Synoiz Music Blog
Synoiz music blog.
Posted 13th May 2010
Is it May already? Crikey, that means it's nearly a year since myself and the guys at 12 FT Beast Productions were rushing around getting things sorted for the Long Lost... music video. Feels like yesterday that I was standing on that pier holding onto my hat for dear life.
Things are going well for me at the moment and thank you to everyone who bought a copy of my latest single Ever Emptiness it did so much better than I expected!
Thanks especially to Ragnarok Radio for inviting me on their show for a chat and for playing the single. Also thanks to Olaf at Joint Venture Radio for premiering the 10-minute B-Side Silhouettes on his excellent Waverider show.
Ambients Re-Release - 21st May
Big news however is that next Friday (the 21st of May) will see a re-release of my debut album Ambients with the price tag I always wanted.
The album will be available from the official Synoiz store on BandCamp along with each of the three singles for much cheaper than on Amazon and iTunes. Depending on where you are in the world, the full 14-track MP3 album will be available with a free PDF artwork booklet for the following prices:
United Kingdom | £3.00 |
---|---|
Rest Of Europe | €3.50 |
USA & Canada | $4.50 |
Got a site/blog? Want to help me out with promotion?
I'm rushing around trying to get a website and digital press copies sorted out. It would really be a help if anyone who has a blog or a website could mention the album when it comes out, I'll be posting a few banners to put on your site sometime over the next week. There -may- be an exclusive track in it for you but then again that would be bribery wouldn't it?
Thoughts on the British General Election
It's been a rather exciting two weeks here in England as the general election has ended crazily. I am a die-hard supporter of the Liberal Democrats and while I was very disappointed at the very few seats they managed to win, I'm choosing to be optimistic about the Tory-Liberal coalition that we've ended up with. This sounds bizarre but what I wanted from the election was a change, something new rather than the same old blue or red toss up and landslide Tory victory that I was dreading, this coalition is something we have never seen before in England and with both Nick Clegg as deputy PM and Vince Cable in the cabinet this looks like the finest moment the Liberal Democrats will be having for a while. None of us liberals wanted to see a Tory as PM but perhaps this could work.
Hope you're all well, roll on summer!
Posted 12th April 2010
Well it's finally here! The new single from my debut album "Ambients" is now out for the world to hear and download.
"Ever Emptiness" is a dark brooding cello led piece that builds up slowly into an industrial Nine Inch Nails style peak and decline. It's one of my favourite tracks from the album and it's one where the sentiment strikes much stronger every time I listen.
It also includes the 10-minute epic B-Side "Silhouettes" which is my attempt at a dark wave film soundtrack, both sinister, uplifting and thrilling over the course of its several movements.
The single is available from loads of different online stores. The cheapest place to buy it is Amazon (£1.38 / $1.78) and iTunes (£1.18) which is not very much for nearly 14 minutes of music. It would really help me as an independent artist if you bought a copy of the single and left a positive review on any of the stores.
Watch the Ever Emptiness video
If you haven't seen it yet, please check out the official "Ever Emptiness" music video produced by local company 12 Ft Beast Productions. It continues on from the first two music videos and concludes the tale of "the man" against the masked chiaroscuro.
I hope you like what we've achieved here by managing to make something pretty dramatic and suitable for the track with almost no budget and a lot of help from dedicated fans and our friends.
Thank you to everyone who was involved, you can watch the video and see a full credits list on the YouTube by clicking here.
A Special Message from Synoiz
Also available on the YouTube is a special message from myself mentioning the new single, ways to buy it and a little bit more background info on both the track itself and the exclusive b-side "Silhouettes". You can watch it by clicking here to visit YouTube.
Update on "Darkling EP" for remixers
Thank you to all of the artists who have sent in or are working on remixes for the upcoming Darkling EP. The stuff that I've heard so far is amazing and it's the biggest rush to hear how someone else has changed and reinterpreted a track of yours. I've decided to postpone the deadline. Initially the deadline for submissions was going to be mid-April (around a week from now) but I've realised now that I've gotten into the project deeper and heard the quality of the mixes that are coming through to me, I want to spend a lot more time with this. The EP will be released later on this year however I'd prefer not to rush the last release from my debut album.
At the moment I'm thinking about providing a 10-13 page PDF booklet with full artwork and including short biographies and details of each artist included on the digital release. This way I can allow these people who have been so amazing to me to get just a little bit more promotion and also get to be included alongside some pretty funky artwork.
Because of this there is still time for new artists to apply to appear on the EP, if you like to work on a remix of one of my tracks, please get in contact at remixes@synoiz.net
Posted 10th March 2010
Hey everyone,
Things have been very busy for me lately so apologies for the big catch up mail out. I've had a few slight personal issues lately to work out so start on a bit of a personal note (that I wasn't sure I should mention but sod it) I'm currently suffering from the early stages of hair loss and it's driving me a bit nuts. I know it's natural and one of those things that "just happens" but I can't ignore it or just let it happen without regretting my lack of action later.
I've been visiting clinics around the UK and they're all trying to rope me into stupid loads-of-money-upfront-and-no-guarantee-of-our-treatment-working schemes. Sod that. However I can't rationally explain how much my hair means to me not just because it's part of an image, but because it's what I've grown to expect to see in the mirror every morning and I don't know if I could deal without that same "this is who I am" type moment when I get ready.
Maybe I should just grow to accept the inevitable and stuff but however childish it sounds, I don't want to. I'll probably let you all know if there's any news (oh how exciting!) but if you have any advice or stories of your own please feel free to send me an email at: synoiz@synoiz.net.
"Ever Emptiness" the new single
Appropriately with the mood I've found myself in I'm happy to announce that the third and final single from Ambients will be "Ever Emptiness". It's a darker one from the album however one of the strongest. The 2-track digital single will be available to buy from the 12th of April 2010 and comes with the exclusive 10-minute long B-Side "Silhouettes" which took bloody ages to write! More details will be given closer to release.
Special Shout Out To Endo Meso
Just a quick shout out to the wonderful Endo Meso who mentioned me and the remix of "Darkling" he's been working on (more details below) in his last mail out and got me lots of tasty new fans and subscribers.
To return the favour I'll soon be working on a remix of his track "Miser" which should be interesting indeed when it's completed!
You can visit the Endo Meso site on ReverbNation by clicking here.
Remixers wanted for "Darkling" EP
If you haven't already applied to do a remix for the upcoming "Darkling" EP, it's not too late. If you want to appear on the compilation alongside the mighty Endo Meso, Pinklogik, Anguaji and Arrow Down Hill among others, the deadline for submissions is mid-April. If you're interested in doing a remix of the track to appear on a free EP later in the year, please get in touch at remixes@synoiz.net.
Sale on previous singles!
In case you didn't get a copy of the first two Synoiz singles "Long Lost..." and "Getting Safer" from Amazon or iTunes when they first came out. I've found a new way to get the releases to you both cheaper and better through Bandcamp.
Both 3-track singles (which include two of my most favourite tracks "And Everything You Represent" and "The Esoteric Order Of Dagon" only available as B-Sides) are available for only £1.30 each including a special 2-page PDF digital booklet which is not available on the other stores (guess why that is!).
To FURTHER sweeten the deal, for a limited time you can use the discount code synlaunch to get an additional 10% off.
Click here to visit the new Synoiz store...
Thanks for reading and being a supporter. Hope you're doing well and as excited about the new single as I am,
Posted 24th December 2009
Wow what a time it's been these last few weeks! I've never been so exhausted and rushed off my feet in a long while. A few major things to mention though in case you haven't already heard:
Getting Safer is out now!
That's right my new single "Getting Safer" was released as a 3-track digital download on Saturday the 12th of December. So far it's had a great reception, managing to peak at #16 on the Amazon UK Dance/Electronic chart and #49 on the Indie/Alternative chart. I got very excited to see that people were buying it and enjoying it and so it has kinda made all the hard work seem worth it.
As an independant artist it has been a real struggle getting any kind of attention in the media, whatever image alternative magazines and radio stations present I'm still getting turned away for being a little experimental simply because I don't have vocals or guitars (especially the guitars factor!) and cos I'm not soothing ambience like Enya or Sigor Ros, some alternative media that is.
I would however like to say thank you to both Solipsistic NATION for featuring "Getting Safer" on their latest Twittermix Podcast and the wonderful Olaf from Joint Venture Radio for playing one of the B-Sides "From You" on his show.
If you're wondering how you buy Getting Safer and get access to the single mix and two exclusive B-Sides, simply visit the website I set up here: Getting Safer - The New Single from Synoiz
Official Music Video for Getting Safer by 12 FT Beast Productions
Well it was a lot of hard work and required several days running around in hoodies and masks chasing Alex (then again that's the guys at 12 FT Beast's usual weekend line up) but the official music video for the single is now available to watch below. If you like it please rate it on the YouTube page and leave a comment, it's always nice to get feedback. I like how it has come together considering what little budget we had and the chaos that was the weather during the shoot!
Thank you to all of our wonderful extras and the amazing Alex who plays the lead. You can find a full cast and crew list on the minisite: Getting Safer - The New Single from Synoiz.
Merry Christmas! Have a free track on me
Well that's it from me, probably until the new year when there will be lots more Synoiz news. To say thank you for a wonderful year and to all the new fans who have come about since the release of my singles and album I've made an updated version of my Christmas track "Falling Snow" available. Enjoy it and have a very Merry Christmas from Synoiz!
Download "Falling Snow" a free Christmas track for fans
Synoiz
Posted 14th November 2009
I'm rather excited, I managed to get tickets for me and Kirsty to go see La Roux in Newcastle tonight, just before I head out the door here's the latest news from Synoiz!
Ambients the debut album is out now!
My debut instrumental album of 14 electro darkwave tracks "Ambients" was released on the 31st of October to a wonderful amount of support from fans. Despite being pretty much ignored by the UK media (one local publication that I will not name choosing to put their sealed press copy on eBay rather than actually listening to it) the album managed to get a good amount of airplay on independant radio stations in the US and some commercial stations in Germany, even going so far as getting a very kind review in a Turkish newspaper!
You can get links to buy the album as well as listen to Ambients in full from the mini-site: http://ambients.synoiz.net
New single Getting Safer released 12th of December
If you've been following me on Twitter you'll know that these past few weeks have been full of the chaos of filming the music video for the second single from Ambients "Getting Safer". The single will be released worldwide through Amazon, iTunes, eMusic on the 12th of December (before the Christmas single rush I hope!).
For the release I've written two new tracks to act as b-sides. They're both worth a listen and were rather fun to make even though I was drowning in promotion/artwork deadlines for Ambients when I had to write them!We're hoping to have the video ready for the week before the release and will be available, like the video for the experimental first single "Long Lost...", on the Synoiz YouTube
Ambients makes brief appearance in Amazon top 100
In a massive surprise (considering the low-key promo the album has had and the horrific £6.99 price tag the stores have slapped on it) Ambients managed to enter into the Dance/Electronic top 100 MP3 albums on Amazon for 2 days this week. It peaked at #73 which is absolutely amazing for me. When I attempt to make some commercial material I'll be bothered about charts but to get any kind of sales achievement for an album like this is a major thing!
Hope you're all doing okay,
Kind regards,
Synoiz