Llanelli Music Scene's Band of the Month for May 2013 is Sonic Temple

By Trudi Goldsmith

Sonic Temple’s track ‘20 Tears’ had the most number of downloads for April on the Llanellitown.com/llanellimusic scene downloadable cd. http://www.llanellitown.com/musicplayer/

But just who are Sonic Temple?

This Llanelli band consist of Andrew Richards-Lead, Rhythm & Bass Guitar and Allan Green on Vocals.

This Llanelli duo have playing in various bands for over twenty years and between 1992-1999 they played together in a band named Stoned Dog and received reviews in Metal Hammer and Kerrang magazine to name but a few whilst playing gigs far and wide and more locally venues including The Moonraker and the Old Stepney Hotel. Check out Sonic Temple’s facebook page for pics of their past bands and gigs.

Andrew Richards ( pictured above left) took some time to answer some questions that I put to him regarding  Sonic Temple.

Where did you get the name Sonic Temple from? ( Is it anything to do with the Cult album of the same name that was released in 1989 or just a coincidence?)

We were aware of The Cult album of the same name although it is just a coincidence & it has nothing to do with it at all. We liked the name Sonic Temple & felt that it represented the style of music which we are & will be playing in the future as well, as we didn’t want to pigeon hole ourselves into any particular genre of music just by our name being associated with thrash, punk or metal etc. which can happen to a lot of bands.

How would you describe your music ? genre/influences ?

Sonic Temple are a Heavy Rock band for the most part although we do like to try & incorporate a whole host of musical styles into the music if we feel that it is suitable for the song/music etc as well as quite a bit of melody also as we feel this is an important element in what we wish to achieve musically.We are both influenced by many bands/artists some the same & some not although it makes for an interesting mix when we come to writing & recording & at the end of the day we pretty much agree on the same things & know what we are aiming for most of the time.

Allan Green’s influences are Whitesnake, Rainbow, U.F.O., Phil Mogg & Michael Schenker. My influences are U.F.O., Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Saxon, Judas Priest, Eddie Van Halen, Michael Schenker, Geezer Butler, Neil Murray & Roger Glover.

What are the plans for Sonic Temple for the rest of 2013 eg gigs/ self promotion etc ; when is the new album out and where can we buy it?

We are at present putting the finishing touches to our follow up second album of original material which will also contain at present 9 tracks to follow last years debut, self titled 9 track album of original material & we will shortly begin mixing & mastering the second album which we are hopefully looking forward to releasing around June or July of this year barring any problems, set backs etc. We are also planning to release a 5 or 6 track E.P. of material which will, all being well be released towards the latter half of the year.

With regard to self promotion we regularly post up dates on what we are doing on Facebook & via Twitter & we are also looking at setting up our own web page when time allows in the not too distant future.

The Sonic Temple debut album can be purchased as a hard copy & digital download through our Big Cartel Store which can be found on our Facebook page with the download also available through our Band Camp Store.

With regard to gigs we are for the most part a Studio band & do not plan to gig in the future although we have learned to say never say never & we also feel that we can promote the band equally as well through Radio airplay & the like.

I noticed you seem to be getting lots of air play on radio stations – how do you manage to make links with different radio stations etc ?

We could see the potential of getting a great deal of airplay through independent Radio Station Networks when we set up our Twitter account as there were a massive amount of Networks willing to play our style of music as well as all styles of music in some instances on air.It was simply a matter of clicking on their web links via their Twitter accounts & submitting your tracks to them as MP3’s or whatever formats they ask for via their sites submission form & then wait & see. They also usually follow the band also on Twitter & we in turn do the same back.

How much airplay would you say the band is getting on the radio?

We receive a massive amount of airplay on the Independent Radio Networks which can be seen by our re tweets on our Facebook page as our Twitter & Facebook pages are linked.Sonic Temple are mainly played in the U.S.A. where we have had an incredible response to our music & this seems to be growing all the time, we have also recently been given an 8 out of 10 review for our debut album by hard rock internet magazine Hard Rock Haven who are also based in the States & you can check out the review at www.hard-rock-haven.net or on our Facebook page.

Here’s a list of where we are being given airplay on a 24 hour rotation, you can also request Sonic Temple via these stations websites:-

Slip Stream Radio U.K; Ultimate Jamz Radio, New York City, U.S.A; Sean Radio, Canada; The 365 Radio Network, Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A; HR Coles inDspotlight FM Radio, Hollywood, U.S.A; Rockers Dive Radio, U.S.A; Shartnet Radio, Germany; Pure Rock Radio, Canada; Rock 101 Radio, U.S.A; Rock Underground TV, U.S.A; Breakout Radio, U.S.A; Radical FM, Venice CA & Stockholm & 13 Steps Radio, U.S.A

Where can people listen to and buy Sonic Temple’s debut album  online?

Links for Sonic Temple: Email:-sonictemplewales@yahoo.co.uk

Facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sonic-Temple/120052378147675?fref=ts

Twitter:-@SonicTemple1

Purchase at:- http://sonictemple.bandcamp.com/album/sonic-temple (store also available on our Facebook page)

Download at:-www.bandcamp.com/sonictemple (also available on our Facebook page)

Listen at:-www.soundcloud.com/Sonic-Temple-1

Please go and check out Sonic Temple’s music