About Synoiz

Press photo of Synoiz
© 2009 KL Imagery

Summary

Synoiz is a British electronic artist based in the north east of England. He is mostly known for his debut album "Ambients" and string of singles and promotional videos. His style has been compared to a unique blend of video game composers such as Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill) and synthpop artists such as Vince Clarke (Erasure, Yazoo). His music ranges from gentle ambience and subtle soundtrack to full-on electronic pop and industrial noise. 

So far Synoiz has created music for films, video games, art installations and a charity compilation in aid of the Chernobyl disaster. 

Biography

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 lack of 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, Synoiz 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. 

Because of a year spent working on various soundtrack projects in 2011, such as the short films "Nightmares" and "The Dark Passenger" a quick remix EP of first single B-Side "The Esoteric Order Of Dagon" was put together and released for fans. 

In late 2012 Synoiz announced the release of the final part of the Ambients series 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 most of whom had been met over the period working and promoting Ambients. The remix album has so far had a troubled upbringing as despite being completed in May 2011 it has finally been mastered and will be released on November 5th 2012.