KINGS OF THE DRIVE: SONNY ON THE CAUSEWAY

Each year, 100.5 The Drive hosts a Battle of the Bands. The first round is held in various venues around town, with audiences determining the winner. Last year, Sonny on the Causeway - a rock band based out of Northern Pennsylvania – didn’t make it past that point. This year, they were determined to push through to the final round at Touch of Texas, and be judged by music aficionados. They did make it, and when the final results were tallied, Sonny on the Causeway took home the crown. We caught up with Ed Leucke, bassist and one of the founding members of Sonny on the Causeway after their Battle of the Bands win, and talked about the past and future of the band:

TRIPLE CITIES CAROUSEL: Can you tell us a little bit about how the band got together? When did you start, and how did you meet?

ED LEUKE: Three of us met through mutual friends - myself, Aaron Sinkovich [guitar], and Michael Whitbeck [guitar]. We were out at a bar, and really didn’t know each other. We started talking about music, and said hey, we should put something together. It was just that easy. Within a week, we were jamming together and playing, searching for a drummer and a singer.

We just kept plugging away at stuff, even though we were having trouble with that. [John Pullo, drums, and Brendan Regan, vocals] joined in June of 2012. We had our first show in November of 2012. Our mission statement in the beginning was to not be a typical bar band, playing the classic rock songs that all the bands play. We wanted to do things a little different, and throw in a song by the Misfits or the Pixies, but then we do play “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield. We want to make sure the music is something that both we and the audience enjoy.

From the beginning, we started working on original music; we just didn’t have many opportunities to play original music. When you’re playing bars and things, people want to hear music they know, so we’d have to sneak them in here and there. When we got the opportunity to do Battle of the Bands, it was our chance to shine, and put our original music out there that we are proud of. Having our friends and fans come out and to hear music they’ve never heard before, and hearing the positive feedback from them - that was pretty cool.

TCC: How do you see your original music in context of the band? Do you see that as the driving force?

EL: We would like to get more opportunities to play our original music. I wish there were more local venues that showcased that. I know there’s a few local places that do that, but you show up and there’s four people there. We all have families and jobs, and not that we expect to have the Battle of the Bands audience at every show, but if you’re giving up time with your family, you want to make it worthwhile. And it’s nobody's fault - it’s a different climate for bands now than it was ten or twenty years ago. People are able to do more things at home, with the devices they hold in their hands, and are not as apt to go out as they used to be. It’s the same all over. It’s tough to find the opportunity [to play our original music], but we love to be able to do that. We love playing it for people who want to hear our music.

TCC: Tell me a little bit about the Battle of the Bands. How did the different rounds go, and what was it like participating?

EL: We actually participated first last year, and we were beat out in the first round by a really cool band, Several Sons. Right away, my thought was “We’re coming back next year!” We did, and we came in strong. The first round is exclusively audience vote, so it’s really just getting your fans out there to support you. We took the first round, and my thoughts from the beginning were that it would be really nice to just play the finals. We didn’t expect to win, but we wanted to prove we could get there.

(2016 100.5 The Drive Battle of the Bands)

So we did get there, and we were pretty excited. In the final round, your score is based off both audience votes and judges’ points. We were excited to learn that, from what I understand, we were beat by a couple points in the audience category, but what pushed us over the top were the judges’ scores. I thought that was pretty cool, that people who know music, who listen to music, put us on the top of the pile.

We had a great time, and met some really cool people in the other bands. We’re very grateful to our fans and friends who came out both times. It was very close, and [the judges] had to recheck everything just to be sure. We came out on top, and that feels very nice.

TCC: How do you see your band growing going forward? What do you think the win at Battle of the Bands does for you?

EL: I think the win at Battle of the Bands - being that it was based on our original music - has inspired us to take our original music more seriously. Finishing recording, and putting out a CD later in 2018, just to accomplish it. We just want to get our music down on tape, and make it available for those who want to hear it.

Who are your biggest influences? Well, one of the judges said we were Weezer meets Cheap Trick, which was pretty cool… we cover songs by both those bands. But our biggest influences - being that we’re a little older than some of the bands out there - our influences start in the 70s and 80s, through the 90s and 2000s. We love pop-punk bands, and pop-rock bands from the 80s like the Cars and Cheap Trick, and then bands through the 90s like Weezer and Foo Fighters and Everclear. It’s really hard to describe the sound of our music, since our influences come from all over the place.

TCC: Where does the name Sonny on the Causeway come from?

EL: It’s a reference to the Godfather. Sonny Corleone, played by James Conn, he gets shot in the toll both. In the next scene, Marlon Brando is told by Robert Duval, “They got Sonny on the causeway.” Our first year of our band, we didn’t have a name, when it was just the three of us. We had this big board on the wall, where we were just writing names. Whenever we thought we had a cool name, we’d Google it, and sure enough, some band in Boise would be named it. We were really struggling for a name. It was Mike who came up with it. He’s a big Godfather fan, and I’m a big movie fan, and so it was like, that’s really cool.

Sonny on the Causeway will be taking the next couple months off to record their debut album. Their return show/album release will be on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2018 at Two Dogs and a Guy Brewery in Montrose, PA. For more information about the band, look for Sonny on the Causeway on Facebook. Congratulations again to this year’s 100.5 The Drive Battle of the Bands champions!