I would be out of business. What people like about me is Indianapolis.”
Watch the video for “Not My Jam” here:
For more from Sundown, find them on Facebook and Bandcamp.
Photo courtesy of Pinkhat Beard
