Introducing: Sunday (1994) and their debut self-titled EP.

Written and recorded from their one bedroom apartment as a duo, Paige Turner and Lee Newell, recruited drummer 'X' to create the sound of Sunday (1994). The band's self-titled debut EP has been soundtracking our past few months and to celebrate, we caught up with Lee from the band to discuss the origin story of the group, autobiographical songwriting, and the best parts of performing live.

COUP DE MAIN: How did you form as a trio?
LEE NEWELL: First off, we just have to say—we feel terribly cool talking to Coup De Main. Are we cool now? Okay, on to the question. Paige and I met by chance in 2013 at a show at the Palladium in Los Angeles. I was performing that night, and she was friends with the band I was supporting. I complimented her coat, and we've been inseparable ever since. Over the last 10+ years, we've done whatever we could to stay afloat in music—writing songs for sync, designing cover art for other artists, playing in other people’s live bands, just anything to make rent. We always talked, no, dreamed of being in a band together, and in 2020, during the pandemic, Paige asked me to teach her guitar out of boredom. The first chord progression she came up with became our debut single, 'Tired Boy'. That’s when we knew this was it. Though we write, record, film, and create the artwork between the two of us, we realised we needed a third brain—a mediator, someone who didn’t share a bed with us. That’s when Puma came into the picture. We met him while he was playing with another artist, and I was an admirer. A truly brilliant drummer. I sent him our songs, and then we invited him to a local diner to ask if he'd join the band. Thankfully, he said yes.

CDM: Do you have a favourite song from the EP?
LEE: It might sound trite, but my favourite song is usually the one I’m listening to at the moment. All of our songs are completely autobiographical—no stone unturned, no detail left out. So when I listen to them, I’m right back in that place. For example, 'Our Troubles' is about a major turning point in my life. It’s about sitting in a pub in Slough, having an epiphany that I needed to turn my life around. It seems obvious when I say it out loud...

Another song, 'TV Car Chase', is about Paige starting antidepressants. It’s not a grandiose statement, just a snapshot of how we felt at the time. We’re sitting on the sofa—she’s braiding her hair while I’m watching a high-speed car chase on TV. Meanwhile, we’re each dealing with our own internal struggles. Our songs don’t tell you what to feel; they just capture what we were feeling in that moment. I think that’s more powerful—and much more useful.

CDM: Lee, you once declared about Paige that: "I had stumbled around aimlessly for many years, but I wasn’t born until we’d met." Do you both believe in the concept of invisible string? That there's always a purpose, a lesson, or a reason that why we find someone in our life? 
LEE: I’ll admit, I tend to talk a lot of shite… but the sentiment is true. Before I met Paige, I was a bit lost. Do I believe in fate? I’m not so sure—sometimes I do, when it suits me. It’s a terribly romantic idea, so I’d like to. But I believe more in action and reaction. I surround myself with people who grab life by the throat. Are you an observer or an explorer? The luckiest people I know are the ones who aren’t afraid to look foolish. I fall into that category. If you take a shot and it doesn’t work out, maybe it’s life’s way of telling you you’re not ready yet. Or maybe... it’s just life.

CDM: What do you think is the difference between a good song and a great song? 
LEE:A great song is one that must be written. It is bursting out of the artist. It’s vital. It’s so important that the artist doesn’t even realize they are writing it until it is finished. It just falls from the sky. It is willed in to existence. A good song successfully pretends to be that.

CDM: You had your live debut last month at The Echo in LA - what was your favourite song to perform live and why?
LEE: The whole show was astonishing for us to be honest. When we put the show on sale we had no idea what would happen. The fact that it sold out and that people were screaming along, they came dressed up to the nines (and tens), some had our lyrics tattooed. It was quite a lot to deal with. But ending on 'Tired Boy', the song where it all began, was very special. There was not a dry eye in the house. (Allergies were running rampant).

CDM: You have said: "Trying to figure out if our lives will become a blockbuster, a cult classic, or maybe something else entirely." If the EP could soundtrack a movie, what do you envision it like?
LEE: 'Madame Web'.

Watch Sunday (1994)'s video for 'Blossom' below...