Syntonic - NEW OLD FILM

Syntonic – a name that stands for deep emotions and the complexity of a music that aims at surprising and captivating the listener again and again. The three musicians Rocco Harzbecker (guitar, vocals), Sandra Harzbecker (bass) and Christian Baakes (drums, percussion), who founded the band in 1999, approach this in ways that are anything but systematic and don’t think of themselves as a band that is or acts all too artsy.

“We get the inspiration for our ideas at band sessions. Later these ideas are transformed into 'the final songs'.”

This is how or comes close to how you can define Syntonic’s principle of songwriting. One of the band’s characteristics is writing their lyrics after the music.
Stylistically, you could classify the band as belonging to the field of post-rock, although this can only be an attempt to describe Syntonic’s musical range, which moves freely among rock, electronica, independent, funk, etc.

“Of course, we quote well-established patterns and make use of certain stylistics. But it has also been and is substantial to us to rely on our intuition and break new ground when making music.”

That’s why Syntonic have their own style and above all authenticity, a word that has unfortunately become worn out these days. Of course, you can argue over the meaning of the word, but Syntonic defines it as follows: just do it.

For a long time, Syntonic had been looking for the “fourth member”, who was supposed to support the band especially in all things technical, but it wasn’t until 2005 that Christian “Cony” Neuhausen joined the band. Since then he has become an important part of the “Syntonic universe” with his technical knowledge and untiring commitment as the soundman at gigs, in the session room and as a friend.

With their much noted DEMO 2003, released in 2003, and UMBRELLA – THE SINGLE including the video, released in 2006, Syntonic have been able to win new fans both in and beyond NRW. After looking intensively for an appropriate studio and producer, the band completed their debut album NEW OLD FILM in 2010.


Syntonic - from ancient Greek suntonos, meaning attuned; the term itself has both a psychological [a high emotional responsiveness to the environment] and a physical meaning [two oscillating circuits having the same resonant frequency].