SoSo: Dreams, Dedication and Defying the Odds in the Australian Music Scene
November marks the defining moment in the career of Sydney pop punk underdogs SoSo. The quartet are dropping their much-anticipated debut album, So Much For Second Chances. Ahead of the release, frontman Rhys de Burgh spoke to The Note about the creation of the record, the grind of being a working musician and collaborating with acclaimed producer Stevie Knight.
Interview Tobias Handke // Image Marcus Coblyn
Image Mega Media TV
Congratulations on your new single ‘Something More’. It’s an uplifting dose of pop punk with a message many independent and aspiring bands can relate to – the struggle to make it in the music industry while also holding down a steady job and balancing life’s responsibilities. How have you managed this over the years, and what keeps SoSo motivated to keep chasing the dream?
Honestly, it’s been a lot of sacrifice - like, a LOT of sacrifice. We’ve always approached SoSo with the idea that we want to give fans the absolute best music, videos, releases, etc. We feel like we owe them that much. Which means we’ve had to hold down proper careers to fund SoSo. It’s essentially been work, and anytime outside of work is put into SoSo. We miss out on family events, seeing friends, everything and anything comes second to SoSo.
We love making music and playing shows for fans - that’s what keeps us going. No one’s going to do it for us, so we need to go out and do everything we can to make this dream a reality.
The final lines of the songs go, ‘I can’t keep living like a slave to the system / And I’m hoping there’s something more’. While the band obviously has the belief you can make it, how do you reconcile with the fact that it might not happen, or do you keep those thoughts at the back of your mind?
I think the frustrating thing for us is, by most bands' metrics, we have “made it”. We have an insanely dedicated and supportive fanbase, we’re selling more tickets to shows than bands signed to booking agencies, and we’re moving four to five times the amount of merch of a typical independent band.
The only thing we “worry” about is how long we (mostly I) can keep up working 16 hours a day, 365 days a week on SoSo. The music industry doesn’t seem to have us on their radar, but we’re kinda just hoping there’ll be a “breakthrough moment” when we become undeniable. Maybe if the love of making music dies before then, we’ll pack it in… but until then…
You quit your 9-5 over a year ago to concentrate on the band and develop ways to increase listenership and get the band’s name out there. What have you learnt over that time, and what types of initiatives have you put into place to grow the band’s fanbase and awareness?
So I’d slaved away for nine years, putting myself through university, becoming a lawyer and then holding down a full-time job to save up the money to self-fund releasing an album. I had started growing SoSo’s email marketing list back at the start of 2024, and by the end of that year, we had a substantial following of about 5k (now over 10k) - enough to make me take the risk and leave my career to focus full-time on SoSo.
What I’ve learned is, if you create and provide your fanbase solid, enjoyable content and chat to them directly - via email, DM’s, whatever it might be, that’s how you connect with them. We’re so lucky to have people who care about our music; it’s up to us to thank them by chatting to them and providing them with exclusive, enjoyable content. We owe them everything.
One of the more interesting initiatives concerns your upcoming debut album, So Much For Second Chances (pre-order here). In a bid to get the album to #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, you’ve drastically slashed the pre-order price on the CD, vinyl and digital download versions. Talk us through this decision and what the response has been from not only fans, but others in the music industry.
I think reframing this one is worthwhile - the goal of going for an ARIA #1 is born out of desperation. We have no other option but to try and pull off something outrageous to get the attention of the Australian music industry. I also don’t think the discounts are really the highlight here - many labels drop their prices lower than ours (most drop Digital Download costs to $1.95 to shore up a chart spot for their artists, whereas ours are still at $4.95 for a Digital Download).
The question here is - why does an independent band who has a dedicated fanbase and is outselling signed artists feel the need to throw everything into getting an ARIA #1 just to get a foot in the door with the industry?
We’ve already done twice as many album sales as Ninajirachi did with her recent album (zero shade here, we love Nina’s work!), and we’ve sold more physical albums than MGK did with his last album. At the time of writing this, we’ve sold just over 1,500 CD pre-orders and 500 vinyl pre-orders. In a music landscape where physical media is supposedly dead, I’d say that being able to sell that number (so far) at a price of $9.95 a CD and $39.95 a vinyl, shows just how much our fanbase believes in SoSo, our story and our music.
We’re blessed to have the fans we have – we’re in with a sniff at #1 overall, so we owe it to them to work ourselves into the ground to pay them back for their belief in us. If we pull this off, this is The SoSo Crew’s win – not ours.
As for what the music industry has to say, I’m not sure - you’d have to ask them.
Any thoughts on what the Australian music scene can do to help support emerging artists?
I don’t really have thoughts on what the Australian music scene can do to help emerging artists – I can’t control what others do. Personally, we try to help and support other smaller artists whenever we can. We seek out other artists who are overlooked and offer them support at our shows, try to promo them online, etc. I’d love to be able to bring a few of these overlooked bands along for the ride if SoSo does break through – that’s always been my goal. The more bands we can help who might be in our position, overlooked and undervalued, the better.
Let’s talk about So Much For Second Chances. SoSo have been out there getting it done for five years. How has the band evolved over that time, and how will this manifest in your debut?
I think we’ve learned so much about songwriting, and we’ve finally gotten to a point where we’re confident we can write a decent song. So now we’ve been able to do what we’ve always wanted to do – write songs that aren’t explicitly trapped within the pop-punk genre. Across the album, I’d argue we’ve got a few pop-punk songs, a few leaning into pop rock/more commercial territory, and post-hardcore songs thrown in the mix. It keeps things fresh, and we get to show that SoSo’s not a one-trick pony.
How proud are you of the collection of songs you’ve created, and how excited are you to get it into the world?
We all love these songs, and it’s only a taste of what we all know we’re able to create. We’re so bloody keen for everyone to hear them, and honestly, we’ll probably start writing LP #2 as soon as this release is done. That excitement is mixed in with the impending doom of everything that comes with self-releasing… there’s a lot going on.
For those not familiar with SoSo, what can they expect from the album?
If they’re a diehard fan of pop-punk, they’ll probably love half the album and be a bit “meh” towards some other songs. There’s a pretty wild mix of songs in there, I reckon personally, so maybe a classic case of “expect the unexpected”.
Stevie Knight (Yours Truly, Stand Atlantic, Between You & Me) is behind the boards for the album. How did that relationship come about? Why did you choose him, and what did he bring to the project?
Stevie chose us, really. We’ve worked with him for about 8-9 years now. He saw something in us, believed in us and taught us how to write decent songs. Stevie has the ability to add that special something to the songs we bring in, or help out and write sections when we’re stuck that really bring the song to life.
People don’t realise just how brilliant a producer, songwriter and artist Stevie is. He’s the man – a lot of Australian bands owe everything to him, including us.
Is there any message you want fans to take away when listening to So Much For Second Chances?
Just enjoy the songs. We spent hours meticulously writing them to make everything the best it could be. Everything has a purpose but we’ve tried to sprinkle in a little bit of stupid to give you a giggle (listen out for the random quotes/sound bites in each of the tracks). Just have fun with it, you can try to do something the best you can and still have fun and that’s what we do.
To coincide with the release of So Much For Second Chances, SoSo are hitting the road at the end of this month. For those yet to experience SoSo live, what can they expect?
It’s a total vibe – sometimes I wish I could be in the crowd just having a ball with our fans. They’re such legends, we always make sure we’re as tight live as we possibly can be while still giving as much energy into the performance. And hey, no live auto-tune. So if I fuck a note, you can all laugh along with me.
How much are you looking forward to the shows, and what is it about playing live that resonates with you?
There’s something almost spiritual about playing live, you hit a groove and you’re locked in with your best mates playing tunes on stage. That’s what resonates – and the fact that we’re playing to a room full of people who connect with the songs the same way we do. We’re blessed to be able to experience that.
Once the album is out and the tour is done, what’s next for SoSo?
I need a break, just a few days to clear my head. This is the dumbest and most insane thing I’ve ever tried to do – I’ve definitely pushed the other lads to their limits and pushed myself well past mine. So, we’ll take a breather, probably a week or two. Then we’ll get stuck into writing LP #2… oh, and we’ve got live recorded versions of every song from the album, so maybe we release them to DSPs at some point?
SOSO play Lowlife Bar on Friday 21 November. Tickets are sold out.
