IN CONVERSATION WITH: SUNFLOWER THIEVES

Sunflower Thieves are a self-produced, soulful sisterhood, nurturing a unique sound, through ethereal vocal harmonies and storytelling lyrics. Rooted in authenticity, childhood friends, Amy and Lily, have grown the project from performances at open-mic nights and BBC Introducing sessions.

Q: Sunflower Thieves! Thanks for agreeing to answer some questions for us. Let’s start with the easy stuff: how did you two meet? How did this collaboration start?

A:We grew up together back home in Derbyshire, and were brought up inmusic-loving homes, within a vibrant community who have always been - and continue to be -very supportive of what we’re doing. We both received music tuition [both piano, Lily trumpet,Amy flute] and shared a love of a lot of the same songs. There were plenty of open mic nights, day festivals, charity events and other events going on,so we got into performing covers together, before starting to write our own songs.

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Q: Your music is delicately fierce and intimate yet so powerful; tell us about your songwriting process, is it an introspective activity for you or would you defineyourselves as more of story-tellers?

A: What a great description, thank you! That’s exactly what we’re striving for I think. Themajority of our songs have come from an internal place - things we’re experiencing or processing, especially within different relationships and friendships - and they always come from something real. This (the songwriting)  involves a few cups of coffee and a lot of talk about the thoughts and feelings that surround what we’re trying to convey - sometimes you don’t even fully realise how you feel about something until you say it out loud and someone engages with it.

Q:Your most recent body of work, “someone to be there for” is a beautiful EP, and it seems to have put Sunflower Thieves on a very special podium: you are one of the most talked about Leeds acts. How does it feel to know your workhas gotten such an incredible recognition?

A: "Someone To Be There" For is definitely our proudest achievement so far, so it’s been amazing to see the impact it has had. Every song on the EP grew from personal and often difficult places, so the songs are really important to us, and the EP feels like a time capsule for a specific few months of our lives.

Q: What’s the story behind “Someone To Be There For?” talk us through its conception

A: ‘Someone to be there for’ is a line from one of the songs on the EP, ‘Sirens’.We always describe Sirens as a love song for our friends, and it was written at a time when my [Amy] friends were really pulling me through a sad time, about how strengthening it can be to be there for somebody else, and get outside your own head. We wrote this song with two of our best friends, Sam and Tom, and it really set the tonefor the rest of the EP.  We were both living back home in our childhood homes in Derbyshire during the writing of the EP, and an awareness of this seeped through into "Grown Out Of You", which explores the feelings around seeing old school friends and not feeling very connected to them anymore. 

​"Lichtenberg Figures" is the only song that was written in a different place; we spent a couple of days writing with Sam of The Howl & The Hum, who is a magnificent songwriter, and it didn’t really have a direction when we started. We wrote the whole first verse before working out what we were trying to say.

 We love the EP title because it just perfectly ties together the feelings running through these songs: loneliness, heartbreak, love, self-growth and acceptance.

Q:“It’s Not Like The Christmas Film” seems more than just a Christmas song, what’s the story behind it?

A: ‘It’s Not Like The Christmas Films’ came from a session in London with our friends Lexie Carroll and Jack Hardman in August 2023. We’re working with Jack separately at the moment, on our second EP, and have been friends with Lexie for a couple of years, but this was our first session writing together.

The festive period brings mixed feelings for us both; getting to spend more time with loved ones and celebrating, alongside the heightened awareness of the absence of others, and the perceived pressure to be having the best time, during one of the most exhausting times of year. It’s dark and cold and can feel very lonely, unlike the picture painted by a lot of Christmas songs and films. The bad news on the TV doesn’t go away for Christmas, and neither does any sadness you may be carrying with you. That being said, we still had such a fun time writing this song!

Q: What’s in store for 2024?

A: We have a whole bunch of new songs that are currently being mixed by Lil, so there’ll be more music very soon. It’s Not Like The Christmas Films feels like the bridge between Someone To Be There For and what’s coming next, both in songwriting and production. With our next releases, we’ll be stepping into a fiercer, bolder direction musically, but never losing sight of our storytelling and vocal harmonies. Aside from that, we have a couple of shows lined up to announce and we’ll be heading out on a full band tour later this year. We’ve relaunched our Patreon campaign, which was so valuable to us in terms of creativity and financial support during lockdown, and we’re sharing exclusive demos and news there every month, so please come and join us there if you want to be the first to know what’s happening!

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SUNFLOWER THIEVES