If a picture truly is worth a thousand words, the first chapter of The Sunstreak's story could be summed up by a March 2006 press photo, in which band members gaze straight ahead with looks of sheer intensity.
The image embodies exactly what The Sunstreak was back then — five guys intent on conquering the world, and it nearly happened. During the Vans Warped Tour that summer, The Sunstreak made history by selling 25,000 CDs without a record distribution deal and landing on the Billboard charts.
Major labels were calling, and the band seemed poised for stardom. But a contract dispute brought things to a screeching halt. Despite that, The Sunstreak still is intact and is focused on the future, which involves a new image and a new album.
Sitting in their practice studio on St. Paul Street in early February, the band members — bassist Jason Sarkis, 26; guitarist Jack Flynn, 27; drummer Gary Foster, 28; guitarist Dave Schuler, 26; and singer Tony Rebis, 25 — laugh at the sight of the 3-year-old photo.
"That's a totally different band," says a smiling Foster, who, along with the rest of The Sunstreak is gearing up for a rebirth of sorts. The group plans to give away copies of its latest release, Once Upon a Lie, at March 28 show at Water Street Music Hall. It's The Sunstreak's first full-length album of new material since 2006.
In the interim, some of the guys have lost weight. Others have gotten more piercings or tattoos. But they all share a new perspective on their career that's not jaded as much as it is bluntly realistic.
Between drags on a cigarette, a smirking Flynn sums it up this way: "To all the young bands out there, enjoy it while it's innocent." Perhaps the most obvious indication that The Sunstreak has evolved is the new look of its lead singer, Rebis. Somewhere in the past three years he's grown a mustache and a lot of hair. (He actually looks more like a grunged-out Eddie Vedder than the frontman of a pop-rock band.)
Rebis' appearance is miles from the clean-shaven dude with blond highlights who, prior to The Sunstreak, fronted One Year Nothing, a pop-punk band he started with West Irondequoit High School classmate Sarkis.
"At that point we were like 18 years old and we just sucked at music," Rebis half jokes. But that didn't stop him, Sarkis and their bandmates from doing the crazy things that most teenagers with rock-star ambitions do.
"We wound up buying a van and driving out to California," Rebis says. They tracked down Kevin Lyman, creator of the Vans Warped Tour, at his Los Angeles office and charmed him with their ambition (and wine) until he agreed to give One Year Nothing a spot on the 2002 Warped Tour.
The group played the festival for the next three summers. Over time, the band's lineup changed. Once Flynn, Foster and Schuler all were on board, the group changed its name to The Sunstreak and began preparing for the 2006 Warped Tour. They hurried to record a 10-track debut album and signed a deal with local record label B&W Records.
The partnership proved fruitful at first, as The Sunstreak began racking up CD sales. "It started at 300, 400 CDs a day, and then went up and up and up," Schuler says. "It got to the point where we were in Detroit and we sold 1,000 CDs in a day."
During two months on the 2006 Warped tour, The Sunstreak sold more than 25,000 copies, which landed the band on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and Top Independent Albums chart.
"They are the only band in Vans Warped Tour history to ever sell that many CDs without a distribution deal," Lyman says. "Each show day, the band hustled. They are a great group of guys with an amazing work ethic."
The Sunstreak then began drawing interest from major record labels. However, while the buzz was growing, the band and B&W began to clash. "We had never signed a deal with a label (before B&W), and (B&W) had never signed a deal with a band," Schuler says. "There was a lack of understanding on how to do things properly from the start, on both ends."
Former B&W co-owner Ben Blakley, 25, blames the situation on "a lack of communication," adding: "The contract that was signed (could have been) negotiated. I think their management didn't want us to be in the picture or whatnot."
Current B&W co-owner Paul Chamoun offered no comment other than to say, "We wish the band the very best of luck." The situation with B&W was resolved in July 2007, and the members of The Sunstreak were back where they started — on their own but still confident and as tight as ever.
"Nothing in this world was going to tear this band apart. We're like brothers," Schuler says. "The business with the contract was stressful, but we saw what we were capable of. We saw how many CDs we sold and the potential of where this band could go."
So The Sunstreak created its own label, Streaker Records, and hit the road on the Warped Tour that summer. A year later, having learned from the successes and failures of past tours, the band flourished on the 2008 Warped Tour, selling an estimated 10,000 copies of its Top Secret EP, along with tons of merchandise.
The success of Streaker Records has allowed The Sunstreak to independently fund Once Upon A Lie, an 18-track album the guys have spent almost a year recording.
The release features songs like "Great White Come," "What Else Can I Do?" and the title track, which showcases The Sunstreak's trademark formula of straightforward rock combined with radio-friendly choruses.
However, the record — produced and mixed by Schuler — also includes some experimentation. Tracks like "Holding On" and "Formality" were possible because the band has become accustomed to his use of vocal effects and electronic instrumentation.
The band members say The Sunstreak's new image is built upon the idea that Once Upon a Lie will give fans their first real glimpse of the group's full potential.
"I think that this record is everything that this band is capable of," Rebis says. "Everything we have to offer as a band. I think it's going to be accepted that way as well."
