The Sonic Dawn's new album is a graceful psych-rock odyssey. Drummer Jonas Waaben talks songs, sound and vision with Duncan Fletcher
“A lot of the album is about the end of the world, the idea that everything is coming to an end, we're fucked with the climate crisis, there won't be enough food around in a few generations, all those doomsday ideas which have a rational foundation,” says Jonas of 'Forever 1969', the lead single from The Sonic Dawn's new album Eclipse. “But change on a major level is possible if people come together. In 1969 you had Woodstock, also the largest peace marches against the Vietnam War, all that stuff. It's possible to turn the shit around, that's the message of the song.”
Drummer Jonas along with childhood friends Emil Bureau (vocals/guitar) and Niels 'Bird' Fuglede (bass) formed the band in Copenhagen in 2013. Eclipse is their third album, one which focuses on the art of the song. “We tried to really sharpen the concept for each song, make it sharp and shorter. On the previous albums we definitely had longer escapades whereas here we tried to go where we wanted to go immediately... Eclipse is in a way back to the roots of our own inspiration, a lot of that is sixties music. We admire that strange combination of a short, three-minute pop format song that can be trippy as fuck!”
The influences of The 13th Floor Elevators, Red Krayola, Country Joe & The Fish and more can all be heard on the album. Another defining feature is its subtlety and grace, achieved in part due to the tastes shared with producer Thomas Vang. “We tried to accomplish something far removed from a stadium rock sound or a modern, hard-hitting, bass-driven rock sound. It's much easier to work with someone like Thomas, he's a trained jazz musician and has produced a lot of jazz records out of his studio. He has a much better natural feel for how the group sounds in the room and how to capture that. Then we will try to push it further production-wise - 'hey man we need way more echo here' or 'it needs to get crazier.' But a good natural sound for the drums, he has an ear for that.”
The band are hitting the road hard in 2019 but a word of warning to anyone who hitches a lift with the trio - “If we see a hitch-hiker we will pick them up and continue playing stuff like Trout Mask Replica or Red Krayola or Beat Of The Earth. Just insane music and nobody will say anything. The hitch-hiker will just sit there frozen - 'who are these maniacs!?' haha! It's a very delicate form of torture, one that I take great pleasure in I must admit!”
Eclipse is out on February 1st on Heavy Psych Sounds
Click here for The Sonic Dawn's website.
Click here for Heavy Psych Sounds Records.
The Sonic Dawn are :-
Jonas Waaben – drums
Emil Bureau – Vox/guitar
Niels 'Bird' Fuglede- bass
(Click over the jump to read the full unpublished interview)
Hi Jonas, before we talk about the new LP, how was the recent tour with Bjork Brant?
We got back last week but I'm still a little bit jet-lagged. I mean we haven't swapped time zones in the literal sense but there was some other shit going on and you only catch so much sleep on tour you know...
All went OK?
It was great man! For us it was crazy.The last club show we played in Berlin there was around 1000 people which for The Sonic Dawn is a spectacular night. Usually it's smaller clubs for us, maybe 400 people on a good night. But every night was packed venues, good people, good vibes, we couldn't have asked for more really.
Play any new countries?
No we'd been to all those already but it was the first time remarkably that we played in London (The Garage)... for some reason, and also Paris which is interesting because we've played in both the UK and in France for years but never the capitals for some reason. But it was great man!
How was the London show?
Very well I want to say, it was a little bit of a weird feel because the club did one of those nights where they turn the whole venue into like a shitty disco at 10 o'clock or something. So it was a bit of an early show but the people who had bought tickets for the show they knew already. It was a packed club and very receptive audience and a great time!
Loving the new LP? – How would you say it differs from the previous two?
I think there are a lot of differences actually. This one is the first one where we had a lot of surplus material. We worked a lot with the songwriting and tried to really sharpen the concept for each song, make it sharp and also shorter. Whereas on the previous albums we would tend to... when I say “wander off” that sounds irrelevant but we definitely had longer escapades whereas here we tried to go where we wanted to go immediately. So that's one huge difference and in that respect it also makes it a little bit more sixties perhaps, or that that sixties inspiration is perhaps more evident than on the previous albums. The first one Perception, was a bit more of a rock album in the classical sense, and Into The Long Night, our second one is erm a bit harder to define I guess. But Eclipse is in a way back to the roots of our own musical inspiration and a lot of that is sixties music. We do admire that strange combination between a song in a pop format, a short, three-minute song maybe that can be trippy as fuck! You don't need the ten minutes of long guitar solos or improvised jams. You can go right there, and if you're good at it a short song will also go much further than a longer one in many cases, in mainstream media at least.
The opening song 'Forever 1969' kind of sets out your manifesto...
In a way yeah, not to be nostalgic really but as a comment on our own time. As anybody knows it's easier to see yourselves when you compare yourselves with something specific such as a historical perspective. It's really a comment on.. a lot of the album is about the end of the world more or less, that idea that is so strong in western civilisation that everything is coming to an end, we're fucked with the climate crisis, there won't be enough food around in a few generations, all those doomsday ideas which have a rational foundation, they're not out of thin air. But change on a major level is possible. History is full of it. The most seemingly impossible structures have been broken down and changed so that's the idea of the song, that it's possible if people come together. You know in 1969 you had Woodstock obviously which was completely unexpected, nobody could know that Woodstock would turn out to be what it became. Also the largest peace marches against the Vietnam War and all that stuff. It's possible to turn the shit around, that's the message of the song.
Tell me about the album's producer Thomas Vang.
We worked with him on our second album, mixing that one but this is the first time we worked with him start to finish recording the album. We did that in his totally cool analogue studio in Copenhagen.
What are his best qualities as a producer?
One of his major qualities is that he's basically from a jazz background. When you work with rock producers there tends to be a mismatch of expectations between them and us, that's our experience. Also when you work with sound technicians at venues or festivals. Often they will have an idea of how a rock band should sound. We tried to accomplish something so far removed from a stadium rock sound or like modern, hard-hitting, bass-driven rock sound. It's much easier to work with someone like Thomas who has a jazz background, he's a trained jazz musician and has produced a lot of jazz records and recordings out of his studio. He has a much better feel, a natural feel for how the group sounds in the room and how to capture that on record.. and then we will try to push it further production-wise - “hey man we need way more echo here” or “it needs to get crazier.” But a good natural sound for the drums, that's what separates a lot of the sound technicians in my opinion, he has an ear for that.
There is some jazz inspiration in there in the music as well, how can you not almost... we're not so concerned with nailing any particular sound but our own. I realise that's a great cliché but we're not afraid to mix whatever. People may be like (shocked voice) “jazz!? For a rock audience man, are you crazy?” It turns out you can do whatever the fuck you want if the ideas are coherent and you have a good sound. We played a lot for stoner rock audiences on the Brant Bjork tour here. Obviously by far the most people came to see Brant Bjork who has a heavier more bass-driven sound, I mean they're a killer band but very different sound from ours and it's.. if the song is good people will come around, that's our experience.
Do the three of you in the band share the same influences?
A lot of it we do because we grew up together, we go back a long time. Me and Emil, the guitarist and lead vocalist, we were in our first ever band together when we were like eleven and twelve, and we've played in various groups with other people as well more or less ever since. So the three of us in The Sonic Dawn are best friends so we share a lot of music and excitement of the stuff we come across. We have common ground when it comes to musical inspiration and then there's all the other stuff that goes into the music that isn't drawing on whatever you have in your record collection but whatever's on your mind. And there we're perhaps more different.
What have you been listening to on the tour bus?
It's pretty cool. On this recent tour, turns out Brant, he's deep into sixties music.. like The Byrds, we heard a lot of The Byrds, and Love. All that stuff, and we introduced him to some other stuff like more obscure stuff like De Underjordiske and weird sixties groups, we shared a common appreciation for that sound. But when we go on tour we listen to whatever – folk albums, Afrobeat, avant-garde like Moondog, that's great! But also a lot of the things that you would expect like we're deep into 13th Floor Elevators for instance. That always comes back. Now that you mention it on the tour bus that's actually like a weird scenario. It's a very different listening experience for us at least than when we're sitting at home because you drive long drives man. One tour can be maybe 10,000 kilometres, you're just on the road when you're not playing or sleeping or partying. So it tends to be like “this used to work” or “this used to be good and make a real impression but now, today not so much, we need something stronger!”
A funny story, I'm not going to bore you with all my anecdotes but you know Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band or whatever. Everybody who appreciates psychedelia and sixties music will emphasise Safe As Milk. That's a great album. And you know it's strange in many ways, strange sound from the band and they play weird but it's good songs, you can't deny it. But how about his fucking masterpiece Trout Mask Replica? We were like OK, we love Captain Beefheart but we can't stand this it's terrible, it needs to stop right! But realising that the man is a genius and the band is in this really really tightly rehearsed groove and they all had real ambition for where they wanted to go how can it not be brilliant, it must be us, we don't get it! But we did get into it. In the car there's no escape, you can't go anywhere. You hear it one day and it was annoying, then again the same day but louder and it starts to make a little sense. Third, fourth or fifth time now you start to anticipate - “here comes this or OK”. Sixth of seventh time we were crazy about it! That goes to show that it's not the same as when I'm at home listening on my stereo.
Sometimes we will pick up hitch-hikers. If there's room in the car and we see a hitch-hiker we will pick them up and continue playing this stuff like Trout Mask Replica or Red Krayola or Beat Of The Earth. Just insane music and nobody will say anything, and the hitch-hiker will just sit there frozen - “Who are these maniacs!?” haha! It's a very delicate form of torture, one that I take great pleasure in I must admit!
Eclipse is coming out on Heavy Psych Sounds, what a great label and roster!
I couldn't agree more. Well that came about because we were looking for something bigger. Our first album came out on Nasoni Records, a very small family run label, and they did a good job for what they did but we were looking for something with a bit more muscle power and that is happening and basically I just emailed Gabriella, the owner of the record label and said “hey, hello, here is our new album”, and he was really interested and there wasn't much more to it. It wasn't like we were introduced by somebody, it was just from the music. And he could tell as well that we were going somewhere. We weren't expecting a miracle to happen, we realised that if you want something to happen you make it happen. You know, going on tour and doing what you need to do to get the music out. I Don't know if it was ever like that, maybe in the '80s or '90s still that someone would come and find you, they would discover you. But that time has long gone, that's for sure.
What are the band's plans for 2019?
And we will publish more in the next few days.... The plan is to hit the road hard. In February it will be more or less three and a half weeks tour and then we have another ten days planned in the spring late March, early April. And from there it's a littler bit uncertain but it seems like this year we will get a real chance to make it to the States which is something we've been looking to get into. Not because I necessarily look forward very much to sleeping on the floors of stranger's houses and eating at gas stations because it's way different in the States compared to continental Europe, the work conditions, but because there's so much brilliant music coming out of the States and a lot of the stuff that I value the most is American. And it seems like we will have an opportunity also via some of the contacts we gathered on tour with Brant Bjork and that will be a milestone for us for sure. And to meet some American audiences that will be really exciting actually. That's as far as the plan goes but it will be festival season before we know it and hopefully we can hit up some of the larger European Festivals and some of the small ones as well because smaller niche festivals have strictly good people, strictly good music, strictly good vibes man, what's not to like!
Any plans to visit the UK?
After the whole Brexit deal we're a bit unsure actually about which papers we will need to acquire , which applications and stuff.
It's crazy right?
Yeah man, I mean shit. It's a strange scenario for sure in many many ways but on a very concrete practical level I think the music scene must change in England. For smaller groups to go through all the paperwork, or for small time promoter that is going to make a show with maybe 500 people, to go through all the nick-nacks and bureaucracy – it's hard to imagine that that's going to happen on any major level. So you guys you will get some nickel back but maybe not so much Sonic Dawn, I don't know. We wanna go back, there are some great festivals there – Green Man and those type of festivals would be amazing but it's not really in the works as far as I know and I'm a bit unsure as to what will be possible.
So finally, is there a healthy psych scene in Denmark right now?
We're making one!
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