Sunns and Jerusalem In My Heart

At the beginning of November 2012, Suuns (Ben Shemie, Liam O’Neil, Max Henry and Joseph Yarmush) and long-time friend, Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, of Jerusalem in My Heart, rented a studio in Montreal for seven days. The idea was to collaborate on rough sketches of song ideas and to complete as much recording as possible without discrimination. The session was successful, yielding many vibe-laden songs featuring heavy analog synths, Arabic influences and electronic sensibilities. After the session, the recordings laid dormant. Both bands were releasing albums, and touring was to ensue shortly. Some editing time was squeezed in between tour dates but a full year passed before an audience heard the songs. The collaborative band did a live show at Pop Montreal 2013, then another the following March after which the project began to move forward. The band over dubbed and reworked the songs in the summer of 2014 and finally, while on tour in October, finished the vocal overdubs and mixing. Moumneh did the tracking and most of the mixing while Max Henry of Suuns handled some mixing as well. The album “Suuns and Jerusalem in My Heart” was released on April 13, 2015. The live show is very much a performance with less emphasis on replaying the recordings note for note, but more about recreating the excitement of the initial recording sessions. The band toured select markets in North America, in support of the release, including a performance in their hometown of Montreal, at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. They also toured extensively in Europe, performing at Le Guess Who? Festival in the Netherlands, at Sonic City in Belgium, at ATP Festival in the UK, including headline shows in Istanbul and Beirut.