By Brent Hopkins
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Most law school grads are currently knee deep in review books,
study notes and dusty legal manuals. Add an acoustic bass, some
chord charts and gig flyers, and you’ve got Rick Watling.
On top of the intense pressure of the impending bar exam, the
UCLA Class of 2000 alumnus is juggling dreams of rock
‘n’ roll. As songwriter and bassist for the
self-described “ethereal mood impression folk rock”
outfit Sunseri, Watling is finding his plate awfully full these
days.
Taking a break from his studies, he and vocalist Sofia Sunseri
were able to offer a few minutes for a phone interview.
“When I started law school, I didn’t see a band in
the future,” Watling said. “I just started writing
music again, and I needed an outlet. Now that we’ve got it
going, there’s no way that I’m going to let it
stop.”
It’s been an interesting road for the twosome, who both
graduated from UCSD in 1997 with degrees in music. Both had
previous experience, with Sunseri having performed for 12 years
prior to graduation and Watling playing in a Washington DC-based
rock band. They both emerged from college with mixed feelings.
“I got burned out on the music world, studying at
UCSD,” Watling said. “The department there is great,
but I felt a little closed out from my goals. I got kind of
bitter.”
“The quarter system does that to you,” Sunseri
added.
“Yeah, I just got totally drained musically. I
didn’t feel like I had anything more to give. I looked at my
options and jumped into law school,” Watling said.
This change of paths isn’t exactly the traditional route
to go down.
“He’s a maniac,” Sunseri said.
“Yeah,” Watling said laughing sheepishly,
“give me more school.”
The duo relocated to Los Angeles, where Watling took up studies
at UCLA and Sunseri began performing locally. Relying on both her
past training as an actor and as a singer, she’s worked in a
variety of creative projects, lending her soprano voice to both
classical and popular bands. The decision for the two to join
forces as a band, using her distinctive last name as a monikaer,
came last year.
“We didn’t plan on the band so much as we decided
that we wanted to start performing the songs we’d been
working on,” she said. “We had the songs and we wanted
to get them out in the real world.”
As undergraduates, both were exposed to a wide variety of music,
which has left an indelible mark on the band’s style.
“I was playing rock “˜n’ roll for quite
awhile,” Watling said. “I got out of it, but when I
came back in, I started writing songs and we brought in some of the
things we’d learned. Not just classical, but improv, world
music, jazz, all sorts of stuff.”
Sunseri’s background as a singer is also a crucial element
to the group’s sound.
“It’s a major part of the band,” she said.
“Not just because it’s my voice. Because I do have that
classical training, it bridges the gap between the “˜stuffy
classical world’ and the pop or the folk one.”
The band is still carefully honing its sound, allowing songs to
fully develop before they are set in stone. So far, this has
resulted in an EP, “(sun-ser’-e)” and some
memorably exploratory local shows. Either as an acoustic duo, or
augmented by guitarist/ didgeridoo player Randy Graves and drummers
Mike Bedard and Scott Silverman, a second-year UCLA law student,
the band continually redefines the boundaries of its sound.
“The whole thing about it is the music,” Sunseri
said. “We’re taking our time and not getting caught up
in that whole “˜we’ve got to do this, we’ve got to
gig, we’ve got to record.’ It’s really allowing
the music to get to where it needs to be through playing and
getting feedback.”
Watling agreed, pointing out that the songs need to run their
course. While some have done so, others still need some ironing
out.
“The tunes that we recorded sounded like they were at that
“˜good place,'” he said. “We had some
others, though, that we didn’t want, jump in the studio and
get them out there. We had to jam on them some more.”
This jamming allows the experimental songs to fully gel. For
both musicians, this evolutionary process is essential to creating
a quality tune.
“It’s fun to explore,” Sunseri said. “If
you can do that, you get into different spaces with the music.
That’s difficult here in L.A., because it’s all about
the product that you have to put out. We’re just trying to
dig our heels in and say “˜no, we want to see where this
goes.'”
Aside from the live shows, squeezed in whenever the
members’ schedules permit, Sunseri has also developed an
Internet presence via MP3.com. Though the free online music service
has some drawbacks, Watling likes the added exposure it brings. So
far, the feedback has been positive.
“I got one e-mail from a guy who said “˜Why are you
giving your songs away? You should be charging,'”
Watling said “That’s not where we are. I’d love
to give away all our songs to a lot of people, and let them get to
know the music.” Currently, the band must maintain itself
online, due to scheduling demands. Even the most dedicated
musicians have to make some room for other endeavors at times.
“We had to cancel two shows, because the bar’s only
eight weeks away. I don’t want to do this again…”
Watling said with a nervous chuckle.
Once the exam is finished, he plans to pursue law full-time, but
at the same time remain active with the band. Sunseri will chip in
by helping out with the majority of the publicity work.
While he remains focused on his choice to become a lawyer,
Watling doesn’t rule out other options. If a golden
opportunity were to come along, he doesn’t want to let it
slip away.
“If I got a big record deal, I wouldn’t say
“˜no, I’ve got to go back to my nine-to-five job … or
eight-in-the-morning-til-eight-at-night, as the case may
be.'”
MUSIC: For more info on Sunseri, visit www.sunseri.com.