Sonic Syndicate

Interview date

24 Juin 2010

Interviewer

Ostianne

I N T E R V I E W

Interview Karin Axelsson (by phoners)


The album must have been release in the end of May, it will finally be release in August. What happened?

Well, after the album was finished, we listened to it and we thought that we had to change a couple of things. We did a lot of effects for the vocals bit also for the keyboards. And then, we chose to remix it and we go back in the same studio, Bohus Studio. I think that is a real good thing, because we didn't want to release something we're not proud of, and also it gave us more time to record a couple of new videos.

You toured during one year. Did the energy you had during this tour help the band to compose more easily this new album?

Oh definitely, I think so. I think when Nathan joined the band; he also brought a lot of energy into it. And we felt it was a new start for every one of us, 'cause all summer we have been looking for a new singer. We received and responded to e-mails, and e-mails to do a selection, and twenty people came to the audition. And once Nathan joined the band, we felt that is was just perfect. It's just the way we want to be. And we went in a tour, and in Sweden we had to play in a very huge arena. And we had a new energy. That made us wants to record a new album that fast. I think it is reflecting in the album sound that we were happier and energise this time.

I read that "everything felt truly natural for the first time" when you were working on this album. Do you have some regrets about what happened before?

No, definitely not. I mean, everything had felt natural before, but this time, it felt really, really good. We really wanted to do this. Of course we are proud of the past albums, but it is the first album in which we have been involved as musicians, persons and as a group too. We were stronger and we were going together in the same direction. In the beginning, only two people were writing the songs, now all of us do it. We change our way of work and I think that everybody will feel it in the album.

It's the first time that Nathan James Biggs sings on a Sonic Syndicates' album. How did you help him to do what you were expecting?

(Laughs) I don't think that we had to help him at all. He has so much energy that he is like a troublemaker in the practice room. (Laughs). If we just played one guitar riff he didn't heard before, he would start singing any lyrics he could come up with. He wrote the lyrics with Richard, and we were working in the studio, the six of us, at the same time, so he came in and say "hey, we have this new chorus, what do you think about it?" So everybody was working together supporting and helping each other when we had no idea about how to do stuffs. So he brings a lot to everybody.

There are two songs which are less violent on this album, "My Own Life" and "Miles Apart". How did you know how to put them on the album so they fit with the other ones?

It's hard to do a setup in an album like a set list for a live show. We had to fight and then to vote about it. But in the end, we just wanted to have a good flow instead of having maybe all the hit songs in the beginning of the album. We wanted to keep the energy going and it is a very nice idea. And I think that ending with "We Rule The Night" is a good way to end an album, with all the energy up.

How was the recording process for the bass?

It took about four day or something like that. We were living in the studio, in the same room. (Laughs). We don't leave the studio before the end, it's a kind of a rule, to stay focus on our work. We were working with a new producer, Toby Wright, we never worked with him before. He is a crazy, crazy man (laughs), but he has also many good experiences. When we were recording, he wanted to use something we called copy process. It means that you record one playing, and when it's good, you copy it to the next chorus for example so you don't have to record it again. But I said to him that I don't like play this way, we like to record in live. Which means I play the song over and over again, and then I choose the best and it's a pretty hard way to work I think. You have to be focus and do your best cause it takes everything you have. But I think you can hear it on the album that we worked that way.

Is there s ome albums that inspired your bass playing for this album?

Oh, that's a hard one! They are so many good bass players, I listen to Iron Maiden, to Muse. All the bands I'm listening to have good musician. I'm always inspired by watching people who are playing live, do they use the fingerpicks, what kind of strings they have. And I always think I wanna be a better bass player, because I'm not good enough for some reason (laughs). But it's really good because you keep pushing up yourself to be even better.

What is the new song that gives you the biggest joy to play?

Oh, we only play "Revolution Baby" in live. That's definitely a lot of fun to play it, but my favourite song on this album is "Beauty And The Freak". During the writing process it was one of my favourite songs. But it's hard to say, before we have play it in live, which one will be the most funny, because it could be the one you less expect.

According to you, what is the biggest strength of this new album?

I think it's the diversity of the songs. And the energy that goes through the all album.

And what is your best memory of the recording of "We Rule The Night"?

(Laughs). It's gonna be shown in the bonus DVD. When John was recording drums for the song "Turn It Up", which is a kind of a destroyed song I would say (laughs), a party song. We wrote it as a joke from the beginning. We all have a kind of dance on it, because we see it as a fun song. And when John was recording drums, Nathan went into the recording room, dancing around without dressing anything, he was all naked, while he was recording the actual drum base. (Laughs). And we were sitting in the control room and we were laughing so much. It's gonna be shown in the DVD.

What do you love the most in Sonic Syndicates' evolution and on this new album?

I think it's the way we all worked together now, as a big group. Everybody is so close to each other, it's not hard in anyway. I'm really happy, this album gives me happy feelings.

"We Rule The Night" is your fourth album. Do you still listen to the critical?

Of course we do. But, I don't buy every magazine just to see if there is a review. I mean, we are proud to release the album we have done, of course, I hope people will like it but I have also to realize that everybody don't have to like what we do. (Laughs). Of course some people are gonna write bad stuffs and some people are going to love it. It is just the way it is. Maybe you can take some tips of what people think too and if we had good reviews I will be happy of course.

And if they are some which would be bad, and all people would talk about one thing to change, will it have an impact on your way of composing?

No, I don't think so. Even if it depends on what it is. It's maybe something that stays in your head and you think about it, you remember them of course. But you can't take everything seriously, you have to love what you do and believe in it. You can't make people push you down.

This summer, you are gonna play in some festivals. Will you begin to introduce the new songs on these festivals or will you wait the release of the album to play the songs in live?

We are definitely gonna play "Revolution Baby". Maybe "My Own Life", that's all I can say. We have to wait until we can release the album and the videos too of course.

To play in a band as Sonic Syndicate, was it a little girls' dream or a teenager one, or were you dreaming of another life?

Well, when I met the boys the first time, I was actually working for a newspaper and I was interviewing them. And I knew their former drummer before, Christopher, before interviewing them, so he knew who I was, but I didn't know who the other guys were. Later, I met them again, in the same summer, they came up to me and their drummer said to me "you play the guitar, can you play the bass too?" I said "Yeah, not as good as guitar, bur I can play some." And they said "ok, because we want a new bass player, can you join the band?". And that's how it started. I was still in school at that time and I had never been in a band before, so it was a real big thing to be able to do it and having only guys wanted me to be in the band. It's really nice.

Have you already be bored by playing the bass or the guitar, or you always knew hot to renew your playing so you keep the excitement?

For me, we do new stuffs everyday. It's not only playing, it comes with working the music, it means to do so many different things. Just to have a new bass, to discover a new town before a show, learning the new songs, it's always things that's keep the interest. You can always get better as I said before, there is always something that you wanna learn or wish you could play. It's always a challenge for yourself.

And is there another instrument that you'd like to play?

Actually, I could play the piano. I tried, because my mum could play. But I don't have enough patience to learn everything. I got stuff in mind. I really wish I could do it in a good professional way. (Laughs).

If you could do it, do you think you could play some pianos' notes in Sonic Syndicates' compositions?

Maybe. But there are a lot of hard stuffs to do (laughs). It's very fast keyboard that we have, so I would have to practise my finger a little bit more I think. (Laughs).

Do you think your female condition play a role in the band or do you think you would have the same status and relationships with the other members if you were a man?

Yeah definitely, they treat me as I'm a guy too. (Laughs). They don't treat me in a different way at all just because I'm a girl. They see me as one of them, and usually everybody does too. They see us as musician, not as boy or girl.

And as Sonic Syndicate is an extreme metal band, what do you think about the extreme metal scene?

I think there are so may good bands. I mean even they are not public, just in Sweden, everybody play in one band or in many bands. Just in our own town, we have a million different bands. It's just a big metal scene in Sweden and I think that everybody should believe in themselves and keep playing live as much as possible, because it's when we have a real fun.

Do you think that one day, Sonic Syndicate could be a little bit less extreme?

You never know what is gonna happen. If you compare, for example, "We Rule The Night" to "Eden Fire", there is a huge difference. We are not really scared to try out new things. If we loose metal or if are even more metal, that will be something for the future. When we write songs, we don't plan anything. It is just the way it happens, so everything can probably happen.

It seems that the band is very excited by this new album. What can you say to convince people to listen to "We Rule The Night"?

Yes, we are really excited! I think they need to listen to the all album, before they decide what they think about it. Every track is totally different from the others, there is not only one track that can describe the all album. So, they should listen to all of it and come to see us live, and if they don't like it, that's fine. (Laughs).

Do you think that as they will see the connection between all the members of the band, it will help people to appreciate much more the new songs?

I think that, once you have all meet us, you can see that we are like a family. We treat each other like we are real brothers and sisters. Also on stage, we have so much fun with each others, sometimes we are playing games, maybe people can't see it. But I think it's something really good.

What can you say to our readers and to the fans that are looking for this new album?

They won't have to wait that long anymore although I wish it could be release already. And I hope we can be able to play it in live soon, because we really miss playing, because all the show we've done so far were amazing. We just can't wait to come back!

Do you think you are gonna come to France with this tour?

Yeah definitely! We are going to play in all over Europe and we are going to come in France too!