Geneva, Switzerland-based alternative rock outfit recently unveiled their new single/music video, “Masquerade,” a track lifted from their latest album, Acacias, released via VDM Records.
Founded by Canadian American Ricardo Ryan (vocals, guitar, harmonica) and Geneva-born Christian Fonjallaz (bass, backing vocals, synth), the band recently tacked on accomplished drummer Pascal J Kramer to complete their trio.
With influences from across the spectrum of rock – from retro ’50s rock to today’s modern rock – the band has become a staple in the Geneva scene with their fearless genre-bending songs that remain accessible to the common listener.
“Masquerade” layers dramatic ’80s synths over heavily distorted alt-power chords, giving the tune a metallic hue of hardcore melancholy. Vocalist Ricardo Ryan strains and belts out his haunting lyrics that despair over the hollowness of experience, eventually giving way to an unexpected and expressive harmonica solo.
Collectively directed by the trio of artists, the video features classic black and white shots of the band in action in an underground space, interspersed with fleeting moments of a woman navigating the empty streets of Old Town Nice in France. The artful video presents itself as a new-wavey homage to noir, creating a mysterious and wistful visual complement to the powerhouse instrumentals and melancholic vocals.
Tattoo.com spoke with Sonic Rade to find out why the band makes music and the evolution of their contagious, electrifying sound.
First, a simple yet revealing question: why do you make music?
A passion since a young age. Playing is great; as a trio, it leaves a lot of room for each of us. Creating music is great as well, as you can release emotions and capture moments in songs. We write about lived experiences and each song reflects a special state of mind. Getting together and playing is a passion for all three of us.
What inspired your new single/music video, “Masquerade?”
‘Masquerade’ was the first song we had for this album; it was written just before COVID, so it had nothing to do with those masks we all wore. It started off with the guitar riff; we worked on the song progressively during COVID and came up with the hook chorus vocal line later that led us to this mysterious, haunted, indie-rock vibe. The goal of the video was to represent us at the exact place where the song was written and produced: in our rehearsal underground space with our energy.
The video for “Masquerade” conjures up memories of a Slipknot video focusing on the instruments. Yet the visuals for “Masquerade” are more kaleidoscopic. Who directed the video and where was it shot?
We directed the video ourselves. As mentioned prior, it was shot in our rehearsal space in Geneva, as well as in the city of Nice in the south of France. In the old town of Nice, you find these European streets; late at night these narrow streets are empty and that suits the ‘Masquerade’ hidden and haunted theme. The cinematographic black and white video look was ideal for the song.
“Masquerade” is a track from your latest album, Acacias. Walk us through your mindset as you recorded the album.
It’s definitely a COVID-times written album. During the lockdown, we went to our rehearsal studio space and worked on songs as much as we could. Our space happens to be situated in the Acacias neighborhood of Geneva. We got the entire album produced and recorded there, so the album name fitted totally with the circumstances.
Technically we’ve used DAWs such as Logic and Merging Pyramix with great preamps such as The Anubis, Hapi MkII, and the Neumann MT4. We’ve mixed the album, and the mastering was done at the Lab Mastering studio in Montreal. The lockdown was long, so it allowed us to be quite attentive to all the details of the production, and it came out very well.
Acacias is heavier than your first album, Sideways. Is this a natural evolution, or a deliberate shift in direction?
We’ve always been playing heavier live than what we sounded like on our previous albums. So, maybe it’s evolution that represents us more today. Plus, when we play live, it’s nice to have more energetic songs, so we play a lot of our new ‘Acacias’ album during our shows, which is pretty cool.
What kind of guitars, amps, and pedals are you currently using?
My main guitar is a Gretsch Duo Jet. I also play a Fender Telecaster 1969 original and a Rickenbacker 360. The amp is a tube Vox.
My go-to pedals are the Frederic, the Unpleasant Surprise Fuzz, the TC Flashback, and the Line 6 DL4 MkII and Eventide H9. Being a trio with only one guitar to enlarge my sound I play stereo and use a Ditto Looper and TC Mimiq.
What’s the music scene in Geneva like?
It’s not that much different than in North America; there are some different types of bands of various genres. Maybe a difference is that there are probably fewer clubs to play, but at the same time there might be fewer bands, so we get our shares of shows. There are tons of music festivals here, so summer is always the busy gig season.
How does Sonic Rade operate? Is it a benevolent dictatorship, or does everyone have an equal say?
Equal say for all. Being a trio simplifies a lot of things; we decide all of what we do and play. We often auto-produce our stuff and with the help of our label, VDM Records in Rome, Italy; the album’s distribution and promotion find their way.
What’s your creative process like? In other words, is there a primary songwriter?
Every song is different; at times it’s over a jam that the creative process begins. We can then work many rehearsals in a row on the song until we get all the structure done and a song emerges. Other times, Ricardo arrives with a riff and vocal melody with the chorus line, and we start jamming over this, adding the different parts of the song, and Ricardo ends up doing the lyrics later on.
Will Sonic Rade be touring in the near future?
We always play wherever we can. Being based in Switzerland is pretty central in Europe so it allows us to play around Europe, especially in France which is next door. We would love to play in North America as my roots and family are still there. So, let’s see what will happen.
