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SALT LAKE CITY — Brothers Chase, Weston and Jantzen Meier began to play together as kids and have continued to hone their playing and channel the influences from their home to become the band they are today.
They grew up in a home where no one played instruments, but even still their father was a major influence on the music they play and enjoy in other ways.
“We are the first three in our whole entire family who picked up music. It was kind of funny when we decided to do the band thing, everyone was like, ‘What the heck?’” Chase Meier said. “(But) my dad was a huge influence. He showed us (Canadian rock band) Rush when we were tiny and ever since then it’s been the only thing on our minds, really.”
After playing a lot together through their early teen years, the brothers decided that playing music was something they wanted to do seriously and long-term. They met Andrew Goldring in high school and began playing more with him. Through this friendship they began moving into an indie rock direction stylistically, and they became Golden Suns.
The band spent around a year and a half working on a self-titled EP which was released in 2012. After recording the EP, Goldring left to begin another project entitled Great Interstate.
Because of the changes in the band lineup, the brothers have been able to discover more about their personal musical style, and also their ability to grow and step out of their comfort zones.
“It’s been much better than any other band we’ve been in. It’s a whole new thing for us. It’s really changing what it means to be in a band. It’s been an awesome experience for all of us,” Meier said.
Another significant change happened for them when they made the move to Los Angeles about a month ago. The move has provided the group great opportunities, one of the foremost being the chance to record its new album at a prestigious studio, which it plans to do in the next week.
Each of the brothers writes songs for the bands, and they often do this individually, so Meier said the new album will showcase a variety of styles.
“Every song is like a completely different style from the last one. But they still all kind of run together,” Meier said. “We aren’t really picking one style.”
But the move from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles hasn't come without certain difficulties. Meier has said it has been tough to go to a new city where no one really knows who they are, and try to find places to play shows, but they are still optimistic about what the future holds for them.
“There’s so much going on there every night. It’s hard to get on the right show where people are going to come because they have so many other options,” Meier said. “(But) I’m feeling good about it. I’m feeling like we’ve got some good stuff coming up.”
Golden Suns hopes to release the new album soon after the recording takes place.
