Tell us about yourself and your music
Sonic minds do exist in this constellation since 2002 which partly is due to a lucky coincidence as Jens met the current singer Sonja. Because her singing qualities have been seeking for such a long time and so necessarily needed for further development, until this point Jens had produced more or less by himself. Sonja’s punchy voice, her longtime experience as a singer of various live bands, makes her an elementary part of sonic minds.
All are children of the ’80s and ’90s that is unmistakable. Jens’ musical embossment lasts from the former synthpop to the subsequent techno agitation, his production is supported by a multi-year piano education. All these are the ingredients of sonic minds’ philosophy to present catchy tunes packed into a danceable garment paired with profound lyrics. Up to the present several long players, eps, maxis and videos have been released, partly supported by various chummy producers.
Talk to us more about your latest release
We released “Free Your Mind” in January 2019 containing 11 songs, mostly mid-tempo synthpop style with female vocals, but also a kind of chill-out tracks accompanied by a video we shot. The club tracks “Nothing” and “Danceomania” mirror our 90s influences and have been produced more simply. We would willingly do more of that stuff but in the end, it results in a structured synthpop track usually, we cannot hide our imprinting. “Danceomania” was recorded in 1996 and has not been changed in any way except mastering, but I think it fits present anyway. Besides I made a cover version of Yazoo’s fantastic “Don’t Go” and had our elder track “The Day That Never Ends” twice remixed by John Keenan who collaborates with some successful pop acts in the US. I guess this album has a good variety of sound and style, compared to our elder albums it sounds fresher and brighter due to some new softsynths I bought lately.
What inspired you to write this release?
It is always the same way I am inspired. Mostly the idea of a track is based upon a synth preset or patch I create, the rest follows automatically. In minor cases, a drum loop or melody played with a piano is the beginnings. My old hardware synths do not have so many presets but nowadays where softsynths are packed up to the roof with fantastic patches you sometimes do not know how to channel the inspirations. Less is more, that is the motto which is not easy to keep in the modern DAW producer world.
Describe the writing and recording process
When my inspirations have been structured and built a song composition I mix down a rough mix for my singer Sonja and my writer Dieter, send it along, and wait for the okay to meet for recording. When Sonja meets for recording the vocals it is done very quickly, one hour will do normally. After that the main work begins, sorting takes, cutting, copying, choosing the right effects, decorating the instrument parts, mixing, and in the end mastering by a friend of mine.
Any plans to release a video?
Any plans to hit the road?
No, not yet, it is a time and technique problem we have as an electronica project and family guys.
As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?
I think mainly Sonja’s strong female voice is an outstanding characteristic of us as it is the exception in the synthpop genre. Second, the comparative complexity of using sounds, notes, and synth tracks could be something special as many other projects produce more straightly.
Who have you been listening to lately?
Oh, many, but I like “The Weekend – Blinding Lights”, as a very young guy he breathes the 80s’ sound but sounds fresh and modern simultaneously. Besides I have lately been listening to “mesh”, “Camouflage”, “VNV-Nation” and “Howard Jones”, latter is the most awesome musician to me due to his long career without boring his fans and himself and being a fantastic instrumentalist.
Who are your biggest influences?
The 80’s and 90′ like Depeche Mode, OMD, Alphaville, Yazoo, Camouflage, and so on, and some great trance and techno acts of the 90s that mostly had no face or name to remember.
Tell us about your passions
Electronic music including synthesizers and besides sports in many kinds.
What else is happening next in your world?
Hopefully, the corona pandemic will be history soon and let us breathe freely finally again. That is a real motivation blocker for anything, during the last month we should have finished three new songs but nothing happens at the moment and our moods sink. I guess when it is over there will be many new ideas that come along automatically to collect new stuff for a further album.
Thanks for an awesome interview, Jens Vetter
Connect with Jens Vetter
Website: http://www.sonic-minds.deFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonicmindsofficialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonicmindsmusic/Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonicmindsmusicLastFM: https://www.last.fm/de/music/Sonic+MindsYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/user/sonicmindsmusicSoundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sonicminds
