Gonzaga’s student body is filled with hundreds of students with hundreds of unique talents. Some people’s talents are highlighted on our athletic fields, others on the stage and others in the classroom. One group of four students, however, find their talents highlighted in the studio. That group is Gonzaga’s newest indie band–The Sunset Club.
Beginning its journey in the last year, the band was founded in late-2021 at Gonzaga. The band is comprised of current juniors William Alexander and Hayden Soderman alongside alumni James Centeno and Joe Cooney, alumni from the class of 2022. They had the members and the instruments, but you can’t be a band without a name.
“We didn’t have any real inspiration for a name; we just sort of thought of something random, liked it and before you know it we were officially the Sunset Club on Spotify,” Alexander said.
The band, now with a name and instrumental assignments, instantly clicked and began to write music. Developing riffs on guitars and writing lyrics to match, making good quality music they liked was at the forefront of their purpose. There was no wasting time.
No sooner than they were created, they completed the first-ever song. The band’s first song, entitled “HATE U NOW” was released on April 1, 2022.
“The song was inspired by Sinking Ship, a song by the Backseat Lovers. One of our favorite bands,” Alexander said.
Despite a seemingly negative title, the song feels very energetic and almost danceable. It definitely has an indie feel to it at its core and includes even includes a guitar solo by Cooney. The song proved well at demonstrating the instrumental and lyrical composition skills of the band. Today, “HATE U NOW” has close to 5000 plays on Spotify.
After its release though, two members of the band graduated from Gonzaga and headed off to college. With Centeno studying at Boston College and Cooney studying at the Berklee College of Music, it has become more difficult for the band to work together. No distance can stop their passion to create, though.
On Jan. 16, 2023, the band announced that they would be releasing a second song later in the year. Soon enough, on Feb. 14, 2023, Valentine’s Day, the band released their second song creatively titled “another indie song”. The song, although in the same genre, demonstrated the bands’ musical progression. Experimenting with different melodies and different sounds, it was still a success and a proud achievement.
Looking ahead, The Sunset Club has no real set plans for the future. The goal is to go with the flow and make music that makes them happy.
“We hope that this summer we can maybe put some stuff together and release it,” said Alexander, “but who knows what this summer has in store for us?”
Whether their musical passions lead to them each going their separate ways or on world tours, the band is happy with what they have already done.