Australian music’s best kept secret, Sydney rock band Syndicate are fresh from a trip to Berlin and playing shows with 2010 X Factor winner Altiyan Childs on his recent East Coast Tour. The dynamic band, with their own style of pure rock and roll are soon set to tour with none other than Alice Cooper. Despite being signed to Sony, the band still seem relatively unknown. Before the band heads to the USA in the coming week to try and crack the North American market, I spoke with Syndicate frontman Greg Agar about the band’s beginnings and their latest ventures as well as what the future holds for one of Australia’s most exciting bands.
Although it seems, upon listening to the band’s self titled debut album (released on July 1st this year) that they seem like seasoned professionals, Syndicate have only been around for 4 short years. However in that time they have worked incredibly hard to get where they are now. Of how the band initally came together Greg says “everyone was in different bands recording in the same studio and we would often jam together, we found we preferred that than our other bands”.
Perhaps it isn’t a stretch to call them seasoned professionals after all. The previous incarnation was known as The Next. However, due to several line up changes and once it came time to record the debut album after the release of the EP Light Of Day, which in itself garnered them acclaim on the local music scene…it was time for something new and fresh. Of choosing the name Syndicate, Greg says there wasn’t any significance or deep meaning behind it. In fact, it was born out of the fact that through a discussion of possible name, it was the one everyone seemed to agree on at the time. Interesting Syndicate is defined as “a group of indviduals…combined to promote some common interest”. For the band of the same name that obvious common interest is music.
The fact that all the members of the band have been in other bands prior to joining Syndicate, it is therefore no surprise that this has helped them in dealing with the music industry more broadly. Greg has been playing piano for 20 years, meanwhile other members have been playing drums, guitar etc for equally as long if not longer. “All past experiences helped us deal with the music industry more broadly” Greg says.
As already mentioned, the band are signed to Sony – but you wouldn’t know it. It didn’t happen over night, it was a long time coming. Of being signed to such a major label, Greg says “it was nice to be taken seriously and the fact that this could be a reality”.
A vital component of any band is their ability to write songs, this a key strength of Syndicate. The songs are all about real experiences, but these experiences don’t come from just one person. A song such as ‘Falling Apart’ was written about being on the road. With the song writing process Greg says “you have to train yourself to be creative”. The fact that Syndicate are such an explosive band would mean they would align with specific musical influences, however this isn’t the case. This adds to the band’s own brand of rock and roll. There is in fact no one influence. You have the combination of piano melodies from Greg as well as influences as varied as Van Halen and Michael Jackson stemming from other band members. The band have never aimed to emulate the sound of another band. The Syndicate sound is like no other.
The band seem to evade the air play of commercial radio stations and this is both a good and bad thing. Greg says “it would have been nice to get some support from Australian radio stations; but, at the same time, the fact that we don’t gives us a certain credibility”. This fact hasn’t seemed to have stopped the rise of Syndicate. Greg has learnt to not take anything for granted and he is proud of the success the band has had thus far. A highlight was recording the debut album partly in LA and meeting Tommy Lee. Greg says “it was the moment when I realised this was truly something”.
Despite set backs such as lack of radio air play, this hasn’t stopped the band from being successful. They see playing live shows are vital for any rock band especially. It not only adds to the attraction, but it something quite different from the recording. The chance to play to new audiences is always good too. The band have toured relentlessly it seems and had the chance to share the stage with 2010 X Factor winner Altiyan Childs and soon Alice Cooper, as mentioned before. They have found that some of the same people turn up to see them live time after time. Of these people Greg says “they are the REAL fans and we are grateful to them”.
Syndicate will next be heading to the USA to hopefully release their brand of pure Aussie rock and roll to a North American audience. With the hope to also play shows over there. Making Syndicate a somewhat worldwide treasure that Australia can take pride in. Then there will hopefully be a full headlining Australian tour. The hopes for their future, for Greg anyway, would be to one day play at Wembley Stadium…for the simple fact that “all my favourite bands have played there”, says Greg. This band are well on their way to being at a world class standard, if they’re not already so it will be a beautiful thing to see in possibly 10 years time. In many ways, Syndicate could be thought of as Australia’s answer to the Foo Fighters, although no direct comparisons can be drawn between the two.
With two extraordinary singles released from the debut album in ‘Shout’ and ‘All My Life’, the forthcoming single ‘My Confession’ doesn’t let up on the rock and roll sound that is Syndicate.
You can catch Syndicate performing live on tour with Alice Cooper on:
September 22nd – Auckland
September 24th – Brisbane
September 26th – Sydney
September 29th/30th – Melbourne
October 2nd – Perth
Self titled debut album ‘Syndicate’ is out now and available thru Sanity, JB HiFi & ITunes.
More information about this amazing band can be found at:
http://www.facebook.com/Syndicateoffical#!/syndicateofficial