The Adobe Flash Player is required to watch videos on this page

Sioum

Quick Links
About the Artist
Music
Achievements
Press Coverage
Stage Specs
Return to Sioum's profile

At-a-Glance
One-Sheet

Hometown	Chicago, IL
Genres	Instrumental, Rock
Band Members	Dorian Zdrinc, Arthur Zdrinc, Kevin Clark
Achievements	» more
Upcoming Shows	None

Contact Information:	Booking Sioum sioumband@gmail.com 555-555-5555
# Years Experience Performing Live:	1
# Live Perfomances Past Six-months:	7
Market Draw:	Home Market: 0-30
Venue History:	swing state - lake villa, IL The Oasis - Grayslake, IL Penny Road Pub - South Barrington, IL Abbey Pub - Chicago, IL Elbo Room - Chicago, IL jstreet radio 98.3FM - Round Lake, IL College of Lake County - Grayslake, IL The House Cafe - DeKalb, IL Ye Olde Town Inn - Mount Prospect, IL Reggie's Rock Club - Chicago, IL
Similar Artists:	Weye; Lybria; Bridges of Konigsberg; Lost in Blue; Russian Circles; Cloudkicker
Performing Rights Society:	Other
Discography:	I Am Mortal, But Was Fiend LP—2010; Rebirth Single—2009

Expand All Expand All

Expand

About the Artist

Sioum is an instrumental band from the northern wastes of Illinois. The trio often draws inspiration from dreams, movies, video games, and most frequently, emotion itself. post-metal/rock, as well as progressive influence are often noted, although...

Expand

Music

Photos

Videos

Play

"Lapse" Live@Ye Olde Town Inn

Expand

Achievements

Top 10 in Metal, February 2016

Top 10 in Metal, January 2016

Top 10 in Metal, December 2015

Expand

Press Coverage

Mirrek Interview on jstreet radio by Podcast of the interview
--Thursday nights 8pm-9pm CT-- http://www.wrlr.fm/ ***Broadcasting to more than 200,000 residents in the greater Round Lake Area, Gurnee, Hainesville, Lake Villa, Lindenhurst, Grayslake, Ingleside, Long Lake, Fox Lake, Gurnee, Antioch, Mundelein, Waconda, Waukegan, and other communities in western Lake County.***

Mirrek interview @ Swing State Venue by Grab-a-sausage-and-tune-in
***Swing State is a breath of fresh air for the artists threatened with suffocation from the countless 'rules' of society. Swing State is an open field where you can flop around in the dirt that you came from and scream like the animal you are...and it's ok. in fact, it's absolutely beautiful. live bands, film fests, poetry nights, art showcases, and more...} Everyone of all ages are welcome! Support the Arts!***

The Halloween Show: The Oasis: The Good, The Su... by Lucas Temple
Sioum: (The Good and Surprising) People stood around. Kids asked "what do these guys sound like." Another lame instrumental band? Nope. These guys are talented. Epic and not like Epic Movie. Now Sioum has a pretty good reputation around the area including being Swing State veterans and instrumental experts, as well as being pretty damn good live. Well this show was no exception. Now its a bit different when I use the word "talent" coming from someone who doesn't play an instrument like myself, but nevertheless this band is talented. I'm not talking about mad shredding skills either. I'm talking about excellent musical composition, good guitar work, and a flow that would make any other metal band extremely jealous. Something I feel I should point out is that the keyboard is an important and essential part of this band, and is very well done. This was clearly demonstrated live. These guys aren't your average instrumental trio by any means. They drown you in emotionally and imagination driven compelling music. No, don't associate this with emo by any means. What did you miss? An epic soundtrack feel for every song that left everyone nodding their head in approval and wondering where these guys have been all their lives. Sioum also brought out some older folks. Yes, old folks that were definitely above the age of 30, which we usually don't see at any punk/metal shows. I suppose its unfortunate, but is it our fault if anything beyond The Rolling Stones, Toto and Rick Astley is too loud, fast, and brutal for their ears? This band has more soundtracks in them then John Williams has left. These guys could have been the perfect replacement to the bad musical soundpieces that plagues films like recent films such as Saw, Red, Due Date, Life As We Know it, and Secretariat. The first part of their set made me feel like I was in an aggressive 80's sci-fi move, but without Arnold, so no Runnin Man. As they progressed into their set you could see yourself running for you life after being stuck into Friday the 13th with everything flashing before you, but in slow-mo. Impressed yet? I couldn't help but notice how beautiful their well composed melodies were. That tad heavier version of God Is An Astronaut had arrived along with all the heavy, dark forbodding, yet epic feeling riffs that I had dreamt of. Toward the middle of the set their ambient brilliance was brought to fruition by some incredible lead ins with the guitar and keyboard working perfectly together. Here a few other feelings that their music gave me: - I was in a horrifying and creepy horror film where somebody is on the run being chased by a ruthless killer, namely me. Help. - I'm doing something crazy and insane in a very dangerous place. Furthermore I'm on acid, LSD, and you are coming off a high from Shrooms for the first time. To top it off, I'm not dead yet...

Sioum finds rewards with its sounds by Colin Selbo
cselbo@lakecountyjournal.com–Music fans listening to Sioum for the first time may find the experience challenging. The elements of classical, jazz, blues, rock and more that make up the instrumental pieces the Hainesville-based band performs are not the types of sounds listeners can often find on the radio or playing at a karaoke bar. But listeners can rest assured they are not the only ones who find the compositions of Sioum a challenge to get through. Members of the band sometimes feel the same way. When writing their songs – many of which are comprised of multiple movements similar to classical pieces – the band often found they could not play some of the parts they composed right away, drummer Arthur Zdrinc, said. Yet once they started confidently hitting the right notes and beats and songs began to fall into place, the experience was immensely rewarding, band members said. Those same rewards can be reaped by fans who immerse themselves in the sound of Sioum. “Our songs are powerful,” Zdrinc said. “I feel that. [My] hair still stands up.” Brothers Arthur and Dorian Zdrinc, of Hainesville, and keyboardist Kevin Clark, of Mundelein, make up this unique trio of musicians. The instrumental band recently completed work on their first full-length album. All of the album was recorded in the Zdrincs’ basement – dubbed Endless Field Studios. The choice to include multiple movements in each song was made because of the range of feelings the band wanted to convey in each piece, said Dorian Zdrinc, who plays guitar for Sioum. “All the songs have their own story,” he said. “It wasn’t enough to do a three, four or five minute song to describe the story line we created.” “They are very coherent,” Arthur Zdrinc added. “One song is coherent, but it’s split into five movements. But those movements can’t be split into other songs because that’s the entity, that’s the song.” Creating sounds different from the mold is not something members of Sioum fear. Fans are often caught off guard when they first hear they band, but then get even more excited about the music when they realize they are enjoying what they are hearing, Clark said. “If you’re playing original music, you want to try to do something different,” he said. “We try not to limit ourselves too much.” Much of the inspiration behind the band’s music comes from movie and video game soundtracks. An intensity is evident as Sioum progresses through tracks, and a passion for the music often can be sensed as the band plays through the movements in each song. Ultimately, the trio hopes to begin composing music to be used as soundtrack material. Inspiring others in their own craft – music or otherwise – is what Sioum hopes to achieve through its music, Arthur Zdrinc said. Sioum’s sound may not appeal to everyone, but all are certainly encouraged to give the band a try. “We’re playing for the whole world,” Arthur Zdrinc said. “Whoever wants to listen can listen.”

Talking Shop with Sioum - “I Am Mortal, But Was... by Samantha Gordon
They must be putting something in the water up in Grayslake, IL because for some reason unknown to us, the little populace there has a real knack for the dirge-y instrumental sound of the progressive post-metal variety. Our latest discovery from the suburbs is Sioum, a three-piece outfit with some seriously ominous sounds radiating from their seemingly simple line up of keyboard, guitar and drums. Back in July they put out a full-length by the name of I Am Mortal, But Was Fiend, a stunning 58 minutes of story told only in sound. Written as three tracks that are a little over 20 and 10 minutes long then broken down into movements, I Am Mortal, But Was Fiend is nearly an hour of give and take that swells into crescendos of dark guitar buzzing before suddenly dropping back to a gentle hum or tinkling, trembling piano. There are even moments where the instruments drop out almost entirely, and instead the staccato of shallow breathing coupled with staggering steps or the rattling of a chain link fence being climbed fill the listeners ears. It is hard to pin point exactly what the story being told is, but that ambiguity is part of the beauty in this record: There’s clearly something happening, but Sioum has allowed the listener to interpret their instrumental narration as whatever he or she likes. There are some synthesized melodies that we didn’t care for, but which clearly come with the territory of finding inspiration in epic gaming soundtracks as the band does, so we figure we had to take the bad along with the good. The organ like digi-sounds are by no means gratuitous, but in our opinion movements like “Shift” shows that as a three piece, Sioum has more than enough to offer without any bells or whistles- the gamer noise just seemed unnecessary. SIoum is not easy listening by any means and certainly isn’t something you can expect everyone around you to enjoy as well. But for the music fan that is up to a challenge for both their attention span and their imagination, I Am Mortal, But Was Fiend is well worth the time and money. - Stream and Download I Am Mortal, But Was Fiend on Bandcamp - Vote to send Sioum to RedGorilla Fest - Dorian, Arthur and Kevin- the men behind the music of Sioum- recently spoke with Reviewsic about the kind of sounds they make, their idea of the difference between influence and inspiration, and some of their favorite fellow local bands. Reviewsic: Can you give us a quick recap of what the band has been up to lately? Sioum: After releasing our full length in July, most of our time has been spent writing new music…along with playing the occasional local show. We’re almost done with the new material, and after that we plan on promoting our full length more heavily with more shows and small tours. Also important to note: an unhealthy amount of Resident Evil 5.......

Sioum │ Beard Rock by Aidan Rivett
Sioum are an instrumental Progressive band from Chicago who released their album in July last year. It has found it's way into the hands of us at Beard Rock for review and I am glad to take on the task. I am Mortal but was Fiend opens with an eerie piano piece that conjures up images of a hunched figure alone in a mansion playing his piano with emotion and passion, it's all very Phantom of the Opera, and so I imagine that this is how this track was recorded. Initially I dreaded that this would be just a classically trained pianist showing off what he can do for twelve tracks, but that was before the second track Pillars got going. It's clattering and jagged drumming is really what stands out on this track, with a stunning piano melody and strings driving it forward it seems like it's going to get louder and louder but it suddenly disappears leaving the sound of footsteps tearing through an echoey corridor, it creates an incredible atmosphere. All fears of piano wankery are dispelled as the fourth track 'Shift' thunders out my speakers. It's punchy guitar line is then complimented by a synthesizer part that is perfectly realised, it brings to mind Dream Theater, but it demonstrates more emotion in those 5 minutes and 15 seconds than DT show in an entire album. What really impresses me is how well the album is paced, with a heavy track placed at just the right time to stop the slower pieces becoming boring. And the quieter parts are always there to take the edge off in the nick of time. The challenge all post-rock bands have of bringing out emotion and atmosphere in instrumental music is surpassed with ease. Take the track Lapse with it's initial movement sounding like Tool's 'The Patient' with what sounds like a metronome carrying the rhythm which builds to a powerful beat with the rest of the song, it calls back again to the Phantom of the Opera with themes of horror and loneliness. For fans of horror film scores I am Mortal... is really good listening. The album ends not as the final song title would suggest by collapsing, but rather exploding, it's penetrating drums give way to an absolutely immense guitar riff which is then built on by an atmospheric keyboard, it's brilliantly loud, the final battle so to speak. To sum up Sioum's album is an amazingly conceived piece of work that would not be out of place in a horror or thriller film soundtrack. It can feel very claustrophobic at times but that's part of the genius of it. It's definitely worth a listen for anyone who is a fan of instrumental music with a cinematic edge.

Expand