Sound, Rebellion, and the Unmasking of Beauty in Music Culture: An Interview with Seeking the Sun
INTERVIEWS
By Indi Tejeda
5/20/26
Seeking the Sun (Courtesy of Indi Tejeda).
What happens when a band stops trying to be seen and starts creating purely for the sake of making something real? For experimental rock band Seeking the Sun, that question quietly drives everything they do. Their sound is loud, unpredictable, and difficult to pin down, once jokingly described as “terror funk,” yet there’s a clear sense of intention behind the creative process that makes them so audibly recognizable.
Coming out of Salt Lake City, where image and presentation can feel tightly controlled, their work moves in a different direction. Grainy visuals, distorted audio, and exhilarating performance choices shape an aesthetic that feels raw and unfiltered. In conversation, members Juniper Wolf (vocals) and Joseph McDaniel (bass) come across with the same energy: intelligent, collaborative, self-aware, and unconcerned with fitting into a single category. With the release of their single “Hungry Ghosts,” their approach offers a glimpse into a band more interested in exploring ideas than meeting expectations.
In the past, you’ve dubbed your sound "Terror Funk," which is such a distinct and memorable label. What did the creative process look like as you worked toward that specific identity, and was there a breakthrough track where everything clicked, and you realized, "This is it, we finally found our sound"?
Juniper: The funny thing about us being labeled “terror funk” is that it was never meant to be serious at all. We were recording our first couple of singles and honestly, they were terrible songs. Our original guitarist Leo joked, “These songs are like terror funk.” He said it completely sarcastically, but we thought it was funny so we put it in our bio.
It’s not a real genre. It’s complete bullshit. But people kept running with it, and I never really had the heart to tell anyone it wasn’t serious.
I think part of why it stuck is because people have a hard time placing our sound, especially in Salt Lake, where the scene leans heavily toward indie and singer-songwriter. So people see “terror funk” and go, “Oh, okay, that explains it somehow.”
Joe: I still don’t really know what it means.
Honestly, though, it weirdly makes sense. I’ve heard songs before where “terror funk” actually feels like the perfect description. But it’s funny that it started as a joke.
Juniper: Yeah, but we never use it seriously when pitching ourselves. If you describe your band as “funk,” playlists and industry people immediately stop taking you seriously. They think, “What is this? Clown music?”
So when we pitch ourselves professionally, we usually say experimental rock or alternative rock. It’s safer.
That makes total sense. The industry wants originality, but only in very specific ways.
Juniper and Joseph, it’s so rare to see a creative partnership last as long as yours has since meeting in high school music class. How has that long history together shaped your chemistry as bandmates today, and looking back, what are some of your favorite highlights from those early days of making music together?
Joe: I think because we’ve known each other for so long, we’re very comfortable being weird together, creatively and personally. There’s a lot of freedom in that.
Juniper: And we’re comfortable critiquing each other without it becoming personal. We both want to make the best art possible, so criticism comes from trust, not judgment.
When you have that foundation, you can point out when someone’s missing the mark without it becoming an attack. I think that’s really important creatively.
The visuals you share on social media have such a unique, "found footage" feel that is really an audiovisual sensation. In a world where everything is usually so high-def and polished, what draws you to that grainy, surrealist aesthetic?
Joe: Honestly, that style wasn’t even intentional at first. We started working with a videographer friend whose style naturally leaned that way, and it just matched our sound really well.
Juniper: But I do think it reflects our attitude toward perfection. We both grew up in Utah: land of perfect families, Botox, money, and weird social expectations. Everything here has this polished sheen over it. Even downtown feels weirdly clean compared to other cities.
That perfectionism bleeds into aesthetics, attitudes, and music, too. When we moved back from Colorado, it was hard to find our place in the scene because we didn’t fit that polished mold. Eventually, we stopped trying to fit in and leaned harder into what felt authentic to us. That made everything more enjoyable. And honestly, I’m not particularly interested in being beautiful.
No, I actually really understand what you mean by that. It feels more like you’re interested in energy and expression than perfection. I’m from California originally, so coming here for the first time, I noticed that polished atmosphere too, especially in underground scenes where individuality can feel both celebrated and judged at the same time.
Juniper: Exactly. And it’s been especially difficult as women, and specifically as brown women in the rock scene here. There’s basically one other rock-adjacent band I know of with a brown female front person, Savage Daughters, which is honestly insane when you think about it. We’ve had to work really hard to be respected here.
I remember early on we played a show at Urban Lounge before they hired new management, and I was doing this full theatrical look; painting my teeth black, really committing to the visual side of the performance. The old venue manager walked in and looked so annoyed that this local band was putting so much effort into the show. He literally shook his head and walked out. I remember feeling embarrassed in that moment.
That sucks, because personally I’d be way more excited to see a band putting real effort into their visuals and performance. But I do think Salt Lake has this strange duality where individuality is encouraged until it becomes “too much.”
Juniper: Yeah, exactly. But recently things have been better. People recognize us in grocery stores now or wear our merch in public, and every time it’s still kind of shocking.
Joe: It took a long time to feel accepted here.
Seeking the Sun (Courtesy of Indi Tejeda).
Well, I'm really excited for your upcoming single, "Hungry Ghosts." It’s such a powerful title! What can fans (and I) expect from this release, both sonically and thematically?
Joe: The idea came from the Buddhist concept of hungry ghosts; beings trapped in this state of endless craving where nothing ever fully satisfies them. We started thinking about how that applies to modern life and consumer culture. Everyone is constantly trying to fill some emptiness through external things.
Musically, we tried matching that feeling with really chaotic, heavy riffs and a lot of sonic exploration.
Juniper: And visually, the recent promo stuff ties into those ideas too. I’ve been wearing these exaggerated fake boobs, giant lips, fake bush, really grotesque hyper-feminine imagery.
Part of that came from seeing campaigns like the Skims thong with fake pubic hair. Beauty standards are impossible because they constantly change. First, women are told to laser everything off, then suddenly they’re sold products pretending to bring it back. It’s all consumerism disguised as empowerment.
Growing up in Utah, surrounded by Botox culture and perfectionism, I’ve seen how endless that craving becomes. Preventative Botox in your twenties, Ozempic culture… it’s disturbing. The more you get, the more you want.
I actually really appreciate you talking about that because I think a lot of people, especially young women, feel that pressure constantly now. I know people whose parents pushed cosmetic procedures on them when they were barely adults. It genuinely affects how people see themselves.
Juniper: And what’s disturbing is how a lot of this has been repackaged as feminism. I don’t think women fearing aging and feeling pressured to alter themselves constantly is feminism at all. And the second that you see yourself aging, you need to do something about it. Plastic surgery is offered as a way to embrace feminist ideals of being able to do what you want with your body, and is painted as a version of empowerment, and I agree with that to an extent. But in reality it's pushing a patriarchal agenda to fit the mold of what a female body should look like: young, thin, hairless, and fuckable, especially among female musicians and the pressures in the music industry. And like, that's not it. I'm sorry, but that's not feminism.
How do you navigate the modern pressure of being a "content creator" versus just being a musician and an artist? Have there been moments where that tension has shaped your creative decisions or the way you present your work?
Juniper: I handle all of our social media, and at first, it was exhausting. I felt pressure to be funny, cool, attractive, all these different things online. Eventually, I stopped caring so much and started posting things I genuinely liked instead of trying to appeal to an imaginary audience. Ironically, that’s when things started performing better.
I also think women in music are under huge pressure to sexualize themselves online. Every photoshoot has to make you look beautiful and desirable. It’s exhausting. So I almost went the opposite direction. I started asking, “How weird and disturbing can I make this?” Some people hate it, but some people really connect with it.
I think that’s actually powerful because it strips away the expectation that women always have to present themselves in a consumable way.
Juniper: Yeah. Early on, I completely avoided revealing clothing onstage because subconsciously I knew how heavily young women get sexualized, especially when you’re still close to your teenage years. Now I’m more comfortable exploring sexuality in our art, but from a satirical perspective. The exaggerated body horror stuff is meant to show how grotesque those beauty expectations really are. It reminds me a little of the movie The Substance, taking beauty culture to such an extreme that it becomes horrifying.
Joe: Yeah, like body horror.
What is one thing you wish you could go back and tell your high school selves at this point in your music career? How do you think that advice would have changed the way you approached making music early on?
Joe: Honestly, stop taking music so seriously. Just make things. Don’t obsess over identity or image. None of this is that serious.
Juniper: And I’d tell myself to just learn music theory. So many young rock musicians romanticize being self-taught prodigies, but music theory is literally just a language. It helps you communicate better with other musicians. Also, I probably wouldn’t have majored in music.
Really?
Juniper: Yeah. Unless you’re going somewhere incredibly specialized like Juilliard or a major conservatory, I honestly think music school can be kind of a scam. Most programs don’t teach industry realities. You’re probably better off playing with people while studying business or marketing.
That actually reminds me of Belmont University in Tennessee. One thing they do well is teach music business, copyright law, branding, and practical things artists actually need.
Juniper: Exactly. That stuff is way more valuable long-term.
After this conversation with Seeking the Sun, I feel like I was given access to a side of the music industry I hadn’t really considered before. Away from hardcore shows, the pressure of social media presence, and the constant refinement of an artist’s image, there’s a quieter reality, one grounded in process, trust, and creating something that actually feels honest.
It reshaped how I think about being an artist. Work doesn’t have to be polished or strategically packaged to hold value. Some of the most compelling art comes from uncertainty, discomfort, and a willingness to experiment. For young creatives trying to find their footing, that reminder feels important: creation doesn’t need perfection in order to be meaningful.
I’m grateful to the band for their openness and insight, and for offering a perspective that feels both refreshing and necessary. Be sure to listen to their newest release, “Hungry Ghosts,” on all major platforms, and follow them on Instagram for future updates and eccentric content.
Listen to "Hungry Ghosts"
