We've found a band who we really think will be huge in the foreseeable future. That band is Sound Sanctuary. KJS and Banxy had an enjoyable Q&A with two members of the band - Toby and Dave - and what decent blokes they were. This is the Sound Sanctuary interview:-
KJS : How do you guys all know each other?
Dave : Me and Toby, met at school. Andy had family dibs (he’s Tobys’ cousin) and Millzy was the only “guitarist” we could find at the time (haha).
Banxy : Where did the name "Sound Sanctuary" come from?
Toby : It was actually the name of a solo album I made when Dave was travelling. When he came back we put a band together to play out the songs from that album and eventually the band took on the name.
Banxy : Where do you find inspiration for your lyrics?
Toby : Quite a lot of the time I get some words I think are cool, string them together and try and make a song out of it, I whack a meaning on later. Other times I write about stuff that’s going on in life. I do like space though.
Dave : Everything from Bruce Lee, to world war III.
Sound Sanctuary |
KJS : What's your favourite track that you have made so far?
Toby : It depends who in the band you ask really. My favourite at the moment is probably Blonde Prey, which is on our new album.
Dave : Kamikaze Dreamer, although it pains me to say it because it’s one of Toby's.
Toby : (haha) Nice!
Banxy : In "Broken Signs" there is a voice sample saying what sounds like "...the dude's all over you, so I mean he's gotta be Flipped out..." does this refer to any real life event?
Dave : We work closely with our producers ‘Bombay Monkey’, and that particular voice sample was there idea. We came into the studio one day and it was on the track. We thought it sounded cool.
KJS : It's very hard to get noticed these days. Was there ever a time that you thought it just wasn't going to happen for the band and did you ever feel like giving up?
Dave : We’ve never felt like giving up because we’ve been in a band together so long we can’t remember what it’s like not to be (we’ve been playing music together for 13 years now). As far as making it goes, I don’t know what that means. Does it mean getting paid?
Toby : I think Coldplay get paid don’t they? They must have made it then.
KJS : Was there a point when you thought "yeah, we can do this" and, if so, when was it?
Toby : I think the main thing we set out to achieve was to make a really great album that we’d be proud of. We’ve spent a long time working on our songs and our sound, and I think if ever there was a time we thought we could do this, it’s now!
KJS : Who are each of the band's members biggest influences and/or role models?
Dave : We can’t speak for the other two but we will… Andys’ is Phil Collins (haha), Millzys’ is probably Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd. As for me, my all time favourite is the Beatles, but I’m currently listening to Arcade Fire and I really like Captains’ album.
Toby : I’ve got a ton, but the main thing that draws me to music is harmonies. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Beatles much like Dave and I really like Neil Finn's song writing in Crowded House. I’m currently listening to the new Kings of Leon album. I love that guy’s voice and their energy.
Toby and Dave |
Banxy : Some of your music has been likened to that of Pink Floyd, do you see this as a blessing or a possible curse?
Toby : A lot of the people who see that influence in our music are, shall we say, the ‘older’ generation. Most of the time it’s meant as a compliment I think and that’s fine with us.
Dave : A compliment yes, but I can’t really see it myself. I suppose it comes from Millzys’ guitar parts.
Banxy : How would you describe the songs on your upcoming LP "Dust" and would you say your style has evolved from the style on the EP "Contact"?
Dave : Contact was the first time all of the parts of the puzzle fitted together. So when we started to record Dust we knew what worked and what we were good at. I think we’ve evolved and expanded our sound from what we accomplished with Contact.
KJS : Have you had any embarrassing moments yet while performing?
Toby : We played this one gig in a seaside town after a really heavy night once, and that didn’t go too well. Dave kept having to run off stage to do what you do when you have a properly bad hangover. Also, I seem to remember we had a beach ball thrown at us by one of the crowd for not playing covers. It took out part of the drum kit in the middle of a song so it must have been a heavy beach ball.
Banxy : Do you have any pre-gig rituals/warm-ups?
Toby : Not really no. Tuning?
KJS : Who/what are you all listening to right now?
Dave : We definitely listen to music that’s not like us a lot of the time.
T - The modern bands we’re all into are probably Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Bloc Party, Doves, Elbow and more recently The Kooks and Captain.
KJS : And what TV shows do you all like?
Dave : Neighbours and The Mighty Boosh.
Toby : Lost (although when are we going to get some answers?), 24, Scrubs… all the stuff that’s on digital which I still can’t get at my house.
Banxy : What's next for the band?
Toby : Well we’re about to release ‘Broken Signs’ - our first single from the new album. We’ve just put the music video online and that’s got a really good response. We’ve also got a lot of gigs lined up over the summer to promote the single and the new album so we’ll be pretty busy with that for the foreseeable future.
Dave : A top dog from the BBC reads this and commissions me to write a sitcom!
Banxy : And finally, are there any other future Gigs/Tours/Events/Albums you'd like to tell us about?
Toby : Yes, Our new single is called ‘Broken Signs’ and you can check out the track and all our upcoming live dates on our myspace page. Also check out the music video on YouTube.
Dave : Idea for a sitcom…. The band find themselves working at an old peoples home. Comedy ensues.
KJS and Banxy : Haha!
Thank you very much Sound Sanctuary!
Check out Sound Sanctuary's official website and their Myspace page to read/hear more.
http://www.soundsanctuary.info
http://www.myspace.com/soundsanctuary
