Sonic Detour Sonically Splits The Earth In “Uncivilized”
Award-winning New Brunswick-based Alt-Metal band Sonic Detour sonically split the earth with a visceral track about getting pushed to the edge and never looking back on the blistering new single “Uncivilized.”
Sonic Detour delivers a spellbinding performance on “Uncivilized,” a song that pushed the band to the limit during the recording process and is a testament to the group’s resilience. The latest single comes hot on the heels of Sonic Detour’s last hit release, “Dolls,” which debuted earlier this year.
“Uncivilized” is a no holds barred shot to the ear that brings the thunder right out the gate. Booming drums and rip-roaring guitar riffs set the tone for things to come. Sonic Detour demonstrates why they’re the band to watch out for with impressively intricate musical composition driven by precision execution. “Uncivilized” strikes the rare balance of offering a musically impressive showcase and a compelling song.
Just as the recording process was about to begin for “Uncivilized,” the band’s primary singer/songwriter, David ‘Goose’ Jenkly, was having a change of heart.
“The lyrics and vocal melody were completely over-hauled the night before recording,” says Jenkly.
Despite the band’s chaotic recording circumstances, Jenkly opted to reach deep within himself for lyrical inspiration.
“I don’t like to talk about the meaning behind lyrics, but needless to say, I was going through some things at the time, and it came out.”
The recording process became controlled chaos from the moment Sonic Detour got into the studio.
“Approximately 10 minutes into the session, we get a knock on the studio door, and in comes an older gentleman. He said he has an office next door, and it’s too loud during business hours. So we shut down the session and agreed to come back the next day,” says Sonic Detour drummer Jeff Andrusyk. “I arrive at the studio the next day. I don’t think I was even 5 minutes into the recording when my pedal punched a hole into the kick drum. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong.”
Listen to “Uncivilized” below, and learn more about Sonic Detour via our mini-interview.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is David “Goose” Jenkly, a.k.a Goose Jenkly, a.k.a. Goose, a.k.a. “that guy who yells at people during Sonic Detour shows.”
Oh, and I am the singer of Sonic Detour.
You’ve been featured before. Tell us what’s been going on since the spring.
Well, here are some of the highlights. We’ve been pretty busy.
In the spring, we played an ECMA show in Fredericton, and it was one of the best shows we’ve ever had. The next week we played a high school show (Simonds High School in Saint John) during school hours, which I can tell you is the most nerve-wracking gig I’ve ever played. But it wound up being the most fun we’ve ever had on stage. The kids were great and really into it, and after the show, a lot of them wanted to meet us. It felt like we did something good there.
We had a few surprises like that over the summer. Toward the end, we played the Motocross Finale in River Glade, NB, and most of the audience turned out to be kids. Like, ages four through ten. I guess this is all part of paying dues, right? We had to adjust on the fly, obviously. A lot of what we do on stage normally—and especially a lot of what I do—just wasn’t going to work there. But we did adjust, and it was another great show. Near the end of the night, I sang Johnny Cash’s version of “Hurt” with a kid from the crowd. Her name is Eleanor, and she might have been six or seven. I think that little moment is my favorite memory as a musician. See the video here.
But most of the work was done behind the scenes. We wrote and recorded “Uncivilized,” our newest single, and most recently, we recorded a collaboration with Foxx, a rapper in Moncton, and we can’t wait to get that out.
With “Uncivilized,” the recording process seemed somewhat cursed, between getting shut down for a noise complaint to Jeff accidentally kicking a hole in the bass drum. We were in a time crunch, and, to be completely honest, there were times when it felt like we weren’t going to make it. What’s worse, at least to me, by the end of the first day, I knew I wasn’t happy with the lyrics and vocal melody. So between the first and second day of recording, literally overnight, I rewrote my parts completely. It’s probably the best snap decision I’ve ever made and maybe the only one I haven’t regretted.
What made you decide to change up the song at the last minute? Isn’t that scary?
What made me do it? An off-hand comment from Adam Dincorn, who recorded, mixed, and mastered the song, and who is probably the only reason we were able to stay on track through that cursed recording session. Adam mentioned at the end of Day 1 that the vocals were still a bit weak.
Now, in hindsight, I’m pretty sure he was talking about how I had only recorded a scratch track by that point, complete with forgotten words and jibberish and all the rest of the nonsense that normally goes on one of my scratch tracks. But at the moment, deep down, I knew I was “settling” for the lyrics and vocal melody, which is something I never do. And even though the comment wasn’t really about that, it was a good reminder. That night I knew I was either going to come up with something I’d be satisfied with or I was going to run out of time and be unhappy with the song. Luckily, I didn’t run out of time.
Was it scary? Absolutely. At least until the next day when I got in front of the mic and started recording a new scratch track (as opposed to just barking it out in my car). I knew then that this was the way the song was supposed to sound. We (Adam and I) made the new scratch track before the rest of the band came in so we could run it by them before we committed to the changes. But I would have bet my life we were going to make the changes. When the song is right, you can feel it.
What do you do 5 minutes before getting on stage, blowing the roof off as you do?
We do blow off the roof. Each of us does it in our own way. And I think part of it is because we are each so confident in everybody else on stage that we’re willing to go for broke every time we play.
I think I’m at my best when the audience is not completely comfortable or quite at ease. It’s not that I want them to be afraid, but I don’t want them entirely unafraid, either. I want a little adrenaline from them. So my relationship with them is a little different, or at least it’s different than what we see here on a local level. It’s kind of antagonistic, honestly, almost confrontational. I’m not the guy asking if everybody’s having a good time tonight. I wouldn’t be any good in that role. I’m more than willing to play the bad guy if it’s all in good fun.
What I do to get ready takes a lot more than five minutes. It’s a day-long process. I’m pretty reserved in my everyday life. I’m a quiet guy who likes books. So, to access that darker, confrontational side of my personality, I have to work myself into a “fight or flight” state. It’s not so much that I become “someone else” as it is that I give myself over to a part of myself that I usually keep subdued.
Getting into that headspace takes a while. It involves a lot—a LOT—of pacing around, disappearing for long walks, and living inside my own brain until my social anxiety peaks. What I’m trying to do is bring myself to a sort of boiling point where I legitimately do not care if this is the best or worst show that night’s audience has ever seen. Of course, before and after show day, I want it to be the best. But the only way I can deliver the best show they’ve ever seen, or at least the best one I can give them, is to risk bombing on a massive level and have everyone in that room hate my guts. (…I’ve never asked how comfortable the rest of the band is with that risk, but, at this point, they know what they’ve gotten themselves into.)
Which Canadian artist should everyone see live at least once?
Sonic Detour, obviously.
Okay, but for real, I can’t name just one. I would have a hard time keeping it under fifteen. So, instead, I will take this opportunity to shout out people who have played a big role in my own personal musical journey.
I still can’t keep it under three: Keith Hallett, Del Worden, and Brent Mason. I could talk about all three of them forever, but I’ve already been talking forever, so I will just say this: I don’t think I would be involved in music right now if I hadn’t stumbled onto each of these guys at the time that I did. Keith is the oldest soul I’ve ever met, Del is the best musician I’ve ever met (who was kind enough to feature on a song for my side project, Pretty Mild Vices), and I don’t know anyone who can tell stories through songs like Brent.
If that’s not a real enough answer, my girlfriend says everyone should see Marianas Trench. I still think the correct answer is Sonic Detour, though.