Q&A with Markus Bongardt of Transonic Science

Q&A with Markus Bongardt of Transonic Science


MIR: Thank you for taking the time to do this. Please introduce yourself to the readers.

TS: Hello readers, we are Transonic Science from Cologne, Germany - Ergün sings, Markus plays guitar, Peter drums and Manuel bass. We started the band in 1996 - so we've been around for a while, even if you can't tell from our youthful faces, hehe ;)

Q: How did you get started on this adventure?

A: Before forming Transonic Science, Peter and me (Markus) had played together in a high school rock band. At some point during this time, Peter came back from the Bizarre Festival 1995 and had seen Kyuss live. He played me the Sky Valley CD afterwards and we were just speechless because of the sound and the vibe of this band. From then on we were infected and wanted to go in that direction. So we looked for people who were like-minded and found Gerald, our bass player, who unfortunately passed away in 2018, and Ergün as a singer, after we had a female singer for about 1-2 years.

Q: If you could go back to the day you started and give yourself one piece of advice, what would that be?

A: We should have used the Internet much earlier and much more to reach more people. Other bands were better at promoting themselves, but somehow nobody of us felt responsible for it or we were too lazy. But that is part of the job, and you have to promote yourself to get an audience.

Q: What is something that you have adopted that brings value to your process?

A: Today we better understand the possibilities of the Internet, even if we are still not the most diligent when it comes to self-promotion, haha. But it's great to reach people in all parts of the world and communicate with them. It's nice, especially if you belong to an underground scene.

Q: Please highlight some of the things you enjoy most about what you do.

A: For one thing, there's something special about playing your own music and making new songs. It's always exciting when you make a new song that you like yourself. That you create something together as a band that wasn't there before and that you hadn't even thought of before. That's very rewarding. On the other hand: Playing live. All the excitement and adrenaline, but also meeting other people at a concert who tick in a similar way, that's fun!

Q: What are some of your current goals? Things you may hope to achieve in the next 12-24 months or further.

A: Quite simply, we want to record and release our next album as quickly as possible. New songs are as good as finished. Now we have to see how we want to record the whole thing. Apart from that, of course, we want to play live as much as possible and it's definitely a goal of ours to perform at larger stoner rock festivals in the near future. Let's see if the bookers will let us on the big stages ;)

Q: What is an unpopular opinion that you subscribe to or a popular opinion that you disagree with?

A: Difficult question, because what is popular today and what is unpopular? In many things, people are so polarised that you can always find many like-minded people with your opinion. That's really weird. I myself am often a bit overwhelmed by so many convinced opinions in favour of or against one thing. More than once, I find myself doubting what the right solution to a social or political problem might be. I mean, the connections are often so complicated. But one thing is certain: we support equal, anti-racist and anti-discriminatory positions in any case and it is sad to see that these positions are considered unpopular in seemingly growing parts of the population. We must take a stand against this!

Q: Is there anything you want to mention as we close?

A: We wish you all the best and thank you for your support - we really appreciate that there are people like you who offer a platform to underground bands like us, that's just great!

MIR: Thank you for your time and I appreciate what you are doing.
--

Bobby Rayfield ~ Monuments in Ruin 

Click here to listen to Psychobulb by Transonic Science (Argonaunta Records 2024)

Click here to visit Argonauta Records

IKYMI: Check out Transonic Science on Episode 038 of the Doom Charts Mystery Picks! 

 

 

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