SONIC POISON (NY)

Photo by: Jammi Sloane York. Graphics by: Bas Spierings

Sonic Poison sort of fit the “fresh blood” theme here but then again they don’t. Their band members and other bands they are in include: Ron (vocals-Deathcycle), Rick (bass-The Casualties), Anthony (drums-Sheer Terror), and Tom (guitar-Concrete Cross). Not a bad resume to say the least. Truth be told they are on the new side as Sonic Poison and kicked things off in style with their debut 4 song EP this past June. Seriously though, check it out… it rips! There ain’t a whole lot of information about them out there except who is in the band and their previous work so this was a no brainer for me to ask their singer Ron Grimaldi to give us the inside scoop on what hopefully is a band that will stick around and give us a few more EP’s like their debut at the very least. 

 

IE: What's up Ron? One of the first things that comes to mind with Sonic Poison for me is that the majority of you are currently busy with other bands at the moment. Why did you decide to make things even more busy for yourselves and start yet another band?

 

Ron: Well, me and Rick jammed together for a bit about 12 years ago and wrote a few songs and always wanted to do something and me and Anthony have been in 2 projects before this that kind of fell apart just before recording and playing so we finally got around to it. As for Tom he is a good friend who I always wanted to play with as well and has been in Disnihil and Concrete Cross with Anthony so it was an easy fit. Also we have all been good friends with each other for many years.

 

IE: When you first started getting together for practices what did you guys discuss as far as expectations on the amount of time everyone wanted to put into the new band? Is Sonic Poison more of a thing for some old friends to reconnect musically or do you plan on playing out regularly, recording and all the other stuff that comes along with an active band?

 

Ron: We do whatever we can around our schedules. Anthony and Rick obviously have their main priorities in the Casualties and Sheer Terror and we JUST work around it. We want to play and record as much as possible. The main thing is to have fun, do what we can and make sure that our sound is our own and doesn't overlap with our other bands.

 

IE: You have a new 4 song EP out on Life Line Records. From listening to it you get a feel of a polished veteran band and not something that has come together more recently with limited amounts of band practice. How quickly did these songs come together and who in the band has been the primary song writer in these early stages of the bands lifespan?

 

Ron: There is not a primary songwriter really. Rick comes up with a riff and then we collaborate from there. The songs came together pretty quick and we didn't have to practice much. We took our time with the arrangements of the songs but since we have a good chemistry musically and as people it's been a fun and easy experience so far. 

 

ALL PHOTOS BY: JAMMI SLOANE YORK & TAKEN AT THE BOWERY ELECTRIC, NYC JUNE 28, 2015

CLICK PHOTO FOR INFO ON HOW TO ORDER THEIR 7"

 

IE: How long has the band been together? When was the "official" start?

 

Ron: I think we started in late 2013? I honestly can’t fucking remember. 

 

IE: With commitments to your other bands you guys might not get to practice as much as you'd probably like. How many full band practices have you had leading up to tracking for the EP?

 

Ron: We probably only practiced 8 times or so before recording. Tom didn't join until just before the recording and our 1st show with Eyehategod and Ringworm. 

 

IE: Tell us a little about the new EP as well as the sound and style that Sonic Poison is putting out.

 

Ron: We recorded it in our rehearsal space and Anthony recorded and mixed it. We banged it out in a few days over the course of a month or two and I’m happy with it.             

 

CLICK PHOTO TO LISTEN TO "WILL IT EVER END" BY SONIC POISON

 

IE: Sonic Poison is a great line from the old Carnivore song “S.M.D".  ("You call my music Sonic Poison...") With that said which of their two albums do you prefer?

 

Ron: I love both records but I’d give a slight nod to “Retaliation”.

 

IE: Your last show was in June in NYC opening for All Out War. How many shows has the band played before this one and what do you guys have planned for the rest of the summer and the rest of 2015?

 

Ron: That show turned out great and was our 5th show. We are gonna start working on another 3-5 songs and hopefully record a 2nd 7" toward the end of the year as well as playing as many shows as we can to fit around everyone’s schedule.  

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sonic-Poison/1538019219799076?sk=timeline