Getting to Know… Insonika | Interview

In the 467^th Q&A in our Getting to Know… series, we get the inside scoop from Jönköping, Sweden-based experimental metal band, Insonika. 

“Massive riffs, dreamy synths, and melodic vocals are what define us.” Right on, Insonika! Before making that statement regarding their sound, Oscar, the band’s singer and guitarist, asserts, “We write songs that we love and that we think sound good; we believe it makes for a more honest ‘product’ in the end.” Cool! Oscar provides the inside scoop on the Jönköping, Sweden-based experimental metal band’s genesis, goals, musical influences, and current and future musical endeavors. So, without further ado, let’s jump right into Getting to Know… Insonika: Interview No. 467!

For those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes Insonika distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

What makes our band unique is our approach to music. We write songs that we love and that we think sound good; we believe it makes for a more honest “product” in the end. Massive riffs, dreamy synths, and melodic vocals are what define us.

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did Insonika form, and what were some of your goals or visions early?

So, Insonika started as a three-piece with current singer and guitarist Oscar (me), bassist Daniel, as well as our original drummer Mattias. Our initial dreams still stand, play music, and love doing it. It started off as a jam project in 2017 that turned into a band, and we wrote tons of music and toured extensively. During Covid, current rhythm guitarist Sebastian joined, but first on keyboards, after a while, we found that guitar and backing vocals/screams suited him better, and he switched. He still does keyboards on our recordings. And in 2024, we had to part ways with Mattias, and Simon joined the band on drums, and now we’ve started our journey towards making music that we love and playing shows that we want to do.

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

The goals are pretty much the same, although we have divided them up into smaller, more manageable goals. Our current goals are to release as much music as possible that we are proud of and then tour the world.

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences, and how are they influential?

So, as I’m the one answering (Oscar, guitarist and singer), I’ll answer for myself! My biggest influences are James Hetfield, Tobias Forge, and the band VOLA as a whole. These three are quite different musically, yet they have one thing in common that makes them my biggest influences. They all write music they believe in, no matter how different or non-mainstream it is.

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

Well, there was that time when I got a bit too drunk on one of the first nights and ended up losing my voice, which made us play 3-4 gigs totally instrumental… Young and dumb, one could say!

To this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

I sometimes feel like the next song is my favorite one, which is something to aspire to do as a musician, I guess. But if I were to pick one, it would either be “Dunes of War” off of our album Pithos. Or I’d say our upcoming single, “Ashes of Certainty” (released 13th of June 2025). Both of those songs just have it all, amazing riffs, beautiful arrangements, and the thing that I love more than anything, lots of emotion in lyrics and vocals.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left-of-center we should know about Insonika? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

Hmm… I think we’re quite open as a band in general, so there’s nothing really surprising to tell you!

What is Insonika currently working on or promoting that you can share? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

It hasn’t been officially announced through our own channels yet, but we’re releasing a new single called “Ashes of Certainty” on June 13th. It is, without a doubt, the heaviest song we’ve ever recorded and a masterpiece at that! Six and a half minutes of pure musical expression.

Thank you so much for sharing and taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.