The Sarandons are the fully collaborative endeavor of Toronto music stalwarts Dave Suchon (vocals/guitar), Damian Coleman (bass/vocals), Edmund Cummings (keys/vocals), Craig Keeney (lead guitar) and Phil Skot (drums), who have been creating together in different projects for over a decade and a half. 

Produced by Dan Hosh (Wild Rivers, City and Colour, Glorious Sons), “The Great Divide” is unique in The Sarandons’ song catalogue as it’s one of their darkest and heaviest to date. It’s also one of the most stripped down songs the band has ever recorded with the five members playing, with very little if any double tracking and not much instrumental overdub. By pulling things out of the mix and having verses, for example, just as bass, drums and vocal, it makes the song feel big and explosive.

The visuals for “The Great Divide” take lyric videos to the next level. The Sarandons reunited with Barto Bak who had done their video for previously released single, “Stand Down,” a stop animation cartoon romp in the style of the Monty Python’s Flying Circus intro. For “The Great Divide,” Barto built on the cut up squares motif from Trace Loops and created a grainy strange black and white talking head video. 

What can you share with readers about your new project?

“The Great Divide” is part of a two-song collection, along with “Say When.” The idea of releasing a non-album single, with an A-side and a B-side, is nothing new in music (The Beatles did it a bunch, like with “Lady Madonna”/”The Inner Light”), but it was something we hadn’t done yet. So when we found ourselves in May 2023 with two solid songs and we were still months away from recording a follow up full length to Sightlines, we decided to release a standalone two song single.    

How does this release compare with your other projects you had in the
past?

 “The Great Divide” is heavier and darker than anything we’ve done before. There aren’t that many elements to the arrangement, so those that are there, like the drums, bass and aggressive guitar seem louder and more in your face. Also somewhat unique for us, the song is in a minor key, but all this heaviness and darkness is countered by a snappy up-tempo drum beat.  

What about this single makes you most proud?

The proudest moments in the track are the empty spaces. We intentionally took a less-is-more approach to tracking and this creates the space for things like the drums and bass to take on a lot of character. This, in part, was driven by our producer, Dan Hosh, and hopefully pulls the listener closer and makes the song feel big but intimate at the same time.

Was there a specific goal you were trying to accomplish with this release?

Spooky dancing. As we head into the haunted season, that is Halloween, we wanted to bring folks a sufficiently dark and gloomy track and something they could dance to as well.

What inspires you to create music? What motivates you to keep going?

November 15 will mark 4 years since we released our first single, “Worse or For Better”. What motivated us then is the same as now: the five of us love writing, recording and performing music together. Everyone in The Sarandons brings a different musical sensibility and we’ve always enjoyed how that comes together in the songs we make. That feeling plus the support of our fans is what propels us forwards.  

If you could collaborate with anyone – dead or alive, famous or unknown – who would it be and why? If it’s an indie/DIY artist, please include a link so readers can check them out.

Sharon Van Etten! If we could write something or perform with her that would be a dream. The only cover we’ve officially released is of her track “Every Time the Sun Comes Up”. You can check that out or go to the source material (in particular the video) and have a spooky Halloween!

What was the last song you listened to? Favorite all-time bands/artists?

Just checked my Spotify and the last track I listened to was Dr. Dog “Where’d All the Time Go?”. All-time favourite bands Wilco, Dr. Dog, The War on Drugs, Cage the Elephant, The Beatles, Spoon, and The Tragically Hip.

Where is the best place to find you and stay connected?

Instagram @thesarandons is your best bet. Give us a follow, leave us a comment or send us a DM – we’d love to hear from you.

I really appreciate your time. Is there anything you’d like to share before we sign off?

Thanks for your time! Appreciate all the support.