Sunshine Blind were a Gothic Rock band originally formed in 1991 in New Jersey. The band was formed by Caroline “Blind” (vocals and guitar) CWHK (guitar, programming, etc.), and first included the infamous bagel magnate and heir to the Plaza Bagels fortune “Cousin” Al on bass. The band always performed live with a drum machine rounding out the trio.
They released 3 CD’s;
-1994’s “Love the Sky to Death” on Scream Records, 1997’s
-1997’s “Liquid” on Energy Records
– 2003’s “I Carry You” distributed through Invisible Records
A fourth CD, “Rewind” was basically a “best of” CD, containing most of the material from the first two CD’s plus bonus tracks and a video. It was released through Dancing Ferret Discs, in 2007.
When the band first came together in 1991, Caroline Blind and Guitarist CWHK crafted Sunshine Blind’s signature guitar driven rock, powerful vocals and admonishing lyrics. The sound made for a break from the keyboard-generated string sounds used in much of the music played in goth clubs at the time.
Lurching somewhere between actual arena guitar rock and punk rock, the music explores mood swings and self -introspectiveness worthy of an album by Radiohead, and has, over the years moved into a sound resembling Trip-hop meets Darkwave.
A demo cassette of their first six songs quickly gained Sunshine Blind a following along the Jersey Shore and in the New York City scenes, thanks to the Goth club DJ’s who played it, and the ‘Zine publishers who reviewed it. The group released their first full length CD “Love the Sky to Death” in 1994 on the Scream Records label, and in the same year moved to San Francisco, where they have been ever since. The band, who were not followed to the west coast by bassist Cousin Al, added members to their line-up; first, Bassist JT Murphy (who they had shared a house with in New Jersey before he relocated to S.F.) and then drummer Geoff Bruce. The band packed up and toured the U.S. often, trying new things with each tour.
The bands’ name and photos appeared in many of the goth zines of the time (Blue Blood, Ghastly, Propaganda), as well as in more mainstream music magazines such as Alternative Press.
Sunshine Blind played and toured along with so many great bands of the time, The Wake, Dave Vanian and the Phantom Chords, Maria Excommunicata, Spear of Destiny, among others.In 1996, they supported Faith and the Muse on their nationwide “Apparition” tour. In 1997 Sunshine Blind did another nationwide tour with west coast favorites Switchblade Symphony.
In 1997, Sunshine Blind released their second CD, “Liquid” (Energy Records), which had a much more melancholy vibe, especially lyrically, but still maintained the bands’ love affair with chunky guitars and torch song vocals and lyrics. In support of the CD, the band embarked on a cross country trip to open the first U.S. show in many years of The Sisters of Mercy in Philadelphia. Halfway across the country, the band was informed that Andrew Eldritch had dumped them off the bill because he’d seen the bands’ website pictures, and they looked “TOO GOTH”.
While the publicity and support for Sunshine Blind that followed were a big boost, (Even a mention on MTV news by Kurt Loder!) the financial damage was too great: Energy records folded, and Sunshine Blind had to stop touring and retreat to San Francisco under the weight of crushing debt as well.
Sunshine Blind have played shows sporadically since then, in the U.S. and abroad, and released their third (and most Trip-hop) CD “I Carry You” in 2003. Caroline Blind and CWHK parted ways in 2003, but played a reunion show in San Francisco in 2010 with William Faith of Faith and the Muse on bass, and original Sunshine Blind drummer Geoff Bruce on drums.
Those four reunited again in 2014 for Convergence 20 in Chicago, an annual net-goth festival held in a different city each year. Sunshine Blind had played the first one in 1995 (June 23-24) in Chicago, the second one in 1996 in Boston (Aug 9-11), and the third Convergence in San Francisco (Aug 1-3) in 1997. Sunshine Blind reunited one last time for Convergence XXIV in Detroit, in 2018, at which time Caroline Blind launched a full time solo career.
Caroline Blind began at the beginning by taking stock of where she could start, and decided to begin by re-working Sunshine Blind songs into acoustic versions she could take on the road. Her first solo performance was a shaky solo performance in New York city Jan 27th 2018 at Ward 6 in New York City. The performance was reviewed in local paper The Aquarian, and the press emboldened Blind to resolve to do more and not wait for her Sunshine Blind bandmates any longer.
Blind started reaching out to friends old and new to launch her new project , starting with Dave the Dramedy, from LA rockers The Dramedy. Blind booked acoustic appearances around the San Francisco Bay area, and Dave helped out on guitar. This culminated in them doing part of a tour with Ego Likeness in the first week of November of 2018. They played Salt Lake City, Boise, ID, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco, with Blind and Dave both on acoustic guitars.
Blind had already been contacted after the NYC show in the beginning of 2018 by old friend Rich W. from The Wake (US), to collaborate on material, and new recordings had already begun in earnest in 2018, even though they lived 2000 miles apart.
Distance became no object to the snowballing project, as Blind and Rich W. ended up recruiting Ashe of Delphine Coma (North Carolina, US), David Wolfenden of Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry (Leeds UK), George Earth of Switchblade Symphony (Los Angeles, CA US), Gordon Young of Dream Disciples, Pretentious Moi, Children on Stun (Edinburgh, Scotland), William Faith -Faith and the Muse, Bellwether Syndicate- (Chicago,IL, US), CWHK, Sunshine Blind (San Francisco, CA) and Geoff Bruce, Sunshine Blind and Faith and the Muse- (Los Angeles, CA ) to work on the album.
The result after two years was “The Spell Between”, a dark- folk sounding Sad Bastard Song infused album, released on March 20, 2020, which was pretty much the week of the the first pandemic lockdowns in the US.
Fortunately for Blind, she had already toured the country leading up to the albums’ release, playing shows in Oregon, Washington, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and even Mexico City. She had expanded her live show to include George Earth of Switchblade Symphony on electric guitar, and Dave the Dramedy moved to bass, while Blind remained on acoustic guitar.
The reviews were warm and welcoming for “The Spell Between”, touting the return of “Goth Queen” Caroline Blind, and remarking on how much punch, emotion, and authenticity were packed into the final product.
Review by “Music Freind” magazine remarked:
“Caroline Blind’s The Spell Between casts a solid brew of intricate lyrics, prose, stirring vocals and rocking riffs. Blind is perhaps best when she’s plugged in, but the acoustic songs are slower, deeper cuts. Blind’s songs are not for the eternal optimistic. Her songs take the listener to dark corners of the mind, hardened parts of the heart. Her songs can feel isolating and lonely. She makes you feel. She makes you face what you sometimes shy away from. Again, she makes you feel. Is that positive enough? For some. Yes. Fans of Alanis Morrisette, R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, The Cult, The Cure and punk rock will find something that soothes their musical appetite.”
In 2021, Caroline Blind finished an experimental electronic album with David Wolfenden (guitarist of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry). The album and the project were both called “VOIDANT”, and are available on Bandcamp.
In 2022, Caroline participated in a compilation album of Love and Rockets Cover songs, releasing her own cover (and video) of “I Feel Speed”. The song and the video celebrate her long-standing love of motorcycles and motorcycling.
In July 2022, Caroline was invited to play the Goth City Festival in Leeds England, headlining the opening night, at the club called BOOM. She traveled to England with George Earth (Switchblade Symphony) on guitar, June Kato (Kato Earth) on Bass, and Shok (Lost Tapes, Red Light District) on drums. They ripped through a set of Sunshine Blind standards, and added Red Lorry Yellow Lorry Guitarist David Wolfenden live on stage to the set to demolish another four songs, all Red Lorry Yellow Lorry song covers.
VIDEO FROM GOTH CITY LEEDS SHOW at BOOM
In the fall of 2022, Caroline supported her friends, and some time collaborators, THE WAKE (US), who were bringing their live show to stages after 20+ years, by helping them book a warm-up show in New Jersey before they played a huge show in Madrid, Spain. Caroline opened the New Jersey show at QXT’s in Newark with a stripped-down electric set of Sunshine Blind covers, and finished by playing two songs acoustic with Wake guitarist Rich W. helping out, to an enthusiastic crowd.
Caroline joined The Wake (US) in Madrid, Spain, two weeks later, in a Tour Manager and translator capacity only, where The Wake delivered an unforgettable show.