SONDREY: “Make the music that gives YOU goosebumps”

At the age of 23, Sondrey has already established himself as an artist in Oslo. After finishing 7th in the talent show “The Stream” he released his debut single “Issues” which symbolized a fresh new start for the R&B singer.

His latest track is called “Scars go deeper” – a beautiful, dark tune.

We had the chance to talk to Sondrey about his production routine, the importance of playlists these days and mistakes young artists should avoid.

Give us a sneak peek into the emergence of a Sondrey track. How do you produce music?

My strong suit is melodies, so usually I start out with some weird humming sounds that randomly fall down into my head. Wether if I’m on a bus, a train or in the middle of a workout. I record it on my phone and listen back to it later on the same day. Then I picture in my head what kind of production would fit the melodies. Usually it ends up with a mix between urban R&B/trap and pop.

So far, you have released a couple of singles but no album. In your opinion, is the album format dead or is there a Sondrey album in the pipeline?

The album format is far from dead! If you look at all the big guys such as Kendrick Lamar, Drake and The Weekend. All of them drop albums and often two within the same year. I’m happy to confirm that I’m working on my debut album called «Darkr Lyfe» which is inspired by my own personal life and deep dark feelings, influenced by japanese anime, when it comes to phrasing and visuals that are to come.

Name 3 major mistakes you made and other musicians could learn from.

Never doubt yourself when you feel you have something good. I’ve too many times made mistake of wanting to hear other peoples opinion on my demos. DON’T DO THAT! Finish the song, and by that I mean do everything that you’ve envisioned for the track, then let someone listen to it and give you feedback and never forget that one persons opinion or even 10 doesn’t determine if a song is a hit. The greatest songs are made when you believe in your craft and stick to it no matter what.
Don’t spend to much time on tweaking stuff before you’re done recording vocals. F.ex. making the snare punch harder or making the 808 bass sound fatter during a session. The purpose of a beat is to make the vocal shine! So if it does that the gecko, then don’t waste time, be efficient.
Never settle for almost good enough. Always strive for the best end result you know you can get.

Playlists have become such an important discovering tool for music these days. Do you have that in mind when you’re in the studio, producing music?

No! And that is an important question which I would love to dress, because I feel it’s kind of linked to the previous question. Make the music that you wanna hear, make the music that gives YOU goosebumps. And remember if you always keep on pushing out quality music and never stop pitching stuff towards Spotify, then something will eventually happen.

I always believe that doing it the old way is still just as important as playlists. Do gigs, small and big ones. Even if theres only 3 guys in the crowd. If you give them the show of their lives, they’re probably gonna tell that to their friends again and next you might have 6 people on your next gig. And they will listen to your music on Spotify later on. So by doing a combination of those will cause a chain reaction that will benefit you in the long run, giving you a lot of stage experience and organic growth.