Sun Way Street Connects With Us to Discuss Their Powerful New Album Release ‘Ghost Town’
- STAFF
- Sep 26
- 12 min read
By: Staff
‘Ghost Town’ is a masterpiece, an emotional journey that captivates with every note and lyric.
Sun Way Street’s latest album Ghost Town is a journey through sound, emotion, and the echoes of life’s most profound moments. As the duo readies the release of their hauntingly beautiful new music, we spoke with them about the album’s gripping exploration of love, loss, and the delicate balance between light and dark. With tracks like "Electric Lights and Broken Souls" and the deeply reflective "midnight sun," their music carries the weight of personal transformation, grief, and the complexities of the world today.
In our conversation, the duo revealed the intimate process behind Ghost Town, a record that was crafted across two continents, blending raw vulnerability with a unique sonic palette. From the powerful, soul-stirring moments to the unexpected contrasts between their bold, upbeat anthems and aching ballads, their songs invite listeners into a world where every note speaks to a deeper emotion. The distance between Milan and Colorado only deepened the authenticity and emotional intensity they poured into the music, resulting in a sound that feels both timeless and undeniably fresh.
We also delved into their creative journey, learning about the songs they’ve written that will never see the light of day, the influence of special collaborators like Danny Black, and how they’ve continued to evolve as artists after years of working together. Ghost Town is a release born out of a mix of reflection and innovation, and it promises to resonate deeply with anyone who’s ever grappled with heartache, hope, or the complexities of life itself.
The full story is here, join us as we explore the minds behind the music and hear the tale of Ghost Town from those who lived it.
Keep scrolling to get into it with Sun Way Street.
Here’s how it went:
Begin Interview:
Hello Sun Way Street, we’re thrilled to have you here for this interview! We've had an amazing time exploring your music and diving into your creative journey. Now, we’re even more intrigued to get a deeper look into both your brand and your personal and professional inspirations.
Q. We’d love to get to know Sun Way Street a bit better. Can you walk us through who’s in the group and the unique strengths each member contributes to the creative process?
A. I’m Steven Eli, an Irish born singer songwriter who has played all over Europe in various forms. From busking on the streets at 16 to playing band shows in clubs and stages. My focus has always been playing and writing original music. My part in sun way street is as I call it “writing the bones” the inspired moments of stories, life experiences and sometimes the deep solitude I have experienced from being a musician and traveller most of my life. Poetry has been a big influence on me from Cohen, William Blake, Bukowski and Hemmingway and this focus on meaningful lyrical content and themes is I’d say my biggest strength I bring to the band. This is where Leor comes in now
Leor is the musical refiner as I call him. Leor is a multi instrumentalist who plays drums, bass, guitars and many many more instruments. Speaking for Leor now is dangerous for him as I can paint him any way I like haha! Apart from his generous use of the cowbell, goat toe-nails and metal pipes, Leor's strength in the band is making sure every detail is attended to. If there is a line or part he wants me to go further with, he has a great way of pushing me to my best. This sounds like a producer and yes in essence he is the producer of this band. From sound scapes, to musical vibes and even mixing our records, leor is the vision behind it. The symbiosis occurs when we don’t let each other settle for average on both our artistic expressions. We push each other beyond where we are comfortable sometimes and we make sure we do the work.
Q. We were completely captivated by Ghost Town, from the emotional opening of “Can’t Give What I’ve Got,” to the upbeat but still heartbroken sound of “Electric Lights and Broken Souls,” all the way to the weight of every note in “Ghost Town.” Your music is so incredibly moving. When did you first realize the power of your voices and creative expressions as Sun Way Street? Was there a moment when it shifted from being a personal, intimate expression to something you wanted to share with the world?
A. Good question, honestly I write in total isolation when it comes time to write. I have been living a very crazy life as a musician where I have so much time to observe. Having lived in squats in Berlin with gangsters and drug dealers to playing for incredible crowes across Eurpoe. The ups and downs of the road lead to a sense of being a stranger and observer everywhere. The train stations, the streets and old Italian cafes, the nature of Ireland, the mix of cultures everywhere. The gathering of emotion in the air is something I can’t help but take in.
When it comes to writing, I lock myself in my room and don’t leave for weeks and even months. This is a deeply personal work and all my experiences flow through. It is both torturous and healing. Once the resolutions to the pain and suffering and stories are found I can’t help but feel that this should be shared. I have been blessed with time for insight and I think that insight can help people recalibrate themselves, not give answers, not give direction but to find their own meanings for their own lives. I found hope in some very dark corners and in this way I think people can too, it keeps us all keeping on and moving towards the best of ourselves. I have always been this way, no potion, no book or turning point or trauma that made me that way. It’s a gift and I will always honor it.
Q. What is Ghost Town about, in your own words? And why did you decide to name the album Ghost Town? What kind of imagery or feeling does that title evoke for you personally?
A. Ghost town is a destination that you don’t want to know you’ve arrived in. Otherwise you’re dead. Some people are living but also some are so messed up they are the living dead. Ghost town is an album filled with the lines between hope and hurt. Past love, loss, grief, suicide, trauma, shadow work, loneliness and also the resolutions within, however small they may be. It’s a heavy and hopeful work but a necessary one. The title is to ask a question. Did you pass through Ghost Town, are you visiting, are you still there? Or do you recognize where you could have been. It’s a warning and a way out. To me personally it’s the passing through of ghost town and making it out to the otherside. To the hope, the love, the reconnection to the world. The negative is always knocking but so is the positive. which side you see in the album is a metric of where your at. Have you visited Ghost Town yet?
Q. You’ve mentioned experiencing loss and heartbreak while working on this album. How did the process of making Ghost Town help you reflect on or process those experiences?
A. This album was a healing for me personally. I lost my mother to suicide in 2022 and to anyone who knows this grief. It sends you into a spin for answers. This search by definition makes you lost. I was lost and searching for hope and resolution to something that could not be resolved.
Years before I had written a poem for a gentleman in his 60s who cried in front of me asking me the same question about his own mother “why did she do it, Steven?” I wrote him a poem called “Now” about how time has its place for us all and that it was just her time. Ghost town and specifically “that’s not my shadow” is a deeper look into the decent into depression and other peoples darknesses, projections and negativity and how it can bring you there too. Again a sort of lesson I had to learn that unfortunately my mother did not. This helped me understand where she went mentally and to see the crossroads and the calling of the dark energies that surround us both living and dead.
Q. Was there a specific moment during the creation of this album when you realized something about the sound or approach had shifted? Did it come from a particular song or moment of inspiration?
A. I think this was driven by Leor. Leor is the refiner and pushes all details further. He challenged my writing, my lines, my songs and refined them all down to their best. This example of true hard work then reflected across all parts of the work. The recording, the sound design and the attention to detail. This allowed a certain letting go on one side as an artist as I could let it all out and could know and then trust someone who can look at things without ego to make decisions on what’s the best communication of our message.
Q. The songs “midnight sun” and “electric lights and broken souls” are polar opposites in terms of tone and energy. How do you see the contrast between these two tracks, and what do they represent to you, both musically and emotionally?
A. Electric Lights and Broken Souls is the madness of the city, the rush and pulse of chaos. The feeling of being lost at a million miles an hour. Being surrounded but still alone every night and wishing for true connection and love. “I only ever wish that you would understand” Is almost a calling to the beauty of the feminine spirit to save me while understanding she is also asking “what am I made for?” There are no answers here but a question and a bridge to understanding of both sides perspectives. Can we understand each other again? Midnight sun is a maturing. a view that although the girl you loved is not there, your love you shared together will always be. The sound is a reflection of maturity. From almost indie rock to subtler and calmer wisdoms of growing up.
Q. You recorded this album while being based in two different locations, Milan and Colorado. How did that affect the sound of the album? Do you think that distance brought out something unique or unexpected in your music?
A. Oh definitely, we had to be far more detailed in our communications. This in turn led to a far more precise explanations of vibes, meanings and understandings of the tracks we played on. Sometimes five or six versions of one song until we nailed the feeling we needed. As long as the song was well written we wouldn’t stop until we got our vibe
Q. You’ve said that the world is not black and white. How does this complexity show up in the way you approach songwriting or in the way you convey ideas through music?
A. It drives you mad at first. You bounce back and forth on all perspectives until you let them go and let it come from a place that feels authentic. Not just words but feeling. Also understanding the differences between songs that are other people’s opinion and knowing when to shelve them. This discernment is perhaps the most important to finding your own sound. The inbetween to me has a way forward. as this is is the place of understanding other people and their perspectives too. I’m not trying to be right or wrong when sitting and writing. I am not trying to create propaganda. It’s best summed up as. It is what it is for you.
Q. You’ve written hundreds of songs, many of which will never see the light of day. Do you think of those songs as a bank of work you can rely on if needed, or do they weigh on you, almost calling you to release them in some way?
A. The song that makes it finds its own way to you. If it didn’t make it, it wasn’t ready. If it becomes ready it will arrive again. The ones that truly will never make it are songs that aren’t coming from me and are time spent listening too much to someone else’s beliefs or they just really suck.
Q. With the variety of sounds and structures on this album, was there a particular genre or style that you consciously explored, or did the album just naturally take on the shape it needed to be?
A. It wasn’t until the title track ghost town was written that it all made complete sense. We gathered many songs and had a kind of form but we weren’t sure yet what was being told. Then “ghost town” arrived and it all sudddenly made sense. It’s hard to know what it is until you have every piece of an album. I kept telling Leor, “we need one more song. One more song” then we had it and we knew it was finished
Q. Danny Black’s contributions, especially his pedal steel and mandolin, were a striking addition to the album. How did his playing influence the tone or emotional depth of the tracks he worked on?
A. Danny provided an energy we were searching for. The explosion of light and subtle power that he provided became the backbone to the resolution of the dark side of this album. He added the lift of joy and love and beauty that we needed. Leor contacted him and we immediately knew, he’s the one for this part of the album. Thanks Danny
Q. You’ve been collaborating for years now, what’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about each other during that time? Has anything changed in how you approach working remotely?
A. I know Leor very well now, from working remotely to actually working together in the same country. I’ve been to Colorado and Leor has been to Milan several times now. We know each other's weaknesses and strengths and we focus on pushing each other in the right way. We have both been respectful from day one and I think what has changed is we are not afraid to say there is too much cowbell on the album. Ok but seriously we have become good friends and can be very honest with each other now. We don’t have to beat around the bush. We are direct and honest and we figure out what’s best together. We don’t overstep and know where we both are at. It’s a great working relationship. I don’t know anyone brave enough to dig as deep into these topics and it takes courage to release it too.
Q. As Ghost Town is about to be released, do you see it as a kind of closure on a chapter of your lives, or is it part of an ongoing narrative that future projects might revisit or expand upon?
A. I think our themes are always echoing throughout our works. There are always the ghosts of the past knocking. Sonically I’d love to go really mad next and push into crazier topics. There are already a few EPs in the works. I think we are starting to hit the groove and I’m truly excited to push some boundaries for me personally and anyone else listening.
Q. The album is being released almost exactly a year after your last album, was this timing intentional, or did it happen organically? How do you see Ghost Town evolving from your previous work, both sonically and thematically?
A. It was a complete coincidence. In a world pushing singles it became clear that we are far more effective at creating a body of work, be it an EP or an album. Against conventional marketing wisdom of the day we are going to stick on this approach of detailed body’s of work. Ghost Town evolved drastically as I think Leor took the helm at mixing. For fun he sent back a mix one day and I said “wow who mixed it?” It’s exactly what I love. A clever blend of elements and subtle thematic sound design. He brings the best out of the special moments and knows when to let it be what it is. I think he has a truly special ear for it. It takes a team of course and Dave Wilton is mastering the tracks and we honestly are astounded by his work every single master we receive back. Dave and Leor have magic in their ears and I’m glad they both are there to listen and fix my ramblings.
Q. Looking ahead, what are you most excited about in terms of performing this new material? Are there particular songs or moments you can’t wait to share with your audience live?
A. I’ve already got to play “can’t give what I’ve got” live and this was truly spooky in a way. Almost like singing into the souls of a couple hundred people. A gentle singing back of the chorus to me. “The Friend in Me” live too has a power and love that gets straight into the heart of everyone. You can see the smiles and the joy as I am playing it. Truly beautiful to see. We can’t wait to bring everyone on that journey live. it will be cathartic but deeply healing. You will leave having felt something for sure.
Q. We can’t thank you enough for sharing such intimate details with us. So, what’s next for Sun Way Street? Can you give us a sneak peek into your upcoming projects? We’d love to be the first to share the news with your fans!
A. We have an EP that we have been working on for a while. Quite controversial and very out there topic wise. I’m trying to swallow and finish it without care for how people will view us afterwards. It’s seedy, it goes all the way in terms of love and our relationship with it on the world as a whole. The working title is “The price of love” but that will most likely change. I don’t want to shy away from any question that needs to be asked. It’s going to be a fun couple of years with where we want to go sonically and topically.
Thanks for having us on here and if your readership wants to send us a message with their favorite track on the album, please feel free to do it. We hope you enjoy Ghost Town or at least feel something from it.
Sounds great! Sun Way Street, thank you so much, we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us!
End Interview
We’re happy to have shared Sun Way Street’s exciting journey with you and uncovered such inspiring insights about their creative process.
