Articles by "Sonic Syndicate"
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It's been quite sometime since the first and last time speaking with Sonic Syndicate.As time went by, so did the band, as they went on to develop changes within the band, release more albums, and tour, playing shows of course. Now they have written and recorded what is said, to be the most diverse and unique work of theirs to date, in the form of their latest album "Confessions". Frontmant vocalist Nathan J.Biggs, discusses about the latest album, and what changes the band had to face.


1. It's been 8 years, since we last spoke, us discussing your third full-length "Love and Other Disasters" (2008), since then you have released a couple of more releases, going on to change the line-up, label, and band's style and sound, why the change-up in so many ways?

Nathan: There are so many different parts that go into making a band function the way it needs to if you want to keep making music and touring the world. It's like a machine. If one part stops working the whole system stops. You need to replace the part, clean the whole machine and then get used to how it runs again. Sometimes this is more difficult than others. We aren't just machines, there is so much emotion and feelings too. But we've been lucky in Sonic that Robin and I have formed a connection that is stronger than blood. He is more than a brother and as long as he and I are breathing I know we'll always be creating music together. Michel has been more than a bass player, he's made our friendship and the band stronger than we ever thought possible. We're happy being a three piece. This trinity is Sonic Syndicate.

2. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

Nathan: The band started out in '05 basically. The genre melodic death metal was used a lot to put a name to the style. When I joined in '09 we started trying new things, new styles. Members have changed too. Although we've continued evolving, touring the world and doing what we love, we always felt a little restless, like we were waiting for something to happen. But now with the steps we've taken personally and musically we feel secure, reinvented and more alive than ever. Like how we are now is how we've always meant to be.

3. What’s the origin of the band’s name?

Nathan: How it was made doesn't seem important now. The meaning I've attached to it is "Sonic" meaning a wave of sound, i.e. the building blocks of music. Whilst "Syndicate" is a group of people united for a common interest. I see this as us, our loved ones, and our fans. It's our "Music Family". Worked out quite nicely.

4. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?

Nathan: Our new home is Stockholm, Sweden. We all live here now and our record label and management is also here. We're a pretty close knit family now. Local bands is tricky, as a lot i liked have disbanded recently like Imber and Crucified Barbara. Check out Thunder Mother too. If you're into your death metal or house music there is a lot going on. Not a whole lot in between. But I've only been living there a year so still finding my feet with the best live music joints.


5. How would you describe your style?

Nathan: I used to try to fit into boxes and labels but it really doesn't work for me or Sonic. We're just focused on big and modern sounds but at the core it's rock music. We throw a lot of metal, house, pop, electronic, and whatever else we feel for in there. You need to listen.

6. What can be said about your latest release "Confessions", that has not already been said about it?

Nathan: It's truth. This is us. We didn't write for anybody else on this record. Music, emotions, lyrics. It's all honest. We've poured a lot of blood and took a big risk some would say, but there was nothing else we could do. This is us being ourselves and life is short so spend it doing what you love.

7. Why should people go out and pick up this release?

Nathan: We've been blessed in this day and age that we just turn on our phone or computer and can listen to anything from anyone, anywhere. As a result there are no "guilty pleasures". It's perfectly acceptable to be a fan of Louie Armstrong and Cannibal Corpse. As a result more diverse bands are coming along that encapsulate this. I'm not saying we touch those ends of the spectrum but we're creating a sound that doesn't fit into a label or genre. We've crammed a lot of awesome on this record and I know people are gonna do a double-take, tilt their head and be like "oh, this is different". Then it's too late, we will have got you hooked.

8. You went and changed the band's logo design when "We Rule the Night" (2010) was released onward, why the change of heart, for the band's logo?

Nathan: The logo has hints of the same design, but it's been reinvented. You like your clothes? Of course you do, but I bet you'll change them once in a while.

9. So will we ever see the return of the earlier styling's of Sonic Syndicate on future releases, or has that style been put to rest?

Nathan: The future is yet to be written. We didn't know how CONFESSIONS was going to turn out but it's made us the happiest we ever could be as a band and people. Who the hell knows what could happen but you can guarantee we'll have fun finding out.

10. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?

Nathan: We're doing a full tour of Europe with Amaranthe and Smash Into Pieces this Oct-Nov. There's talks about bringing it to the US. Let's see! But we'll definitely be touring stateside next year as we've got distribution through Sony Red and our label are behind us all the way to get out here. Support we are so grateful for and we've never had before. We're getting some nice buzz from our fans to get our butts over also.

11. What plans do you have for the future as a band?

Nathan: Loads. Music videos, documentary episodes, tours, special events with the band. It's gonna be non stop from here for us.

12. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

Nathan: Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Deezer, YouTube... But head to our official website for EVERYTHING www.sonicsyndicate.net.

13. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?

Nathan: It's all about positivity. Even exploring some dark shit I want to show people a light at the end of the tunnel. It's all real. There's no filler on this album. And it's got an energy like nothing we've felt before.
12:13 PM
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Despotz Records is a Swedish Metal/Rock/Pop Record label / Publishing company which was founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 2007 with artists such as Raubtier, Thundermother, Crucified Barbara, Tad Morose, Beseech and many more.

Co-founder and managing partner Mr. Carl-Marcus Gidlöf comments: “We at Despotz have recently taken the label international and have locked in fresh new exciting opportunities in North America with Sony / RED/Aisa. This signing further proves that our plan to work internationally, based here in Stockholm, directly with our artists combined with a strong PR/Marketing and distribution setup is the future of Despotz. Sonic Syndicate share our vision, we’ve already had a number of creative conversations and we’re looking towards an exciting future. We’re honored to welcome Sonic Syndicate to the Despotz family.”

Vocalist Nathan J Biggs says: “As you could imagine we are super excited to be signing to Despotz Records based here in Stockholm, Sweden, we couldn’t imagine a better place to call home. When the possibility of us working together first came up with this modern, creative & forward thinking team we pretty much had our mind set that this was where we belong. This is an exciting new chapter for both Sonic Syndicate and Despotz.”

10:27 AM
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An interview with Karin Axelsson:

Hey Karin, how are you doing?

Hey there! I am sick actually, I have a cold that's being pretty stubborn. But besides from that I am good, haha! I'm on tour right now with In Flames and Gojira and so far so good!

What's your opinion on your previous records nowadays? Are you still satisfied with the songs, the production, and the artwork?

Well as time goes you always think of new ideas and things you could have tried, being a musician you always have a need to improve yourself. "Eden Fire" was our first album and it contains a lot of really old songs that were written before I was in the band, it was something to help us get started from my point of view. "Only Inhuman" felt like to me more like a real debut album to me because after that everything started to happen and suddenly everyone knew who we were. I am very satisfied with that album, the artwork and everything. The release of "Only Inhuman" was an important time for Sonic Syndicate. "Love And Other Disasters" is an album taking our music to another level, we have grown as a band and as musicians and we are very proud to present "Love And Other Disasters" to you.

You've recently released your new killer album "Love And Other Disasters", where did you record it, who produced it? Can you tell us more about the recording process and how are the reactions on this one so far?

We recorded "Love And Other Disasters" in the same studio as "Only Inhuman" which is Black Lounge Studios. Also with the same producer which is Jonas Kjellgren, the guitarist of Scar Symmetry. We chose to use him this time as well because he is a great musician and producer. He also is very open-minded with a lot of great ideas and easy to work with. So since we knew him so well from the last time, the recording precess was much easier and we could try out more ideas. But the mixing process was different. We chose to do it in In Flames studio with Roberto Laghi. The only thing was that we only met him very shortly and discussed our ideas and then we had to leave for a tour in America with Nightwish, so it was completely up to him to make our album sound as good as we wanted. We had some e-mail contact of course and he sent us the songs but it is not all like actually being there. However we are all very glad that we gave that task cause he did an amazing job. The reactions of the album so fas has been very good I think, it seems like most people have different favourite songs and I think that's really good.

Is there any story or concept behind your CD title "Love And Other Disasters"?

The title is the thing that binds the lyrics together, it's what the songs are about mainly. Some of the songs are stories about Richard and his life and some of the songs are like a wake-up call to get people thinking. 'Power Shift' for example is a song were we want people to start thinking about the world and what we can do to make our situation better. With the global warming that goes on right now the world won't last long and if we don't start doing something about it, we have only ourselves to blame for the fall. Maybe it's a depressing way of thinking but it's true.

Where did you get ideas and inspirations for some of the lyrics on "Love And Other Disasters"?

Richard is the one writing all the lyrics and they have been very personal to him. It's about his life, experiences and personal thoughts. I know that some of these songs on "Love And Other Disasters" are about the way he views the world and the situation we have right now with the global warming and everything.

When it comes down to writing a new song or an album what's the process like?

Richard is always writing lyrics and when we have some new song he decides where he think he can fit the lyrics in. Our writing process this time was different than before. Roger used to be the main writer and he basicaly gave us almost finished songs and we just put our last ideas in before recording. This time we all wanted to be a part of the writing, so we all sat down together at least 8 hours a day on our rehearsal room, just jamming together until we had something that we though was good enough. We never planned how we wanted the songs to come out, it was just a natural thing for us. The only thing we wanted for this record was to be more diverse than "Only Inhuman".

When you look back on when Sonic Syndicate first started out, what do you think of you guys now?

Well I wasn't there from the beginning, the three Sjunnesson brothers started the band in 2003 as a hobby thing, playing covers and switching members back and forth. Then I joined the band in 2004 and we started doing more shows and getting more and more serious. I didn't have a plan for how I wanted this when I first joined the band, it was a new thing for me but the more we played the more I knew that this is what I wanna do with my life and I will do whatever it takes to get where I want. I love my guys, they are like brothers to me. We are all like one unit and I wouldn't wanna change the way it is right now.

What bands have you toured with? Are there any that you would definitely want to tour with?

Right now, as I said before we are on tour with In Flames and Gojira. We have also toured with Nightwish, Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquility, Soilwork, Caliban and Himsa. If I could choose one band to tour with it would definitely be Nightwish again. I know there are so many great bands out there that I love and would love to meet, but Nightwish are something special. Not only that I love their music but they are the sweetest people you can ever tour with. We toured with them in the US in May this year and it was one of the most fun tours we've done so far. The first day they said "We're all in the same boat, we're doing this toghether as a team". And we did. So I hope that we can tour once again with those sweet guys.

What are the future plans for Sonic Syndicate?

We will keep on touring as much as we can, hopefully go to Japan and Australia next year and also do a headlining tour in Europe. What I wanna do is to just keep on touring, releasing new albums and have as much fun as possible. Of course this is also my job now but I don't see it that way. This is a dream coming true for all of us.

Would you ever want to do an all acoustic show?

Who knows? Haha! Well Roland and Robin have played a couple of songs acoustic on radios in Sweden and on signing sessions. I think it's a nice thing to watch and something different. We're not afraid to do different stuff so maybe we'll do some acoustic things some day, but I don't think there will be a whole live acoustic set, maybe a couple of songs.

Describe your music to an elderly church lady.

Thinking she probably never heard something like that before and she probably don't even know what metal is, I would say if she wants to have an early heart attack this could help, haha! No, just kidding! I would probably say that this is pretty hard music, distorted guitars, screaming guys but with a lot of great melodies. And if she would listen to it and give it a chance I think she would like it.

Any advice for all the new bass players out there?

I would like to say keep on playing! Always believe in yourself, work hard and do the things you think is fun. You don't need to take classes in school to be a good musician. All you need is practice and time.

What are your views on metal music as of right now compared to when it first started out?

I think the metal music is changing a bit. Especially I think it's becoming more and more accepted everywhere, playing more on tv and radio and nothing really seems too extreme anymore. I think that the modern metal styles with it's many bands have helped a lot to as I said get the more harder old school metal get more accepted.

Is MySpace the great Satan of the 21st Century?

I don't think so. MySpace for me is a very good thing. It's a great tool to reach out to a bigger audience, make new friends and contact. It's also a good thing for fans to be able to get in touch with bands. Like us for example, we try to answer all the comments and e-mails we get, personally I think it's a very important thing to do. If I e-mail one of my biggest idols for example I would get very happy if they answered me back.

Do you ever get annoyed by hearing the same questions during an interview?

Will you get angry if I say yes? Haha! Well, there is only one question that I get tired of hearing and that is when people ask me how it is to be the only girl in a band with all guys. I mean why does it have to be wierd in the first place? It's not something I ever think about unless people ask me about it.

Any final words of wisdom, thoughts or comments?

I would like to thank our fans out there and I hope the people reading this will like our new record and come and see us live!

http://www.nuclearblast.de/
http://www.sonicsyndicate.com/
12:12 PM

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