Established in April 2020. Cynycist is the project of Michigan based guitarist/producer Jonathan Hegg (ex-FORCES guitarist). The name and idea of cynycist was inspired by some of my favorite fictional villians. The name is a term for a cynical person as the inspirations would dictate.

With musical inspirations from acts such as Infant Annihilator, Igorrr, Berried Alive, this project aims to be a true expression of chaos and BRUTALITY.

1.) Hello! Tell us about yourself and the band name?

I’ m Jonathan Hegg. My band is named Cynycist. Ever since I was a kid music has been a huge part of my life. I always wanted to be in a band, I remember as early as the 3rd grade I would try to get my friends to get on board with starting a band, although none of us knew how to play an instrument. I grew up in inner Chicago in an area where rap music was far more popular than rock and metal, so I always had trouble finding people who had the same music taste as me. Since I couldn’t really pursue my music interests I spent most of my time playing video games. I was always super into video game soundtracks. Eventually I taught myself how to play guitar and continued to try and find people to start a band with. That never really worked out well for me, so I made the decision to attempt to write music all on my own. I spent a lot of time learning how to write drums, do vocals, record myself, etc. From that stemmed Cynycist. I was always a fan of super heavy and chaotic music, so I tried to take that part of my inspiration and fuse it with some of the darker aspects of my old favorite video game soundtracks. The name Cynycist is supposed to be like an evil villain in a way. I always empathized with the bad guys in a lot of my favorite fictional books and video games. They also always had the coolest music, so I guess I’m just trying to jam all my favorite things into 1 act.

2.) When did you form and did you have a goal initially?

I came up with the name Cynycist early 2020 but brought it to light April 2020. Being that the global pandemic had just sunk its teeth in, my only goal was to pump out as much music as I can until I can bring all this to the stage.

3.) What has been the most exciting thing to happen so far with this project?

One of the exciting things so far is that people have actually been enjoying the music! With writing all the music myself I really wasn’t sure how my ideas would be received, especially with how over the top I try to be with it. I was also able to do a song with a huge inspiration of mine when it comes to this project.

5.) What is the process of songwriting for your group?

Typically starts with guitar parts, then drums are written. It goes back and forth rewriting those until the idea comes to life. Then bass and vocals come in. Sometimes a melody will pop up in my head and I’ll pull up a synth, write it in, then build everything off of that.

6.) Do you think an artist needs a record company in 2020?

It depends. We definitely have the tools at our fingertips as artists to try and be independent more than ever. But there’s also some things people just aren’t good at or don’t have time for when it comes to trying to do everything yourself. They say teamwork makes the dream work but I’m not sure all artists have the capacity to be 1 man teams. It’s really a case by case scenario, I guess it depends on what your goals are.

7.) If a new listener should check out one of your songs, which one would you recommend?

Go listen to “Corrupted”! It’s my favorite song i’ve written so far and i think it really captures the sound Cynycist is going for.

8.) Where can we find your group Online?

You can find me at
Facebook.com/cynycist
Instagram @jonathanthehegg
cynycist.bandcamp.com