Getting to Know… Sunrunner | Interview 🎤

In the 287^th Q&A in our Getting to Know… series, we chat it up with Joe Martignetti of heavy metal/ progressive rock band, Sunrunner.

“W

ell, if you like heavy metal and progressive rock, you should check us out!” Okay then, 🎙 Sunrunner! Could you expound just a little bit? “…Especially if you feel that metal and prog metal can get a little too perfect sounding and you miss that old-school analog, minimal overdub seventies/ early eighties raw sound.” Woo – that’s more like it, and the details don’t stop there, folks! Like our many other Getting to Know Q&As, we get the inside scoop on the metal band’s genesis, goals, musical influences, and of course, current, and future musical endeavors. 🎙 Joe Martignetti answers all of our burning questions – a mighty fine job he does! So, without further ado, let’s jump right into 🎤 Getting to Know… Sunrunner: Interview No. 287!

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For those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes Sunrunner distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

🎤 Joe Martignetti: Well, if you like heavy metal and progressive rock, you should check us out! Especially if you feel that metal and prog metal can get a little too perfect sounding and you miss that old-school analog, minimal overdub seventies/ early eighties raw sound. Too much production and over-perfection can squash the rock spirit sometimes. Our emphasis on “prog” is more on the adventure of defying genres than virtuoso instrument playing. Although don’t get me wrong, I love prog and virtuoso guitarists and all that. But what I love more is raw rock n roll. We felt we could take “prog” to a different place. It’s like prog metal for the working class, not so much for the elite. And we love classic metal. The type of metal that young kids today might consider hard rock. We are well below the bar of what’s heavy by today’s standards.

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Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did Sunrunner form and what were some of the goals or visions you had early on?

🎤 Joe Martignetti: We kinda formed in a weird way. 🎙 Frank Navarro, 🎙 Andy Moulton and I were living together, going to school for music and art. I was the metal guy. Andy was the jazz guitarist. And Frank was the eclectic art guy. We jammed together between 2006 and 2008. We met Frank’s good buddy and drummer, 🎙 Ted MacInnes around this time while camping somewhere in the White Mountains. We talked and he decided to play drums with us. 2009, we finished a demo and 🎙 David Joy joined for lead vocals. Dave later switched to bass, which was his main instrument after Frank decided not to play shows with us and to just be a contributor in the writing department.

Of course, there were visions of total global dominance! But now, we are happy to do small tours and put an album out every couple of years. We really wanted to make documentaries for every city in every country we played. Just little 5-to-10-minute little docs about every place. But tours can be so hectic and leave little time for anything but traveling and playing. I would still like to bring that idea to life. Maybe the timing just wasn’t right. I don’t know. We have other future dreams, but those will be revealed as they unfold.

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Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

🎤 Joe Martignetti: Well, like I was starting to get into earlier, the goal has shifted. Not changed entirely. For example, I wanted to play 300 shows a year. Now that I have a family, and so do other members of the band, we are slightly less ambitious. Of course, we still want to tour. And will, it’s just other things are more important. Like providing for our families. This can’t be done being in a rock band unless you are famous. We don’t make any money. So, we have to work. But working jobs sucks, right? Well, not when you are your own boss! The only way to be married to a job and be a musician, in our minds, is to own your own company. Work real hard and make money to provide for your family. Also, being your own boss gives you the flexibility to take as much time off as you need for the band. That’s what we all do. I own my own stone masonry company. I love it. If I worked for someone else, it would be difficult to get the time off. Ted owns his own welding company; Frank also does masonry and Dave owns his own painting company. Another benefit to this is we don’t care if our music is successful commercially. Because our income comes from elsewhere, there is no pressure to make a crappy song just for money. So, everything we write is always from the heart without the slightest thought of commercial appeal.

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Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Whom would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

🎤 Joe Martignetti: Black Sabbath, Rush, and Iron Maiden are my top 3. Then, there are about two thousand other bands I love. Including Helloween, Candlemass, anything Leif Edling, Rainbow, the Scorpions, Forbidden, Slayer, Metallica, Tank, NWOBHM, Donovan, Chicago, Ayreon, Yes, Queensryche, King Crimson, Iced Earth, folk, old school country, new age like Kitaro, eighties pop, Motown, soul, world music from Scandinavia, to Greece to Peru, even Reggae on a hot Summer day. And some classical like the romantic era and modern soundtracks.

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Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

🎤 Joe Martignetti: Hmmmm…. the craziest stuff is of course after the show! Or maybe before the show? Well, if something wacky happens during the show, that is usually not good! I had an amp completely fail on me once during the middle of a set. But the fun stuff usually involves after-show celebrations with alcohol and shenanigans. It’s not as crazy as you think. It’s like having a good party after every show. With your best buds and new friends from whatever town you are in. We love meeting new people. And we try to not get too hammered because it affects the show the following night. I can’t perform my best when I am too hungover or drunk or whatever. I try to limit myself to a drink or 2 before a show. And afterward, I have to tell myself not to party too hard or I will regret it. Hungover, on a bus, trying to sleep it off, and traveling all day, then trying to perform. No good. There is a tightrope balance I have to maintain with alcohol on the road.

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Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

🎤 Joe Martignetti: Each album has at least 1 song that I am extra, extra proud of. I love every song we ever did. But yeah, there are a handful that were created with just the right formula and juices, just the right amount of odd times and key changes, yet simple and fluid, and just the right mix of challenging and a joy to play live. They are 🎵 “The Siege”,  🎵 “The Temple”, 🎵 “Gaiascope”, 🎵 “Star Messenger”, 🎵 ‘Palaver’, 🎵 “Prophecy Of The Red Skies”, 🎵 “The Scout”, 🎵 “Where Is My Home”, and 🎵 “Dragonship”. 

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Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

🎤 Joe Martignetti: About me personally? Hmmm… I hope so. First, I am a walking hypocrite. I want to just enjoy life and keep things simple because it is gonna be over so fast! But instead, I take things way too seriously and am going to give myself a damn heart attack if I don’t slow down! But I guess that is my personality. But hey, work hard, play hard, right?

I don’t know how “cool” these things are about me, but I really gravitate towards the ways of the woods. A 50/50 split of redneck and hippie. Also, seemingly hypocritical! But I think rednecks and hippies share a lot of common ground. But I would not consider myself a hippie. No way. It’s just I do get that a lot from people.

So yeah, primitive skills, fishing, hunting, homesteading, and being self-sufficient are my non-musical passions. I need to learn as much as possible about this real world. The world that will always be here, even if humans become extinct. This ether world of technology is awesome, don’t get me wrong. But it could be fleeting. The old and dying ways of our ancestors need to be remembered and practiced. I need to teach these things to my family. They are not boring things. It is fun to learn the ways of the woods. It brings magic and adventure back into your life.

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Closing out, what is … currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.   

🎤 Joe Martignetti: Well, we have some leftover songs from 💿 Sacred Arts…’. So, we will release an EP in the future. It will have those songs and a couple of cover songs we did as B-sides. We are also working on a video for the album. Pretty sure it is going to be for 🎵 “Where Is My Home”.

And finally, we need to find a new booking agent abroad. We can’t book a tour without one.

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Thank you so much for sharing and taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward. 

 🎤 Joe Martignetti: Hey thanks for the pleasant interview! Hope to see you all on the road!

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Getting to Know… Sunrunner: Interview No. 287  [📷: Alfred Derks from Pixabay, Brent Faulkner, Darkmoon_Art from Pixabay, The Musical Hype, Sunrunner]

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