Müller, Alfred (Soniq Theater) (June 2002)

Alfred Müller Opens The Soniq Theater

Keyboardist Alfred Müller, a founding member of Rachel's Birthday -- a band he left in 1997 -- began this latest project, Soniq Theater in 1999, releasing the debut album Soniq Theater in 2001. With the beautiful album artwork by Theirry Guilleminot, the music on Soniq Theater has seen comparisons to Everon, Saga, and Rick and Oliver Wakeman, among others. In May, we were able to chat a bit with Müller about the Soniq Theater project. Here is the result.

Igor Italiani: Hi Alfred ... first of all can you tell me if you have some new songs ready to be published, considering that your first Soniq Theater album was finished more than a year ago?

Alfred Müller: Indeed I have a lot of songs more or less already produced, but this summer it's not the right time to publish another Soniq Theater album. The reason why is that I'm doing another project parallel of Soniq Theater and probably in the near future there will be another publication, too, not progressive rock, but electronic instrumental pop.

II: Do you think you'll be able to tour at some time with this project or not?

AM: Certainly not. The Soniq Theater effort is a so called one-man band, and it's not thought to tour with this music. The most important aspect is: on the one hand it sounds like a band, but you can consider it more as a studio-production of a solo artist.

II: Can you tell me what musicians would you like to include to round up your band, especially in a live show?

AM: Well, I gave up playing live in 1997. Before that, maybe you remember the German prog band Rachel's Birthday. I was a member of them and I had a number of gigs with them, and to be honest, it's a hard business to play prog live. You and your readers certainly know the prog-scene, the other reason is that my health is not the best and it would simply be a big stress for me now.

II: And what country would you like to visit the most?

AM: I think the question is already answered [Italy? - II]...

II: Talking about Soniq Theater now, can you tell me the genesis of the tracks that comprise the album?

AM: Yes, the songs were composed during the time since 1992 and [up to] 2000 ... I wrote a lot of songs during that time, much more than this album contains, but I was technically able to produce them alone only since 1999. So, I hope there are more albums of Soniq Theater to follow in the future.

II: But why did you decide to do only instrumental songs?

AM: Well, if you listen carefully there is a track, called "Minka E Rano," in which I used Bulgarian female chants, and there are also some female vocal snippets in other songs. But you are right, the album is first of all instrumental ... this is because I really did it all alone. Who knows, maybe in a future album there will be more vocals. I might be featuring my own voice and female voices again.

II: On the Soniq Theater album you cover a lot of sounds and genres. What's your favourite one?

AM: It's really hard to say as I love this variety of sounds ... but maybe the ones I love the most are Moog-sounding keyboard-solos.

II: Are you talking to some labels to better distribute your album, or are you sticking with the independent way?

AM: I had some talks, but not very promising. Maybe the concept is too unusual, but first of all, with this album, I wanted to test the reaction of the magazines, webzines and radios, and the feedback & result is very encouraging so far ... let's see what the future brings...

II: Can you shed some light on your beginnings as a musician? Who were your early idols, what song sparked your interest in music, how many sacrifices did you manage to play?

AM: I started playing organ at the age of 12, had my first band when I was 17. Since I was 15 years old, my favourite music was progressive rock, or also called art-rock. In these old days one of the most important kicks I received were the '70s albums of Kansas [great choice as always! -II], but also Yes, Genesis, Camel, King Crimson and Gentle Giant, and even Manfred Mann's Earth Band. When I was ready [done] with school, I decided to earn my money in a civil job and the rest of the time making music.

II: Can you also tell us what's your instrumentation?

AM: It's a midi-system. [The] master keyboard is the Ensoniq TS10. Further keyboards, sampler, [and] drum module are of Yamaha, Roland, EMU and Alesis.

II: What's your point of view on the Internet and online music?

AM: Great! [The] Internet is my doorway to the world and to the international prog-scene. I know that some online radio-shows play Soniq Theater and this is a very good way to spread the music all over the world.

II: What would you like to do if you weren't a musician?

AM: As [I'm in] a civil job, I'm working in an office, but, to be honest, I don't really like it. it's simply necessary to survive.

II: OK Alfred, I think that's all. There's something else you would like to add before goodbye?

AM: Well, thank you to all of you for your attention. I hope you'll like the Soniq Theater music, as there will be even more in the future. Bye. :-)

Discography:
Rachel's Birthday - An Invitiation To (1996)
A Second Of Action (2003)
The Third Eye (2003)
This Mortal Coil (2004)
Pandromania (2005)
Enchanted (2006)
Seventh Heaven (2007)
Life Seeker (2008)
Vision Quest (2009)
Unknown Realities (2010)
Force Majure (2011)
Stardust Memories (2013)
Heroes Of The Past (2014)
Guitarissimo (2015)