New single release interview with Kaleb Hikele, vocalist and guitarist of The Sun Harmonic. Homesick out now!
What inspired the creation of this single?
This song has been a long time in the making. I've been inspired over and over again to make this song come to life and be released, but it was never the right time. If I recorded it when I wrote it (I was 23), it wouldn't have been the same. The 2025 version is perfect. The rest of the questions might answer why, let's dive in.
What story or message does the song convey?
It's a universal feeling that we all experience. Feeling homesick. I take a look at that feeling and how it attaches itself to a physical place that we call home but can also float and be detached from a house with four walls. Every time I sing it at a gig, I realize a music venue can feel like "home" so I'm always out there chasing it, even when I have a beautiful home with my love and my dog and my studio here in Toronto.
Can you tell us about the creative process?
The band, Kaleb, Ian and Dave, went into the studio (The Chalet, Claremont) in December of 2021 with about 11 songs and two days to record. Homesick was the second song of the first day I believe, a quick and easy song to track because we'd been playing it for so many years. We've always recorded live in a room to capture the energy of a live performance. The song came back to my home studio, The Townhouse in Riverdale Toronto, where it was layered over the years and finally mixed just a few months ago. It was an obvious choice to be the first song to present our next album.
How does this song differ from your previous releases?
Not every folk/rock song is in 3/4 time! It becomes a waltz with the snare on the 2 and the 3, but the production of course plays into a three-piece rock band structure. I learned from Sign on the Road that you can make a song sound Rock & Roll without an electric guitar (not a shred of it on Sign, only a minor part on the outro of Homesick).
What challenges did you face while writing or recording?
The song was written in a blink. I wrote it on a notepad while I was working a serving shift at a restaurant, singing the melody in my head and scribbling lyrics till I got home and picked up the guitar...
The challenge came when I had to find a place for it to fit on an album. I wrote this song in the middle of a massive album cycle (a double album called Winter, started in 2010 and released in 2017) that overlapped with another concept album (Coast to Coast, 2015-2021). It's as if the song was put aside, on the back burner, in my back pocket, until this band album came along, and it made the most sense to be included. Finally! The song was a staple of our early band shows so it was obvious to finally let it go...
Did you experiment with any new instruments, techniques, or styles?
The piano riff was ultimately what replaced my grandiose ideas for guitar solos and distorted layers. The song is built on a simple acoustic guitar + bass guitar + drums foundation. For a long time, there wasn't anything else in the arrangement, then I recorded the lead vocal, and a harmony line and it started to revolve again around the melody. I tried to put as little into the recording as I could, arrangement wise, and it paid off. "Less Is More" is a wonderful studio technique.
Is there a personal connection or story tied to the lyrics?
Good question. It's not intentional, but in hindsight (a decade after writing it) I've applied my life story of finding a sense of "home" to the song. When I was a kid, I moved every few years and lived in a handful of homes. The longest I've lived in one house is here in Toronto with my home studio! The song certainly belongs to the Townhouse catalogue... The song never settles on where Home is, especially in the chorus, which goes in a circular loop with word play and quick rhyming schemes.
"Homesick,
But I do not know where my home is
So I'm getting sick and I know it's
The thought of me thinking about
The idea of home"
Have you performed it live yet, and what was the audience’s reaction?
This song has been performed a few hundred times, all across Canada. I've toured it as a solo artist, playing it from Vancouver to Halifax, before turning it into a band song with a driving rhythm section and driving tempo. It always goes over well at live shows and the sing along/clapping part at the end of the song comes directly from our live rendition on stage in front of an audience. I'm glad it sounds that natural too!
Is this single part of a larger project, like an album or EP?
Yes! It's the first single from our upcoming studio album as The Sun Harmonic. As a trio, we released our first EP in 2020 (one month into the pandemic) and later in the pandemic we went into the studio with a handful of songs for a new album. This record will be the debut album as a trio, even though it's the 7th studio album in the Sun Harmonic catalogue. It's louder and faster than before! Ushering in a new direction for the artist's name and discography so far.
Anything Else You'd Like Your Fans to Know.
The song is available everywhere now. The easiest way to get a copy of your own is to download a compilation album I made called "nothing to hide" (21 songs for 21 years) up for free download @ https://kalebhikele.bandcamp.com
Thanks for being here and reading this folks!
The Sun Harmonic Website