Local Washington DC Band: The Sunday Mail

No band wants to sound just like every other band out there on the market. Being different may not be as easy as it seems, but these guys think they have got it figured out. I will let you be the judge.

Hailing from Washington DC, this trio of George Washington University students are not exactly the talk of the nation. The college, maybe. Maybe even the town, but definitely not the nation. The Sunday Mail started in 2003 when Ben Thornewill, Jesse Kristin, and another friend of theirs, decided to start a band. Three years and two guitarists later, they are still together and rocking out to small venues in their local area.

Thornewill, originally from Louisville, Kentucky, is the pianist and singer. He has been playing the piano since age seven, and writing songs since age thirteen. He has also had years of classical vocal training. Kristin claims his own spot behind the drums, with ten years of self-taught experience under his belt. He says he learned to play rock and roll music by listening to rock and roll music. And then there is Tommy Siegel, who only joined the band in October of 2004 because the band's other guitarist, the third original member of the band, moved to Brazil. To the band, he offers his vocals and guitar skills. Together, the three of them form The Sunday Mail, a band that is known locally in the Washington DC area for their melodic pop tunes and ballads, most of which have darker, more serious, lyrics. As Thornewill put it, "music is a way to express the darker side." It is what they have always done, and it is what they will probably always do. Even though their songs are not always upbeat, they always put on an energetic show for their dedicated legion of fans. They released an EP in the spring of the same year that they formed, were playing in clubs and outdoor venues by 2004, and have been slowly growing their fan base ever since.

Since they started, they have made a name for themselves by opening for main acts such as Lloyd Banks, The Pie Tasters, Virginia Coalition, and well-known rapper, Kanye West at the George Washington University. Because their music is very much piano driven rock songs, they have been compared, musically, to such bands as Ben Folds Five, Music, Queen, Coldplay, and Radiohead.

If you are ever in the Washington DC area, I would definitely see if this band is up to anything, and check them out.