Review Fix Exclusive: Sights & Sounds’ Andrew Neufeld Talks ’No Virtue’ And More

October 27, 2019 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with Sights & Sounds’ Andrew Neufeld, who discusses the band’s new album and goals for the future.

Review Fix: What was the biggest obstacle during the creation of this album?

Andrew Neufeld: Most challenging is filtering all the ideas through the funnel and dialing in what works the best. The most rewarding is 2 parts. First is the initial creative spurts that ignite the song ideas in right away. These moments come when you least expect them. The second most rewarding part is where we are at now. Having the finished product. Listening back the mixes with all the candy and soundscapes weaving in and out, and being able to share it with our peers and whoever is able to listen to it! 

Review Fix: What was your creative process like for this album?

Neufeld: Write / demo/ rewrite / demo. Luckily we have some recording tools at our disposal within the band so we are able to hash out songs and really step back and listen to them as we go. But the downfall of that is oftentimes suffering from dermatitis and striving to capture the energy and honesty of the takes in their original conceptions. 

Review Fix: What inspires you? How has that changed over the years?

Neufeld: Seeing my friend’s bands do crazy things inspires me. Being able to travel around the world w. S&S or Comeback Kid and have people fuck with our music inspires me. Learning new ways to create music is inspiring. It’s always a positive for me to step outside my own comfort zone and find new ideas to bring into the fold of my own creative journey.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Neufeld: S&S is an atmospheric rock band from Toronto Canada. A melodic band with electronic elements with punk/hardcore roots. Think Smashing Pumpkins mixed with New Order and Oasis. 

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

Neufeld: Live shows always end up heavier. The crushing elements are so much more apparent in a live setting. That’s not intentional but I think coming from such a heavy background it’s more natural for us to go balls to the walls on in an energetic live environment.

Review Fix: What inspired your latest single?

Neufeld: We just released a whole album! The newest single that is coming out with a video this week is called “Serpentine”.

Serpentine is a dive into the deepest parts of our minds. The parts that overwhelm us when they are finally recovered. Set behind a hard electronic backdrop, this is definitely the heaviest song on ‘No Virtue’ and will resonate probably more to those who know me from singing in Comeback Kid. Sights learned a hell of a lot recording our last album w. Devin Townsend, and we sent a nod to him on this track as you will be fully aware of. The song is about the eternal build. When you’re always “almost there”. My brother Joel ( drums ) and I had this song hummed out for probably 10 years now and we’ve finally brought this beast to life

Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2019?

Neufeld: We have some album release shows and touring planned. First in Canada and then we will round out the year in Europe in December. Looking forward to touring the album in the US in the new year.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14316 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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