Harbinger Magazine is excited to interview The Sonic Dawn from Denmark. I remember meeting Jonas at the Festival of Endless Gratitude in Copenhagen 2018. We published an article June 7, 2021, and we are catching up with them today. Niels Fuglede is the bassist. Jonas Waaben is percussionist and vocal. Emil Bureau performs guitar and lead vocal. These men are truly Troubadours. These guys are a working band touring Europe for years. What a great name for a band. The Sonic Dawn is featured on the Harbinger Orchestra. They did a great job covering the apocalyptic song 666. You can find this song on Guerssen Records Bandcamp! Let’s Jump right into the interview.
First, we want to thank you for your willingness to do this interview
Thanks for having me on, guys. I’ll try to answer your questions on behalf of the band.
How long have you all been together and how did you meet?
We’ve known each other since our early teens. Emil and I formed our first band together with a mutual friend who brought us together when we were 12-13 years old. A couple of years later we met Niels—or Bird, as we call him—as we were searching for a bass player. We all grew up in Lolland-Falster in southern Denmark as kids. The three of us then played in various constellations before forming The Sonic Dawn as a trio over a decade later, after having moved to Copenhagen. We’ve been the core of the band ever since, then formally adding our favorite organist and long-time collaborator, Errka Petersson, to our lineup in 2024 on keys. That’s primarily as a studio member, as he lives in Stockholm, Sweden (a good eight hour drive away), but he also joins us on the road when possible. So most often you’ll experience The Sonic Dawn as a trio, but we’re actually a quartet now. Kind of confusing, I know.
We must know how did you choose the name The Sonic Dawn?
The band name is a mission statement, really. We see ourselves as part of a global movement for change. Human kind has a future on the planet if we want one. Our contribution is the music – our sonic output. Dawn is of course an optimistic symbol of change – a new day breaking through the darkness.
Initially we were called The Mind Flowers, inspired by Ultimate Spinach’s song Mind Flowers, but we discovered that their old producer had trademarked that title in the U.S., which is quite unusual, so to steer clear of legal trouble we had to change. That really pissed us off at the time, but I like The Sonic Dawn better to be honest.
Tell us the genre of music you perform?
Psychedelic is the term that connects the dots in our own minds. We mix styles and genres. Overall it’s rock music which attempts to transport the listener into another state. Like the psychedelic experience itself our music can move between heavy confusion and moments of crystalline clarity. Most of our musical inspirations have roots in the 1960s and early 70s, which you can probably tell when you listen to what we do, but we don’t attempt to sound retro. Rather we try to develop and further psychedelic rock, standing on the shoulders of those before us.
You have produced many music projects over the years. Would you list them and the link where we can find them?
The Sonic Dawn has released five albums, which you can find or order at your local record store, as well as on all major digital platforms. We like Bandcamp, which connects fans and artists more directly.
• Perception (Nasoni Records, 2015)
• Into the Long Night (Heavy Psych Sounds, 2017)
• Eclipse (Heavy Psych Sounds, 2019)
• Enter the Mirage (Heavy Psych Sounds, 2020)
• Phantom (Heavy Psych Sounds, 2024)
In addition to the albums, we’ve put out a number of single releases, among those a cover of Dave Bixby’s track 666, on his request, also available on our Bandcamp page.
Who does the writing for all the songs you have created?
It has been different from album to album. Generally speaking the songwriting was a very collaborative and time consuming process early on, with most of the lyrics coined by either Bird or me, but in recent years Emil has been doing the heavy lifting. He most often comes up with the song idea and lyrics and then we arrange it together.
Another question we would like to ask is how many countries have you entertained?
A lot… I believe it’s 16 different countries across Europe – and counting.
Do you have a home studio or a favorite studio you record in?
Over the years we’ve recorded both in established recording studios, mainly Thomas Vang’s The V-Recording in Copenhagen (formerly known as The Village Recording), and Errka Petersson’s No Regrets Fonogram Studios in Stockholm, as well as in DIY fashion. Both have their advantages. The next album we will probably record on our own, completely underground.
Do you perform songs live before you record them?
Sometimes. From our recent album, Phantom, we toured with the song Iron Bird before recording it. The bulk of the songwriting usually takes place shortly before recording, though.
Are you currently working on a project?
Yes, right now we’re writing material for our sixth album, slated for release late 2026, determining its direction and how to approach the songs. At the same time we’re experimenting with recording techniques to invent the sound that we envision. We will put out a smaller release in the meantime, sort of like a stepping stone, before the next album coming out. Stay tuned.
We are curious to find out how you first discovered the vinyl record, Ode To Quetzalcoatl?
Alright, so—we all collect records, mainly releases from between 1965 and 1972-ish, especially stuff that somehow falls in the psychedelic vein. At one point we became acquainted with a group of die hard record collectors here in Copenhagen. People who own thousands of exquisite albums, most of which you’ve never heard about (as well as the classics of course). We were already tuned in to psychedelic classics like Hendrix, The Doors and the 13th Floor Elevators, but meeting those guys opened our eyes to the vast amount of high-quality records in existence, which for one reason or another faded to obscurity over the years. Some of them big productions, with record labels betting that this would be the next big hit, and others small, private pressings which were rarities from the get go—such as Ode to Quetzalcoatl, now insanely scarce of course (despite that fact I know of a handful original copies in Copenhagen, crazy enough).
So to make a long story short, we discovered that album through a musical deep dive, which is still ongoing. Before educating myself in the subject of underground sixties music, I probably wouldn’t think of any singer-songwriter albums ‘psychedelic’, a term more often connected to the big, expressionist rock sound. And I certainly didn’t listen to christian music. I consider Ode to Quetzalcoatl both psychedelic and a religious LP, and I love it. Part of it is surely due to my own taste having taken an unusual turn, but it’s also simply a beautiful album. Contemplative and quiet, but psychedelic at the same time. Obviously it’s not the typical parroted biblical messages, but songs from a man relating to his religion in a much more personal and sincere way. You can tell Dave Bixby is for real, not just another poser repeating the old hear-say. I think it’s the lysergic angle to it that draws me in personally. The story of an acid freak turned Jesus freak, so to speak. It’s kind of scary—a cautionary tale actually—but also fascinating and authentic. A piece of art, to sum it up.
I was extremely curious to speak to speak to David himself about what led to him creating Ode to Quetzalcoatl, when he out of nowhere—I really couldn’t believe it—performed in my hometown of Copenhagen almost 50 years after the album came out. We could have talked all night about his acid experiences and meeting Christ, and ordinary things like that. It was great.
Is there anything you would like to share with our readers before we close?
If any other artists with an interest in psychedelia happens to read this, I would like to relay two lessons related to the topics we have touched upon in this interview, which have made a big difference for myself:
Firstly, acknowledge that psychedelic art is much more than kaleidoscopic images and surreal, mind-bending sounds. No harm in either of those things, but psychedelia is much broader and deeper. Like the psychedelic experience, it can just as well be serene. I think this point has the potential to drive psychedelic music and visual arts in new and universally relevant directions, sidestepping the clichés about what psych ‘should be’.
Secondly, I encourage all musicians to befriend true music lovers. When you meet someone who really appreciates music, who go out of their way for the experience that music can instill, don’t let go of them. To witness someone else fall in love with a song or a record—any record—is the most life-affirming thing for me, and reminds me what it’s all about. Peace.
–Jonas Waaben
Interview by David Anthony
Dave Bixby 