Sunrise in the Desert is the electronic pop duo of Tan Ciyiltepe and James Gadon. Their self-titled debut EP is a unique and fresh combination of dreaminess and grit. With gritty pop rock flare, their single 'Bang Bang' is a late night-club stomper that's sure to get you up and dancing.
In August of 2016, 'Bang Bang' was featured in a CBC nationwide Olympic sync advertisement about Usain Bolt. The YouTube video quickly surpassed 20,000 views and it was included in the Y108 Rocks weekly indie show along with Sloan's 'Summer's My Season'. With this momentum, Sunrise in the Desert were invited for an official showcase performance at SXSW, 2017.
In 2018, the duo released their single ‘Victory’ after receiving FACTOR development funding and their music video ‘Tonight’ was chosen as an official selection for the imagineNATIVE film festival in Toronto. The film was co-produced by Indigenous Actor/Producer Sarah Podemski (who also played the lead character) and screened at the TIFF Bell Lightbox Theatre along with Buffy Sainte-Marie’s, ‘The War Racket’. In the same year, Sunrise in the Desert licensed their songs ‘Bang Bang’ and ‘Dance All Night’ for the feature film ‘Vox Lux’ starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law with original music by Sia. The film made its international debut at the Venice Film Festival and its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The picture was bought by Neon Films and was released in December, 2018. The duo’s single ‘Better Days’ was also featured in the Season 2 premiere of the NBC Universal television series ‘Good Girls’ and the YouTube clip of the sync has over 313,000 views.
Sunrise in the Desert released their 2nd EP, ‘Out of Your Mind’ on September 26, 2020 through Route 84 Music Inc. and the duo have three of their songs, ‘So Radical’, ‘1999’ and ‘Just Kids’ in the 2023 docuseries, ‘Six Miles From the Grand’.