While we hail Asbury Park for being the center of all things music at the Jersey Shore — let’s no sleep on Ocean County. For those with a little hint of gray in your hair you may remember the old Planet Surf at Joey Harrison’s Surf Club shows that were headlined by some OC’s best like Flight’s Kool and Tsunami Rising while bands like River City Extension were getting the buzz about being the next big thing.
In 2024, Ocean County has produced another must-listen band — Sunshine Spazz. For fans of a big fuzzed-out hard rock vibe with a supremely melodic vocals, this is the band you’ve been searching for. Yes, for all of you denim-wearing rock ‘n’ rollahs who live for Queens of the Stone, Fu Manchu, Kyuss and Black Sabbath — make sure you’re putting Sunshine Spazz in heavy rotation on your playlists … or go see them play at The Stone Pony Friday February 2 along with gods, Baron Praxis and Dead Ramblers.
Recently we caught up with Ryan Rutter, bassist of Sunshine Spazz, to discuss the band’s new self-titled record, playing the Stone Pony during its 50th Anniversary, fitting into the Asbury scene and 2024 being a year of big boy moves for the band.
Members of Sunshine Spazz (And the Instruments They Play): Ryan Rutter (guitar/vocals), Michael Rutter (bass) and Jamie Lawler (drums).
Year Sunshine Spazz Was Formed: 2017
City We’re Based Out Of: Toms River, New Jersey
The Story Behind The Band Name: Jamie and I (Ryan) were discussing band names with my best friend Matt Cornier, may he rest in peace, at my parent’s house after getting cross-faded. Matt, out of the blue, says “you guys should be called The Ghost of Sunshine’s Past”. I misheard him and said “The Ghost of Sunshine Spazz?”. Jamie said “THAT’S IT!”. Rather silly, but it stuck.
Our Sounds Has Been Compared To These Bands: Quite a few over the years, but none made me feel better than “a combination of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Queens of the Stone Age”
Famous/Cool Bands We’ve Shared The Stage With: Frankie and the Witch Fingers, The Parlor Mob, Dirty Honey, Algiers, Tigercub and The Tangiers Blues Band.
The first thing I thought when I heard you guys was “Man, these guys sound like Kyuss (an early 90s band which featured the likes of Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age)” — which is one of my favorite bands. Can you talk about where you took inspiration both lyrically and sonically?
Thanks, man. I’ll have to give Kyuss a listen. We were all raised on classic rock n’ roll by our parents. So we all mutually agree that Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC, Yes, Van Halen, and Deep Purple absolutely rip. In terms of what’s going on today, we love the psych / garage rock world. REVERB, DELAY, FUZZ, AND THUNDEROUS DRUMS! As for lyrics, it’s always been riffs first and then hum syllables that make sense. Then words to fill that. The lyrics are totally inspired by things going on in my life, but I haven’t found that “lyricist” inspiration in music quite yet. I’m not sure it always makes sense. I like to think I possess some personal depth, but I don’t think I express that in our music yet. Although I do feel a shift in that form of expression on the horizon.
The Asbury Park scene, to me at least, has a distinct lack of bands that bring the heaviness like you guys. Did you ever have any worries about people digging what you guys were doing?
“The audience comes last.” – Rick Rubin.
The reception was not on our mind initially. And to some extent, it still isn’t. We were watching friends in local rock bands like Wicked Hollow and Prehistoric Forest (both have broken up since) play at The Saint [in Asbury Park] and have a blast in the scene, and we simply felt the urge to get involved. Asbury Park has a cool little circle of talent and it has its own little separate groups. Not to say they don’t intertwine at times, but there is space. If you are looking for local heaviness, be sure to keep up with Drugs Records. Might not all be heavy, but those are the homies right there. It’s a gang hang. Otherwise, Shore Style is steadily throwing cool punk and hardcore shows at Salty’s in Belmar. Joe Brown of Melting Trends likes the heavier stuff too, and he occasionally books bands from out of town that bring the riffage.
Let’s talk about the self-titled record which dropped in late fall of 2023. How do you feel this album stands out from the rest of your catalog?
Our self-titled album does a great job of capturing what we bring to a live set. We have been playing these songs live for well over a year. It’s our best representation of us as a band and what we are going for. Overall, it’s simply garage rock. We throw hints of punk, psych, and blues in there. This a much more mature approach from us collectively, and we look forward to evolving in future releases. It was also amazing to have our good friend John Setzer paint us this album cover. You can find the art on our merch, and we will have vinyl for this record soon. Paul Ritchie (gods, Parlor Mob) recorded and mixed the album, and Alan Douches of West West Side Music put the mastering touches on it.
You’re headlining The Stone Pony this Tuesday (February 2, 2024) — a venue that celebrates its 50th Anniversary this month and year. Can you talk about the venue’s importance to you guys.
The Stone Pony is easily the most iconic venue in Asbury Park. Way before ever having a band, I personally remember any show I attended there giving me that magical feeling of “wow, I need to be in this type of environment way more”. We feel very lucky to have reconnected with the venue recently. Spazz opened for The Parlor Mob at The Stone Pony in 2019 and Tangiers Blues Band in 2018, and those been some of the most special moments for us as a band to this day. We hope this show on Friday, February 2nd is the first of many special ones for us there. That Summer Stage would sure be special down the road. The space, the staff, and the sound system have always been super good to us. Happy 50th, Stone Pony!
Can you also speak on the bands performing with you — gods, Baron Praxis and Dead Ramblers?
We are so pumped to have put this bill together. I would say that gods was the first local band that I was truly a fan of. They were mesmerizing and changed me forever. This project blew me away at The Stone Pony in 2016.
As mentioned previously, Paul Ritchie of gods also produced and mixed our album. It’s really trippy to reflect on how much I admire these dudes, to now call them friends. I remember seeing Sam Bey around town back in the day. I would always tell him how much I loved his band and that “I hope we can play a show when I get my s*** together.” Brian adds such a beautiful reverby layer to their sound, and Gary is such a great addition to them. Both Brian and Gary are involved in other fun bands too. Looking forward to more gods releases.
Baron Praxis were reppin’ Ocean County before we were around. When we first started playing, they were one of the bands we knew we needed to pair up with to get shows that rocked and were also well-attended. They bring a distinct difference to this local music scene. No one really plays grunge anymore. And they do so with a theatric presence and a progressive musical influence. The Heuser brothers and Brian Santos have been a constant part of the project. They’ve also been a constant source of friendship and long hair. We had a show cancel with them not too long ago, so it’s nice to finally get them back with us for this one.
The Dead Ramblers might be the best band that people don’t know, or must’ve forgot. They haven’t played in five years. Their drummer Andrew Lawler is brothers with our drummer. Andrew, along with Tyler Veit and Anthony Marino, were all in Wicked Hollow with Bryan Wood a few years back. That project was foundational for us to see what’s was possible in this space. I hope that The Dead Ramblers continue playing after this gig. This local music community would benefit greatly from having them around more consistently. A psychedelic blues rock power trio.
If someone is hearing about you for the first time, what song of yours would you recommend they check out in order for them to get what Sunshine Spazz is all about?
For first time listeners of Sunshine Spazz, our song “Side of the Road” is a solid representation. Multiple time changes and that punk/blues mix is highly evident.
What is it that you love about being in Sunshine Spazz?
My favorite thing about being in Sunshine Spazz is that I can let out aggression that is only comparable to playing high school football. This is my band of brothers, literally and figuratively. And to do so in my athletic prime is quite the blessing.
What’s on the horizon for Sunshine Spazz in 2024 that has you excited?
2024 is shaping up to be pretty amazing. We will be competing in Brooklyn, New York at Our Wicked Lady’s “Winter Madness.” Our first show is February 9th, and we hope to continue advancing every weekend. At the very least, we want to play Brooklyn way more. We will also be hitting the road in April and May. Local announcements are on the way too. For all of that, be sure to follow us on Instagram @sunshinespazz and you can stream our self-titled album anywhere. We are pushing to make 2024 the year of big boy moves.
