In this interview spotlight, I chat with Sector 9 about their Something New album, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
We are four guys from the heart of the Middle East, Beirut. We generally write and play Alternative/Heavy Rock music. Our biggest influences are old school rockers like the Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and the likes. We know these days are gone by, and we’re not trying to change the world or anything. But we also know there are people out there who wish to hear new songs from the same golden rock era, and we feel that our music gives them that.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
We’re all 90’s kids, we were raised listening to Alice In Chains and waiting for Smash Hits Magazine to come out so we can buy it and learn some lyrics of a new song! We just feel blessed that we make music that’s good enough to get us a little bit of an international attention. 2019 was a great year with so many radios in the states playing songs from our album! Every time we get an opportunity from someone who wants to play our songs on their radio or maybe interview us (like you’re doing right now) we feel blessed and surely the motivation builds up. The “cream on the top” of 2019 was signing a contract with a big music licensing company in the UK. You can’t really feel demotivated when you get opportunities like this while being in a part of the world where rock music is not even secondary anymore.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Our first release was just an EP with 3 tracks, when we finally decided to make a full album we needed to make sure we have a certain voice and a message that would resonate with rock music lovers. Today with the little exposure we get around here we still managed to become one of the most respected acts in the region. Surely that has nothing to do with how we look, cause we’re all ugly motherfuckers (joking). We know for sure that we made an excellent album, and anyone who’s listened to it immediately became a fan.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this over saturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
The challenges we face are the limitations in the region. The middle east offers very little to non-existent rock festivals and venues, so we don’t get to play live that much which really suck. We get offers to play abroad, mostly in Europe but we’re always asked to pay for our own trip expenses which also really suck cause we’re all broke as fuck most of the time. Regardless of the digital age and the over saturation, there is always a niche of music lovers for every genre. So, it doesn’t really bother us that the global music is currently mostly cheap and digital. And we leveraged technology to our favor on this album because we recorded the whole thing in a 3×2 meters home studio. But if you listen to the quality of the mixing and mastering you would never believe this was recorded in a tiny little bedroom turned studio.
What is your favorite song on the album?
This album is our little baby, it’s hard to pick just one favorite. But if we must choose it would be “Something New”, we had so much fun finishing up and recording this one. But every single track on this album is worth listening to if you are an old school rock music lover who’s hungry for some new tunes.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
MP3s of course, they’re much easier to share around and much cheaper as well. We produced physical CDs of the album, but at the same time we have little download cards for people who’d rather just download the tracks and not have to deal with physical CDs. You have to be up to date with technology these days, fans appreciate that.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I think Spotify has managed to dominate the online streaming service. It has so many options and ways to create playlists and the company extends its support to indie artists. I also have to mention that ReverbNation has been an excellent partner for us, and I’m not kissing anyone’s ass here. But most of the opportunities we receive are from this company and we are truly grateful for their help. There’s no limitations to music submissions for opportunities and everyone truly gets a fair chance to be heard. Big thumbs up to the people behind ReverbNation.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Again, ReverbNation.com is a great place. But we also do have our own website www.sector9band.com where you can listen to our music and check our updates. We’re also available on Facebook and Instagram @sector9band as well as pretty much any digital streaming service out there.
Anything else before we sign off?
Just want to thank you for this interview and for shining some light on the underdogs. We’re truly humbled to have a chance to reach more and more rocker out there and we hope we continue to make music that we love. Cheers!
