Goodnight, Sunrise was formed in 2011 by David Kochberg and Vanessa Vakharia who had both played in the Toronto band The Big Deal. Along with friend and former
Glueleg bassist Andrew "Chowder" Charters, they recorded their first EP
Fragments as a three piece. The addition of drummer Paul Weaver in February 2012 completed the four member group, leading into festival performances at the 2012
Canadian Music Week and
North by Northeast. Collectively their early writing was influenced by diverse bands such as
Florence + The Machine,
Muse,
Metric,
U2, and
Foo Fighters, while the dual lead vocals of Vakharia and Kochberg were reminiscent of bands like
Blink-182,
Of Monsters and Men, and
July Talk. The group's first full-length album
Create/Destroy/Create was released in March 2013 and co-produced by Kochberg and
sound engineer Chris Sampson. The 9 song pseudo-
concept album demonstrated the band's eclectic influences and drew upon cyclical themes of introspection, self-destruction, and redemption. The album artwork, an intricate
ambigram design, was designed by Polish artist Daniel Dostal.
Create/Destroy/Create received campus radio play across Canada throughout Summer 2013, from British Columbia to Ontario. In December 2013, Goodnight, Sunrise followed
Create/Destroy/Create with the first in a series of split-singles. Unlike most of the band's album songs in which Kochberg and Vakharia share lead vocals, the D/V series features one song by each of them (resulting in a "Side D" with David on lead and a "Side V" with Vanessa).
D/V 1: Deaf Ears was recorded in
Lucan, Ontario, at Swamp Songs Studios and mastered by
Noah Mintz at Lacquer Channel Mastering. This was followed by
D/V 2: Bridgeburner in July 2014, recorded with new bassist Thor Thunders after the amicable departure of Charters. Thunders departed at the end of 2014, and the band recruited Pedro Salles (formerly of
Brazilian band Avec Tristesse). In September 2015, the band completed a 20-date tour of
Eastern Canada to support the release of "Deal With It", the first single from their upcoming 2nd album. The second single, "Familiar Faces", was released in July 2016, and the September 2016
Falling Awake album release was supported by a 17-date tour across
Ontario, the
United Kingdom (including showcases at Indie Week Europe) and a final show in
Amsterdam. In May 2018, Goodnight, Sunrise was selected by
Q107 to be the opening act for
Bon Jovi at the
Air Canada Centre on May 12. Weaver had amicably parted ways with the band earlier in the year but rejoined them for this momentous final show together. From this point forward the band was led by Vakharia and Kochberg and supported by a rotating cast of touring members, starting with a cross-Canada summer tour supporting their new single "Runaways" with performances at
Evolve Festival, Riverfest Elora, and Dawson City Music Festival in
Dawson City,
Yukon. In November 2018, they released a modern pop-rock cover of
Gordon Lightfoot's acoustic ballad "
Song for a Winter's Night". 2019 brought their first show in the US, performing at
The NAMM Show in
Anaheim, California, as well as a 30-date Western Canada summer tour behind the singles "WVV" and "Don't Want It To End". The band spent 2020–2021 writing and recording a new album with producer Brian Moncarz and featuring bassist
Duncan Coutts and drummer
Jason Pierce of
Our Lady Peace, releasing the first single of this collaboration "Won't Be Long" in May 2021. In early 2022, ahead of the release of the next single "One Pill" from these sessions, the band officially removed the comma from its name to continue performing and recording going forward as Goodnight Sunrise. ==Band members==