Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (https://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: What type of artist are you?
SON: The framework that we are always trying to work around is symphonic metal. Bands like Epica, Nightwish, Visions of Atlantis, Camelot etc. would be the main influences around the sound we are aiming for. However, we try not to put too many constraints on ourselves and if it sounds cool we will pursue it.
PD: Tell us the brief history of yourself.
SON: About halfway through 2019 our drummer Chris decided he wanted to kick start a new band. His favourite band is Epica and he wanted to try something in that symphonic genre. Our guitarist Tim and Chris used to be in a band together about six years prior so Chris asked Tim if he would be interested in starting something up again. After that, Chris had put out various ads asking for a keyboardist, bass player and singer to launch an originals symphonic band and that’s where our keyboardist and musical genius Campbell came on board. Tim works with Paul our bass player and asked if he was interested. We had other vocalists and guitarists come and go that didn’t quite work out then we got onto Sarah who is the most metal out of all of us.
We finalized our line-up at the start of 2020 just in time for COVID to hit.
PD: Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
SON: Each member brings their own flavour to the band and those individual influences and styles bleed through into our songs. Chris (drums) would bring the most symphonic influences from the bands mentioned earlier. Tim’s (guitar) background is in thrash and metalcore with his main influences being bands such as Metallica, Trivium andBullet for my Valentine. Paul (bass) brings jazz fusion and funk elements from bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and artists like Victor Wooten. Campbell brings the classical, progressive and power metal themes from great composers such as Mozart and Beethoven and bands such as Dream Theatre and Stratovarius. Sarah brings her choir training into writing interesting vocal lines and also loves Nightwish and Devin Townsend.
PD: What are your dreams and goals?
SON: Our low-level goals would be to steadily write and record new music and be able to play between 10-20 local shows a year. Our style of music is not widely played where we are from so, we want to expose it to as many people as possible. The bigger dream of course would be to make this our full-time job and travel around to play big festival shows.
PD: Who writes your songs, what are they about?
SON: We all seem to have our roles. Generally speaking, Campbell (keys) and Tim (guitar) compose the music for the songs and are the main drivers for song ideas. Sarah (vocals) and Chris (drums) are the main generators of lyrics and themes for songs. Campbell also contributes a fair bit to lyrics as well. Paul (bass) is really good at keeping Campbell and Tim grounded when ideas start to run away a bit. He is also good at throwing around ideas with song structures and cadences. For our song themes we are no different to other bands and artists. Our songs are about personal circumstances, events and feelings. We also incorporate historical events and concepts.
PD: How do you promote your band and shows?
SON: We have our social media accounts on YouTube and Facebook where we share them every chance we get. We also share them on our personal social media accounts. We are in the process of getting different merch that we can take to our shows.
PD: What do you think about downloading music online?
SON: Mixed. Hard copy album sales used to be a definitive indicator of popularity and success, and a larger proportion went to the artists. And there’s something different about being able to “hold” the music in your hands. However, there are no gatekeepers anymore for artists who want to release and promote music. Now that recording and releasing songs can be done digitally and to a professional standard in a bedroom, online streaming and downloading in inescapable. It’s the way the world is, and you have to work with it or be left behind.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
SON: Master of Puppets. It has everything and will be around forever. It is a metal masterpiece and a historical event.
PD: What are some of your pet peeves?
SON: When you see local bands and they don’t know how much time they have left in their set. It’s like 
they have put no thought into the setlist at all. Every performance should be the best it can be.
PD: So what are you working on at the moment?
SON: We are currently writing songs for a full-length album. We have four or five on the go and a sprinkling of other ideas. Our plan is to hopefully finish writing around ten songs by the end of the year and spend a portion of next year recording. In the meantime, we want to play as many shows as we can and start supplementing our live set with new songs as they are finished.
PD: Tell us about your next shows and why we should be there.
SON: We have two shows in the next two weeks coming up. You should be there we bring some diversity. In Melbourne, the metal scene is almost exclusively Hardcore, Deathcore type styles with high energy and dark male vocals. We very intentionally try to stand out and bring a lighter, more melodic vibe while having some darker, heavier elements. Also, we are debuting a brand new song that we are all excited about playing for everyone.
Shadow Of Nyx links:
Band/Artist location – Melbourne, Australia
Facebook – You Tube – Apple –
Spotify – Amazon – Deezer – LinkTree – Check our page for Shadow Of Nyx
