Eclectic tastes influence sound of Chicago-based Sonoi

Ryan Hembrey credits his musical upbringing in Palatine with the success he's had in the Chicago indie music scene.

"I was lucky to have some great music teachers, both in middle school and at Palatine High School," said Hembrey, now a Chicago resident. "By the time I started studying music seriously at DePaul, I already had a great foundation."

Hembrey is the bassist and keyboard player for Sonoi, a Chicago-based band that combines pop songcraft with experimental, ambient sounds. The group's just-released self-titled debut record is already generating buzz in the indie world. A record-release party is taking place Friday, May 14, at the Empty Bottle in Chicago.

"The initial reaction to the record has been fantastic," he said. "We're all very happy with it."

Hembrey came to pop music by way of jazz music, which he loved while perfecting his upright bass skills at Palatine High School.

As he began to play professionally in the mid-1990s, though, Hembrey found the traditional approach of the Chicago-area jazz scene to be too confining, so he began to explore other forms of music.

"Now, I listen to just about everything," he said with a laugh.

His eclectic tastes serve him well in Sonoi, which does a little bit of everything on its excellent debut record, released last month on Meno Mosso Records. A song like "Sherry Fall" trafficks primarily in pure pop with singer Adam Busch's vocals sounding almost Mick Jaggeresque. Then there's the opener, "Red Ant," which adds horns and a dynamic percussion effect at the end. Though often billed as an "avant-garde" band, Sonoi's music remains accessible throughout, while still giving Busch, Hembrey and drummer Pierce Doerr plenty of room to go off on eerie, atmospheric tangents.

"It's really the best of both worlds, between the pop stuff and the more ambient directions we go in," Hembrey said.

Hembrey, who's played in several bands before Sonoi, isn't sure what to expect when it comes to public reactions to his latest project.

"It's a different world out there now," he said. "The Internet has made it much easier to get your music out there, but at the same time there are so many bands. Let's just say that whatever happens, I don't think we'll be invited to go on Warped Tour anytime soon."