Interview: Sean Cunningham

We’ve all got our own Crawl story. What were you doing in early 2007? Because that’s when Atlas dropped Crawl. It jumped to the top of the charts and stayed there for a long time. A measure of how much it seared itself into everyone’s consciousness, is the question that Sean has been asked repeatedly since he’s been here (and probably on every social media post he’s ever done. More on that in a minute though. We drop in just after he’s done a live video recording and interview about Crawl for Smokefree Rockquest.

“It was a really, really good experience. We got a couple songs recorded, and they did, like, a whole interview talking about Crawl,” said Cunningham. “I’m loving all this stuff about the old days.”

It’s no surprise that after making a number one hit, then disbanding, that people want to hear all about it. What might amaze people is that since he left New Zealand 14 years ago, there have been no trips, no shows, no holidays back in Aotearoa. He was scheduled to come back in 2020, but like so many things, the pandemic put a stop to that.

“There's some things that you really miss from New Zealand, although funny that most of mine were food related. Like, I have to get some BurgerFuel, it was always my favourite.”

As well as burgers, he’s been reconnecting with old friends, old haunts. “I've only been back for a week and so many people I haven’t seen forever have been coming out to the shows to catch up. It’s been incredible.”

“And then, meeting new people and hearing what Atlas meant to them, and how much they loved Crawl. That's been really, really cool cause I had that experience back in the day. But, for the past decade I've been living in Nashville, where nobody knows that song. And so it's cool to be reminded that we made an impact and did something like that.”

Granted it took me maybe 3 or 4 minutes, but I couldn’t shy away from THE question any longer. So, how many people have asked when Crawl is going to get on Spotify?

“Every single time somebody mentions that. I mean, if you look at the YouTube video, because that's still up there, every second or third comment is somebody asking why they had to come here to listen to it. Why is it not on Spotify? But we're gonna get it up. We didn't own the rights to it. All this time Warner Music did, and for some reason they took it down. But actually, the rights are available again, so we're gonna acquire them and then put it back up on Spotify.”

“The whole thing makes no sense to me. I don't know why they don't want those 0.3 cents per stream for it, it beats me. You live and learn eh?”

Technology has made cross continent collaboration a breeze, but that’s not always the same as being there, making music with people you know and care about. Cunningham reflects on the effects of time and distance. 

“It's harder to remember that I was a part of something when you feel a little more removed from it. After 14 years you just start to forget. Which is why it's been so amazing to come back and then be reminded of that. I have stayed in touch with so many people and those relationships have been what I've hung on to the most.”

“I've had so many mates come through the States and whenever they're anywhere close to me, we all link up and hang out. It’s been amazing having so many of them come to Nashville to stay with me too.

Nashville is where he’s been plying his trade for over a decade now. And that town has also taken him on some musical journeys that lead to his debut solo album ‘Whatever That Is’, which besides reliving his youth, is one of the main reasons he’s here - to play shows around NZ.

“The first nine years or so that I was back in the US, I was in another band called The Cunning. That was a rock group, more like Zeppelin throwback, classic rock and roll style. I loved that, it was amazing, but I have been in bands my entire life and I've never, ever done a solo thing. So when that band kind of fell flat, I took some time to decide what it was I wanted to do next with music.”

“I ended up kind of burnt out on everything I'd done before. And I also wanted to produce my own music and really challenge myself to produce and perform and play everything. So I did this electronic style EP that you can find on Spotify called ‘The Whole Charade’. That came out in 2020 and literally my release day was the day after the whole world shut down. Nobody was paying any attention to it. But doing that EP showed me that I could do it myself.”

“And that was when I really started working more on new material for this next project. That became a lot more acoustic/indie rock/songwriter style. I eventually just built up a catalogue that was big enough to go in and start recording my first full length. And that's what came out last year.”

After going full Dave Grohl when making the EP, Cunningham roped in friends to fill out parts on the album, saying, “I wanted this album to be representative of my life, in the community that I'm in. So I wanted to involve as many members of that community, on this record, as I could.”

The title track of the album, ‘Whatever That Is’ was inspired by a conversation with his father, six months before he unexpectedly passed away. It was about age, and the absurdity of getting older, at any age.

“I was 36 and just talking to him about how getting older feels a bit like Imposter Syndrome, because in my head, I'm still the same person, I'm still the same guy I was at 19. Looking through the same eyes, having the same thoughts. But now I feel like I'm playing the part of an adult, you know.”

“My dad said, ‘Son, I'm 72 years old and I've always felt that same way.’ That conversation really told me that it’s something that's inside all of us, and getting old is weird, you know. So, we're all still gonna make mistakes. We're all still going to have dreams. We're still gonna trip over ourselves on the way. And sometimes your life might not be where you thought it was gonna be. And that's. OK, you know. But it's also why you get the power to change it and do something different, right?

With a couple of shows down in and around Auckland, Cunningham has a pretty rounded out tour of Aotearoa, from Taupo, to Akaroa and down to Queenstown. But given the origin of Atlas, one that has got to stand out is Christchurch. 

“I left about two months before the earthquake hit. So everything is going to be different now. I mean I remember sitting in the States and watching on YouTube. Somebody had gone around with a GoPro and a bicycle. Just seeing all of the rubble and looking at all of these places where I'd go for coffee, record shops I used to shop at, restaurants that I worked at or had dinner with mates. It was just heartbreaking. I'm likely to not recognise most of it now. I'm very excited to go down. But yeah, that's gonna be really weird.

The ‘community’ feel of the album extends to his shows too. In Ōtautahi, he’s got local legend Moses Emmanuel who was actually one of the early members of Atlas, and old friend Emla Palmer, who now performs as Binds. 

And then, it’s back to Nashville to finish off album number two. It’s due by the end of the year, which hopefully means it won’t be another 15 years before he returns to New Zealand. And BurgerFuel. We did ask about a fav, but the menu has changed a bit in 15 years, so we’re tapping in a Bacon Backfire. Whatever that is.