Five Quick Questions With Somnia
Playback STL
By John Kujawski
Anyone who hasn't had the chance to catch the four-piece, local guitar-rock band Somnia is missing out on a high-energy show with memorable songs and catchy guitar riffs. The fact that this group has been together for three years, and collected a large list of gig dates along the way, certainly shows, as they give consistently good live performances. In addition to the live shows, Somnia has just released their new EP "You will be Rocked."* No doubt, Somnia fans will suffer from insomnia by staying up all night listening to the recording.
I had a chance to speak with Somnia, though Mike Heeley (guitars) and Aaron Popp*(bass, lead vocals) did most of the talking.
1) What is the history of your band?
AP: We started three years ago, summer of '99. We were very serious back then. We wrote a lot of long, artsy kinds of songs; not so much anymore.
MH: As soon as we finished the last album and we got it in our hands, we pressed "play." We were going, "it sounds good," but I don't hear any of these songs on the radio.
AP: So that was a turning point. We started trying to write a different breed of songs. not so much radio-friendly as shorter, catchier stuff. Perhaps that's radio-friendly but nowadays seems like most of the stuff on the radio is saying, "I'm sad. I have to whine about stuff and I want to scream, because of something my parents did to me," and that's not really what we're all about. We're from the school of though that rock should be fun and rock bands should be fun to watch on stage. So we try to go at it from that angle.
2) Do you all have the same influences?
AP: I would say that everybody loves Led Zeppelin. But I'm into punk and ska and nobody else is really into that. What I really pull from that is that music is really strong melody wise. I try to get melody ideas or influences from genres that don't even come close to what we do. if we can get inspired by a 1952 country song, I'm all about it. But if we get inspired by a Motley Crue song, great.
3) Did you record the CD so that it's a lot like your live shows, or is it more produced?
MH: It's a very produced CD. (though) I wouldn't say it's over-produced by any means. We spent time with guitar tracks, we spent time with overdubs and vocals. We spent time doing that because we like recording so we like to put a little more effort into it. Our live shows are a little more raw.
4) Who produced your CD?
AP: Darrell McClanahan. he used to work at Upper Room Studios but now he's starting his own company, Angelfish Studios; they just bought the property and got everything solidified. The studio's being built now; he's kind of an excellent producer without a home. But soon he'll have a home and we'd like to go back.
5) What do you think your most memorable show has been?
AP: In Chicago, it's a drastically different scene. Bars close at three or four in the morning. People will go to a bar just to hear live bands. They don't go to a bar just to drink. In Chicago, people are there to check out the band.
MH: We started playing at 12:45 am and we got done at 2:15 and people were still there cheering us on, buying our stuff, throwing undergarments on stage. It was just one of those nights where it worked.
*The Rock EP
I had a chance to speak with Somnia, though Mike Heeley (guitars) and Aaron Popp*(bass, lead vocals) did most of the talking.
1) What is the history of your band?
AP: We started three years ago, summer of '99. We were very serious back then. We wrote a lot of long, artsy kinds of songs; not so much anymore.
MH: As soon as we finished the last album and we got it in our hands, we pressed "play." We were going, "it sounds good," but I don't hear any of these songs on the radio.
AP: So that was a turning point. We started trying to write a different breed of songs. not so much radio-friendly as shorter, catchier stuff. Perhaps that's radio-friendly but nowadays seems like most of the stuff on the radio is saying, "I'm sad. I have to whine about stuff and I want to scream, because of something my parents did to me," and that's not really what we're all about. We're from the school of though that rock should be fun and rock bands should be fun to watch on stage. So we try to go at it from that angle.
2) Do you all have the same influences?
AP: I would say that everybody loves Led Zeppelin. But I'm into punk and ska and nobody else is really into that. What I really pull from that is that music is really strong melody wise. I try to get melody ideas or influences from genres that don't even come close to what we do. if we can get inspired by a 1952 country song, I'm all about it. But if we get inspired by a Motley Crue song, great.
3) Did you record the CD so that it's a lot like your live shows, or is it more produced?
MH: It's a very produced CD. (though) I wouldn't say it's over-produced by any means. We spent time with guitar tracks, we spent time with overdubs and vocals. We spent time doing that because we like recording so we like to put a little more effort into it. Our live shows are a little more raw.
4) Who produced your CD?
AP: Darrell McClanahan. he used to work at Upper Room Studios but now he's starting his own company, Angelfish Studios; they just bought the property and got everything solidified. The studio's being built now; he's kind of an excellent producer without a home. But soon he'll have a home and we'd like to go back.
5) What do you think your most memorable show has been?
AP: In Chicago, it's a drastically different scene. Bars close at three or four in the morning. People will go to a bar just to hear live bands. They don't go to a bar just to drink. In Chicago, people are there to check out the band.
MH: We started playing at 12:45 am and we got done at 2:15 and people were still there cheering us on, buying our stuff, throwing undergarments on stage. It was just one of those nights where it worked.
*The Rock EP