Sunflower Bean: Living Your Truth in “Mortal Primetime

Last Updated on 2026-02-15 by a-indie

“Just keep going” — After 10 years of activity, Sunflower Bean boasts 70 million streams and 150,000 social media followers.

For us, this interview with them marks our first conversation since their debut album 『Human Ceremony』, nearly 10 years ago.

Their new work 『Mortal Primetime』, woven primarily by Julia, is a “hymn to life” that embodies unprecedented confidence and maturity.

Even through major changes—Nick’s move to L.A. and Olive’s coming out as transgender—their passion for music remains unwavering.

With the powerful message that “the best time to go out and live your truth is now,” what lies beyond the pain and fragility that 『Mortal Primetime』 embraces?

Table of Contents

Sunflower Bean Interview

Artists: Julia Cumming (Vo., Ba.), Nick Kivlen (Gt., Vo.), Olive Faber (Dr.)　Interviewer: Kaoruko Momoi　Editor: Tomohiro Yabe

– Kaoruko Momoi: After releasing your previous album, there were changes in each member’s living environment before making this album, such as Nick moving to California and Olive coming out as transgender. Was “Headful of Sugar” an album created while the band was dealing with various concerns?
Olive: Yea definitely, headful was made during a weird time. The world was shut down from Covid and i think we all had time to take a breath for the first time. Although there was a lot happening under the surface, i only have fond memories of living upstate with the band and making that record. It was a time ill never forget.

– Kaoruko Momoi: As each member’s living environment changed, we heard that Julia wrote songs by herself for the first time on this album. Does this mean you had no experience writing songs alone before forming the band? Please also tell us about the difficulties and joys of writing songs by yourself.
Julia: I can understand this needs some clarification. When you’re developing as a songwriter, you need lots of time to write alone, and that was always part of my process. Also, Sunflower Bean is a very collaborative project, and we really believe in the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. But when writing this album, I had a lot more time over the past few years to work alone and bring those ideas to the band in a more fully formed way than before. I was more confident and able to believe in myself in new ways, and I’m really glad I got to bring that energy to this record.

– Kaoruko Momoi: How did you share ideas to develop the songs Julia wrote while members were living in different places? Were opportunities to actually meet and play music together more limited than before?
Julia: We spent a few weeks all together in Long Island working out this material that we had been compiling. A lot of the songs really came to life when we gave them that attention. In particular, our song 「There’s A Part I Can’t Get Back」 really came alive when Nick started that aggressive strumming pattern. Or Nick’s song 「Please Rewind」 actually came together in the studio, when we were able to get all the harmonies on and bring in the cello. Basically, even though we weren’t all living in the same place, each song had time with the three of us to develop.
Olive: Yea! We spent a whole month together at our studio on Long Island getting all the ideas together and making it into a Sunflower Bean record.

Sunflower Bean’s Roots

– Kaoruko Momoi: This is something I wanted to ask in our previous interview: Could you tell us about three albums that formed the roots of Sunflower Bean? Also, if there are any memorable episodes about each album, please share them.
Olive: I know one of them would be 『Thrashin』 by Total Slacker. They were a local band that we all would go see around brooklyn a lot during 2012 and 2013. They were such an inspiration and beacon of hope for catchy melodic rock n roll. Kind of the first thing that I had seen that showed me what I wanted was possible.

Nick: I would cite 『Oshin』 by DIIV, another local band that we absolutely loved. 『Innerspeaker』 and 『Lonerism』 by Tame Impala were also so huge for us. Music that rocked but was also different and weird and creative. Connan Mocasin and UMO were also big inspirations early on. When we played with King Gizzard we also became pretty big fans. Thee Ohh Sees as well.

Mortal Primetime

– Kaoruko Momoi: In “Mortal Primetime,” I felt a story about a woman from a rural area with low self-confidence who establishes herself while trying makeup, meeting people from various backgrounds, expanding her thinking, and getting hurt. Is there a consistent theme in this album?
Julia: I really love that you are feeling that from this album, and that a character is coming forward! This album is really about the precious and fleeting nature of life and love. Our love for each other is embedded in everything we do and in the music we make, and we were able to share our flaws and pains on a deeper level for this record. I hope that our vulnerability is bringing this woman to life, and it’s always very interesting and personal to hear how people experience music. The tones we used on this record, natural roomy sounding drums and acoustic guitars also bring forth that rural feeling you mentioned.
Nick: I think the main theme of the album is finding strength in community and friendship. The title track 「Champagne taste」 is the pseudonym we would use when playing smaller secret shows with heavy unreleased music, and that song is sort of about wanting to transform into the alter ego together. To succeed and be strong and powerful.