Ladies and gentlemen,
As February comes to a close, it's hard to not reflect as to how far this band has come within a year. It's been over a year since yours truly joined what was then known as Snowblind, almost as much time as the very memorable first show we played together, seven months since we went on a short hiatus while Eliot was working in other projects in Montreal, and five months since we went through our second name change to what we are now known around Vancouver by - Sonic Outcast.
It has also been five months since we sat down with Garth Richardson, where we were told that he wanted us in on January 2nd to begin production on what would be our debut record.
It's also been two weeks since we finished our time in the studio on the forementioned yet to be named album.
Needless to say, the past five months have been an whirlwind of emotions - an cocktail of excitement, anxiety, anger, joy, extreme stress, happiness, craziness, and, above all, pride. Through all of the ups and downs we went through the past four months, we supported one another and now we await the final touches on our album to be made so you guys can finally listen to what we have slaved over the past few months.
We were given the opportunity to work with some of the industry's best and we were not disappointed. Having the opportunity to work with Garth, Ben Kaplan, Flavio Cirillo (who was our drum technician and drummer for Bif Naked), Paul (who worked with us at Armoury Studios), and all the other guys who helped us out along the way to where we are today was an amazing experience that we will cherish for the rest of our careers.
February has also been a crazy month as we began what is several dates throughout the next few months in Vancouver as we promote our new record. We played at the Railway Club, Joe's Apartment, The Roxy, The Electric Owl and The Backstage Lounge within a month and had a great time with some awesome musician. We worked with some excellent live talent managers and promoters and had an great time playing around the city through February. We'd like to tip our hats to the bands who we had the pleasure to play with - Amusia, Cupla, Ground Zero, The Stone Travelers, Bad Johnny Law, and Heavy Weight Water Buffalo - for putting on great sets and working hard to break out on to what is the Vancouver music scene. Keep an eye out on these guys as we hope to collaborate again with some of the great musicians we've worked with.
We just rented out a new practice space and have been decorating the place and getting it set up to the standard which we have monikered 'Slog Den 2.0'. We are still working hard to refine our music, generate new ideas and fine tune some of the material that didn't make the album to make it staples of our live sets for everyone to get a chance to hear new Sonic Outcast songs every show we play. We have some big plans ahead of us and we sincerely hope you come along for the ride.
Horns forever,
Baron
Reply
Sonic Outcast / Blog
AUG 6 / FIVE DAYS
Hey everybody, The time is drawing closer and closer for our CD release party! If you haven't picked up tickets for our CD release party, talk to any one of the guys and they'll be available to meet you anywhere to make sure you get to see a little (yet massive) piece of our history as a band unfold at the Rickshaw Theatre this Saturday. It's going to be a killer time - we guarantee it. In the mean tiime, if you haven't already seen our updated webpage, take a peak at how we've remodelled our virtual image on www.sonicoutcast.com . We're planning on keeping everything up to date for your viewing pleasure with news, pictures, videos, new material, and much more. See you all this Saturday at the Rickshaw Theatre! - BARON
Reply
AUG 3 / PARALLEL
Hey guys, Are you as excited as we are for the Rickshaw Theatre next Saturday? If you haven't gotten your ticket yet, contact any one of the guys as we are just over a week til the big day. Remember; tickets are 10 dollars for the show itself, and 15 dollars for the show and our debut album, Reason To Be. It's going to be a killer night with lots of great live music and a LOT of partying. Leading up to the 11th, keep your eyes peeled on our website (www.sonicoutcast.com) and our Facebook/Reverbnation pages as we are still running contests where you can win tickets and merchandise. We're also to be featured in some local media very soon - Jonny was interviewed earlier today by The Tri-City News - so keep an eye open for that too. In the mean time, don't forget that our whole CD is available for your streaming pleasure on www.reverbnation.com/sonicoutcast . We honestly, truly, cannot wait to see all of your hands in the air at the Rickshaw on August 11th. - BARON
Reply
JULY 23 / WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR?
Hope everyone in the Sonic Outcast family is keeping well. Everyday we're inching towards our CD release date and making new strides to bring you guys the most amazing show at the Rickshaw Theatre possible. We hope everybody is as excited as we are to finally be able to show the world what we've been pouring our heart and souls into for the past eight months. Have you got your ticket for the CD release party yet? Make sure you ask any one of the guys for your pre-sale ticket - rememeber, we're selling tickets with our CD for fifteen dollars, and regular door tickets for ten dollars. At the show, we'll be selling the comibination of one of our shirts and a CD for the discount price of 20$. Be sure to check out some of the promotions and contests we'll be running for the show. We'll be giving out free tickets, shirts and more through our Facebook page so keep your eyes peeled. Remember, we love you, and can't wait to see all of you there.. Horns, Baron
Reply
JULY 16 / DRAWING NEAR
Hey folks, As we pass the halfway mark of the month, we're working our tails off to bring you what we've been working on for the past seven months. Things are moving quickly now as we approach July 31st and we can't wait for people to be able to hold our art and work in their hands to listen, share, and enjoy amongst their friends and family. We're planning something HUGE - like, really HUGE - and it's got something to do with August 11th. Free up your calenders, as we're bringing you a CD release party at a very special place in Vancouver. Details are to be announced very shortly and we have some great things lined up for all of our friends and fans to enjoy. Keep an eye open on our Facebook page. We'll be running promotions and contests that nobody will want to miss out on. Horns up! - Baron
Reply
JULY 2 / THE WAY WE TOOK THE NIGHT
Hey everybody,
Thank you all for a f---ing amazing show at the Media Club on Saturday. After selling out pre-sale, really pumping the posters out and getting everybody on board, we were very pumped up to play the show and you guys did NOT disappoint! We'd like to send out a special thanks to Contrasound and Mouthful of Daisy for supporting our set and the highly energetic fans they brought out. What a night!
For those who haven't been informed: we will be releasing the album on July 31st to the masses. It's been a long time coming, and we can't wait to put it out there for everyone. Keep an eye out as we announce when and where our album release party will be hosted within the next coming weeks.
We still have a ton of shirts (which were flying last Saturday, thank you to all our gracious fans who are out there right now repping Sonic Outcast!), a lot of upcoming media and pictures, and more. Stay tuned, and again, thank you for being the best in the world.
Love,
Sonic Outcast
Reply
FEBRUARY - DAYS GONE BYE
Ladies and gentlemen,
As February comes to a close, it's hard to not reflect as to how far this band has come within a year. It's been over a year since yours truly joined what was then known as Snowblind, almost as much time as the very memorable first show we played together, seven months since we went on a short hiatus while Eliot was working in other projects in Montreal, and five months since we went through our second name change to what we are now known around Vancouver by - Sonic Outcast. It has also been five months since we sat down with Garth Richardson, where we were told that he wanted us in on January 2nd to begin production on what would be our debut record.
It's also been two weeks since we finished our time in the studio on the forementioned yet to be named album.
Needless to say, the past five months have been an whirlwind of emotions - an cocktail of excitement, anxiety, anger, joy, extreme stress, happiness, craziness, and, above all, pride. Through all of the ups and downs we went through the past four months, we supported one another and now we await the final touches on our album to be made so you guys can finally listen to what we have slaved over the past few months.
We were given the opportunity to work with some of the industry's best and we were not disappointed. Having the opportunity to work with Garth, Ben Kaplan, Flavio Cirillo (who was our drum technician and drummer for Bif Naked), Paul (who worked with us at Armoury Studios), and all the other guys who helped us out along the way to where we are today was an amazing experience that we will cherish for the rest of our careers.
February has also been a crazy month as we began what is several dates throughout the next few months in Vancouver as we promote our new record. We played at the Railway Club, Joe's Apartment, The Roxy, The Electric Owl and The Backstage Lounge within a month and had a great time with some awesome musician. We worked with some excellent live talent managers and promoters and had an great time playing around the city through February. We'd like to tip our hats to the bands who we had the pleasure to play with - Amusia, Cupla, Ground Zero, The Stone Travelers, Bad Johnny Law, and Heavy Weight Water Buffalo - for putting on great sets and working hard to break out on to what is the Vancouver music scene. Keep an eye out on these guys as we hope to collaborate again with some of the great musicians we've worked with.
We just rented out a new practice space and have been decorating the place and getting it set up to the standard which we have monikered 'Slog Den 2.0'. We are still working hard to refine our music, generate new ideas and fine tune some of the material that didn't make the album to make it staples of our live sets for everyone to get a chance to hear new Sonic Outcast songs every show we play. We have some big plans ahead of us and we sincerely hope you come along for the ride.
Horns forever,
Baron
Reply
JAN 19 - 22 / TRES
Hey folks,
This week was an eventful one as we finished bass tracking, Jordan's rhythm parts and our boy Jonny has begun to work those vocal cords. The album has been coming along steadily and, as of today, we are three weeks into what began as an idea and is now turning into a fully materialized piece of art.
We are kicking off our first show on our Vancouver tour next week at the Backstage Lounge, so come on down for some very cheap beer and our first display of our post-production set list. It's going to be a killer show and we'll be being joined by local acts Cupla and Amusia, so it's something that you do not want to pass up on.
Keep an eye out as we begin to approach the final phases of production and other goodies as we move along.
Cheers, and horns up,
Baron
Reply
JAN 15 - 18 / GETTING THERE
Hey folks,
Things are moving along very quickly, and very smoothly.
Today, we finished the bass tracks for all ten songs, handing the torch to our buddy Jordan to lay down his riffs for the ten songs. Needless to say, our low end sounds incredibly deep and, with good subwoofers, will shake the earth in a sound system near you.
Our buddy Ben Kaplan has been working the magic with the sound engineering for the guitars and bass and his work is awesome. The quality of sound he has been producing for us suits our style perfectly and, coupled with Garth, has made a huge impact on all of us.
In the mean time, Jonny has been preparing the vocal lines for all of the songs and they sound very heart throbbing. Mischa is also due to go record over dubs and his extremely tasty guitar solos. We're officially halfway through the process and it's a great feeling. The level of achievement that the five of us are feeling at the moment is unparalleled and we hope that our fans, both old and new, love the record as much as we loved making it.
Stay tuned for some more info from your Sonic Outcast boys and on the album, our show dates and more.
Horns,
Baron
Reply
JAN 11 - 14 / DOING THE WORK
Hey folks,
The past few days have been very hectic, so we apologize for not being able to get a blog up faster. We promise to be a little more punctual.
The other night marked our last night at the Armoury as we finished drum tracking for our eleven songs, and we can assure you that they sound absolutely sick. The sound is huge and Eliot really beat the hell out of the skins to get an unique tone that suits our music perfectly. Even though we only have bed tracks, our producers have done an phenomenal job of making an excellent sound and we're unbelievably lucky to have the kind of people we have working with us to do this record.
We'd like to mention that, in our lives, there is a lot of unsung heroes who we don't get to mention as frequently in our thank yous and what have you. These include parents and friends who provide moral support, our co-workers who will take that extra shift so we can do some overtime at the studio, or even the assistants we have working with us at the studio who help us in any way they can. The work that everyone has put in for us has been unreal and, when the record is finished, you'll have been an integral part of having made that happen. From all of the Sonic Outcast boys, we love you.
With the drum tracks finished, it's Mischa who is up to the plate to begin tracking guitars. Yesterday was spent on determining what kind of tone we're looking for on the record and, needless to say, it sounds sick. We had a variety of guitars to select from and we went through them all individually til we were finally happy with one that suited what we were going for perfectly.
To everyone who follows our page, keep an eye open within the next couple weeks for what will be an massive posting of photos. These will detail our journey through the recording process through pictures and offer a behind-the-scenes aspect of what it was like to get behind the board with GGGarth and Benny to create the first Sonic Outcast record.
Be sure to also keep an eye on our show listings. As you know, our Vancouver tour will be beginning very shortly, and we will be continuously adding more dates until our even bigger plan unfolds.. but that will come in due time, too. The next couple weeks will be huge and we're glad to have our friends, family and fans a long for the ride in any way, shape or form.
Keep on coming back for updates and other media. It'll be worth your while. We promise.
Horns up,
Baron
Reply
JAN 9 -10 / THE ARMOURY
Sonic Outcast has officially moved into the Armoury.
We weren't able to get a blog up yesterday as we spent most of the day doing set up and sound check for what will be four days in the Armoury, laying down bed tracks and recording drums for the album.
The Armoury is a beautiful studio and we're very privileged to be working there with Garth and Ben towards making our new album. If it's not only the two lounges, walls decked in gold records and massive sound room that doesn't make the Armoury an excellent studio, it's the people who work there, and we're very happy to have the kind of crew we do for the album we're making this month.
We've been hard at work the past couple of days laying down the bed tracks and drum recordings. Eliot has been smashing the skins like no other, having recorded drums for five songs - Parallel, Fixiate, Symbiotic Beauty, Led By The Blind and Reason To Bee - since Monday. The work we do is difficult and draining, but the result is unbelievable and we can't wait to show you guys what we have in store.
For those who haven't checked out our shows page, we have a series of shows lined up at some quality venues across Vancouver within the next month and are stoked to be playing with fellow local bands in promotion of our new album.
We'd also like to put aside a special thank you for the people who indirectly make this process amazing and help us out through times such as these. Whether it's bringing us food, covering shifts for us at our other part time jobs when we have to stay extra days at the studios, or helping us with the little things at the studio, everything counts and you're very much in our hearts for what you contribute to us.
Reply