About Synoiz

Press photo of Synoiz
© 2009 KL Imagery

After starting off as a singer for various projects in late 2005, it wasn’t until early 2008 that English electronic artist Synoiz started creating music for himself. Tired of struggling with band members and lacking the musical knowledge or skills to contribute fully to a band, Synoiz threw himself into a process of learning throughout 2007 in order to start writing his own material on his own terms come the new year.

The first material created was aimed at a mainstream pop audience despite being spattered with dark subtleties gained from years of fascination with horror. A 12-track demo album was written but never completed due to Synoiz’s personal hatred of his voice and his ability to sing the songs he had composed. Not satisfied with the quality of the vocals he was able to produce, the album was shelved while Synoiz forced himself into a more intensive regime of vocal training.

During this period Synoiz was asked whether he could write the soundtrack for a local amateur horror film. The idea interested him and even before filming had begun he had created a set of haunting pieces to prepare for the full score. In the end the film was put off and put off and then eventually scrapped and once again another set of tracks were shelved.

The Chernobyl soundtrack (artwork from its 2010 release)

Determined to continue on in the same vein of soundtrack work, in mid 2008 Synoiz wrote a 6-track soundtrack EP containing his first acceptable vocal piece “Revelation, Despair” for use as atmosphere in an art installation focussing on the Chernobyl disaster. While Synoiz classes it as one of his best works, it was not formally released to download until the 24th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster in 2010.

Ambients

Fascinated by the idea of creating representative soundscapes and the ability to tell stories without the need or pressure for perfect vocals and began work on a new collection of electronic instrumentals named “Ambients”. The 13-track demo was finished on Halloween 2008 but it would take almost a full year of tweaking, promotion, re-recording and multiple mastering sessions before the album was completed and ready for release.

During this period a series of promotional singles were picked from the album and along with friend and local film maker Ian Lawlor and his team at 12 Ft Beast Productions a set of three music videos were planned out. Originally the only single intended from the album was the more commercial synthpop track "Getting Safer" however when the videos were planned two other tracks were chosen to test the waters and complete the video trilogy.

The Ambients album

The first single from "Ambients" was released in June 2009 and due to a supportive following on the social networking site Twitter as well as a few mentions in the music press, "Long Lost..." sold well and appeared briefly in the Amazon charts.

A few days before the full album was released as a digital download on the 31st of October, a promotional EP called "Andromeda" was released on a tweet-for-download basis to fans on Twitter. In January 2010 the EP became publically available to download.

Artwork for the single releases from Ambients

Over the remainder of 2009 and 2010 three additional singles were released (the fourth being an originally unplanned ironic release of the black sheep track "Shock! Horror!" for Halloween). Over this period Synoiz was also asked to compose an original retro synth score for the XBox game "Pebbledash" and to write and contribute a track to the Ambientaria Records charity release "Remember Chernobyl" as well as various remixes.

In late 2010 Synoiz announced the next and final release from the Ambients album would be "Darkling", a 15 track remix album of tracks from all parts of the era, with exclusive new mixes contributed by fellow electronic artists. The remix album has so far had a troubled upbringing but was finally completed in May 2011 and will be released to the world later in the year.

Next Album...

In 2010 Synoiz mentioned that he has been working on a new album of tracks, that he deems more suitable for direct use in both film and video game soundtracks. The album has been tentatively named "Soundtract" and will be split into three initial parts, spreading out into additional releases over time. To date, aside from a few demos for tracks appearing on both Reverb Nation and Soundcloud there is no further news on this release. Click here to listen to the demo "Friendly Fire" on the Synoiz Soundcloud account.