Q & A with Sydonia

Melbourne’s Sydonia are releasing their first taste of album #3 into the world and heading out on an Australian tour to celebrate. The acclaimed 4-piece, who have been praised by media and massive artists alike – Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe to Slipknot’s Corey Taylor are both fans – are sharing their new song “Eyes of Sand” ahead of hitting the road on one of their biggest Australian tours to date.

The band have been consulting with Shihad’s Tom Larkin on the songwriting of the tracks for their Third album, a follow-up to 2014’s ‘Reality Kicks’ and 2012’s ‘Given to Destroyers’. “Eyes of Sand” has been produced by the band themselves, giving it a rougher, heavier, faster edge – this is the band at it’s most frenetic and focused. The track was mixed by Sydonia drummer, Sean Bailey.

It’s been a little while since we’ve seen Sydonia on the Coast, but luckily for us, they’re heading this way in August to play Solbar on August 5 with Osaka Punch, and WORLDLINES. We caught up with bassist, Adam to see what’s up…

Hey lads! Well done on the new track, ‘Eyes of Sand’.  Have to say, it’s probably the grittiest I’ve heard you guys. What was the inspiration behind a slight shift in sound?

We made a conscious decision to write a ‘heavier’ album this time. The tracks are coming out of the mix a lot meatier. With me doing the backing vocals instead of Sam(ex-guitarist) it has thickened up our vocal sound. Where there would have been a harmony back in the day there is now a growl… ‘Eyes of Sand’ is all ALL Dana’s vocals though, my backings will be on the album version.

With the upcoming third album (that ‘Eyes of Sand’ will appear on), though you consulted with producer Tom Larkin (drummer from Shihad), you’ve pretty much made this a DIY effort, self-producing the new tracks, and ‘Eyes of Sand’ was even mixed by Sean (Sydonia drummer). Was there a particular motive for this?

The main motivation to go all DIY on this track was because we were running out of cash to go into an expensive studio, and we had a deadline to work too. Sean is at the point, recording-wise, where he is good enough to produce studio quality at home. All the guitars and bass on Reality Kicks were recorded by us at home, and then mastered in a bigger studio.

Also, Dana (vocalist/guitarist) directed and co-edited (along with his brother Jaden) the film clip to ‘Eyes of Sand’, too, I hear?  That live footage is sick… what gig was it filmed at?

Yeah he did! We are lucky that Dana’s little brother Jaden is an absolute wiz behind the camera. The footage on the clip is from a bunch of shows on the Reality Kicks tour. Most of the footage is from our Melbourne show at The Espy.

Being that some of the band are from the Coast, but with Sydonia being based in Melbourne, your upcoming show at Solbar must feel a little special… almost like a ‘welcome home’ kind of show, yes? Anything special up your collective sleeves for your Sunshine Coast followers?

We are so stoked to have finally booked Solbar!!! Dana and I are both from the Coast and started playing in bands up there. It is really cool to be coming home and playing at such a cool venue. One thing I can promise for our Sunny Coast fans is a bunch of new, meaty tracks in our set!

New guitarist, Ant joined team Sydonia late last year.  What impact has Ant’s addition to the band had to the songwriting and direction?

It has been great since Ant joined the band. He is an amazing player that has given Sydonia a real ‘lead’ element that we were lacking before. Having him in the band has tightened up the guitars. He loves his metal too, so he fits in perfectly with the direction we are heading.

Over the career of the band, you’ve managed to tour with epic international and national artists (Lamb of God, Slipknot, Korn etc, and locally, Dead Letter Circus, Mammal and more), but is there an artist on your bucket list you’d love to tour with that you haven’t yet? 

Gojira… I would fucken love to support Gojira. Sean would go silly too!

And finally, how often do you see the old shirts that say ‘I fucked the chick from Sydonia’ at your shows (and does it still get a few laughs from you)?

We love it when you see old school merch still getting worn. You know bro we used to hand screen print that stuff ourselves?!

Cheers guys. The new track is mint. Looking forward to catching your set with Osaka Punch and WORLDLINES on August 5 at Solbar.

Cheers Rhys! We cant wait to get back up the Coast.

The new track, ‘Eyes of Sand’ is up on Soundcloud for streaming now.