aaamusic | On 18, Aug 2013

SOiL are releasing their 6^th studio album Whole this month through the Pledge Music site, a project which is funded solely by the bands fans. The metal band’s bassist Tim King, answered some questions with AAAmusic journalist Sam Panasuik, to give a little insight into the band’s new offering and hear about the inspiration behind the fan funded album.

AAAmusic: Can you give me 5 words to describe SOiL?

Tim King: Loud, persistent, fun, angry, survivors.

AAAmusic: How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard of you guys, and what song of yours would you say to listen to first?

Tim King: ‘Halo’ of course! I would say we are a rock band with many metal overtones. When people who know absolutely nothing about music ask me what my band sounds like I always say: “Have you heard of Metallica? have you heard of Alice in Xhains? Yeah, that’s what we sound like”….hahahaha!

AAAmusic: On every night out ever, I hear ‘Halo’. Are you still proud to know that song is still played and sung along with?

Tim King: I think that is the coolest thing ever. To have a song that has lasted the test of time and is still liked by people is just awesome to me.

AAAmusic: I really loved your new album, Whole. Where did the inspiration for the absolutely awesome sound come from?

Tim King: It was back to the original formula of Ryan, Adam, and myself. We took the original vision of the band we had 10 years ago and just rolled with it. People that have heard the album say it’s the album we could have made directly after the Scars album.

AAAmusic: This is the first album to feature original singer Ryan McCombs since 2004’s Redefine. How did Ryan re-joining in 2011 come about, and how does it feel to have him back on stage with you?

Tim King: It came about because a UK promoter wanted to book a bunch of shows to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Scars album. Adam and I had been talking to Ryan and patching things up for a long time before that. We didn’t even have in mind playing together right away. We just wanted to mend the friendship part of everything. We talked and discussed things and decided it was time to try this out again with the three of us back together. We did it and we had so much fun. It was not even like old times, it was way better than old times. We had fun, we laughed, and the music sounded and felt like SOiL again. It feels great to be playing together again.

AAAmusic: My favourite track on the new album is ‘Wake Up’. It has so much passion and amazing music combined with it. What’s your favourite song on the new album Whole and why?

Tim King: That’s the one thing I love about music. Everyone can find something in it and different people grab on to different songs. ‘Way Gone’ is my favourite song on the album. Even though I didn’t write the lyrics (Ryan wrote all the lyrics on the album) that song still speaks to me and it actually sums up my life between the end of the Picture Perfect album until the time right before we got Ryan back in the band. Thanks Ryan for writing such great lyrics for that song!

AAAmusic: Whole was partly funded by your fans via the brilliant Pledgemusic. Why did you decide to use this platform, and what are the advantages and disadvantages?

Tim King: The pledges helped pay for the recording of the album.  We did it mainly to get some fan interaction. SOiL has always been a band for the people. This way we were able to make the SOiL fans become a part of the process and get some cool things out of it. Like a pizza party, private listening party and performance, limited edition items, and things you normally wouldn’t be able to get if we had done this the standard way. It was a cool thing for the fans and it helped us make this album the way we wanted to make it.

AAAmusic: Which is your favourite SOiL song to perform live?

Tim King: I love the reaction from the song ‘Halo’ of course, but the funnest song to play is probably ‘Redefine’.

AAAmusic: You haven’t toured here since December. Will you be popping back across the pond soon?

Tim King: Yes definitely. We are making plans and looking into options.

AAAmusic: So, if it was Groundhog Day for one of your gigs, which would it be, and why?

Tim King: Hahaha I haven’t seen that movie in ages. Probably Download 2004. This time we would make it so we actually play. Our bus broke down and we missed the gig on the main stage! That and I got to hang out with Nikki Sixx for most of that day. So I wouldn’t mind re-living that cool moment and correcting the fact that we missed the gig.

AAAmusic: Can you give me an unusual fact about SOiL?

Tim King: The song ‘Halo’ was actually a combination of two songs we had written. We took the chorus of one (which was the ‘Halo’ chorus) and replaced it with the chorus of the other and the song was born!

What is coming up next for you and the band?

Tim King: Touring the USA and playing some big summer festivals here. Then planning to come back to the UK and Europe!  New album ‘Whole’ out August 19th in UK! GET IT PLEASE!

Author: Sam Panasuik