Columbus’ Own: Sunrise Reset looks to rise to the occasion

Ben Cain
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 05:08:46 +0000
Arts & Life, Music, News, CD102.5, cd102.5 day, columbus music, local bands, side a, side b, sunrise reset, Zoo Trippin'

Sunrise Reset, from left to right: Darrin Wesenberg, Damien Pyles, Corey Fry, Michael Yonchak. Credit: Courtesy of Melissa Fry

If local act Sunrise Reset plays its cards right, it will get to open for four national acts at EXPRESS LIVE!

On Friday night, CD 102.5 will host its second battle of the bands contest to choose a supporting act for “CD 102.5 Day Side B.” One of the three bands performing at Skully’s Music Diner Friday will be Sunrise Reset.

“We didn’t expect to get picked,” said lead singer Corey Fry of the station’s decision to select them as contestants for the opening spot at CD 102.5 Day. The concert will feature national acts including Local Natives and Declan McKenna.

While this show could be a big chance for Sunrise Reset, it took a while for the band to get to this point. Sunrise Reset came from the ashes of Fry’s previous project, Monolithic Cloud Parade, which formed in late 2008.

“I put an ad out on Craigslist, actually,” Fry said, adding that he was afraid he might run into some odd characters on the site while looking for musicians to join his band.

The band was active in the Columbus music scene for a few years until Monolithic Cloud Parade disbanded in 2011.

In 2014, after Fry finished graduate school at Ohio State with a master’s in school counseling, he and bass player Darrin Wesenberg regrouped with guitarist Damien Pyles from the previous band to form Sunrise Reset, which is named after a former Monolithic Cloud Parade song. The new band’s sound, Wesenberg said, is the fusion of the band members’ eclectic and differing tastes in music.

“We all come from completely different musical backgrounds,” Wesenberg said. He listed The Beach Boys, The Beatles and classic rock in general as being his own sources of influence when writing for the band.

As for Fry, he said his musical stylings hail from a slightly different subgenre of rock.

“Before I listened to The Strokes for the first time, I literally only listened to rap,” Fry said. He listed bands such as The White Stripes and Neutral Milk Hotel — specifically its lead singer Jeff Mangum — as his main sources of influence when writing music and lyrics for Sunrise Reset.

With the recent addition of Michael Yonchak, the band’s current drummer and a music professor at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, the band members draw upon several different channels of musical thought to produce their songs. Fry and Wesenberg said the collaboration adds up to a sophisticated indie rock sound. When Sunrise Reset takes the stage Friday night, Fry said the focus will be on fun.

“We’re definitely excited, even if we don’t win,” Fry said. “I love playing Skully’s, and it’s kind of cool to play shows with other local bands.”
Sunrise Reset will play at 10 p.m. Friday, and will be followed by a set from fellow Columbus bands Souther and Zoo Trippin’. Voting will then take place from 12:40 to 1:10 a.m. Admission to the show is free for those over 21, and there will be a $5 cover for those 18 and up.