Local band Suneden are making a splash in 2025.
With a breakout appearance at Byron Bay Bluesfest, their sophomore album on the way and a berth at the upcoming Queenscliff Music Festival in November, the Torquay-based six-piece funk outfit is getting the attention of punters and critics alike.
Suneden is fronted by husband and wife Sunny Thapa (guitar/vocals) and Eden Lee (vocals/percussion), who met in the central Nepal city of Pokhara in 2016.
“I was 20 years old and I just searched for the cheapest flight to anywhere in the world, and it just so happened to be Nepal,” Lee said.
“I was meant to be there for two months, but I stayed for five years.
“We both lived in Lakeside, had all the same friends and same music circles. Then we met and started gigging together… we were playing five nights a week in Pokhara.
“We go by Suneden because we were playing everywhere in Pokhara and that’s what people just started calling us; they started writing it on the boards and it stuck.”
In 2018 the couple moved to Melbourne, living in a share house with a bunch of friends, most of whom were also musicians.
That proved serendipitous when, in 2018, Lee and Thapa got the call to support a friend’s band at the Yarra Hotel in Abbotsford and needed to put a band together.
“We just asked all our housemates, hey, do you guys want to do this gig with us? And we just have been playing as a band ever since,” Lee said.
The band released its debut album Smooth Groove in 2021, a melange of psychedelic funk that, despite slower moments, clearly displays Suneden’s ability to inspire dancefloors.
Thapa said the new album, which will be released by the end of 2025, would show the evolution of the band over the past four years.
“The first album, the drummer (Brad Dadson), Eden and I collaborated together, but I did most of the music side of the composition and played bass and guitar,” he said.
“But with the new album… there’s a lot of change. From me doing multiple instruments to working all together, it was a completely different experience.”
Visit facebook.com/sunedenmusic to find out about Suneden’s upcoming shows.
