New Band of the Week: SINKA
Previously published on GigRadar
The hard-hitting sound of Watford newcomers SINKA has given us plenty of reasons to get excited about the trio. Searing lead vocals that often venture into falsetto pastures are met by filthy fuzzy riffs and a booming percussion backdrop that finesses a truly heavy, yet engaging rock sound.
The trio began with Shaun Sewell-Sears (vocals and guitar) and Jack Wright (drums), who went to school together, then met bassist Matt Smith at college, and have been making music together pretty much ever since. As Shaun tells us: ” We are very excited about the future. Being in a band with your mates is just the best thing.”
The band released latest single Fussy last year, which is one of the most exciting tracks we’ve heard in a while — it’s just ridiculously good. Crashes of cymbal open up ahead of an avalanche of wild guitars and drums that drop into an edgy verse of high-pitched vocals over gradually building guitars. It flows straight into a huge chorus “We could be different after all, And if we don’t dance then we won’t know, We’re bound by lust then doubts rain pours, But you weren’t too fussy so I wasn’t sure” with a big guitar riff cutting in after each line.
A second chorus drops into cool guitar riffs over big pounding drums, then flows into one final blast of the chorus and goes out with another smash of big riffs. It’s an absolute banger of a track, filled with big riffs, engaging vocals and powerful drums.
On the track, Shaun told us: “So far it’s been pretty mad, we spent a long time deciding whether or not it would be the ‘right’ follow up to You Run — our debut single — and have noticed that it has soon become a fan favourite! We are buzzing about the reaction it has been getting.” Give it a listen in the video below:
That followed debut single You Run, which offers more of an insight into their melodic side while still packing a rocky punch with its darting fizzy riffs under Shaun’s engaging vocals. Check it out below:
On the back of these two singles, they’re now busy putting the finishing touches to their debut EP FYWK, which is set for release in late spring/early summer, on which they told us: “This is our most exciting venture to date, we’ve worked really hard with our close friend/producer to capture the true essence of each song that features on the EP. There’s a great deal of dynamics both within and between songs, and we’re hoping to show off a lot of what we are capable of creating. I like to believe we might open people’s eyes, hopefully preventing us from being pigeon-holed as just one sub-genre. Consider this EP as a taster of what’s on the horizon.”
The band draw influences from everywhere between Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins through to Royal Blood, Nothing But Thieves, Biffy Clyro and Muse — the latter of which they get plenty of comparisons to for the falsetto aspects within some of their songs.
And on what influences them to write music, Shaun explains: “It is essentially just a stream of subconscious chatter that is noted down without any excessive thought, this allows for truly honest lyrics and doubles as a form of psychological therapy for a busy mind like mine! I don’t write to appease any particular audience and I don’t like to amend the words too much (unless it is total word salad). If it doesn’t flow it won’t make it as a finished song.
“The lyrics all have depth and are very personal, to the point where it can be nerve-wracking putting them up for people to see. I am a huge fan of Jeff Buckley and the way he weaves absolute poetry into his music. I write with metaphors often to cover especially revealing lyrics which I don’t want the world and their nan to know. But also because I want people to really read into the lyrics and pull them apart to understand where I am really coming from.”
You can see SINKA for yourself as they play an exciting looking Camden Rocks Presents show at The Monarch next Saturday (April 13). They also have a string of gigs coming up in the summer, including Nambucca in London, The Horn in St Albans and two gigs in their hometown of Watford, and some still to be announced festival shows. As Shaun adds: “The live show is nuts. Expect volatile riffs, powerful rhythmic chops and soaring melodies.” More info on their upcoming gigs is here.
And don’t expect to be waiting too long for new music, as Shaun says: “Once we finish up this EP we will be looking at the next release — listening through our song catalogue and choosing a host of absolute belters which are yet to be brought down from the attic! There’s literally TONNES.
“We want people to know that we love the support and hope you like the singles and our imminent EP. It’s a lot of hard work being an artist and we love every second of it. So please tell your friends and family about us, and don’t be afraid to come see us at a show and tell us what you think! We want to see you there.”
The first two singles have set the bar high but we’re very confident that special things are coming from SINKA, and we’re excited to hear more from them soon.
You can follow SINKA on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Soundcloud and YouTube.
