Having cut their teeth playing symphonic rock covers, Sound Of Strangers released their debut album, Crossing Borders, in 2023 and it has recently been reissued via OOB records. Featuring seven songs that pay homage to progressive rock’s history, it was well-received the world over. However, the band are in no way a retro act and have their sights set firmly on the horizon, so now seemed like the perfect time to catch up with this most intriguing band.
Can you tell us about the band’s origins. Where did you meet etc.
The band started out as a tribute project, initiated by our former vocalist Serge. Gradually, some original songs started to grow, which led to the release of our first album “Crossing Borders”. Unfortunately, that album didn’t do much due to lack of promotion, and on top of that both Serge and keyboardist Henk decided to quit around the time of its release. Luckily we found Ron (keys) and Raymond (vocals), who were both pretty instrumental in writing the songs for our upcoming album “A Logic To Everything Bizarre”.
What are the musical influences of each band member and how do you forge them into a cohesive whole?
Marillion, Genesis, Rush and Porcupine Tree are big favourites and they have all been influential, in the sense that they’ve shown us what’s possible musically. If anything, we’ve “inherited” a bit of their taste for sound design and musical adventures, but we’re not consciously trying to combine Rush-style riffs with Marillion-style vocals or something like that. It usually comes pretty natural.
Can you tell us about your local music scene. Is it supportive? Are there many places to play?
It’s a small scene, but the bands that we’re in touch with are certainly supportive. Finding gigs isn’t easy, but that goes for most bands.
What’s the best and worst thing about your local scene?
Best thing about the Dutch music scene is that there are actually a lot of venues to go to. Worst is that a lot of the smaller stages hardly book bands that play original music, let alone progressive rock bands.
Can you tell us about the band’s discography (demos, singles, albums).
Apart from our first album, we’ve released our single “Shooting Stars” this past June, and “Live At NPF 2025” just now in October. The latter is a two-track single recorded live at the Northern Prog Festival.
How do you feel you’ve evolved musically throughout your career?
On the first album our influences were very present, whereas this time around it’s more “us”. The new songs are more adventurous and better structured, too. It still sounds like progressive rock, but we’ve definitely left the tribute phase behind us.
Can you tell us about tours you’ve completed. Any war stories you’d like to share?
Not really. We haven’t done that many gigs yet, and apart from that we’re very decent rock stars, so no war stories here!
Will we see you on the road anytime soon?
We’ll be playing a special show on January 9, 2027 to present the new songs that will appear on our new album, and we have some more dates coming up. Everyone interested can keep an eye our social channels for updates on that.
What’s next for the band? How do you plan to reach the next level?
Right now we’re in the exciting phase of finishing up “A Logic To Everything Bizarre”, which will be released by OOB Records on January 16, 2027. As soon as that’s done we’ll be busy promoting that, rehearsing and perhaps doing another video. In the meantime we’re already collecting ideas for new songs, so who knows what happens a year from now…
Finally, what’s the one question (and answer) interviewers never ask but you wish they would?
Question: What was the best move you made in your career so far?
Answer: That’s probably been our deal with OOB Records. It’s been a 180 degree turn from what we were used to. Label owner Kathy Keller is enthusiastic, but also professional and she knows what to do with our kind of music. We have a great working relationship, which hopefully will continue for some more years.
