I was lucky enough to catch Sunken Planes at Red Wing’s Big Turn festival. The music was fun indie rock/rock. They got a crowd going and all around felt like a party. Those bands that are always fun to see. Glad they had time to answer a few questions (thanks especially to Michael Banning) about their new EP and the release show March 7 at Cloudland – a newer venue that’s definitely worth checking out.
Please tell us about Sunken Planes and your members.
We are what you would consider an Indie Rock band from Minneapolis. We play melodic guitar-driven music that melds jangly rhythm guitar lines, atmospheric angular lead guitar harmonies, and prominent bass lines, with a steady driving beat. Our songs are about a range of subjects but often include combinations of the everyday with the unexplained or dreamed world. There is a photograph that has been circulating for years of what looks to be a sunken jet plane submerged at the bottom of Lake Harriet in Minneapolis. The photograph is actually just the reflection of a plane flying low overhead, but it looks spooky and convincingly submerged. In some ways this sums up a lot about the themes in our music.
Sunken Planes is:
- Joel Almberg- Bass guitar, Backing Vocals
- Jeff Hochstein- Drums
- Jake Poling- Guitars
- Michael Banning- Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
The Ghose of Jennifer Bradley is a compelling song. It has a danceable beat with intriguing lyrics, Can you tell us more about the song?
The Ghost of Jennifer Bradley is a song about memory and the idea that we keep memories in locations. Some are immediately accessible, and others are held behind rooms at the ends of dark corridors. While you can try to lock memories away, they are always still there where you put them and if you try to avoid something you need to face, the memories make noise for you to come get them.
What was the inspiration behind Doppelganger? Another fun song.
Doppelgänger is a song about looking in the mirror and not recognizing yourself because you see your future self instead of your current self. In this case, the future self is who you don’t want to become. So, you see your defeated double in the mirror or hear their voice and they are a constant reminder to not become them. ( I guess this is a little like the scary part of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, without the cool flying over London part). The song was inspired by the long introspective months of the pandemic.
It was great to see you in Red Wing the audience really enjoyed your music. How was your experience being a part of the Big Turn Festival?
Playing the Big Turn Music Festival was fun! It was great to get out of town and play in Red Wing and also check out some of the other bands. The crowd we had at Liberty’s were really supportive of our music. All around a great experience!
Tell us more about the album release. And please include a bit about Modern Wildlife, who are also releasing an album.
Our first EP, Intersections, is being released March 1st. The album is on the Minneapolis- based label Pour L ‘Amour Records and will be available as a cd or on all the music streaming services. We recorded it during the first half of 2023 at Studio Studios, a former studio in S. Minneapolis (now in CA) run by Alex Dausch. The Intersections EP features 5 songs including The Ghost of Jennifer Bradley and Doppelgänger mentioned above. We are having an EP release show at the Cloudland Theatre on Thursday, March 7, in Minneapolis alongside Modern Wildlife who are releasing their new LP, also recorded at Studio Studios. Short Timer opens the show.
Mostly Minnesota 