Ten Questions to ........ Sonsombre's Brandon Pybus

Dark glasses…..check. 

Broad-brimmed hat….check. 

Brooding, guitar driven gothic rock….check. 

Bombastic, ghostly baritone vocal….check. 

Sonsombre’s Brandon Pybus IS the new Godfather of Goth. And this month he releases the project’s third studio album in only sixteen months, matching The Sisters of Mercy’s Andrew Eldritch’s total over his whole, forty year career!

Sonsombre’s debut set A Funeral For The Sun, released on Bandcamp in September 2018 immediately caught the attention of most seasoned observers of the scene, who were impressed by the sheer quality of both the songwriting and the performance. That same month, Jason Ledyard of NYC’s Absolution posted this introductory interview with Pybus, who at that stage was very much a one man band, giving a fascinating insight into his motivations and influences. (Another great interview with Brandon was released on YouTube by vlogger Skullgirdle last year)

Ledyard helped with production on the more varied and rounded follow-up, The Veils of Ending which was released in June 2018, a year in which Pybus also released an LP under the name Shadow Assembly, moonlighting with Michael Louis of fellow US one man project Chronic Twilight. Louis will join Pybus’ touring iteration of Sonsombre for their 2020 shows, which will include a visit to the UK in June, but later this month Pybus will release the third Sonsombre album, One Thousand Graves (with Ledyard again helping out at the desk), from which the pounding debut single Lights Out was released in December.

Having also recently helped to produce the forthcoming album by The Kentucky Vampires, Pybus is clearly a man with a very strong work ethic, and it will come as no surprise that he returned full answers to my interview questions within 24 hours!

1.       You’d been a member of bands for a number of years prior to starting the Sonsombre project, but they were all on the dark side of metal with no real discernible goth influence. You’re clearly a long-term and keen fan of the genre, so why hadn’t you formed a goth rock band before 2016?

You’re correct… I’ve been in bands since I was 10 years old but never in a purely Goth band until Sonsombre. I credit a lot of this to where and when I grew up. I didn’t have a lot of access to a real Goth scene growing up in the Southeast United States… What used to be Goth nights in the 90’s turned into Industrial and EBM and I honestly thought Goth Rock was a thing of the past. We kept playing black metal and listening to Goth… haha. I was literally listening to the same old classic albums over and over for 25 years… and just finally wanted to make something new. It wasn’t until I released the first Sonsombre record that I was connected to the huge online Goth scene (I was not very active on any social media platform before). Of course, I am now amazed that Goth Rock (while it never truly went away) is making a huge resurgence. There are so many good Goth bands popping up all over the place. Sonsombre just came at the right time and place I suppose to take part in this revival. As an aside… the lyrics to Coming For You make an attempt to answer this question.

2.       Have any elements from the previous bands had a direct influence on the music that you’re now playing with Sonsombre?

Yes… I think I’ve brought some of the darker aesthetic from some of my previous black metal bands and some of the chord structures (like the bridge in Lights Out, and Like Rats on the new album). This was in Goth from the start, but over the years it trended out. People didn’t want to be too Goth or come off as “campy” I suppose. That’s never bothered me… haha. I love dark music, horror, old-world elegance, etc. It’s just who I’ve always been. It’s the reason I loved Goth in the first place… it was dark! Somewhere along the way people shied away from the term, then shied away from the vibe altogether in many cases. I think an infusion of the old-world is underway, and so many of us are very happy to see this going on.

3.       There were some distinctly Southern rock tinges to the debut album – a bit of slide guitar here, some cajun plucking there. Was that a deliberate way of showing where you’re coming from, or just subconscious soaking up of local cultural reference points?

The latter I think… Of course I’ve always loved Fields of the Nephilim and the darker Western sound, so I’m sure that influence is there, but mostly growing up in the South, I think I just soaked up the Southern Gothic vibe.

4.       You use quite a lot of church references, in your style of dress, the album sleeves, even lyrically (“have mercy on my soul” etc). Was that an important part of your upbringing and why does it feature so strongly in your imagery?

This is really a great question… Again, it’s probably mostly subconscious reflections of my upbringing in the South. My grandfather was a Methodist preacher, and I of course grew up around a lot of very devout religious people. History has taught us that people love symbols. We absorb them without thinking. I honestly haven’t consciously tried to look like a preacher, but it seems be a universal vibe that people take away. It’s an archetype, and I find it interesting on many levels that it comes across in this way. Our design elements are simply the things I think are dark and appeal to my “style”. I think our imagery is a projection of who I am.

5.       Although Sonsombre played live dates as a four-piece last year, it’s still very much a one man project in terms of studio work. Is that likely to stay the same for future releases? How do you see the band’s sound developing?

I have one song written for the fourth album… Beyond that I haven’t really begun the process of planning too deeply for it. All I can say for the band’s sound is that whatever we do it will be as Goth as I can possibly make it. If it’s not, please personally tell me to hang it up.

6.       Michael Louis is joining the band on bass for the European tour later this year. Will you just be playing Sonsombre songs, or will there be some Shadow Assembly tracks too?

Another really great question… I honestly had not even considered that until I read this. It could be a lot of fun. The struggle is that we will have 3 albums worth of Sonsombre material to cover so I will say likely “no”.

7.       You recently did some mastering for The Kentucky Vampires for their new LP. Are there any other artists whom you’d like to work with in the future?

Honestly, I would love to work with any band that is making Goth Rock. It’s an honor to have worked with Zac and Mike because I value what they are doing. The same can be said for any number of bands.

8.       Which other artists on the current scene worldwide do you most admire?

Guillotine Dream, NU:N, Miazma, October Burns Black, Mosquito, Long Night, Ground Nero … too exhaustive of a list to enumerate! Any band that plays guitar driven Goth and/or Death Rock. Not that I don’t like other styles, I just see the need for more guitar driven bands to continue the revival. For whatever reason synth-based stuff has taken over… nothing wrong with these bands at all, but it’s harder to get traction as a pure Goth Rock band these days. I greatly admire all who try.

9.       You’ve recorded tracks by some of your idols (The Wake, Fields of The Nephilim etc). Are these any closer to an official release? Which other tracks would you most like to have a go at?

I have indeed, and I still struggle what to do with these. An EP, bonus tracks, singles?? I have recently revisited and polished a few of these in case I can make my mind up, so perhaps they are closer to release? As for the second part of the question, I’m currently working on a Ghosting cover. That one is very interesting to me!

10.   What are your ambitions for Sonsombre for 2020?

This year we plan to do a lot of shows… far more than 2019. Honestly that is my favorite part of it all! We will be announcing as much as possible within the coming weeks, but we already have three big US festivals booked and a trip to Greece and the UK planned. People will see a lot more of us on the road. We will also be shooting a video for the next single from the new record (Fire) in two weeks. We plan to release at least 3 videos this year along with everything else.

I am most grateful to Brandon for taking the time and trouble to answer my questions, and strongly recommend Sonsombre to fans of both the first (Sisters, Nephs) and second (Nosferatu, The Wake) waves of goth. Their music, including One Thousand Graves which is out on January 21st, can be streamed and ordered via their Bandcamp page. CD copies will be available via Post-Gothic in Europe and Cleopatra in the USA.