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SUNDAY RUNNERS

Rising Chicago Stars…

SUNDAY RUNNERS

by Corine Jurgerson

Fresh Chicago faces Sundayrunners join the list of bands whose music will be highlighted on the hit television show The O.C. this spring.

The widely popular teen drama has helped spread the rockin’ tunes of bands like The Killers, Interpol and The Walkmen.

So while Sundayrunners are not well-known at this point, you’ll probably be hearing a lot from them as the ice and snow begins to melt.

Randy and Rick Diderrich, Mason Brown, Dan Reinholdt and Aaron Grant comprise Sundayrunners. The band formed as recently as last year.

Front man Randy Diderrich grew up in a musical environment, experimenting with many different forms of music, from classical piano to electric guitar. British artists like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and even the Beatles influenced the young Diderrich to develop his own bands.

After fronting bands Mas Optica and Front of Truck, he spent the last few years backing up artists such as Kevin Tihista and Tobin Sprout on the road. Although he enjoyed the experience and the opportunity, he, like many musicians that make such a transition, felt that something was lacking.

“I was missing getting my songs performed,” Diderrich explained. “I was backing up all these other people, and having fun doing it, but also wishing I was playing my own music. So I did a bunch of demos at home in my bedroom on my little IMAC and those got through a mutual friend put into the hands of Chris Buttleman, who was just starting a label called Machine Records. He got the demo from a friend and really liked what he heard.”

That demo would turn into a record deal. Buttleman and Diderrich discussed the specifics of the deal, and Sundayrunners began recording their debut album. It took about a year to record the self-titled disc, mostly because the guys still work ‘day jobs’ and were only able to record on weekends here and there.

Upon completion, about 12 of Diderrich’s closest friends played on the record, a creative route he chose because he felt the most trust towards those specific artists. Diderrich describes the record as generally ‘rock and roll”, perhaps on an indie-rock level.

Shortly after the completion of the album came the contract with The O.C., a turn of luck that Diderrich describes as, ‘Something that almost never happens in the music industry.’: “We got lucky with The O.C.,” Diderrich commented. “Chris Buttleman really liked the song “Memories Left at Sea” as sort of a soundtrack song. He was thinking of promoting it to television and film, which is a great help for an artist like me who is just starting. It’s good exposure. So he had heard about a company called The Chop Shop, they’re the ones who do the licensing to The O.C. and other shows.

He actually cold-called the Chop Shop. The lady who answered the phone, sort of runs the show over there. And Chris just had a conversation with her and said ‘I have some music I’d like to give to you, can I send you a copy?’ A lot of times the person on the other end will say ‘sure’ and you send them a disc and it ends up in a garbage can. But she actually listened to it and was really into it. It took about two months from that first call to signing the deal to license that song for The O.C. So it was a pretty quick process, and quite honestly I think we got lucky that she was willing to give it a chance.”

The O.C. isn’t the first show to help launch the careers of musicians. The trend started back in the late 90’s, notably with Dawson’s Creek.

When asked to comment on his feelings about these television shows helping spread the word about new artists, Diderrich responded frankly –– “I think any musician or band who tells you you’re selling out is full of sh*t, to be honest with you. Back in the day, Front of Truck had a song on Party of Five. That was a big deal for us because it did boost us and it did give us other opportunities. It opened a lot of doors for us. The O.C. really is helping a lot of great bands. It’s an exposure thing. There’s so much music on the Internet that people get over-saturated with it. It’s tough to keep up with all the new bands that are out there. The TV thing just reaches a broader audience, that if you’re in a group like mine that’s kind of college-radio oriented, we might not see some of the exposure like a popular television show would give us. So I think its great. I think it’s a way to help new musicians reach a giant audience that they wouldn’t reach otherwise.”

Will they be the next big thing? Only time will tell. But at a time when Chicago seems to be producing hot tickets at a rapid rate, they certainly have a great shot.

When asked to comment on the uprising of musicians from the Chicago music scene, Diderrich expressed gratitude to the city and his fellow artists: “I think it’s a good group. I think the great thing about Chicago, being the major city, we have people from all over, all the surrounding states, we have great talent that have all come to this one place. That’s why I think Chicago is such a vital place for musicians and all kinds of art. There’s a giant theatre scene here… and people are making indie movies here. I love it. I think it’s an exciting time for Chicago for music. There’s obviously a lot of great stuff happening and I think it’s going to continue- I think its just starting out.”

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