Sugadaisy, a local psychedelic pop-rock band formed in Bowling Green last summer, recently started recording for its first full-length album.

Sugadaisy auxiliary percussionist, guitarist and vocalist Johny Lovan, 23, from Bowling Green, said the band started recording at the beginning of February, which it does in a home studio that houses everything from a full-fledged drum kit to a mixing console and nearly a dozen microphones.

Lovan said the album will most likely feature 10 to 12 songs, adding that the band is “working on a new batch of songs right now.”

Advertisement

“The goal right now is to release a full-length album,” Lovan said.

Lovan said he would like for the band to be able to release the album by the end of the year. However, Lovan said no plans are definite, given the unpredictable nature of recording.

“It can take a day, it can take two weeks,” Lovan said. “You never know how many walls you’re going to hit during the process, and its inevitable sometimes. And sometimes it’s smooth as silk.”

As for now, Sugadaisy is performing at local bars Tidball’s, The A-Frame and Rocky’s. Though the band recently took a two-month break to focus on writing and recording, the band plans to continue playing frequently throughout March and the months to come.

Lovan said the band ultimately plans to move away from Bowling Green and to a city that maintains a larger music scene, like Nashville or Atlanta. Lovan said he would like to make that move within a year, though no plans are finalized.

Sugadaisy was originally formed by Lovan and guitarist, pianist and vocalist Zac Littleton, 27, also from Bowling Green, who played together in the band The USAs before forming Sugadaisy. Lovan said he and Littleton decided to form their own band upon realizing how much they liked working together.

“We kind of just loved working together,” Lovan said. “For seven and a half months, we were working every day together, and recorded about 14 songs.”

Lovan said those 14 songs were eventually cut down to four and released in September as the band’s debut EP, Hello, Goodbye, which is available on YouTube, Spotify and Bandcamp, featuring prominent titles like “Keep It Strange” and “Apple of My Eye.” Lovan said he and Littleton ultimately decided to reach out to other Bowling Green artists in order to work with other talent and to be able to play live shows.

“We probably we’re just getting sick of sitting in a room together, honestly, and I think we were kind of both just itching to play shows,” Lovan said.

Lovan also said, “It’s always great to hear other ideas. Seven minds is a hell of a lot stronger than two.”

Sugadaisy guitarist and vocalist Collin Hancock, 26, from Scottsville, previously a member of now-defunct bands Heron and Crane and Menagerie, said he joined the band in order to start working with new material and to challenge himself musically.

“I had been playing some of those Heron and Crane songs for six years,” Hancock said. “It’s just nice to move into something new and try to see where you can take it.”

From Menagerie, Hancock was able to bring drummer Alex Helson, a 23-year-old from Scottsville, and bassist Patrick Duncan, 29, from Bowling Green, into the mix. Keyboardists Craig Brown, 30, and Parker Hanna, 25, both from Bowling Green, were asked by Lovan and Littleton to join the band because of their preexisting status as successful Bowling Green musicians, being that Brown played in band Canago and Hanna still plays in Spirit Week.

Hanna said his experience with Sugadaisy has been unique in that there’s never a lack of new material to work with and practice, given the band now has over 20 songs in the works and various others completely written.

Advertisement

“Something’s always cooking in the kitchen,” Hanna said. “I don’t think there’s any shortage on songs that we can record and practice.”

Duncan added that “having to decide songs in a set and having too many that you like is way better than the other way around.”

Lovan said Sugadaisy is able to write songs so freely because it has no principal songwriter. Instead, Lovan said everyone in the band has ideas for songs and collaborates with each other’s ideas.

“Someone will have the song written on guitar or piano or something, and bring it to the table,” Lovan said. “Ideas will kind of flow within that, and that’ll create the finished product.”

Lovan said the band encourages that its songs be written so naturally as to ensure they remain original and special.

“We’re just trying to make authentic sounds,” Lovan said. “We’re trying to put the human back in.”

Hancock said each member’s past experiences with playing in bands lends Sugadaisy a certain professionalism that makes songwriting and practicing particularly accessible, despite the band’s seven members and constant flow of ideas.

“This is, like, everybody’s fourth or fifth band, by now,” Hancock said. “It all depends on if you’re willing to make time.”

As for why the members of Sugadaisy play music and are willing to make that time, many were quick to respond.

Duncan, a veteran in the Bowling Green music scene, playing in bands Decade of Experts & Assassins and Buffalo Rodeo long before Sugadaisy, said he has been more or less drawn to music since he was around 14 years old, when he started playing bass.

“I kind of always wanted to play something,” Duncan said.

Hanna, also adjusted to the Bowling Green scene, said music is simply something he enjoys.

“Music is fun,” Hanna said.

Lovan said music has always been one of his greatest focuses. Lovan said he hopes to continue writing music and playing shows for a long time.

“I just feel like it gives me purpose,” Lovan said. “It’s the ultimate way I enjoy expressing myself.”

Hancock said working with and performing music is his greatest strength and interest, and that he loves being able to share music with others.

Advertisement

“There is nothing else for me,” Hancock said. “This is just what I feel like I’ve always wanted to do. You get to have fun and have fun with other people. That’s the payoff of everything.”

Reporter Griffin Fletcher can be reached at 270-745-2655 and griffin.fletcher398@topper.wku.edu.