In a city notorious for its winters (with this year’s making a comeback), Chicagoans are searching for The Sunshine Elsewhere. Search no more. By embracing folk, rock, blues and electronic beats, The Sunshine Elsewhere doesn’t conform to a traditional sound and is poised to lure listeners out of hibernation this winter.
For the past 10 years, John Zahnen (guitarist) and Nick Hajek (drummer) have been musical soul mates who went through six different bands before finding the harmonizing vocal talents of Lydia Palazzolo and Pam Smith.
“When you play with someone for that long musically, you truly start to be able to play by feel and by reading body language,” Hajek said.
It is easy to notice the chemistry between each band member. It’s as if fate brought them together but waited for the right time in their musical lives. Having gone through a few band break-ups, members have learned from previous experience, allowing the band to hone its unparalleled sound.
“We understand each other musically,” Palazzolo said. “We kind of hear what the other person is saying, even if they don’t say it.”
Smith, Palazzolo and Zahnen are all Chicago transplants from Cincinnati, although Smith seems to be the notable connection among band members, running in the same yet separate circles as Palazzolo and Zahnen at one point and with Hajek during college.
Before The Sunshine Elsewhere formed, Palazzolo and Zahnen would write songs and jam out, which led to small coffee house shows for the past two and a half years. After a two-year musical hiatus spending time with his 2-year-old son and making some unforgettable memories, Hajek was hankering to form a band. Smith, a virgin band member, had been rocking out at karaoke nights with songs such as, “You’re No Good” by Amy Winehouse and “Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye.
Before the band made it official, Zahnen wasn’t sure whether this musical mishmash would work. However, the first time everyone played together, they all felt that it “was a hit-you-in-the-stomach kind of moment,” Smith said.
From that instance, they knew the variance in backgrounds was leading to an unparalleled sound.
Smith’s wide-range vocals belt out soulful tunes, harmonizing with Palazzolo’s and catching listeners off guard. Combine these ladies’ talents with the blues/rock guitar riffs and punk-rock drum beats that Zahnen and Hajek provide, and it’s apparent the band was meant to be.
While the driving force of the band has been the empowering vocals of Palazzolo and Smith, these women as lyricists are polar opposites. Palazzolo comes from a more classical, ethereal background and is much more abstract in her songwriting. On the other hand, Smith blends soul and punk rock musical backgrounds in a way she finds unique. “I can’t really think of a band that blends those two,” Smith said.
Murder, break-ups, tadpoles and even bunnies inspired the band’s song list. Yes. Bunnies. The song, “Bunny,” exemplifies Smith’s dry sense of humor. “I decided I wanted to write about something hideously awesome,” Smith said. “About killing something cute, … something that sounded very sweet that was actually very evil.” Many songs revolve around a paradox of either a positive message and vicious lyrics or vise versa.
“Collect,” the band’s signature song written by Palazzolo and Zahnen, refers to doing whatever possible in our short existence before dying. “It is pretty morbid, but it sounds uplifting,” Palazzolo said. “Wherever the music takes me, I start thinking about death or society or the weather; life in general. The words kind of just come out.”
The freedom to explore hidden potential without the pressure to conform to a concrete sound enables the band to unlock its melodic talents. “I can actually focus on the drum part and do what I want to do, and it has led to some interesting things,” Hajek said.
