12 Questions with The Sonders Dillon Kelly
Selling out shows with bands like Rats and the kairos, The Sonder are no strangers to the Liverpool music scene, Steadily growing a fanbase throughout the city and further afield with their old skool rock and blues sound.
We talk to frontman Dillon Kelly about life and what the future currently holds for The Sonder.
NSG: Hello guys, how’s everyone doing?
D: Yeah not too bad thanks, surviving.
NSG: What have you been up to today and how’s that been going?
D: Quiet day today really, we’ve just been writing a bit and practicing a couple of covers that’ll probably go on social media soon.
NSG: 2020 was looking like an amazing year for you guys, can you tell how you’ve been dealing with life since the outbreak of the pandemic as a band?
D: It’s definitely done us no favours. We felt like we were just getting going really. We felt like we’d spent a year laying the groundwork and because of the year that we’ve had, we’re probably still in a similar situation now. Luckily, we had a song already recorded called Home which weirdly fitted everything that was going on at the time. We’d love to say it was deliberate and in response to the lockdown but it was more opportunistic than anything. We got people involved in the video so it just became a way to cheer people up and gave them something to do whilst they were sitting around doing nothing.
The Sonder @The Invisible Wind Factory (Credit: Billy Vitch)
NSG: We’ve been aware of you guys for quite some time now and we just love how different your sound is to most current bands, for someone just hearing about you, could you tell us what best describes your sound? and who or what has influenced you in the music you make?
D: Definitely for a while the bands we’d get compared to most would be The La’s and The Coral. I think at the start we were deliberately trying to be as much like The La’s as we could but, naturally, you go through different phases and different influences start to seep in. The stuff we’ve released seems quite coherent because they’ve been on EPs so had to make a bit of sense together but the stuff we have lying around goes from everything from sounding like 70’s Rock n Roll to Disco to Gospel. If we started on names who’ve influenced us we’d be here for hours but I think the most recent ones that we’ve been listening to would be Willie Wright, Monophonics, Mik Artistik’s Ego Trip, Daniel Norgren, and Doobie Brothers but it goes on forever. Hopefully, we’ll find ourselves making music that takes a bit from everything we like. The main priority is to make stuff that we could honestly say we’d be listening to if it wasn’t us that made it. If we can do that then we’re happy. It’s up to everyone else to decide what happens after that.
The Sonder (Credit: Billy Vitch)
NSG: So you have a new song called “Rollin’ the Dice” coming out on the 10/12/20 that you recorded at the legendary Parr Street Studios with the even more legendary producer Chris Taylor. Wanna tell us a little bit about it and what it was like recording in such an iconic studio?
D: Yeah it was good. It’s always good getting into the studio because you feel like you’re actually making progress and doing what you got into it for. We probably take it for granted, Parr Street. Right on our doorstep and just everything you need. The names of artists who have been in there speak for themselves really. The walls are just covered with massive names so it’s nice to get in there and feel a part of it Chris was sound as well, I think the way he works and his personality suits us. There’s no bullshit or beating around the bush he just tells it how it is. He’s full of ideas which always helps as well because we’re still getting to grips with that environment.
NSG: You also have a new video coming out don’t you? We saw a little snippet of it on your Instagram and thought it looked brilliant! Can I ask, is there a story behind it?
D: I think playing the song is about the extent of our acting skills so we just kept it simple haha. It was in a warehouse in Bootle somewhere I think and we just spent the whole time trying not to stare straight down the camera like fucking Zoolander or something. We got there in the end and it came out looking boss so we were happy.
NSG: EFC or LFC?
EFC!
NSG: The Sonder is a really distinctive name isn’t it, what does it mean?
D: It’s the realization that each passing person has a complex life of their own basically. So you see someone in passing and think where are they going? What are they doing? What’s going through their head? You realize that everyone’s got their own thing going on just all zig-zagging across each other. All different but all the same. It seems a good name until you have to explain it haha! We had T-shirts made and had the proper definition on the back because everyone kept asking what it meant. In the end, if we were out and someone asked what it meant we’d just see what random stuff we could come up with as a definition to keep it interesting.
The Sonder @The Invisible Wind Factory (Credit: Billy Vitch)
NSG: Your last gig was pretty epic wasn’t it, when you, Rats, Stone, and The Kairos sold out Liverpool’s Invisible Wind Factory, Do you remember much about that night?
D: I just remember we got about 25-30mins to play so we were just trying to get through as many songs as possible. We were made up with how many people came out to see us and it was good to meet the bands as I don’t think we’d played with any of them before. That was actually the last gig we played as well which is a bit mad. Don’t think we would’ve believed we’d have only played one proper gig in 2020 if someone told us that night. Might have stayed tried to be sober for it if we would’ve known. I’m sure it was a good night though.
NSG: If you could only eat one meal or food for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
D: Deffo pizza. Even a shit pizza is still good.
NSG: The pandemic has really changed the world hasn’t it! Do you have any fears regarding the future of live music and your careers as musicians because of it?
D: Yeah definitely worried about the industry as a whole. We’ve already seen a lot of venues go under and id expect a few more to follow as grim as that sounds. We’ll just keep doing what we do regardless. I think it’d be wrong for us to moan personally. There are a lot of people who have lost a lot more than us so we’re just glad to still be going. Hopefully, we all get back to going to gigs, its not even just the music, its all the stuff that comes with it. Everyone getting together, meeting people and the parties afterwards. You get on with it for a while because there’s nothing you can do but we are starting to get itchy feet now like.
The Sonder (Credit: Billy Vitch)
NSG: If everything goes to plan, what can we expect to see from The Sonder next year?
D: More music, definitely. As much as we can do really. Musically, I think we’ll start to show our different influences and step away from certain perceptions of us. Everything will just be bigger and better. Then as soon as we’re allowed to start playing live again, properly, we’ll be back out playing with loads of new tunes.
The Sonder’s new single called “Rollin’ the Dice” will be released on the 10/12/20 and can be pre saved on the link below in pink.
You can follow the Sonder on all of their social media links below in pink.
Listen to the Sonder on Spotify below!
