Meet The Cordial Sins: Columbus’ Alt Favorite Shares Single “Control”

With their new EP, Only Human, Columbus alternative rockers, The Cordial Sins, showcase an ever-evolving sound rooted in pure rock ‘n’ roll. he group’s fronted by powerful vocalist and classically trained-violinist, Liz Fisher, whose musical expertise is further empowered by a profound lyrical imagination. Lead guitarist, Corey Dickerson, grounds the band’s rock roots with shimmering guitar licks heavily influenced by Radiohead, Real Estate, and Nels Cline. The Cordial Sins released their first single from Only Human, “Go On”, in 2016, and receives continued support and airplay from local Columbus alternative station CD102.5fm. The Sins have also had success supporting acts such as Genevieve (of Company of Thieves) and UK-group, Wolf Alice. The Cordial Sins will tour this fall in support of Only Human, which was released on October 21.

GGM: Can you tell me about the band? Break it down now.

LIZ: “So, the core members of The Cordial Sins are Corey and I (Liz). We draft the musical ideas, manage the band (with the help of Emilee Aldridge), and aim to network on behalf of the group. We’re supported by our rhythm section, Kyle (guitar), John (bass) and Mike (drums).”

Tell us the how you wrote “Control”?

LIZ: “Corey wrote the initial riff for “Control”. Then, it was up to me to tweak the riff and come up with a vocal line. This song actually took us months to get right… Even though it has one of the simplest sets of chords we’ve ever written with, we couldn’t quite land on a complete structure for a while. It also took time for me to hone in on the song’s concept and how to convey it through the lyrics and vocal melodies.”

From there, they worked with their engineer and producer, Jon Fintel (at Relay Recording), and she says he, “was helpful to us really landing on a bridge and ending for the song. He was also able to offer up some musical additions to “Control,” like that cool slide guitar part in the chorus. We met Jon a few years back when I was recording for another band and really admired his production style.”

“I think it means a lot to Corey and I partially because it took so much time and energy to write.”

One thing they say people don’t usually know about the group is that The Cordial Sins’ core is made up of Corey and Liz who are domestic partners. Liz started as a classical violinist, and now, finds herself in the alt/rock world. We asked her about how it was being a female in the industry:

“In the Alt-Rock world, it’s pretty clearly dominated by men. I can’t say I’ve ever felt threatened, because I know that I am musically talented, but I know I have lacked confidence before. I’ve definitely spent time selling myself short just because I’m a woman and that’s my automatic response. It has taken practice to unlearn habits that support that idea and I’m still learning. I try not to apologize anymore for my opinions or how I express myself because I’m realizing that a lot of people, especially men, will take issue with it just because it’s jarring to hear a woman speak firmly.”

“I try not to apologize anymore for my opinions or how I express myself because I’m realizing that a lot of people, especially men, will take issue with it just because it’s jarring to hear a woman speak firmly.”