Metal titans SOULMIRROR have their debut album out for the masses to absorb. Shows and tour are set for this year, with the band even going back to the studio later this year! Their goal is to get out there with playing as much as possible, spending the year doing just that, and connecting with many across the net too! The band chats about all of this below!
1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?
Both really, picking something like this is a big decision, cause your stuck with it for life. We never want to do the whole rebranding thing, so we took our time with creating the name. We tried to figure out a way to tie all of our themes and deeper meanings in the art into one simple thing that really spoke for itself. We went through a few different variations before we landed on the final name, SOULMIRROR. A lot of what we focus on with our music is self empowering, being able to look in the mirror and feel powerful in what you do. Life is hard enough as it is, one should always take time to try to be the best version of their true selves and not hide that or suppress it. Be unique, be genuine, live with love.
2. Why did you want to play this genre?
Metal has always been a huge part of all of our lives. From every kind of modern core and djent and symphonic blackened death whatever, to old school thrash and the big 4 era of music, it's always been loud, it always kicks you in the chest live, it's always heavy and brutal. Such is life. The music and genres go hand in hand with what we are doing lyrically and thematically, and we wouldn't want it any other way.
3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?
Nope. We met to form the band.
4. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
Half in Connecticut, half in Massachusetts. Both of which have thriving scenes, and we've met some of the coolest people out here doing shows this last year. The first few that come to mind are always Accursed, Overtime, Skin Crawl, and Cytokine just to name a few. The whole Five Nine crew up in Mass and New Hampshire have definitely been some of the most welcoming people to us. Love them!
5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?
We all have and bring different influences to the table. we're definitely going to dive deep into that on the next release of music we do for sure, but of course a lot of the lyrics come from Kats perspective on life and his story growing up in the environment that he did. So definitely life inspires a lot of it, as well as our personal influences.
6. What are your songs about? (What specific themes do they cover?)
All of the songs on our record "I Am" focus heavily on mental health issues, starting with unfortunately common experiences of early childhood abuse. The how's and the why's of that are explored a bit; what that does to a human psyche and the effects that has. There's a lot of really brutal detail in there that come from a real place. We go on from there to the experience of living your life with these occurrences embedded in your brain as trauma, and how that can, over time, manifest in different, very negative ways as we grow older and try to find our own way in life. Towards the end of the record we kind of pivot, now that we are where we are in life, and try to take the listener to a place where they can find comfort in understanding that you can conquer these things. It is hard, and it doesn't happen at once, but little by little you can really build yourself up to be stronger. Mentally, physically, whatever you want as a person. Understand that it takes some work, but anybody can do it in time, and just believing that, is the first yet most important step and getting there.
7. Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)
Yes! We write, record, revise, edit, and produce everything ourselves. From the song structure, lyrics, vibe, music video scripts, it all gets thought about and intertwined with whatever theme or mental space we're exploring. With this album, we figured out the stories first; figured out the journey we wanted to take and wrote the music around it. It would usually start in a jam room with some of the early members; we'd scratch a few parts down to tracks and if we liked something, we'd say "what vibe is this giving?", and then match it to the themes previously conceptualized. From there it was just a matter of meeting up and working on structures and individual parts. A lot of the finer details like orchestral stuff, or guitar solos and sound effects got saved til the end, as we wanted to make sure the meat and potatoes of the track (i.e. drums, bass, guitars, vox) were banging from front to back first, and then use the other stuff as some extra sauce. Some songs came together quick, like within a couple days, some took longer. Overall there's so many different layers and things to listen to across the entire album, and they all have a purpose or place within that song.
8. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
So far we're on our debut album, with a couple really, really dope videos out, both filmed by the guy Eric DiCarlo of Square Up Studios. We also got Caelan Stokkermans on board for the album artwork and Barnaby Oakley to do our logos and sigil. An absolute dream team, all with Mix and Masters by the man himself, Chris Wiseman of Shadow of Intent and Currents. Needless to say, we offer you only the finest of works.
9. Do you have any new music in the works?
We'll be looking at studio time towards the later half of 2025.
10. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
Absolutely, we're hoping to hit a lot of different states over 2025. We've got a handful of performances scheduled for this year currently, and way more coming down the pipe. Should be a very busy year on the road for us, very excited to meet some new faces. We've not booked a full tour yet, but we are hoping to get somebody behind that this year as well, maybe mid-late summer.
11. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
Right now our immediate goal is getting in front of people, finding those who really connect with what we're doing. We've lined up a solid marketing campaign for these next few months, so we'll spend a good amount of time with that as well as shows over the summer. Record deals, sponsors, touring nationally, all these things are something we'd be grateful for and hope to accomplish one day.
12. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Our debut album "I Am" can be streamed on any major streaming platform of your choice! Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, anything you'd like! We also have a handful of music videos and TONS of behind the scenes on our YouTube Channel! (@soulmirrorUS)