I’m Owqin. I play bass and vocals in Sinusoidal. Both of my parents introduced me to different types of music. My mum was into her 90s Ibiza dance classics and the hits from her youth. My dad also enjoyed 90’s music, but as I got older, I noticed his taste in dance music was slightly darker than my mum’s. I have memories of being in his car listening to Loneliness by Tomcraft; that song always made me feel unpleasant but in a good way. I also remember him playing Marilyn Manson’s Lest We Forget; that was my first introduction to heavier and darker music. Fast forward a few years, and I started listening to indie bands like the Stone Roses. Football is massive here, and so is the culture. I used to wear Adidas originals on my feet and a vibrant polo shirt to look like a little hooligan. I never liked Oasis; some of their music is great, but both Liam and Noel are blue-shite knobheads. At the age of 15, I stumbled across a song named Insight by Joy Division. To this day, I can’t explain how it made me feel, but it certainly left its mark on me. And ever since that day, I fell in love with joy division and other post-punk and dark wave bands.

Sinusoidal

We are Sinusoidal. A Welsh Post-punk and dark wave band from Wales. The name sinusoidal is from a sound I found while doing sound design; I thought to myself, “Huh, that’s pretty cool.” Sinusoidal consists of three members, myself (Bass and vocals), Zak (guitarist), and Ronnoc (drummer). We met in college; we were all studying music technology in college Menai Bangor. I’d say we’re all into our different things, but one thing that binds us together is our love and passion for music. Zak loves his blues and is a big fan of John Meyer.  Ronnoc loves metal and rap music; we all love metal and rap, to be honest, especially $uicideboy$. We formed a three-piece band for a friend’s birthday in my village. We had no intention of carrying on with the band until we saw many people from all over the local area come to see us play; we thought, “Oh shit, we’re decent.” I think a few faces who came to see us really like post-punk and dark-wave music but have never seen anything like this in where we live. All the bands around here are Welsh pop or Welsh indie rock. I think they’re all awesome, though; there’s some cool guys who are making a lot of noise in the local area, such as Dafydd Hedd, Tesni Hughes, and these knobheads called Maes Parcio (I love them, really). We have played a few shows in the north Wales region; we are currently in talks to start performing in England as well.  But I must give a huge deal of credit to a man named Stephen Rastin; he’s arguably the most underrated promoter in North Wales. He’s sorted out shows for us in quite rocky and gothic bars as we have an alternative sound.

Influences

If someone has left their mark upon my sound, it’s Ian Curtis, 100%. That man’s voice is incredible. His voice and his lyrics tell a story, and it makes me feel a certain way. Especially his vocals in the song “In A Lonely Place.” Not the new order version but the misplaced demo version by Joy Division. It’s harrowing; I love it. I hope he’s at peace now, wherever he may be. I’m also a big admirer of Rozz Williams from Christian Death; what a legend! His voice was just as peculiar as Ian’s, and I’m all for it. An interesting take, but I’m also a big fan of Jeffrey Hatrix’s voice from Mushroomhead, creepy and weird voice, but I love it. As for overall bands, I’d say my top inspiration is certainly Joy Division, of course. When it comes to darkwave, I enjoy some Crystal Castles, Boy Harsher, twin Tribes, and so many more. They are all awesome. There are a few new faces on the scene that I’m into as well; there’s Mareux, a lad named Harsh Symmetry, and of course, the Belarusian legends Molchat Doma.

Release

All of our music is composed at night—the quietness and serenity, not a care in the world. I usually write basslines and make a demo of the entire song on my software. I then pass it on to Zak and Ronnoc for them to give their input and add their instruments. But of course, different feelings will generate different songs. For example, our first song Uber was made when I was in a pretty good headspace—surrounded by good friends and having such a good time. But some of our unreleased stuff is quite dark. I’m not saying I’m in a dark place, but I used to be. And I remember how I felt, and some of these songs will reflect the way I used to feel. These songs will be coming out in our first EP. We’re all actually quite chirpy and charismatic in our own way; the music we make is a release of emotions for us—no need to dwell on them once they’re out of our systems.

On stage

I was nervous when we played our first few shows. I stared at the ground while my fingers were shaking against the fretboard. I got into it after two or three songs, though I felt loose and free. My voice became louder, and I started screaming some of our songs. We have a headline show coming up in Cardiff. I’m planning on letting loose in that gig. I want the audience to feel connected with us and have a night they’ll never forget. When I’m on stage, I’m very loud and serious at times, but when I’m off stage, I go back to being my original self. We haven’t played many shows, but our best one was certainly in Wrexham. There weren’t many people there as Wrexham FC had their last game of the season down in Torquay, so the audience was a bit dead, but we still gave it our all. We walked off that stage fucking sweating. Now that’s a sign of a good show, in my opinion. Although we do have two lovely fans named Tamzin and Daisy who come to every single one of our shows in Rhyl, shout out to them!  But as for pre-show rituals, we usually have some food, most likely a Mcdonald’s. And depending on our mood, we will have a drink or seven. Zak and I once got absolutely hammered before a show, but Ronnoc was as sober as a judge; now, that’s a true professional!

Inspiration

Music is a game, an endless one at that. It’s quite impossible to run out of ideas; since I started producing music for people, I fell in love with sampling and sound design. I got a lot of inspiration from Martin Hannett. I once recorded my cat’s meow, sampled, reversed, chopped, auto-tuned, transposed it, and bang. I had an entirely new sound to play with; it’s so awesome. I do see us progressing into more dark wave in the near future, dark but loud. I can’t quite explain it yet as we haven’t made it. But it’s coming. Our music will always have a purpose. We don’t really fuck around and drop a half-arsed song. We put an unreal amount of energy and emotion into our music. I take inspiration from everything. That could be a movie, a poem, or even a historical atrocity. But the main inspiration is certainly our feelings. We currently live in a very unsettling and unpredictable time. So, of course, everyone feels something, even if it’s in the back of their mind; we’re all human.

As for lyrical or poetic influences, I’ve gotta mention Edgar Allan Poe… POSER ALERT! The OG goth, what a guy. I quite like William Wordsworth too, but lately, I’ve been reading Hedd Wyn’s poems. He was a Welsh poet from the early 1900s, mainly during World War one time. But as for my lyrics, I just write what I feel or what I’m inspired by. I have always enjoyed English literature in school, so my writing is very creative, I suppose.

Powerful

I know for a fact we will create something new and powerful. I just know it. We’re taking elements from all of our favorite music into one. I can’t put it into words, but I just know that we are making something crazy. There are no boundaries in this alternative world of music; if you don’t like it, then fuck off and listen to Taylor Swift. Not everyone will appreciate our work, but there will be some open-minded ears out there who will. I collaborated on tracks with rappers and artists when I made beats for them. But as for the band, we haven’t collabed with anyone yet. We’d love to make a song with ScottyOverdose and Sxkrty, they’re performing with us in Cardiff, so it’d be cool for us all to be on stage.

Trends & algorithms

Lately, post-punk and dark wave is a trend for some reason. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. But I think people should listen to it because they like it, not because it’s a current trend. I see people wearing an Unknown Pleasures top without a fucking clue what it is. I also see Tiktoks using some of Mareux’s songs. Which honestly, fair play, get that bag, bro! This genre of music will always evolve; it’s not limited at all; there’s always something new. On promoting our music, I’d be a hypocrite if I said I didn’t like Tiktok and Instagram reels… they’re entertaining to some degree. Until a few months back, I used to hate this new way of promoting; it feels so forced, doesn’t it? “Hey, guys! Check out my new song about darkness and nihilism!!” like fuck off, man. But unfortunately, it’s the way things are. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how we can get our stuff out there without being cringy or being a beggar. Of course, it does involve Tiktok and Instagram, etc., but I won’t be forcing our music to people; I’ll let the algorithm guide our work to the people.

Get Sinusoidal

There are many people out there, like myself, who love a good old vinyl. Just like our music, we really put a lot of work into our overall craft. Keep an eye out for our upcoming vinyls and merch!

Sinusoidal feature in The Infected podcast S04E06