Midwest band Good Night & Good Morning is playing their first and only show of the year Nov. 9 at Cactus Club.
The ambient, slow-core band was formed in 2007 by guitarist and vocalist Ryan Brewer and vibraphonist Pat Elifritz. They released their first official project in 2011, their self-titled EP.
Later on, drummer Sahan Jayasuriya joined the duo and the three of them spent a year working on their debut album, “Narrowing Type,” which was released in 2012.
Jarasuriya said that the band’s sound draws inspiration from 90s slow-core bands such as Low, Bedhead and Codeine. One of their biggest influences, indie rock alternative group American Analog Set, is the reason the vibraphone plays such a huge role in their sound.
Apart from each of the band member’s primary roles in the band, Jayasuriya said they each help each other out with different areas sonically.
“A lot of this kind of non-guitar textual stuff, some of that’s me, some of that’s Ryan, some of it’s Pat,” Jayasuriya said. “We all just help color in the picture.”
The way Good Night & Good Morning presents itself visually is due to Elifritz. When the band performs, they play completely in the dark accompanied by three overlapping projectors, creating a uniquely visual, inviting atmosphere.
Due to each band member living in different states, they couldn’t play live shows much. After Brewer moved from Milwaukee, the band didn’t break up but they put things on pause for a while.
“Since ‘Narrowing Type,’ we kind of just maintained a friendship. It wasn’t that we were done, it was just like, we’re not really going to do this,” Jayasuriya said. “In the back of my mind, I just hoped we would do something again and that’s really it.”
Over the course of the last decade, since their album release, the band noticed consistent but gradual traction beginning to rise and noticed that people were listening on different streaming platforms.
“Every once in a while, we’d get a message from someone being like, ‘Were you in a band called Good Night & Good Morning?’” Jayasuriya said. “I’m like, ‘Oh my god. I love this. Thank you.’ I don’t know how you’re hearing this, but it was nice to hear from people here and there.”
After taking a break from playing live and noticing an active interest in the band, they decided to start promoting their music more and issued a vinyl reissue of “Narrowing Type” through Energy Crow Records which sold out in a couple months.
“It (the reissue) was received way better than we thought it was going to be and then we were like, ‘maybe we should play a show,‘” Jayasuriya said.
After that, the band played their first show since 2012 in 2023 in Urbana, Illinois. Before this, the band had not played together for 10 years. Despite their physical distance prior to this show, Jayasuriya said it was like riding a bike again. Having not played their songs together for a decade, it was like shaking off the rust.
“Our joke is that we do everything slow, our music is slow, you know, we just do everything slow,” Jayasuriya said. “But I can consistantly say that we are an active band now, as complicated as that is to have to coordinate schedules and whatever else.”
Although only being able to play a couple times in the past two years, Jayasuriya said that he’s grateful to be able to keep playing their music in a live setting.
“I’m a big fan of this band and I was before I joined, I’m really proud of what the three of us did,” Jayasuriya said. “I’m grateful to be able to do this, even if it’s just once a year.”
Jayasuriya said one of the reasons they decided to play their upcoming show in Milwaukee is due to the fact that at one point, most of the band lived here. Although some have relocated, it feels like a hometown show to them, being familiar with the city.
This show is presented by Volta Records and Music Go Round. Good Night & Good Morning will be on at 9 p.m. accompanied by local, opening bands, Haunter and Apollo Vermouth at Cactus Club. Tickets for sale here (this show is open to all ages).
This story was written by Sofía Cortés. She can be reached at [email protected].
