Sunny Day Real Estate

Formed in Seattle, Washington in 1992, emo / post-grunge band Sunny Day Real Estate are best known for their 1994 album Diary, one of the best-selling albums of all time on the Sub Pop Records label. While the group broke up – and reunited – several times and went through a series of band members, the core of the band has remained Jeremy Enigk (vocals and guitar), William Goldsmith (drums), and Dan Hoerner (lead guitar and backing vocals). Considered one of the pioneers of emo rock, Sunny Day Real Estate released two independent singles before signing to Sub Pop and issuing their debut album, Diary, in 1994. Now considered a classic emo and alternative rock album, the Diary was not a huge seller. The band returned the following year with their second album, LP2, which is often referred to as Sunny Day Real Estate and The Pink Album, due to the album cover’s simple color scheme. However, the band had split during the recording of the album, so they were unavailable to promote the release. The band members pursued other projects with Goldsmith and original bassist Nate Mendel ending up as members of Foo Fighters. In 1997, Enigk, Hoerner, and Goldsmith reunited and released the album How It Feels to Be Something On (1998). Sub Pop released Sunny Day Real Estate’s first concert album, Live, in 1999, which was followed by their fourth studio release, The Rising Tide (2000). The album, their first for Time Bomb Recordings, was gaining steam and after a US tour, the band were scheduled to tour Europe. However, the label’s financial problems meant they couldn’t support the band, so the tour was cancelled, and the band split up for the second time. Enigk, Goldsmith, and Mendel formed a side project called The Fire Theft and released their self-titled debut in 2003. After that project, the band members pursued musical interests outside the band. The original four members of Sunny Day Real Estate – Enigk, Hoerner, Goldsmith, and Mendel – reunited in 2009 and toured with the intention of releasing new material. Sub Pop Records issued remastered and expanded editions of their first two albums, Diary and LP2. However, the band split again in 2014 with only one song – “Lipton Witch” – released from the reunited band’s recording sessions. In January 2022, the three core band members announced that they had reunited once again.