Sugar Baron

Skope: At what stage in life did music become more than a hobby?
Jan: Music has always been a big part of my life. When I was younger, my Aunt Robin always encouraged me and my cousins to perform plays and music in front of small audiences; we would even go to nursing homes every now and again and entertain the folks there for a day. Maybe it was those big sloppy kisses from someone else’s grandma that made it stick, but I think deep down, I always knew that I wanted to be a performer. After I graduated college (from CMU), I returned home and started working with Randy Nelsen (formerly The Lunar Calendar), who had already made a career out of producing parody raps with Pinegrove Records. I messed around in the studio with him before, but one day, after coming in to finish up a verse or something, we decided out of nowhere to work on some new music. I was really getting into bands like Phantogram and Passion Pit, using big synth arrangements and out-of-the-box vocal stylings, and also loved the light-hearted nature of what my buddy Mark was doing in Michigan based band Stepdad; so we just sat down and did what came naturally and cranked out our first two songs (“Braggart” and “Pretend Time”) in literally 3 hours. Later Ryun Weber (formerly The Lunar Calendar, I Kill Jack and English) joined up and we wrote our first album, “Monet on the Dance Floor” in less than a month. After the album came together so organically, we all decided that Sugar Baron was a project worth investing our lives and energy into.

Skope: How much time per week is devoted to music and do you have work/school too?
Jan: As a band we try to get together at least 3 times a week for practice, but everyday Randy and I will either be on the phone or in the same room working on ways to promote or improve Sugar Baron. This band has really become my full-time job in the last year. Ryun and our newest member and live drummer, Travis Krajewski, have jobs that demand a good chunk of their time, but we do a good job working around their schedules. We all make sacrifices for the good of the band: Ryun is constantly playing/writing music on his down time; the kid’s a machine. I’ve seen him get up early for three hours of practice, then go work a 14 hour shift, all on two hours of sleep, and he still has the energy to come home, sit down and write a new song before bed… more times than I can count…

Skope: What are you currently promoting the most via an album, tour, single etc?
Jan: Right now we are hard at work promoting our sophomore album “Sharon is Karen”. I am personally really proud of this album because I feel like, as a band, we really came together and defined our sound. We describe ourselves as an “Electronic/Dance Rock” band and this album meets every aspect of that description. It is fun, light-hearted music with big buttery beats that you can dance to, but at the same time, we are hitting you hard with driving guitar riffs and double bass pedal blasts that set the stage for a high energy performance and a raucous party.

Skope: What does music offer you personally besides the shot at fame & fortune?
Jan: For me personally, I think music, like any type of creative output, offers me perspective and sanity. As it is within the visual arts, when I write music it more often than not reflects the mood I am in and I use it as a way to kind of let go of whatever I am feeling. I try my best to be a positive person 100% of the time, so I use the writing process as a way to exorcise my demons so to speak, thusly, keeping my sanity for another day. There is also something beautiful about coming back to a piece of work you’ve created and reflecting on what it meant to you when you made it: recognizing both your personal and artistic growth is not something everyone takes the time to do, but music has always allowed me the ability to put my life in perspective and reflect on how far I’ve come as a person and an artist; and I know there will always be plenty of room for growth!

Skope: Do you have any Youtube video or Soundcloud single posted online we should hear?
On our Soundcloud page right now (http://Soundcloud.com/Sugar-Baron) we have some of the new album “Sharon is Karen” up, including our single “Lion Heart”. And as an extra special treat, in honor of this article, we are temporarily leaving our song “Vlad the Inhaler” up for free download. So get it while the gettin’s good!

Skope: What is coming up for you & where you at online?
We’re at an exciting point in our life as a band. We have been on two tours already, taking us as far east as New York and as far south as Austin, Texas, and now we are looking to book our next tour which is tentatively planned for fall 2013. We’ve been gaining momentum here in Michigan and hope to use this year to prove that we are a hard working, original band with something new and innovative to show the world. We are also starting to shop for labels, which has taught us some new lessons, o - Skope Magazine

Skope: At what stage in life did music become more than a hobby?
Jan: Music has always been a big part of my life. When I was younger, my Aunt Robin always encouraged me and my cousins to perform plays and music in front of small audiences; we would even go to nursing homes every now and again and entertain the folks there for a day. Maybe it was those big sloppy kisses from someone else’s grandma that made it stick, but I think deep down, I always knew that I wanted to be a performer. After I graduated college (from CMU), I returned home and started working with Randy Nelsen (formerly The Lunar Calendar), who had already made a career out of producing parody raps with Pinegrove Records. I messed around in the studio with him before, but one day, after coming in to finish up a verse or something, we decided out of nowhere to work on some new music. I was really getting into bands like Phantogram and Passion Pit, using big synth arrangements and out-of-the-box vocal stylings, and also loved the light-hearted nature of what my buddy Mark was doing in Michigan based band Stepdad; so we just sat down and did what came naturally and cranked out our first two songs (“Braggart” and “Pretend Time”) in literally 3 hours. Later Ryun Weber (formerly The Lunar Calendar, I Kill Jack and English) joined up and we wrote our first album, “Monet on the Dance Floor” in less than a month. After the album came together so organically, we all decided that Sugar Baron was a project worth investing our lives and energy into.

Skope: How much time per week is devoted to music and do you have work/school too?
Jan: As a band we try to get together at least 3 times a week for practice, but everyday Randy and I will either be on the phone or in the same room working on ways to promote or improve Sugar Baron. This band has really become my full-time job in the last year. Ryun and our newest member and live drummer, Travis Krajewski, have jobs that demand a good chunk of their time, but we do a good job working around their schedules. We all make sacrifices for the good of the band: Ryun is constantly playing/writing music on his down time; the kid’s a machine. I’ve seen him get up early for three hours of practice, then go work a 14 hour shift, all on two hours of sleep, and he still has the energy to come home, sit down and write a new song before bed… more times than I can count…

Skope: What are you currently promoting the most via an album, tour, single etc?
Jan: Right now we are hard at work promoting our sophomore album “Sharon is Karen”. I am personally really proud of this album because I feel like, as a band, we really came together and defined our sound. We describe ourselves as an “Electronic/Dance Rock” band and this album meets every aspect of that description. It is fun, light-hearted music with big buttery beats that you can dance to, but at the same time, we are hitting you hard with driving guitar riffs and double bass pedal blasts that set the stage for a high energy performance and a raucous party.

Skope: What does music offer you personally besides the shot at fame & fortune?
Jan: For me personally, I think music, like any type of creative output, offers me perspective and sanity. As it is within the visual arts, when I write music it more often than not reflects the mood I am in and I use it as a way to kind of let go of whatever I am feeling. I try my best to be a positive person 100% of the time, so I use the writing process as a way to exorcise my demons so to speak, thusly, keeping my sanity for another day. There is also something beautiful about coming back to a piece of work you’ve created and reflecting on what it meant to you when you made it: recognizing both your personal and artistic growth is not something everyone takes the time to do, but music has always allowed me the ability to put my life in perspective and reflect on how far I’ve come as a person and an artist; and I know there will always be plenty of room for growth!

Skope: Do you have any Youtube video or Soundcloud single posted online we should hear?
On our Soundcloud page right now (http://Soundcloud.com/Sugar-Baron) we have some of the new album “Sharon is Karen” up, including our single “Lion Heart”. And as an extra special treat, in honor of this article, we are temporarily leaving our song “Vlad the Inhaler” up for free download. So get it while the gettin’s good!

Skope: What is coming up for you & where you at online?
We’re at an exciting point in our life as a band. We have been on two tours already, taking us as far east as New York and as far south as Austin, Texas, and now we are looking to book our next tour which is tentatively planned for fall 2013. We’ve been gaining momentum here in Michigan and hope to use this year to prove that we are a hard working, original band with something new and innovative to show the world. We are also starting to shop for labels, which has taught us some new lessons, o - Skope Magazine

Last month I took in this tremendous little festival called Electro Future Fest which featured bands I’ve had on MPAD in the past like Flashclash and Deastro. There were a few other bands playing, one of them being Sugar Baron. I actually heard a song by Sugar Baron a few days before that on Flashclash Radio, only I didn’t knw it was Sugar Baron, I just knew I liked the song and needed to look into who it was by. Well, flash forward a few days later and there they are on stage at St. Andrews as one of the early bands on for the festival. I really dug their sound with fun, dancing rhythms fronted by strong vocals that made it pretty original stuff. I watched them unload their equipment then approached their lead singer Jan to let them know I enjoyed their set. We got talking a bit and I figured this would make a good video and set about talking with him further outside. Since the festival I’ve listened to their entire album “Sharon is Karen” which besides being a clever as hell album title is an excellent listen. On the video Jan talks about the formation of the band, their album, touring and a small surprise explanation at the end about his amazing dreadlocks. - Most People Are DJ's

Ready for another week of the SXSW Overflow Festival 2013 at Super Happy Fun Land? Check out the first half of the second week's musical acts! - Houston Press

SUGAR BARON: Shifting gears pretty severely, we then hop on over to Michigan band Sugar Baron, who are soulful and electronic and slinky, combining over-the-top chillwave synths and sometimes-hyperkinetic beats with rough-edged, streetwise vocals. The effect is kind of like what might happen if those sweet electro-pop kids in Freelance Whales got real drunk and started slurring through an angry, gritty fuck-you letter on a late-night phone call. (Oh, and grew some pretty badass dreads.)
I mean all that in a good way, by the by; while at first I was a little leery, these guys are slowly, steadily winning me over. The closest comparison I can come up with is to Lisa’s Sons, albeit with more of an Ambassadors-like soul-rock delivery, and yeah, I’m liking it. Check out “Quartz Parchment Shears” (and a quasi-tour video, to boot), from the band’s brand-new album Sharon Is Karen:
- Space Rock City

Pontiac-based electronic band, Sugar Baron, recently released a new full-length album, “Sharon in Karen.” You can snag your very own copy over on iTunes and get your own dance party started! And don’t forget to catch the CD release show, March 1st in Pontiac! - Listen to the Mitten

Time for something different, guys. I get a heavy vibe of downtempo Portugal. The Man song parts from this band, but overall, they are very different from PTM. The mixture of electronica and indie results in swirling, catchy tunes. They are in the midst of planning a new tour, so look out for that as well. - Sometimes I get drunk

Time for something different, guys. I get a heavy vibe of downtempo Portugal. The Man song parts from this band, but overall, they are very different from PTM. The mixture of electronica and indie results in swirling, catchy tunes. They are in the midst of planning a new tour, so look out for that as well. - Sometimes I get drunk

Sugar Baron, the electro-rock trio from Pontiac, Michigan have learned a lot in the year they’ve been together as a band. Form releasing a full length album, to booking their own tour and shows, the band embodies the DIY spirit to the nth degree. I recently sat down with the band to talk about lessons learned on the road, plans for a future record, and the importance of sleep.

“Jan slept from Novi, Michigan, all the way to Delaware. No, wait, New Jersey.” Ryan Weber (Guitars/Vocals) explains. “Delaware takes about 20 minutes to drive through” Randy Nelsen(Keyboards/Vocals) chimes in. Jan Kruszewski (Vocals/Keyboards) laughs them off, “I don’t think the guys understand how important sleep is. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I was able to play a show in New York the next day well rested, which really is the most important thing to me, especially when you’re in a van all day.”

“We were in Illinois and we got a flat tire and had to wait 9 hours for U-Haul to fix it in the parking lot of a mold infested $39 dollar hotel. We slept in the van. Our tour manager was the only one to sleep inside.” Randy explains, “It happened in New York. Some lady in a brand new BMW basically hit us and kept on going. We didn’t even realize it until Illinois. New York is weird, you’ll see all these super nice cars with scratches and dents and no one cares.” Jan adds, “Ryan almost fought a garbage man, too. It was fun.”

However, the best shows for them were in the home territory of the Midwest. According to Jan, “Madison was one of the funnest shows we had on the tour, even though no one showed up. We just bonded with the other bands, partied in the basement with the sound guy, like, no one gave of a fuck.” Randy goes on further, “Don’t book a show in Wisconsin with a bunch of out of town bands. Make sure you invite a local.”

“Kalamazoo was a fun show as well.” Jan says as he sips a beer. It should be noted that the band insisted we conduct the interview at a bar. “It was nice to see the fan base there. We played in a packed basement called The Courthouse that a bunch of guys from DIT Kalamazoo (http://www.ditkalamazoo.com) put on. It’s a bunch of student housing that they deem show houses. The kids knew all the words, it was ass to nuts packed.” Ryan adds “We sold like $250 worth of merch at a house show. It was crazy. We could hear the kids more than we could hear ourselves out of our monitors.”

“We were treated like rockstars up there, everyone was buying Jan shots, he blacked out.”

A lot of learning was done on the road as well. Ryan learned to not try and drive a van with a trailer in the middle of Times Square during rush hour. Jan learned to not take every shot he’s offered, and to not sweat the small stuff, “a lot of things went wrong on this tour, but I think that we became closer because of it.”

Almost immediately after returning home, Sugar Baron isn’t taking any time off. Jan explains, “We’re planning on releasing our next record in February. We’re really excited and we’re moving forward in our style and following a cohesive sound which is the next evolution of our music.” Randy adds “our last record was like building blocks, we used a lot of elements on top of one another to build the songs, this one is much more organic.”

“The last record also followed a story line, where as this one is much more personal and about the things that happened to all of us in our personal lives.”

Sugar Baron’s debut album “Monet on the Dance Floor” is available on iTunes now, and will be launching a full US tour early 2013.

Photo by Chris Nassouri. Pictured left to right, Randy Nelsen, Jan Kruszewski, Ryan Weber
- current.com

a talented as hell trio from Pontiac, MI, is making an extra stop on their fall Tour, Kzoo. Hard to classify, Sugar Baron synthesizes Rock n’ Roll, club mixes, and experimental-indie for a truly unique sound: Bro-step, maybe? - DITKalamazoo