Sunny Day Real Estate

Sunny Day Real Estate is a band from Seattle, Washington. While not the first band to be classified as emo, they were instrumental in establishing the genre.[2] In 1994, the band released their debut album Diary on Sub Pop Records to critical acclaim. However, shortly after releasing their second album LP2, the band broke up with members Nate Mendel and William Goldsmith joining the Foo Fighters and Jeremy Enigk embarking on a solo career. In 1997, they regrouped long enough to record two more studio albums and a live album, but ultimately disbanded once again in 2001.[3] The band has reunited once again in 2009. Bassist Nate Mendel, who chose to remain with the Foo Fighters during the previous reunion in 1997, is now taking part in this reunion.

Sunny Day Real Estate formed in 1992, originally under the name Empty Set. At that time, the band consisted of Dan Hoerner (guitar, vocals), Nate Mendel (bass), and William Goldsmith (drums). They released a demo tape under the name "Empty Set". Post-release, the band changed their name from Empty Set to Chewbacca Kaboom, upon realization that a band with the name Empty Set already existed. However, when another demo tape was released, the new name earned them little attention, and it was yet again subject to change, this time to 'One Day I Stopped Breathing'. During that same time, Mendel took a break to tour with another band. Hoerner took over the bass, and the group was joined by Jeremy Enigk, a high school friend of Goldsmith. Before long, Enigk ascended to become the permanent frontman of the band. Where Hoerner's vocal style had been in the rougher, hardcore vein, Enigk's higher-pitched, somewhat strained vocal style arguably added a greater emotional depth to the band's songs. When Mendel returned, the complete band settled on the name Sunny Day Real Estate, and with the new name a 7" called Flatland Spider was released. Sunny Day Real Estate released another 7-inch, Thief, Steal Me a Peach in 1993.

There are many plausible origins of where the name of the band really came from, the most commonly believed story being a quip from Nate Mendel. He felt that since the band's outlook on the world saw that every possible thing was becoming a commodity to be bought and sold, it was possible that one day, people would even start selling sunny days.

Two other popular stories are that the band's name came from a line from a Talking Heads song or that is from a T. S. Eliot poem.[4] Mendel has said that the name came from the Talking Heads song "(Nothing But) Flowers."[5]

Discography

* Diary (1994)
* Sunny Day Real Estate (aka LP2) (1995)
* How It Feels to Be Something On (1998)
* The Rising Tide (2000)

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