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Satellites & Sirens

The latest addition to the Word Records’ roster doesn’t exactly fit the mold of what you might expect from the same label as Francesca Battistelli, Mark Schultz, Point of Grace and Selah among others. But Satellites & Sirens provides an exciting addition that reaches from electropop to radio rock to deliver their message to students coast to coast.

Here in this S-A interview, vocalist Geoff Hunker tells us all about the band’s upcoming album, their plans for the new year and how amazing it is that some guys who met through Craigslist could become so close.

Soul-Audio: You guys just put out an EP…

Geoff Hunker: Well, we just released two EPs – one in August and then one last month. So we’ve just been using those to tour a little bit on our own. Then “Take Me Back” is our first single and we’re pushing that to radio as well. We’re just wanting to get our name out there a little bit for our bigger release in March. So that’s what we’ve been up to.

SA: Do you feel a good groundswell in place from those releases?

Geoff: Yeah, we’ve been hearing a lot of things around the industry. We’ve been going to more and more shows where people have been following us or knowing who we are. We’re not used to that and it’s been great. We do a good job of converting fans when we play a show but it’s nice to have people who know your stuff.

SA: In terms of the new EP, can you talk about the vision going into the studio?

Geoff: It was an interesting scenario for us because there were a couple songs on there written a couple years ago. Then there were others written as we were heading into the studio. So it’s interesting to see how God made a cohesive record from a lot of different areas. There’s a lot of different styles on the record as well, but yet it works together. But there are things for a lot of different people on there. We didn’t necessarily try to do that.

We also didn’t try to have a theme for the record, but it really came out to be about relationships – our relationship with God or relationships with people and friends and being there for each other. That’s really something that we as a band are about. We love being the last people to leave at a show. We love meeting anybody that we can and we want to hang out with everybody. The best way that we can speak into someone’s life is if we can have a relationship with those people.

SA: That’s really interesting given the band’s Craigslist beginning.

Geoff: Yeah, it really is. Again, it wasn’t necessarily something that we wanted to do. It just came out from the guys who are in the band and what we feel about when we’re playing shows. It just happened that way. So it’s amazing to see how God can use crazy things like Craigslist to bring people together. Those guys are my best friends, too, now, so if I have a problem or need something, those are the guys that I go to. It’s amazing that God uses that and brings that together. And they’re all amazing musicians, too, which is even more incredible.

SA: What’s the story behind coming together with Word Records?

Geoff: I was working with a couple producers – Barry Camp and Jason Ingram. They’re the guys who put out Rush of Fools and Tenth Avenue North and some of those other bigger artists. I’ve been working with them for a couple years now and it was through those guys that we found another guy named Conner Farley, who worked for Word as an A&R guy. He’s one of those guys who are out of the box, always looking for something different or something new. So when my producers had produced and written a few songs, they were like, ‘Man, I need to take it to this guy, Conner. He’s the guy crazy enough to sign this.’

So it was a cool situation. When he heard it, he was like, ‘Yep, let’s do this.’ We don’t necessarily fit the mold for what Word normally puts out, but it was great to have Word behind us and saying this is something great that is new. They were willing to push it and see what can happen, so it’s a great relationship.

SA: Did they tell you what they saw in you?

Geoff: Conner definitely came to us that way. His whole thing was that he loves programming and a lot of the dance stuff coming out now. So when we had that incorporated into some of our songs, he loved it. When he signed us, it was kind of like, ‘Hey, just be creative and put out what you want to put out.’ That was different than what I thought happened when you sign to a label. We could just be creative and put out a song like “Light the Night” which is Postal Service-esque along with a great rock song like “Anchor.” It was great to put these songs out and have them get a hold of the songs.

SA: So the plan for the new year?

Geoff: One of the bigger things we want to do is tour. I think our live show is exciting and we want to be out there. That’s a tool for us to get the message out there. So right now, we’re working on tours. We’re working on some things for the beginning of the year – the first of which is heading out with an indie artist called The Great Transparency. They’re a great rock band and we want to do some touring with them. We’re going to go out with Chris Sligh for about 20 dates in March and April and the record comes out in March, so we will use that to push things along. We’re looking for some other good tours to jump on, including some bigger tours as openers. This year we just want to be the opening band and we want to go out with other bands that are more solidified and we want to reach their fan base and hang out with kids and that type of thing.

SA: Is that the heart of the band – the student population?

Geoff: I think so. We just love to hang out with people. We have a great time everywhere we go. Just as an example, we just played a show in Chicago and the youth pastor there had superhero costumes on in the back of her trunk and we put those on and ran around the church. We just loved being able to hang out and be goofy and have fun with people. Most of the time, that leads to conversations that are serious. So that’s what we want to do. We’ve made a lot of friends with parents, too, because we can have a good time but also have a serious message to express.