Artist Spotlight: Cigaretes @ Sunset

Feb 15

Written By JoAnn Snavely

Cigarettes @ Sunset is a five-piece band based in Boone, North Carolina. Comprised of

bassist and backup vocalist Wells Whitman, drummer Ethan Moore, violinist Sarah Vann,

rhythm guitarist and lead singer Garrett Dellinger, and lead guitarist Ryland Bagbey. HVNLY

had the pleasure of interviewing the band before their show at the TApp Room in Boone. Read

the interview to see the band talk about new singles, new tours, being a small band, Chief Keef,

gas station snacks, and much more.

By JoAnn Snavely

February 15th, 2024

HVNLY: Firstly, let’s get to know the band. Who is Cigarettes @ Sunset, if you met someone who had no idea who Cigarettes @ Sunset was, what would you tell them?

Wells: We’re kind of just a pop-rock band, but Garrett sounds a little like Gavin Degraw, so

we’re not. I don’t know, we’ve just defaulted to Appalachian Rock and Roll, that’s broad enough to cover it, but not specific enough that we’re wrong.

Ethan: So I really liked Cigarettes @ Sunset, I was a fan of this band for like half a year before I

joined it and I would describe it as like a little close to emo, but it's not really there. It’s really

because he’s [Garrett] got such a d**n country voice, it helps pull us out of it.

HVNLY: Let’s start from the beginning of the band, how did it start and what inspired you all to

start a band?

Ryland: I came up with the band name one night, we were smoking cigarettes at sunset, and

that’s how we came up with it. Then, I met Garett through work and we all started slowly

meeting one another, then we became a band.

HVNLY: Moving a little bit further back in time, where did each of your individual journeys with

music begin?

Wells: My dad played me a lot of music, and I realized I wanted to play it. In either second or

third grade, I took guitar lessons and my guitar teacher told me I couldn’t play guitar so I gave up

for a while, and then my buddy Holden started playing guitar and we’d be hanging out after

school and he’d bring his guitar. I was like ‘well I don’t really want to just sit here’. So I learned

how to play bass, and then we started a band called Yes Dude that’s still playing around town

and that’s kind of how I met all of these guys [the band], and I joined in and never left- and I’m

very grateful for it.

Ethan: I think I started in middle school, I had a really scary metal phase. I wanted to get a drum

set and went from there. And then similarly to Wells, I did a lot of band stuff in college, and

really loved the scene here and wanted to stick around, and got lucky enough to land with these

guys.

Sarah: When I was five, my parents wanted to get me into a hobby but I wouldn’t play sports so

they took me to a violin recital in town, and when we were walking out they asked if I liked it

and I said yes, because I was five, and then they signed me up for lessons the next week. I’ve

been playing classical for most of my life until them.

Garrett: We are them

Garrett: I started writing music while watching VH1 music videos, and I saw Gavin Degraw, and

I was like ‘I want to be the guy that plays the piano’ and then the piano was really hard, and I

had fat fingers. I learned how to play the guitar a couple of years later, then I played ukelele for a

while, like PLAYED ukelele- nothing I’m proud of. That’s my musical journey.

Ryland: I guess my dad taught me how to play a guitar, and then I met Garrett when I was 16/17

and he kind of showed me that we could make music which was cool and now we’re here.

What experience as a band has been the most fulfilling to date?

Wells: So we recently have been lucky enough that we get to play a lot of out-of-town shoes, and

sometimes they’re weird. But, I think we’ve all realized the journey is well worth it. Even if it’s a

show that no one shows up to, we just have a good time giggling in the car- Ryland drives so not

him always. There’s been so many moments I never thought I’d get to have. We’ve played

Amos’s Southend in Charlotte, and we’ve been lucky enough to play a couple of big stages, but I

really think the most fulfilling part has been getting to spend a lot of time with dudes, and Sarah.

That has been the highlight of my college experience.

HVNLY: Musically, what are the band’s inspirations?

Wells: It is going to be broad, as Ethan said, he started playing music because of metal. My dad

played me a lot of Hall and Oates growing up, and it was definitely a good blend of that and also

his favorite band was Green Day, so I needed to have a catchy chorus but also I was sad.

Ethan: I really like instrumental music so progressive jazz and math rock- stuff like that is really,

really up my alley. But I also really love art indie, it’s very fun.

Sarah: When Garrett lets me go with it, I like to layer and loop, and make it sound orchestral

because I think it’s a nice juxtaposition.

Garrett: That’s not the question.

Sarah: Classical music, I use classical music [as an inspiration].

Garrett: Well Gavin Degraw- duh. Billy Joel, Sam Cook, all kinds of soul singers I like.

Anything with a good beat too, like a good kick snare, screaming in a really high falsetto.

Wells: Garrett is also a really big fan of Hobo Johnson.

Garrett: That’s true.

Ryland: I don’t know, like Chief Keef, Lil Durk.

HVNLY: What does the creative experience look like for the band? For example, what is the writing

and recording process like?

Ethan: So our writing and recording process is like us loitering at Ryland’s house until he can no

longer stand us being there, and that is really how a lot of it gets done. There is a fun communal

aspect to it, we all come and just sit on couches and complain about mixes to each other for

about 6 or so hours, then we get one finished out. It’s a fun time.

Garret: Yeah, we do everything, we record it, we produce it, we mix it. It is a lot- it’s fun, so

much fun but definitely good to have so many people around you who can push you to finish a

project even though you would rather not.

Wells: I think in the recording and writing process, it’s been fascinating for me because I joined

and they had a bunch of songs already and that was my first time not writing the songs for a

band, and just learning. But all the members were so open to everyone writing songs… A bunch

of songs just start with Ryland having riffs and everyone gets to write and bring it to the band,

and also sometimes like, we’re playing a new song tonight where we were just having practice

and standing in a circle and I was like ‘check this out’ and then I played a bass line, and then

Ryland dropped the craziest solo I’ve ever heard on top of it, and we were like ‘we need to play

that in a couple of weeks,’ and we get to all do it together which is really nice.

HVNLY: If the band could only play one song ever again (whether original or a cover), what would

you want that to be?

Ryland: Love Sosa by Chief Keef.

Wells: If it was a cover, it has to be “Vampire Blues,” there’s no question. Garrett said we were

going to play that song and I was like ‘You’re a moron’ and it’s absolutely our best cover and

we’ve played it I think every show ever. If it’s an original, it’s “Jaws Song,” it’s by far my

favorite.

Ethan: Team “Jaws Song” as well, it’s such a good song.

Sarah: As a cover definitely “Vampire Blues,” as an original, I like “Great Kid” I think it’s really

fun to play and Garrett disagrees but that is my choice.

Garrett: I like all of those choices. I think we do good sometimes at those songs.

HVNLY: Where do you hope or imagine to see the band five years from now?

Wells: Atlantis, definitely. If we’re making enough money to like eat, and there’s a roof I’ll be

beyond happy, if we get to do this and not starve.

Garrett: Yeah, just a living wage to make music, that sounds so cool, and to do it with my best

friends is even cooler.

HVNLY: You guys are about to go on your Long Nights and Long Drives tour, if you could add any

venue to the tour docket, what venue would it be?

Ethan: My tiny little dream venue is Charlotte Underground, I want to be able to play there so

bad, I’ve seen all my favorite artists there, that would be unreal.

Wells: I want to play at Cat’s Cradle BackRoom, that would be huge.

Garrett: Cat’s Cradle for sure. Madison Square Garden- opening for Billy Joel, I think we’d just

fit.

Ryland: I think my dream venue is the TApp Room in Boone, North Carolina, shout out TApp

Room.

Sarah: Red Rocks sounds nice.

HVNLY: On the same note, what is a dream band/artist that you’d like to either collaborate with or

play alongside?

Garrett: There’s this band from North Carolina called Mipso, and they’re really cool. They’re

like Americana Folk but they just made a more indie rock album that was just really funky, and I

thought it was sick and I’d like to work with those guys, I think we could make a cool song with

them.

Wells: I would cry myself to sleep if we got to play with Hippo Campus, that’d be the dream

come true.

Ryland: It would be really cool if we got to play with Chief Keef or something, y’know.

Sarah: I love me some Chief Keef.

HVNLY: If you could only use one word to describe the band sonically, what word would you use?

Ryland: Sh***y

Ethan: I’m just gonna say the one we get the most- energetic.

Wells: I mean this in a good way but I think we’re a little gravelly. It’s a little rough but not too

rough.

Garrett: I’d like to think that when you put your ear to an aquarium, what you hear there is

resemblant of Cigarettes at @ Sunset.

Ryland: Chief Keef

HVNLY: What are the struggles of being a smaller, independent band?

Ethan: Poor Garret puts in more man hours than any of us do at our actual jobs emailing people

and slaving away over music and really just doing a lot of work, that part is really hard when

you’re a small band.

Wells: As Ethan said, watching Garrett book, or listening to him talk about booking, I just feel

oh, so bad. He’s really a trooper, not only is he our front man but he’s doing the work, and we

love him every day for it. I think that and sometimes we spend more money on snacks at the gas

station than we make in a gig. Sometimes that’s tough but man is it fun.

HVNLY: Your new single “Shoulder Blades” comes out Wednesday. What can fans expect from the

single, and what techniques did you explore while making it?

Wells: Kind of to what Sarah said earlier, it was just a standard ending, and then Garrett decided

he wanted to go a lot deeper in the mix and it ends with this string section that’s all Sarah playing different parts, and she kills it, it’s really awesome.

Garrett: Oh my God, I have never mixed a song more in my entire life, and Sarah played the

violin and we had our friend Jack Scully do the trumpet which was sick, it’s just bigger

production and we’re trying to figure out how to record on our own which is cool and I think this

song is the breath of fresh air.

I also had the pleasure of seeing the band perform at the TApp Room shortly after the

interview, and after having seen them multiple times throughout Boone, they’re a band necessary

for every concert-lovers bucket list. As a band who provides an electric atmosphere with great

crowd involvement, they always know how to make their shows memorable for all. The band is

also preparing to go on their Long Nights and Long Drives tour spanning throughout the

southeastern region of the United States.

Check out the audio edition of this interview linked below to hear more behind-the-scenes, fun facts, and other portions of the interview exclusive to the audio version!