Sonic Boom Six
are a five-piece band from Manchester, United Kingdom. Their ecelectic sound combines elements of punk, Ska, Reggae and Hip-Hop. Their lyrics tend to focus on social commentary, attacking mainsteam society/media (e.g. 'The Rape of Punk to Come') anti-authoritarianism (e.g. Piggy In The Middle) and left-wing politics
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SONIC BOOM SIX TICKETS
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Career
Sonic Boom Six (shortened to
SB6
) first appeared on the Manchester
punk scene in April
2002. Some of their members were previously in the band Grimace. Their self-titled demo, recorded with
Jerry Melchers, was self-released in October
2002. To promote the CD, they toured the UK with
third wave ska veterans
The Toasters and London
ska punk/hip hop band
King Prawn. They also toured with
Coolie Ranx and performed as his backing band. In September
2003, they released
The Turbo EP, their first release for
Moon Ska Europe. This was produced by
Ace (of
Skunk Anansie) and Christophe. After a series of good reviews, Sonic Boom Six were invited to perform a session on
BBC Radio One's
The Lock Up
.
After further touring with
Catch 22, as well as on the Moon Ska
Launchpad Tour 2004
(alongside
Zen Baseballbat,
Graveltrap,
Babar Luck and
Dumpster Pop), the band re-united with Ace and Christophe to record their second EP.
Sounds to Consume
was released on
Moon Ska Europe in August
2004, and include the
Turbo
EP as bonus tracks. After tour dates with
Leftöver Crack and
The Suicide Machines, the band appeared on
BBC2's Asian arts programme
Desi DNA performing in a scrapyard, as well as being interviewed by
Adil Ray for his show on the
BBC Asian Network.
In early
February 2005, Sonic Boom Six replaced guitarist Dave "Hellfire" Kelly with current guitarist Ben, who used to play sax, thus making SB6 a four-piece. Ben's old sax parts are now played through a sampler when performing live, or by musicians from other bands, such as
Grown at Home and
The Flaming Tsunamis. In
2005, the band opened the
Love Music Hate Racism event on the Leftfield Stage at the
Glastonbury Festival, played
Belgium's
Sortie 23 festival and performed at the premier of the
Rock Against Racism film
Who Shot the Sheriff?
with
HARD-Fi and
Roll Deep. 2005 also saw the release of the
Champion Edition
of Sounds to Consume, which featured four of their original demo tracks (remixed by
Tim G), three remixes, an acoustic track and a video. They also embarked on several dates on the inaugural
Good To Go Tour alongside
The Aquabats and
Never Heard of It.
In 2006, the band recorded their second session for BBC Radio 1's
The Lock Up
, which was broadcast on
27 June. They were joined by Pete and Tucker from
Jesse James and Itch from
The King Blues. Their debut full-length album,
The Ruff Guide to Genre-Terrorism
, was released on
10 July 2006 on
Deck Cheese Records, and in
August 2006 the band played the
Reading and Leeds Festivals as a last minute replacement for
Paramore. They were joined again by Itch of
The King Blues for a performance of "All In" (singing the parts of the song written by
Coolie Ranx) and Nick 'The Blade' Horne of
Howards Alias, partner of vocalist Laila, who played trombone on the songs "Bigger Than Punk Rock" and "Until the Sunlight Comes".
In May 2007, they played at the Slam Dunk Festival at Leeds University Union with Paramore and
Reel Big Fish. During Reel Big Fish's set, Laila joined the band on stage to sing parts of "She Has a Girlfriend Now" alongside Aaron Barrett. She joined them again during Reel Big Fish's
Monkeys for Nothin' winter tour in 2008. They played the Reading and Leeds Festivals again in 2007, on the Lock Up stage, playing not only their own material but covering the song "Sound System" by
Operation Ivy. During this song, Itch from the King Blues once again joined them on stage to sing it. November 2007 saw the release of the band's second full-length CD,
Arcade Perfect
, on their own Rebel Alliance Recordings.
[1]
In May 2008, the band embarked on the
Rude Awakening 2008
tour, alongside
Big D and the Kids Table and
Random Hand. 2008 also saw a second Ruff and Ready tour. This was followed by the release of a remixes, b-sides and rarities album entitled
Play On: Rare, Rejected and Arcade Perfected, which the band toured in support of in late 2008. Nick Horne also joined the band as a full time member, now playing guitar and bass live as well as trombone.
Members
- Laila K: Vocals/Melodica
- Ben Childs: Guitar/Vocals/Saxophone
- Paul 'Barney Boom' Barnes: Bass/Vocals
- Neil 'Madfish' McMinn: Drums/Samples
- Nick 'Howards Alias' Horne: Guitar/Trombone
Side-projects and other interests
Babyboom
In addition to Sonic Boom Six, all four members perform acoustically, formerly under the name Babyboom. Their
self-titled debut
EP was recorded in
February 2006.
Suicide Bid
Laila, Barney and Ben also contribute vocals to the ongoing dub/punk project
Suicide Bid and feature heavily on the collective's 2006 album
The Rot Stops Here
as well as performing live on rare occasions such as Rebellion punk festival.
Ruff and Ready Tour
In February 2007 the band embarked on the inaugural Ruff and Ready Tour, a multi-band package tour put together by Sonic Boom Six. This initial tour featured the band with support from
The King Blues,
Failsafe and
Mouthwash. The second tour is scheduled to begin in October 2008, again with SB6 headlining, and this time with support from
Chris Murray, The JB Conspiracy and Chief.
Rebel Alliance Recordings
Rebel Alliance Recordings was originally the band's outlet for releasing the second SB6 album,
Arcade Perfect
, in 2006, but has since grown into a fully-fledged record label, counting The Babylon Whackers and
Random Hand among its ranks.
Discography
Year
| Album
| Label
|
2002
| Sonic Boom Six EP
| self-released
|
2003
| The Turbo EP
| Moon Ska Europe
|
2004
| Sounds to Consume
| Moon Ska Europe
|
2005
| Sounds to Consume Champion Edition
| Moon Ska Europe
|
2006
| as Babyboom: Babyboom
| self-released
|
2006
| The Ruff Guide to Genre-Terrorism
| Deck Cheese
|
2007
| All-In (single)
| Deck Cheese
|
2007
| Ruff and Ready: Live in Manchester (DVD)
| self-released
|
2007
| Arcade Perfect
| Rebel Alliance
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2008
| Play On: Rare, Rejected & Arcade Perfected
| Rebel Alliance
|
2009
| City of Thieves
| Rebel Alliance
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References
- Sonic Boom Six MySpace Profile