Dundee is hardly a city that immediately leaps to mind when thinking of classic rock and metal. Indeed, it is hardly on the tour schedule of any major acts, and the Caird Hall that once hosted the likes of Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, and Iron Maiden, rarely echoes to such sounds. However, there are points of light in the musical darkness, and for this old Thotchhead, the one that shines most brightly is local power trio Solar Sons. Building up to shows to support the imminent release of their new album ‘Another Dimension’ they were kind enough to take some time out to answer a few questions.

Ave Noctum: Firstly, congratulations on the new album ‘Another Dimension’ which is a real cracker. 2024 sees you celebrating a decade as a band as well as this year releasing a fifth album. Are these landmarks you thought you’d reach, and how do they make you feel?

Solar Sons: Thanks Spenny, and cheers for catching up with us! Nice one we are glad to hear you enjoyed the new album. We recorded it at Deep Storm Productions with Kevin Hare producing, mixing and mastering. Richy Walsh made an accompanying studio documentary and music video. Another great friend and artist Ryan Locke did the artwork for this album. These guys really helped us make this album happen and they were all amazing to work with.

Yes, 10 years together and five albums is an awesome landmark and we are all really happy to have accomplished that. It’s not something we thought of that much when we started, but we knew we had a lot of music and good times ahead of us. We keep pushing and striving for those goals of releasing new music, and being an active and respected live band. It’s always a joy to get together for a jam session, gig, hang out or work on something knew. We hope that continues and we fully intend it to!

AN: The band and albums have been labelled in the past assorted combinations of “Prog”, “Rock”, and “Metal”. Are these terms you’re still happy to have applied, or with ten-years worth of experience, is there a different title you’d like?

SS: We are happy with those titles. We are a rock/metal band and we like to play a lot of different styles. It’s good to have the creative space to explore, we like to experiment and write with all the tools we have. More recently we’ve been welcomed within the Stoner and Doom scene. We really like that, and are glad our sound has grown into these different shades. Next up – funk sons!

AN: The new album has some pretty obvious Sci-fi references, with ‘Automaton’ really sounding like an adaptation of Asimov’s ‘Bi-Centennial Man’; is everyone in the band a bit of a Sci-fi buff, or one person in particular? Don’t be shy and think of this as a dig as my place is lined with shelves of such books and movies.

SS: Sci-fi is a good place to let your mind have a jumping off point. We love to explore sci-fi inspired themes. It’s fun because they can be metaphors for real life, or just an out-there sci-fi concept. It’s down to interpretation, which is also part of the beauty and subjectivity of music. We are big fans of sci-fi books and movies.

AN: Looking through the archives of Ave Noctum, the last published interview was 2017, and in referring to your then second album I asked if you’d had any approaches by labels. Six years and three albums later you are still self-releasing. Is this a deliberate choice, or have you not yet had an offer from the right people, as I know some folks who have had raw deals from what were basically “bedroom labels”?

SS: Wow that’s a wee while ago! We’ve had a bit of label interest here and there but it’s not something we’ve actively pursued too much. We enjoy the freedom of self-releasing, although we would certainly be interested if the right thing came along.

AN: Apologies for what must sound like dreadful toadying, but the level of musicianship on show in Solar Sons far outstrips so many other bands doing the rounds, but for some reason, you remain a cult underground act. Have you ever thought that if you’d been born a few decades earlier you’d be getting far greater attention, with slots on ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’ and tours with the likes of Yes and Rush?

SS: Haha, thank you we appreciate that! We don’t try and compete and we are massively influenced by the brilliant local talent within our peers on the scene. We’ve heard that before regarding era, and perhaps if we were born in a different generation, we may have graced those stages. However, we are very happy to be in the current timeline and maybe one day our music will be a little more well known. Until then, we shall still riff with the same intensity as always, and we appreciate everyone that’s supported us along the journey so far!

AN: As well as recording your own album, you’ve recently put out online some classic covers, namely Thin Lizzy’s ‘Don’t Believe A Word’ and Deep Purple’s ‘Burn’ with King Witch. Do you find you’re influenced more by such classic acts, and as almost a supplementary question to the above, if you could travel in time, are there any acts you’d want to share a stage with?

SS: Yes, we are massively influenced by bands from the 60s 70s and 80s. Also, the 90s, 00s and beyond. There’s so many absolute classics from the golden era and we love to deep dive into the back catalogue of all the awesome bands that influence us.

We had a blast collaborating with King Witch on Burn. Don’t believe a word was also a lot of fun. Jamie Gilchrist from Nameless City Sounds and King Witch, did a fantastic job recording our covers this year.

If we “could” travel time (our time machine is top secret BTW) we would go see Jimi Hendrix at Maui. Check out Woodstock. Go and see bands such as Thin Lizzy, Cream, Led Zep, The Who, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Queen, Skynyrd – in original forms!

AN: Since covers have come up, and as I like to think my constantly mentioning you to the label had some small influence, I have to mention your inclusion in the ‘Fifty Years Later’ tribute to Budgie’s ‘Never Turn Your Back On A Friend’; what was the experience like hooking up with Pale Wizard? Would you like to be included in their future releases, and of course, will you be adding ‘Melt The Ice Away’ or any covers to your live set?

SS: It was a great experience hooking up with Pale Wizard for the Budgie tribute. We were honoured to be asked to join the ace line up of bands for that record. They are great guys and it’s a really cool label. We would absolutely work with them again! Yes, we will definitely play Melt the Ice Away live at some point soon.

AN: This year saw you play London for the first time, as well as more forays further away from just local and Scottish dates. Have you had any particular highs and lows in putting more miles on the road, and do you have plans to venture even further afield? Indeed, could a full tour be something that you’d do if it could be sorted out around the vagaries of normal life, either headlining, or if offered the right support slot?

SS: It was awesome to play London and we want to do that again soon. Definitely an ambition ticked off there. Oor wee band fae Dundee hitting up London! We would love to do a full UK and also European tour. Jumping on a great support slot would be ideal for us and we are looking into making that happen.

AN: Five albums in ten years is pretty damn prolific compared to the vast majority of acts; it does of course lead to the next question, which is what are future recording plans? Is the writing process for you something that happens continually when the muse grabs you, or do you have to sit down and deliberately work at it?

SS: Thank you, we like to keep busy and that’s a good amount of output for sure. We want to do more all the time, and would love to release something next year to celebrate our first decade as a band! We all write quite a lot yes, things that are great often get put aside for the right time, so we look forward to develop those ideas. There are always new spontaneous things that happen, which is good to have some variety. We’ve got plans to get back to recording early next year and we already begun demos etc. for some of them. We like to have the next thing pencilled in while we are busy with the current project. We can’t wait to release some new music that explores some of our different sides further. Doom sons, funk sons, thrash sons, dare I say jazz… Lots more to come from us loons.

AN: Finally, the question I always finish with, and hopefully you won’t go into the Ave Noctum archive for a cheeky cut and paste; you must have to plough through a pile of interviews and the same old questions. Is there a question you would like to be asked, what is it, and what is the answer?

SS: Haha, it’s a treat to chat to good folk interested enough to ask questions, we always appreciate it.

Thanks again to Danny Lee, Rory Lee, and Pete Garrow of Solar Sons for taking the time to answer the questions, and let me encourage you to purchase their albums and buy their merch, available on the links below. As a taster, here’s their latest video from their forthcoming album

Interview: Spenny

https://www.facebook.com/solarsonsofficial

https://solarsonsofficial.bandcamp.com/album/another-dimension