Hard rock sleaze glam metalheads Sandness got their start in 2008, faced several member changes but made it through to release their debut album "Like An Addiction". Mark Denkley discusses touring, new music, and some insight into the band themselves plus much more!
1. Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Sandness, and how long the band has been together.
Mark: I'm Mark, I sing and play bass. The band was born in 2008, so we've been together for six years now.
2. Tell us the brief history of your band.
Mark: As I told you, the project started in 2008, when Metyou ToMeatyou and me (drums and bass respectively) decided to form a hard rock band, trying to bring the ‘80s back to life with original tracks.
The band’s line-up went through several changes during the years, until we found Robby. He joined the band in 2009 and became the new guitarist. After four years spent playing in four, we lately become a band formed by three musicians.
During the last few years we achieved a good success in Italy and abroad and we had the chance to be the support band for famous musicians like Adam Bomb in 2010 and L.A. Guns in 2011. In 2011 we also had our first short tour in the Latvian capital Riga and in 2012 we played in France for the renowned Glam Fest.
We released two demos (“Return To Decadence” and “Life Without Control), then we spent one year working hard on the songs for our first official album “LIKE AN ADDICTION”, which has been released worldwide on 5th April 2013 by Sleaszy Rider Records.
In 2013 and 2014 we went on two short European tours and roused a good success, especially in Czech Republic and Belgium.We are now working on new, the new album is going to be recorded by the end of 2014.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any bands you could recommend?
Mark: We are based in the North of Italy, near Trento. Unfortunately rock music is living a bad time here: nowadays people prefer to listen to pop music, hip pop and reggae, but trends won’t bow us. ;)
4. What type of band are you?
Mark: A good one, I guess (HA!).
5. Why did you want to name the band Sandness? What does it symbolize and represent for the band?
Mark: Our first guitarist chose it, we actually don’t remember the original meaning anymore. We also talked about changing it, but it won’t happen. We are too attached to it, it’s the name we gave to what was, is and will always be our dream career.
6. Who are your musical influences?
Mark: We have lot of different influences: I love Motley Crue, so they are my first influence, Robby loves Iron Maiden, Steve Vai and Cinderella, Metyou loves Pink Floyd, Trivium, and Rise Against: we’re trying to get all our inspirations together to reach a catchy hard n’ heavy with a fresh sound.
7. What are your songs about? (What specific themes do they cover?)
Mark: The tracks of Like An Addiction are of the slice-of-life kind, we talk about experiences we had, but being influenced by 80’s hard rock they are mostly about girls, parties and alcohol. But in the new songs we’re talking about more serious issues,about the problems of the world (just switch on your TV and you’ll know what I’m talking about), because it's always cool to try and change the world with music.
8. Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)
Mark: Yeah, we do. Robby’s the main composer, while I usually take care of the lyrics. Metyou is like an internal producer, he always has the final say on the songs.
9. What have you released so far?
Mark: We released two demos and an album (“Like An Addiction”, released by Sleaszy Rider Records in 2013).
10. Do you have any new music in the works in terms of a follow-up to "Like an Addiction"?
Mark: Yes of course, as I already told you, we are now working on the songs for the new album. By now, seven songs are ready.
11. What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
Mark: We are taking things seriously. Music’s not just a hobby to us and that’s what makes us different, we’re ready to spend money, time and all our energy to make our dream come true. Moreover, we've already roused a good success in the whole world, who knows what might come next?
12. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Mark: You can find our musical videos on YouTube, listen to our album for free on Spotify and get it on lots of online stores like iTunes, Amazon.This is the link of our website, you’ll find everything you need here: http://www.sandnessofficial.com/.
13. What plans do you have for the future?Mark: We’ll finish to compose the album, record it and release it as soon as possible. We hope this will be the right one, the one that will help us becoming bigger and bigger.
14. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
Mark: We’d like people to remember that we’re giving 100% of all our energy to create a quality product.
15. Any final words of wisdom?
Mark: We want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to have an interview on your website, we want to thank Steve Clayton USA for our wonderful picks, Liuteria 69 for my awesome bass guitar (and for Robby’s under-construction guitar), and most of all we want to thank all our fans and friends who support us everyday!
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