The Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) writes, "There's no denying that Sonmi's ethereal creations fall within the realm of electronic music. However, the band translates those delicately layered landscapes into live drums, guitars and synth for a space-worthy show that retains the performance element often lost by its peers...This band's instrumental prowess and carefully crafted atmospheres can hang with any rock show..."

Sonmi is based in the funky, artist-laden city of Asheville NC, which is also home of one of music's most innovative musical creators, Bob Moog. Sonmi’s sound portrays both the forward-thinking edginess of Asheville, as well as the organic natural landscape of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Sonmi consistently explores the delicate balance between natural humanism and the harder side of modern technology in their compositions.  Initially formed in the winter of 2006, the electronic-pop-experimental band Sonmi began as three individually experienced young musicians reaching for the outskirts of their musical comfort zones. Early Sonmi tracks were comprised of electronic ideas of each member, brought to the group and expanded upon by the whole.The intricacies in their songwriting can be traced back to the individual band members and their musical backgrounds. After first sitting down at a piano at the young age of 7, Michael McBride (aka Peripheral - keyboards, samples, electronics) became fascinated with the endless boundaries of electronic music from first hearing artists like Prefuse 73 and Boards of Canada.  With a BA in music education and a minor in percussion performance, drummer David Mathes (drums, electronics) has mastered an impressive variety of percussion instruments, as well as performed with with Drum Corps International as a World Finalist.  After hearing bands such as M83, Boards of Canada, and Aphex Twin, he also studied electronic composition and synth design. Coming from both a father and a brother who played guitar, Robert Garmhausen (guitar, synth) studied piano and later became intrigued with the guitar sounds of indie and post-rock bands such as The Cancer Conspiracy and The Appleseed Cast. As the newest member, Nigel Gilmer (bass, synth) was entrenched in an aggressive solo project that featured live loops, bass, synth and djembe where he utilized complex rhythms and was inspired by such artists as King Crimson, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Jon Hopkins. The focus of Sonmi has been to marry the chemistry of the live musicianship with electronic programming and synths, and to challenge the lines between human performance and technology.  Striving to break out of the sequencing trend and live up to the demanding presence of being a live band, they focused on the live show and aimed to capture that chemistry in the studio. In 2012, six years, an unreleased EP, and a member stronger, the band has done just that.


The new album, Almost Human, explores the realms of the warm synth landscapes of the ambient “Vespers” and “Approaching Avarice”, ranges to the aggressive guitars, samples, and drums of “AutoprOn”  and carries listeners to the textured rhythms in the meter of 7 of the opening track, “Salem”.  

Aside from crafting a new album, Sonmi has been on the rise on live performances as well.  Having graced the festival circuit at MoogFest, Camp Bisco, Rootwire, Trinumeral, BeleChere, Gnarnia, LAFF, Tron-A-Thon and Luminescence, they have also shared the stage with Bonobo, Break Science, Benga, Pnuma Trio, Glitch Mob, BlueTech, Emancipator and Papadosio.  

Beyond Almost Human, what can you expect from Sonmi?  Driving beats, impeccable melodies, and natural and electronic landscapes lushly layered in smart composition.  

For more information about Sonmi - http://www.sonmiband.com

Booking - booking@sonmiband.com

For media requests, please contact David Mathes at dave@sonmiband.com 

David Cytryn

DJ/PRODUCER

Member of the producer collective - Boom Clap Bachelors. A collective of producers, live musicians and DJs out of Copenhagen / Denmark.

Releases: 
Boom Clap Bachelors - ST ( 500 Limited) BCBLP001
Boom Clap Bachelors - ST (2010 itunes release)
Kort før dine læber - Music for dreams - ZZZCD0034
Kort før dine læber - Music for dreams - ZZZUSLP0002
Mellem dine læber - A:Larm - ALARMCD146

Music For Dreams
A:LARM
Brownswood Recordings
Plug Research

www.mute.com

Mute was founded by Daniel Miller in 1978, and since then has signed and developed some of the world’s most influential recording artists – including Goldfrapp, Liars, Moby, M83, Erasure, Depeche Mode, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Laibach, Yeasayer and Richard Hawley – and become home to a crop of emerging talent and recent signings such as Cold Specks, Polly Scattergood, Big Deal, Beth Jeans Houghton, Josh T. Pearson and Apparat.

Whilst maintaining a firmly eclectic roster, from the earliest days of The Normal, Fad Gadget and DAF through to the techno era with artists such as Plastikman / Richie Hawtin and Speedy J, and to the present day with electronic artists such as Diamond Version and Maps, the label has always been a champion of electronic music.

Mute is also home to the catalogue of a host of seminal artists such as Can and Cabaret Voltaire.

PHON.O is releasing music on 50WEAPONS, TECTONIC, BPITCHCONTROL and IDEAL EUROPA!!!


BOOKING: matt@octaveagency.co.uk

We're not the best, but we're pretty good.

FatCat Records is a British independent record label founded in 1997.

Hailing from Athens, GA., of Montreal have carved their own niche – establishing themselves as a band that thrills fans with compelling live performances, delights critics with their constant innovations, and continually showcases their musical evolution by drawing from a different set of influences for each album.

Primary songwriter Kevin Barnes pours emotion – heartbreak, frustration, elation, whimsy – into lyrics that shift from adopted personas to invented alter egos to unobstructed views directly into their psyche.

Sonmi is following