when discussing the latest chapter in sunny day real estate's
career, enigk muses, "it's really exciting.  it semmes that it's bigger
than it ever was.  it was a great thing that we broke up--that only seems
to have stoked people all the more.  but i don't really have too many
expectations because i have always been surprised by the response sunny
day gets."  speaking in a shy yet cautious tone, enigk attempts to
accurately express his expectations:  "I feel something is going to
happen this time.   but i'm not expecting it to be a huge explosion right
away.  that's just because i have been doing this for so long, and it
hasn't happened yet.  i have put my heart into expecting instant
explosions and though it's always been positive it's never been an
explosion.  i just want it to get as big as blwoing out the Kingdome,
y'know?"
 
        Whether or not sunny day real estate will find that level of
success this time around remains to be seen.  the band is not exactly the
same as it was before things went sour in 1995.  after the breakup, there
was much post-sunny day activity.  enigk released an inspired, lushly
orchestrated solo album.  bassist nate mendel and drummer william
goldsmith joined forces with nirvana's dave grohl to form the foo
fighters, and though goldsmith has left his post and returned to sunny day
full-time, he has had to cope with the pain and stress of huge success.
meanwhile, mendel remains with the foo fighters and sunny day real estate
has added new bassist jeff palmer and welcomed baack original guitarist
dan hoerner.  after releasing a new album of songs, how it feels to be
something on, the band is hitting the road once again, and its fans will
have to wait and see whether the band's newest chapter reads like "the boy
who called wolf" or "cinderella."

        Enigk is both smart and humble, and he is very aware of the
group's past trials and tribulations.  "Personally, i wouldn't have
rejoined the band unless we were all fully [committed to it] because in
the past so many bad feelings had happened," he states.  "There had been
so much hurt that it had to be worth it this time.  i didn't really want
to take that gamble myself unless it was good."  And enigk freely admits
that things within the band have definitely changed.  "we're kind of
thinking of ourselves as a new band.  you know, we never really expected
it to happen again.   [it's] a new dawn.  a new day."  Enigk has also
battled with anxiety over his fans' reaction to the band's new songs, but
in the end, he's proud of his work. "[this is] the greatest thing i have
ever worked on.  i am really pleased.  i had some fears that it just
wasn't as good as some of the basic chord progressions and it's mellow and
sad," he says.  "But lately, having been practicing the old songs next to
the new songs, i'm just so confident in the new album.  as far as what the
fans are going to hear, it is sunny day."

        So what is sunny day real estate all about these days?  in the
end, it's about realizing the importance, as the album title suggests, of
being something "on."  "how it feels to be something--finger on the light
switch--'on,' y'know?"  In a sincere and excited tone, Enigk adds: "How it
feels to be something on.  something alive.  y'know, like the sun is
shining and you're in a dark hole, and ou climb out of it and there's a
new dawn, a new horizon.  you really know how it feels to be something
alive."

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