Remember Sports Sunchokes

When Remember Sports recorded Sunchokes in 2014 while Carmen Perry (vocals, guitar), Catherine Dwyer (guitar), Benji Dossetter (drums) and James Karlin (bass) attended Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, they had no intention of pursuing music seriously. It was recorded with the wide-eyed optimism of making a record for the sake of it. To create something they could share with their friends. To make something they could simply look back on. The band ' then called Sports ' started in 2012, coming up through the pocket of their folk and DIY punk scene. Carmen Perry cites Dave Garwacke's Pink Couch Sessions as a catalyst for Remember Sports' much-loved lo-fi sound, commenting on the purity of that first LP. 'We made Sunchokes because we loved playing those songs and we loved playing music together,' she says. 'It's a really special record. It's nice to remember how far you've come.' Quietly released on Bandcamp, Sunchokes gained traction through word of mouth and social media. Now, five years later, following the departure of Dossetter and Karlin and addition of Jack Washburn (guitar) and Connor Perry (drums), Sunchokes has been remastered ' by band friend Lucas Knapp ' for a special anniversary release, on vinyl and CD for the first time ever. The remastered album also includes eight bonus songs including a few original demos and Addie Pray (Carmen's solo project) versions of the songs. Perry jokes that the demos 'don't sound too good' but affirms the nostalgic importance of cementing those special first few years as a band. 'A lot of the songs were ones that I had recorded myself before we started the band, put out on Bandcamp and made CD's and stuff by hand.' A twenty page memory book, featuring playlists, photos and more, will also accompany the release. 'This whole process has been sort of like a trip down memory lane, going through old photos and old emails,' Perry continues. 'It is like a diary...it's funny looking back on certain songs and remembering how I was feeling when I wrote them. Having them on a record, it's a nice way to reconnect with your past self.'