The Ann Arbor-Plymouth indie-rock band Studio Lounge takes a significant step forward on its second full-length album, Staring at the Sun. 

The record showcases the offbeat sense of humor, eclectic influences, and first-rate musicianship heard on Studio Lounge’s 2022 debut, Amateur Hour. But the 18 original tracks on Staring at the Sun also hang together better as a fully realized album, with new depth to the band's songwriting and more polished recordings from the group's home studio.

“Join Us” is a perfect way to lead off the album; less than a minute long, it includes echoes of ’60s/’70s garage rock psychedelia as it invites listeners on this album’s journey. “Day With You” is sweet and wistful, while “Constipation Station (Exit Strategy)” is an all-too-relatable reaction to a lousy job. And while some songs display an underlying seriousness, the band sometimes goes all-in on pure silliness, such as the pirate tale “Arrgh!” or “Dimo’s,” a brief ode to the beloved Ann Arbor deli and donut shop. 

Studio Lounge consists of Ryan Hasani, lead guitar, synths, vocals, and production; Constantin Balan, rhythm guitar, accordion, lap steel, and vocals; Dani Balan, bass and vocals; and Max Wilkinson, drums and vocals. The band plans to busk all summer at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market and Eastern Market in Detroit and posts all its upcoming concert dates on Instagram.

The band members recently answered a few questions about the new album via email:

Q: Where are the four of you from originally, and where do you live now? How did you get together as a band?
Hasani: We all went to the same high school in Livonia, albeit at different times. Dani, Max, and I were in a movie-making group throughout those years, but we moved to music after realizing we needed to make our own soundtracks to not get copyright claims on YouTube. In 2021, one of my cousins had a going-away party and wanted us to play although we weren’t really a band yet, so we scraped together a bunch of songs and winged it. After that show, Dani’s brother Constantin officially joined the band and from then on we realized we needed to lay down as many fresh original tracks as possible. 

In 2022 we recorded a bunch of home demos that later became our first album in Constantin’s room at his place in Ann Arbor. As of last year, a few of us got a place in Plymouth and converted the basement to a makeshift studio where we record and practice on the regular. 

Q: What made this the right time for your second full album—just having enough new material, or was there a conscious decision to do something ambitious?
Dani Balan: After our show in Canton last year, we realized we needed to hunker down and record as much as possible, despite quality, coherent songwriting, or which band members were there. So essentially from September to January, we threw together around 40 tracks of nonsense and later refined those. Then the itch for new material came upon us in the spring and we re-recorded a handful of the demos and came up with a concept for the project. Perhaps we will unleash the folder of nonsense someday soon.

Q: Who writes your songs, and what does your songwriting process look like? 
Hasani: We definitely all have input on each song, although certain songs are individually written, and sometimes even recorded, and are brought to the others. For example, “Rabbit, Run” was mostly done by me, and “Day With You” was solely Constantin. Personally, I think our best songs are those that stem from when the four of us just jam out for hours and come up with something together, like “Shit Lake.” This time there are a lot that come from me and Dani, and a few from Constantin, George Harrison-style. And there is no Studio Lounge without Max on the cans.
Dani Balan: A lot comes from the four of us jamming. We come up with one section of a song and expand upon it. We try to experiment with all different styles, but really it’s finding a balance of us being able to play it and the song sounding good. When we are in the studio, it’s always a thought of “What are we doing here?” Are we doing sad, or something fast, or blues?

Q: The band does a really great job of drawing on some older styles/sounds while still sounding fresh and contemporary. Is that intentional, or is that just what develops organically?
Hasani: I think we wear our influence on our sleeves from bands that we love, and many of those happen to be ’60s-’70s rock legends, ’90s obscurities, or ’70s roots-reggae icons. Really our goal is to just make all kinds of music; we probably fall in alternative rock, but we each bring different flavors to the pot that form together in this incohesive wacky alt/indie lounge-pop-rock mess. 

Also, we each bring different influences that I think reflect on the songs we individually write, like Constantin has the indie-pop sensibilities, Dani brings the blues and the hard rock, Max brings the garagey alternative, and I try to bring the psychedelia. However, we all work together to keep the listener on their toes by doing something like throwing in a ’50s doo-wop commercial jingle for our favorite Ann Arbor sandwich joint, Dimo’s.

Q: Do you have a favorite song on the album, and if so, what makes it so?
Wilkinson: “Delicatessen of the Damned,” because it’s the perfect balance of just catchy songwriting and absolute absurdity. It’s madness, but it goes hard.
Hasani: “Brownstown” is peak. It captures the true essence of Studio Lounge. It’s also technically the first song written for this album about a year ago now and it was originally about a dingy bus stop, but it fully developed into a greasy, anti-war brownout. 
Dani Balan: “Shit Lake.” It brings me back to memories that are directly correlated to the lyrics, but the beat itself will put you in a good mood. The ska ending also makes me laugh.
Constantin Balan: “Vinni’s Pizzeria,” because the beat is banging and it was fun to try to get the accordion somewhere on the album.

Q: “Shit Lake” is kind of absurdist but ultimately has something serious to say—was that inspired by a real situation?
Constantin Balan: Yeah, it was. The song is about reminiscing on taking our yearly trip up north to our friend’s cabin. The cabin is surrounded by people with questionable ideologies, to put it shortly. So the song ended up being about our desire to still have a place to escape to for a weekend but to not be around there. And with the climate heating up, we decided to all escape to the ever-rising ocean to do so.

Q: “Saturday Morning Cartoons” is a gem. To me, it speaks to facing the uncertainties of adulthood and longing for the simplicity of childhood. Were you going for something like that?
Dani Balan: From my perspective, the song's meaning is somewhat left up to the interpretation of the listener. The "Saturday Morning Cartoons" lyrics tell a tale of a late-night walk gone astray, with no guarantees of escaping the predicament. While the two individuals attempt to avoid the hubris of their curiosity, both reminisce about a simple yet blissful moment in time past. For me, I do see a parallel to this story; and the way life can, at times, feel overwhelming as you age. The stress in being responsible for taking care of yourself and those you care for. The self-doubt in some of the decisions you've made. And the intrusive comprehension that time is fleeting and that you must be aware of, and grateful for, those special moments in time that end too quickly but feel like they'll last forever.

Q: “Staring at the Sun” is a great title, and it hits me as maybe the strongest song on the album, both sonically and lyrically. What led you to write that one?
Hasani: That one was maybe the most necessary song on here. It ultimately was meant to tie the project together, to give the trials and tribulations of the first 45 minutes a point. It largely was inspired by a group field trip The Stu took in April to witness the total solar eclipse. I know I speak for all of us when I say that that event was easily one of the most profound experiences of our lives. That and I had read Camus’ “The Myth of Sisyphus” right around the same time, and the combination of the two was eye-opening. So “Staring at the Sun” was created to capture the absurdity of our ability to be able to witness such a profound cosmic event—after all, it’s the only time you can really stare at the sun. Ironically, it was the last song both written and recorded for the project, in a matter of one long day.

Q: I love the three instrumentals on the album. Not a lot of bands bother with instrumentals anymore. Do you approach them any differently than a full-fledged song?
Constantin Balan: Actually, almost all of our songs start as instrumentals. Or we’ll play a riff over and over again and build a whole song from there. Then one of us will have an idea for what the song is about whether that’s peanut butter and jelly or quiet quitting.
Hasani: With that, I think there are certain songs an artist might create that ought to stand for themselves. But for these three specifically, they definitely have a purpose for the greater image. “Troll Park” was based on a dream I had that could not have been conveyed through lyrics. “Cloudland” is the follow-up to viewing totality, or even embracing the absurd, and the eeriness of “What’s next?” begins to silently set in. Constantin had “Intergalactic Hookah” in the chamber on his computer for months, and as soon as the rest of us heard it there was no question that it needed to be public.

Bob Needham is a freelance writer and the former arts & entertainment editor of The Ann Arbor News and AnnArbor.com.

Studio Lounge's new album, "Staring at the Sun," is available on Bandcamp and streaming services. Keep up with the band on Instagram.