Talking Systems: Sinai

For those who don’t know, the Sinai Sound System has been a long-time collaborator of Outlook Festival. Founded by Huw Wiliams in 2013, the Sheffield based sound system has toured all over Europe with its next stop at Outlook UK, where Sinai will be bringing a full system for the first time ever.

How did Sinai come to be and how long has Sinai been running?

Sinai came to be really through one experience, and that experience was visiting Subdub for the very, very first time. This was the first time that I heard a real sound system and this was the first time I heard a proper reggae sound system. This is the first time I heard dub music at these levels. This was a life changing experience. And this is where I first experienced Iration Steppas - it was utterly, utterly magical, and I'll never ever forget it without realising at the time that this was the path that set me on to the path that I am on now. 

The reason I own this sound system here is because of Mark Iration and Simon Scott - without going to Subdub, I wouldn't have learned about what reggae Sound Systems were, I wouldn't have discovered other Sound Systems like Aba Shanti, Jah Shaka or Channel One. Without going to Subdub, I wouldn't enjoy dubstep as much as I do, because at the Exodus nights, that one visit there one night changed my whole perception of how music could be enjoyed and portrayed. And after a period of time of going to Subdub, Mark Iration himself asked me if I'd like to come and help be part of the crew. He likes to use the word apprentice - I love that one. It really was an apprenticeship. Rolling with Mark for a number of years allowed me to experience behind the scenes how a Sound Systems is run, how you perform as a Sound Systems and how you entertain people. And learning from Mark was one of the best experiences I've ever had, because it set the foundation for what Sinai could become. This is how Sinai came to be and without Mark Iration, Subdub, Simon Scott and Outlook Festival, Sinai wouldn't be where it is now. 

When it comes to sound, what's most important to you?

The most important thing for me when it comes to sound, first and foremost, is fidelity. Because without fidelity, there is no sound. I want to be able to hear a vocal that's been playing. If someone's playing a really deep bassline, I want to be able to hear and feel it. If there's a beautiful melody, I want to be able to experience it. Fidelity is what makes the sound. But what I think my opinion is, is that by having a really high fidelity sound, people who come to experience it, and the DJs, who perform on it, it all works together. I like to call it the ecosystem of sound, where if a DJ is hyped and excited, that the music that they're playing sounds amazing, then they will give a more enthused performance. And I believe that the crowd then feeds off that and it all feeds each other. So if the Sound Systems sounds good, I think the DJ will play better because the crowd is enjoying it. And it all works in one kind of coherency -  the ecosystem of sound is what I call it. 

What is the biggest challenge you face with the sound system?

The biggest challenge I faced - if we're going to talk about something that's happened - has to be the flood. In November 2019, Sheffield experienced some of the worst floods in recent memory, and an old workshop was right next to the River Dunn, which surged in height, and it completely flooded all of our equipment it got to about one metre and all of our equipment got utterly annihilated.

What was super depressing about this was that I was in New York DJing. And I kind of had to hear about all this secondhand as it were, hearing the bad news from all my friends. It was a shock to the system to come back to the workshop to discover that everything we've been building for the last 10 years or so was just covered in mud. But you can't let anything like that kind of bring you down, you have to fight through any kind of adversity. We fixed as much as we could. And we decided to set up a little bit of a GoFundMe, we originally thought it would just get a couple of 100 pounds. But the money we raised was unbelievable. The support from all around the world was truly heartwarming.

Respect if you donated some money. That challenge there was probably the biggest challenge as a sound system I've ever faced. Every day, when you're taking the sound systems out, you're always worried if something's gonna break, you're worried if something's gonna fail. If a drive is going to blow for no apparent reason if a piece of equipment is going to break. But if you constantly worry about things that are going to go wrong, you'll worry yourself into an early grave. If a problem’s there, there are just solutions that have yet to be found. And that's the kind of attitude we try to portray. We just try to find ways of fixing it. Challenges are a part of running a touring sound system. It's just the way you deal with it that is the important thing.

A favourite track to test your levels / check sound quality?

If we're going to talk about different sound checking tunes, it's going to be really hard to name one specific track. If we're gonna talk about different sound checking tunes, it's going to be really hard to name one specific track and I'll give one good reason for that. And that is every track I'm going to explain right now has different characteristics to it. That makes it good for me for soundchecking, but categorically the first tune that I always always always soundcheck with is Erykah Badu and the track is called ‘On And On.’ The reason I've been soundchecking with this tune so much is because the first thing is you need to know, in and out, what that tune sounds like.  I've fond memories of me getting my first ever subwoofer in my house in about 1999. And I remember playing that track. I remember my mum coming running up the stairs, cutting me off and making the house shake with some crazy bass and the tune. It's got some amazing, amazing I mean, Erykah Badu's voice as it is - her voice is absolutely beautiful, smooth and just - it's incredible. But the tune itself. It's quite simple. There's not much going on, which gives it space. It’s got a really harsh snare hit to it, which in sound systems it sounds a bit harsh. One of the most important things is that it's got a really intense bassline which is pretty crazy for a tune of that type to have such an intense bassline - the kind that rivals dubstep tracks -  it's wicked. I love Soundchecking with it. The only downside is now I can't really listen to it for fun. 

And some other tracks there's a track by J. Robinson called ‘Promised Land.’ 'This is kind of like a dubby dubstep track and the tune itself is almost perfect for soundcheck because the individual parts of the track kind of build as the intro begins. So first of all, you kind of hear a melody, So then you can check to see if the speakers are working. Then the kick drum comes in, it's like, cool, okay, my kicks are working, and then some utter absolute thunderous bassline comes in. And you can check if your subs are working. So that's track two, I always play. 

And then track three that I always play - this is a bit of a left field one - it's a track by Fleetwood Mac, and it was called ‘Oh Daddy.’ It's pretty much an acoustic track. It just has a female vocalist, a guitar and a very, very simple drum pattern. But one of the things I love about it is that the album it features on is so well recorded. That sounds absolutely incredible. You can hear an incredible stereo kind of separation. You can hear an incredible voice and you can hear some really interesting melodies. And one of my favourite things about it is it's almost the last track people expect when I play a Fleetwood Mac track at soundcheck! 

Fondest Outlook memory from over the years?

I've got many many fond memories of coming to Outlook festival over the years. Visiting the fort in Pula 2020 was just crazy, coming from UK festivals and feels like they're all vaguely kind of similar but you go to the fort in Pula and it’s an actual historical fort. The site was amazing, sound systems everywhere and the vibe was utterly amazing. 

Cut forward a few years we got asked to take the sound systems on the boat parties - that was incredible having a sound system on a boat in the Adriatic Sea when the sun is setting, when you've got music playing - there’s no feeling like it. For the few years again Mungos Hi-Fi who had the Mungos arena asked me if I'd like to take over the reins. Now that was a truly special moment - being entrusted over what was such an important part of the festival - that was a truly special occasion. 

Another amazing moment was Andrew Weatherall, rest in peace, who has nothing but kind words to say. He came to play a techno set but he actually played a dub set in the end - that was amazing. And then the final year in 2019 at the fort was a truly special, special moment for me. And I had so many kind compliments about the sound system that year. So many great Outlook memories. There's too many to mention really!

Can you tell us a bit about what to expect this summer at Outlook UK from Sinai?

This summer, Outlook UK will be the debut of the full Sinai Sound System. This has been a project in the making for approximately two years. But it's really come to fruition in the last couple of months. The issue with the previous sound system was it was fantastic in small spaces. But we've got more and more opportunities to play in larger spaces. But as time progressed, the old sound system was lacking in certain ways in bigger arenas. So I wanted to build something that really gave justice to the sound that was being performed. And this is where the new system comes in. It's got much better improved clarity at distance, it plays lower, it's cleaner, it's more precise. It's essentially like a big studio monitor - but it's also a loud studio monitor. My friend described it as a loud studio monitor that can shake your skeleton. Yeah, it's gonna be really, really special. I hope you'll enjoy it!

If you could take your Sound System anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I'm really fortunate in that I've been given many, many opportunities to take my sound system to places in the world I never thought I'd be able to take to. I've been able to take my sound system to Outlook festival. I feel truly blessed in that. I've been able to take the sound system to so many places. But if I had to think of a place or places I'd love to take the sound system, Japan would definitely be high on the list. It's an amazing country. I'd love to take the Sound System there to Rio de Janeiro to the Carnival, that would be utterly wild. Mexico, that would be ridiculous. They have such an amazing sound system scene there. And there's one place out of all that I love to take it to more than others and that's Jamaica. This is kind of the home to me of what a reggae sound system comes from and the opportunity to take it to the place where it comes from would be magical. Maybe one day it'll happen. I don't know!

Catch the Sinai Sound System at Outlook UK 30th June-4th July 2022.