Sonic Cube / Sonnenvakuum (Tribal Vision / Domo Records)

Hey guys, how are you? Tell me a little bit about yourselves… how old are you, where are you from, and what are your projects? When did you first find trance music?

Daniel: I’m 35 years old; I am living in Zurich, Switzerland. I started as a base player in different projects in the 80’s with some of my friends which where also fascinated by the growing influence of electronic instruments to the music back then. We where inspired by the EBM scene from these times by bands like : „Fad Gadget“ ,“Chris & Cosey“,“Cabaret Voltaire“ and later by Industrial Bands like „Pitchshifter“,“Dead World“,“My dying Bride“ etc. I discovered „Psy Trance“back in 1994 and suddenly fell in love with it. So I was Djing for quite a while before I started to work on my own tracks in 1998.

Ueli: I’m 34 years old; I am living in Zurich, Switzerland, together with my wife and my 3 month old son in an old flat. I have got my studio under the rooftop. The lake is just 10 minutes away and across the street, there is a beautiful park. This is a nice surrounding for good inspiration!

I started my music-career as a drummer in different underground and punk bands. We were touring a lot around Europe and Russia. 1994 I got in to trance music and started as a dj, (dj vakuum). Few years later I met Daniel, he was a dj too (dj sonne). We have the same background, he also was involved in the Swiss underground-scene (ebm,punkrock,ect...) We inspired each other and we started to work together with our Project SONNENVAKUUM.

Our main-projects are SONNENVAKUUM and SONICCUBE. Beside were producing a number of tracks which are little different to our two main-projects. Most of them are made together with other artists. With SONICCUBE were working already together with singer and guitar player. We plan to produce more Songs in that way.

So Sonic Cube started as 3 of you didn’t it? You used to have Tobi (Greed) in there as well… Does this mean a shift in sound for Sonic Cube? I’ve seen some tracks where you guys are Vs each other, does this mean you still work together from time to time?

Ueli: Yes, Tobi left SONICCUBE, because he is very busy with his own Project GREED. He’s also playing bass in a rock band. Still we are working together from time to time under the name SONICCUBE/GREED. There is one remix-track in process for P.O.T.S. But no, there won’t be big changes in the sound of SONICCUBE.

So tell me a bit about the new Album for Sonic Cube on Tribal Vision… What is the direction that you are taking? How would you describe the sound to someone who hasn’t heard Sonic Cube before?

Ueli: Mhhhh....surprise, surprise...hehehehe...the second album is a good continue of our first one. I think we made progress in sound quality; we worked a lot on it. SONICCUBE is described as a mix of different styles in techno and trance, you can call it: progressive trance, tech-house, morning grooving sounds... The new album will be more clubbing sound and a little bit more techno, but still grooving and funky!


Daniel: Our new Album is possibly more Club orientated then the first one, but it just progressed that way, we never tried to „go“in a specific direction with the sound. Whenever we play our new stuff to friends etc., they try to compare it with other stuff, so some might say it sounds like Antix, others think more like..... Whatever ;)

I understand there is also a Sonnenvakuum album also on Domo soon… maybe tell me a little about that? What direction does this album take? How is the sound different from Sonic Cube?

Ueli: Yes, SONNENVAKUUM was always more dark and more psy-trance as SONICCUBE. „Deep dark progressive trance“is the right description for SONNENVAKUUM. The new album on Domo Records will be in the same direction with a few very dark tracks...hehehe...

Daniel: Sonnenvakuum was always the project for our „experiments“, we try to keep this one as „underground“as possible. That’s the reason why people either love or hate the style of Sonnenvakuum. For me it's a good possibility to reflect some of my old heroes from the Industrial scene.

I see there are also a number of EP releases etc coming soon… Can you tell me a little about those? Which other labels do you work with outside of Tribal Vision and Domo? Any future collaboration in store?

Daniel: There will be a few new releases on different labels. We are in contact for the moment with: Iboga / Vertikal / Moonflower / SOG / Tupan / Avalanche etc., we will see where we succeed.

You guys must be pretty busy, touring and making 2 albums at once? You must not have time to think! Has it been tough making 2 at once, what have some challenges been?

Ueli: The new SONNENVAKUUM album is coming out later then planed around March 06. Making music takes a lot of time and beside we also need to work to earn money because it’s impossible to live from our music. I have got a wife and little son to support that means I need even more money. Unfortunately it is not so easy to live with little money in Switzerland.


Daniel: We never put ourselves under pressure, cause we just started a track, and when we where „soft-hearted“this day, it ended up SONIC CUBE STYLE and when we where a bit angry and had to much energy, it ended up as SONNENVAKUUM .



So what has been the most memorable moment in your trance career so far? Which is the best party you played at, and the best place you visited?

Ueli: It’s difficult to say which gig was the best. We had lots of good concerts, manly in Germany. It’s always interesting how people react on our tracks, not every song who sounds great in the studio, rocks the dance floor. Anyway, it’s good fun to play live!

Daniel: I think the most memorable thing in my trance career was one of my first dj sets when I discovered how to let people scream and shout and freak out ;) Besides this , its hard to say which was the best place or party , there are a lot of nice memories, and some bad ones as well.

Which artists inspire you guys to do what you do? Who are your favourites? What do you listen to when you are at home? Do you like much music outside trance? If so, what?

Ueli: Honestly, I am almost never listen to trance at home. But there are really good acts, like Freq, Antix, Sonkite and a lots more! I like also Iboga Records very much. Also here in Switzerland are a lot of great acts like Andre Absolut, V-Tunes, ect. In all kind of music there are bands and acts which inspire me: Rock, HipHop,Jazz,House...ect. For example I really love the two last Album of Massive Attack! The sound quality is best! I also think the new CD of Mos Def is really good, a great mix between Jazz, HipHop, and Punk. But it also can be a film, a picture or a text which inspires me for new songs.

Daniel: Hard to believe, but I bought my last „trance / goa / psy / progressive“ album a few years ago already. So, I'm not really up to date regarding this stuff. What I am listening at home is a lot of chill out stuff and mainly New School Dub, where my absolute heroes are „Rhythm and Sound“and the likes, as well as some IDM. BTW , you have a fantastic Dub scene in Sydney , with artists like “Jeff Dread“ and “Sheriff Lindo“ etc. ....... check it out ;)

Do you have much of a life outside of music these days? What do you guys do when you are at home and not making music?

Ueli: like I was saying before- part-time jobs, taking care of my little son, and of course making contacts for the music, organising gigs, ect. Ah yes, Tibetan Buddhism is something else which really interest me, so I’m reading a lot about it and do a little bit of meditation.


Daniel: I use almost 90% of my free time to work in the studio, especially during the winter (yes, it’s f***** freezing cold here). Besides this I work as a freelancer in a „Media Performance“Company where I’m responsible for lighting designs and technique on Concerts / Events / Theatres etc.



Any last words to the Aussie people before we wrap this up? Any thank yous or people you want to mention?

Ueli: Thanks to all the readers! Thanks to all who’s support us. Thanks to TRIBAL VISION RECORDS and DOMO RECORDS. Check our websites to get actual information, you can also listen to our new tracks and download a lot for free! Thank you very much for the interview Jesse! Maybe see you soon in Down Under!?!


Daniel: As I told you already, I spend 1 year down under and would be happy to greet a few people by this chance ;)

“Nocturnal Party org. (Melbourne)“
“Luke + Luna @ Digitalpsyonics (Byron Bay)“
“Adam @ Australiens.net (Sydney)
“SheJ Miss Genie and Megan (Melbourne)“
“Makoto (Cairns)“
and all I forgot here ;)

And a special Thank to you Jesse for your time and support



Thanks very much guys, I appreciate the chat… Good luck with your up and coming releases and hopefully see you down-under sometime soon!

Peace, Jesse.

Interview by Jesse Kuch @ www.australiens.net