We are pleased to offer you in this article an interview with band that offers Prog sounds whose new album “Chapter 1: The Game Begins” was released on April 15, 2022. We welcome Soniq Circus.
Hi, how are you?
We are very well thank you.
The genre you propose is a Progressive Rock with different contaminations and 70s reminiscences, where does your passion for these sounds come from?
As individuals we all gravitated towards progressive rock from the music of Rush. Our music might not directly reflect that, but that’s our common starting point. We all grew up listening to a lot of the classic 70s bands like Yes, Pink Floyd and Genesis and our interest for the genre started there. Our influences are however not limited to those classic bands, but that’s where our interest for progressive music started. We also have a lot of love for the more modern progressive metal, like Dream Theater, Haken and Leprous, and there are some parts of that style in our music as well.
Your new album “Chapter 1: The Game Begins” was released on April 15, 2022, how would you describe this work?
This is the first of three chapters that together will eventually make up a full-length album. Chapter One introduces the concept and some main themes that will be present throughout the whole album. It’s a very story-driven album where several characters meet on a cruise ship and get tricked into playing a card game with surprisingly high stakes. Their actions and decisions have consequences for themselves and the other passengers on the ship. It was inspired by many strange ideas but mainly by the accident of Costa Concordia of 2012. And yes, we have been putting together material for this concept for 10 years!
Long-lasting tracks and sophisticated musical plots as well as lyrics, what are the themes of the album?
The story starts with three seemingly unconnected passengers arriving on the cruise ship, ironically named M/S Harmony. They quickly get engaged in a card game (Let the Game Begin) by a mysterious stranger that seems to know more about them than even themselves. Soon it seems like the actions taken in the game starts affecting the ship and its surroundings. Chapter Two will continue this story and delve into how the whole ship will enter a storm, but we won’t give you more details on that, you will have to listen for yourselves.
Your music is full of tempo changes and keyboard textures, how is the composition of the songs done?
On this album the general story was created together, and the overarching musical themes decided on as a group. After that process was done, everyone picked 2-3 of the songs and finished them one by one. When someone was done with a song they picked, it was presented to the band. Then we worked on that song together to fine tune it for our individual preferences and strengths. Everyone has a say on the final arrangements for each song, opinions and ideas are shared and decided upon together. There is no main composer in the band, we like to hear everyone’s thoughts.
Many of your fans and readers are wondering if there will be a chance to hear your music live, do you have any plans for that?
Right now, unfortunately, there are no planned live performances. We recommend those who are interested in hearing us play live to follow us both on Facebook and Instagram to get the latest updates when we do have a planned performances coming up.
This year in the spring we have toured three cities in Sweden with Anekdoten over a weekend, and we hope to repeat the experience next year, but there are no concrete plans as of now.
Yours is a very interesting album full of ideas, are you already planning any future record releases?
At the time of this interview, we are recording the second part of the album, Chapter Two. As we said earlier, the story continues in this chapter, with the ship closing into its inevitable disastrous end. This part is a lot heavier than the first chapter, and the themes in the lyrics are darker and more intense.
The music market has changed a lot in recent years, how difficult is it to establish yourself with a more sought-after musical genre like yours?
The modern music market creates more challenges but also offers more opportunities. You have the possibility of creating your own success, but no one else will do it for you. It’s easier to create music yourself, which opens possibilities for bands in more niche genres to produce something by themself. It’s also easier to share and find music than ever. This comes at the expense however of difficulties around gettting noticed in a more and more saturated music market.
What advice would you give to a young band approaching the modern music scene by offering Progressive sounds?
Make sure to play live a lot, even if the audience is just your mother. You learn so much about you as a band and the actual character of your songs when you play live. Things that you can never learn from just playing in the rehearsal.
Try to record yourselves often. The quality doesn’t have to be great, but it’s important to be able to listen to the complete picture of your songs. It’s hard to do that properly at the same time as you are playing.
Thanks to Soniq Circus for the pleasant interview, wishing them the best for the continuation of their musical career.
Read our review of their album “Chapter 1: The Game Begins” here: https://progrockjournal.com/review-soniq-circus-chapter-1-the-game-begins/