Continuing our series of written interviews with unsigned and independent artists, we present an interview with Andre from the band Cyanide Sundae. They are a three-piece rock / metal band hailing from West Sussex. Currently residing on Sliptrick Records, they released their first EP in May 2017.
- How did the band form?
I was quite lucky really in starting the band as usually you can spend so much time looking for the right people and then spending months with those people only to realize they were the wrong choice and then part ways.I’d done some recordings and placed an advert and had a lot of interest to this big sound I’d created, and these were rather simple recording I’d done at home. I had a reply from Paul, and being the small world it is I knew of him as I’d played a couple of gigs with him, my old band supported his band and then another gig his band supported us. His band had split and it was just perfect timing. I replied with something along the lines of, ‘Hey we’ve met, and you’re in’. He didn’t even need an audition. I sent him a couple of my tracks, one being the second track on ‘Nothing to Lose’, The Rebound, and although I knew he was the man for the job before that it just consolidated my confidence that I’d made the right decision forming a band with him.We did audition a drummer about a week later. And about three weeks after that we auditioned another drummer, Lewis. To be honest it was the same feeling. He’d had a couple of my very basically recorded tracks to get used to and after one song Paul and I were like, ‘Yep! He’s our drummer’. He had so much energy and was, and still is, a hard hitter, which I really like. He’s such a good show man of a drummer too, so entertaining to watch.
When I started Cyanide Sundae I was on a mission to start something new, fresh & different. Heavy but melodic. I wasn’t quite sure what the end result was going to be, but with Paul’s raspy vocals and aggressive lyrics plus Lewis’s fats beats everything fell into place perfectly. I believe I’ve set out what I wanted to achieve, and then some.
I had the name before I even had the band. If those of you who wanna know a little about the name it has a very deep meaning, plus of course it sounds good. The name is actually quite political, although some people find that hard to believe as I’m not really one for following much of the news. But Cyanide Sundae is referring to all the media and government bulls**t we’re made to believe. How bad things are sweetened up to sound good for our benefit and how we’re spoon fed the information. Also, conspiracy theories. A good example is how pharmaceutical companies makes $billions a year by keeping people on a drug for life, that does more harm leading to later on need more drugs or rather than working on cures. Another example is the poisons in our foods, and how the government wants to slowly kill you rather than living long healthy lives and claiming pensions. This one is close to my heart for the name Cyanide Sundae.
- How would you describe the music of Cyanide Sundae
Cyanide Sundae is an energetic and dynamic hard rock/metal hybrid with powerful melodies that appeal to fans of Foo Fighters, Korn, Stone Sour, Royal Blood and Alter Bridge, (just to name a few) and basically anyone who likes their music loud and lively. We produce a huge live sound for a 3 piece thanks to my rather unique set up and we believe our original and different sound sets us apart from others in the Rock/Metal genre.Paul sums it up in one sentence – – A poisonous treat of hard rock heaven - You released your debut EP in 2017, how did that come about?
‘Nothing to Lose’ was recorded in the very early stages of our band, we’d only been together a few months. We knew we had something special and we didn’t wanna waste time, we wanted to be heard by the masses as quick as possible. We were proud of what we’d created with our sound and doing a recording seemed the obvious choice to start getting heard. I think at the time we only had about 6 songs and we picked what we thought were our finest. ‘Nothing to Lose’ represents us as what we are, a high energy raw sounding band with a massive sound.The title is actually a lyric from the first song, which is our single, ‘What Can I Do’. But, it’s also a double barrel meaning. ‘Nothing to Lose’ is about us as a band and giving it our all and showing people who we are and what we want to achieve, after all, we have nothing to lose.It’s funny, although our EP ‘Nothing to Lose’ is still getting plenty of attention and plays on radio shows, plus our video for the single ‘What Can I Do’ still gets plenty of views, it seems like it’s old news to us. We’re really proud of it but we’re really excited about our full length album coming out soon. We recorded ‘Nothing to Lose’ Jan 2017 (I think), and less than one year later we were back at the same studio working on the album, ‘Blinded Generation’, is due out this summer on Sliptrick Records. We’ve got a two more videos to be released with it, plus a new lyric video too. So plenty to watch out for.
- What are your live gigs like?
We love playing live, it’s why we do it. We put a lot of energy into our gigs, which comes across in the music, and likewise in our writing. We get lots of positive feedback after our gigs, probably the most common one, ‘I can’t believe you create such a massive full sound for a three-piece’. The other one I personally get a lot is, ‘I’ve never seen a bass player with so many pedals’. Always make me laugh this one.We definitely got some regular fans now, which is really fantastic to see. It’s also such a buzz when you see the audience singing along the lyrics. - Have you any gigs coming up?
A few lined up over the summer.
May 05 The Green Door Store, Brighton, – MammothFest Heat Round 1
May 12 The Hobbit, Southampton – a triple headliner gig with Bleed Again & Icarus Falls
Jun 02 The Pier Hotel, Bognor Regis – supporting The Darker My Horizon
Jun 14 The Craft Beer Co. Brighton – our debut acoustic set
Jun 16 Bad Wabbit Shindig Festival, Bognor Regis
Jun 30 Core Fest, Walberton
Jul 06 The Crown, Littlehampton – supporting Reawaken
We’ve also have some London dates coming soon
Associated Links:
Video: What Can I Do
Official Website
Official Facebook Page
Official Twitter Page
Official Soundcloud
Official Instagram
If you’re a band or artist, and interested in participating in a written interview, then please register your interest by emailing Jamie@OldTimeReview.co.uk