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SINE is the solo project of Rona Rougeheart, an Austin, Texas drummer, vocalist and producer who describes her industrial-edged electronic music as “electronic boom”. Her album “La Mordre” arrived on Metropolis Records on 22 May 2026, collecting earlier singles alongside new recordings. Rougeheart spoke to Side-Line’s Karo Kratochwil about the record, her background as a drummer, her use of vocal distortion, and running SINE largely on her own.

SINE interview: Rona Rougeheart on ‘La Mordre’

Karo: SINE began with a drummer and multi-instrumentalist gradually taking control of vocals, programming, production and image. Looking back at that evolution from the first self-released material to Metropolis Records, which part of the project had to be learned technically, and which part was already present in your body before it had a name?

Rona Rougeheart: I grew up with a musical background because my father was a musician and taught me how to play, so it’s a big part of who I am. It wasn’t until I discovered Depeche Mode and other electronic bands, that I was really inspired to pursue it as a career. I played drums in a couple of bands, which was fun, but I wanted the ability to take opportunities and make my own decisions, so I created SINE. Starting a band from nothing was definitely a learning experience. I had to learn how to use Ableton and learn how to produce my own music. I’m still learning things today. This latest album has the most self-produced tracks on it compared to my other albums. I’m pretty proud of that and I really like the album it became.

Karo: A drummer understands music through impact, timing, resistance and breath. Many electronic producers build rhythm visually, through grids and screens, while your relationship with rhythm seems much more physical. How does that bodily knowledge shape the way SINE moves, especially when the music becomes heavier, more seductive or more confrontational?

Rona Rougeheart: Since I grew up with music, I naturally gravitated towards dancing. When I was a child I took jazz, tap and ballet. I loved it! It’s one of the main reasons why I learned to play drums. I like movement with feeling. When I create rhythms and beats it’s all about that feeling deep in your heart – that boom. When I create songs, I don’t necessarily set out to create one certain beat or another, I try things and whatever hits me and feels good, is usually what stays in the track. The beats and grooves in SINE’s music is what gives the songs that heavier, more seductive confrontational feeling. It’s that primitive beat inside of us. I like digging into that, feeling you from the inside with subs and low rumbles.

Karo: Earlier SINE releases already dealt with desire, denial, obsession, compulsion and emotional danger. With “La Mordre”, those themes seem more theatrical and more controlled, as if the project has learned how to sharpen its own appetite. Does the new album feel like an expansion of older instincts, or like a more disciplined version of them?

Rona Rougeheart: I would say this album has more defined vampiric themes. And I don’t necessarily mean vampires in the literal bloodsucking way, it’s more about other types of vampirism like emotional, mental, and psychological – it’s dangerous, but intriguing. If you listen to the album in its sequence, you will start to notice that it’s a bit of a story that has been described by some as kind of a sexy horror movie. It has that flash of wanting fame and stardom at any costs, but then has a dramatic emotional ending. It’s a fun little roller coaster that will keep your bpms on the move in the most thrilling way with hope, love, obsession, seduction, control and lust. I would love to make a short movie of it.

Karo: The phrase “electronic boom” suggests immediate force, but SINE has never been only about impact. There is groove, darkness, sarcasm, glamour, industrial texture and a strange emotional intelligence beneath the bass pressure. At what point does a track stop being simply electronic music and become unmistakably SINE?

Rona Rougeheart: I think my music has a common thread of sarcastic humor mixed in with the hard truth. All set to dance music! I like creating a dark mood and writing from the perpetrators angle. I like using vocal effects to make the vocals sound more monstrous. The music is meant to enchant and seduce, the lyrics are meant to evoke thought and possibly terrify you.

Karo: SINE’s live identity combines drums, synths, vocals, visuals and fashion aesthetics. That creates a space where sound and image do not simply support each other, but negotiate power. During a show, which element usually leads the room first: rhythm, voice, body language, light, or the audience’s reaction?

Rona Rougeheart: I love using backing video that’s synced to my music. I created all of the backing videos you see when I play live to be the main focal point when I’m on stage. I like using the visuals to tell a story as well as being colorful backdrops. I would say that is the leading element and following that would be my costumes and wardrobe.

Karo: Touring with acts connected to Clan of Xymox, PIG and Nitzer Ebb must have placed SINE inside very different histories of dark music: gothic atmosphere, industrial theatre, EBM discipline. What did those tours teach you about your own project that studio work alone could not have revealed?

Rona Rougeheart: I am very fortunate to have been on those tours and all of those bands have become really good friends. I learned a lot from each one, but they were all different and had their own unique set up and way of touring. I think what really helped me most is hearing their stories of their careers and learning about how they create music. Plus, it’s always interesting seeing bands of higher levels work, in general. There’s always something to learn from someone!

Karo: Collaboration has been a recurring part of the SINE story, from remixes and production work to connections with figures from industrial, dub, post-punk and experimental music. When another artist enters your world, what is the first thing that must remain protected: the emotional temperature, the rhythmic identity, the visual language, or the sense of danger?

Rona Rougeheart: I’m pretty open when collaborating with other artists because I don’t want to hinder their creativity or influence it. Several times, I sent a demo with no particular directions to a collaborator and what came back was absolute magic! I like seeing what people come up with. I’m like that with remixes, too. When someone remixes a SINE song, I let them do what they wish. It’s all about sharing each other’s art and allowing someone to be free to create!

Karo: The move from early self-released work to label releases and now Metropolis Records also changes the scale of attention around the project. Has wider visibility made SINE more ambitious, more careful, more fearless, or more aware of the performance of control?

Rona Rougeheart: I would say that I’ve always been pretty ambitious. I’m very proud of everything that I have accomplished so far and am very thankful for Metropolis records. It feels really good when someone believes in you and is willing to support you and your art. I am thankful for the people who understand my music and like it. I’m also very thankful that they have shared it with their friends because word-of-mouth helps tremendously. I hope to continue to grow and make my career sustainable.

Karo: Much of your work seems interested in attraction and unease existing at the same time. The listener can dance to it, but the songs often contain something sharper underneath. Is the dancefloor, for SINE, a place of escape, exposure, seduction, confrontation, or all of those at once?

Rona Rougeheart: I think it’s definitely all of those!

Karo: Sarcasm appears in your lyrics and public voice, but it never feels like a cheap shield. It often reveals the violence, absurdity or manipulation inside a situation more precisely than confession would. Is humour a weapon in SINE, a survival tool, or a way to tell the truth without making it too obedient?

Rona Rougeheart: Yes to all of that. I use humor to show the absurdity of the things that we will accept in life. I also use humor to warn the listener at times or poke fun at the perpetrators. I like using wordplay, too.

Karo: After years of building SINE across albums, EPs, remixes, videos, touring and collaborations, which illusion about being an independent electronic artist has disappeared for you, and which one do you still need in order to keep creating?

Rona Rougeheart: The illusion that you need a big record deal and a big team around you to make it has definitely disappeared. While I’ve been building this body of work as SINE, I realized that you can do a lot on your own. I currently do quite a lot on my own and I’ve gotten a lot accomplished, including booking my own tours. As for the illusion that helps me continue creating, I truly believe that my music is different and that it only takes one person to understand it to help open doors to the opportunities I’ve been working toward.

Karo: If “La Mordre” opens a more expansive chapter for SINE, what part of the project should remain unstable? What should never become too polished, too predictable or too easily understood?

Rona Rougeheart: I don’t really have a formula to what I do. A lot of my music happens from random ideas. I usually just go with what inspires me in the moment. That’s why my music has different twists and turns. It’s authentically me because I don’t know how to be anyone else. I don’t know that I will ever become too polished, predictable or easily understood. Maybe that’s a good thing. Keep the mystery alive.

About SINE

SINE is the solo project of Rona Rougeheart, a drummer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Austin, Texas. Raised in a musical family, she trained on drums and played in bands before starting SINE to write and release on her own terms, learning production in Ableton as the project developed.

After early self-released material, SINE signed to Metropolis Records. The label issued the singles “Succumb To Me” in September 2025, “Blood + Wine” in February 2026 and “Cruel” in April 2026, following the earlier “Trauma Bondage” video from 2024. Those tracks fed into the ten-song album “La Mordre”, released on 22 May 2026. Several tracks were self-produced, with others co-produced by Curse Mackey and AwareNess, and the album was mastered by Mark Pistel of Consolidated. SINE has toured alongside acts connected with Clan of Xymox, PIG and Nitzer Ebb, and Rougeheart continues to handle much of the project’s production, visuals and booking herself.

Karo Kratochwil

Based in Wrocław, I work as a music journalist and photographer covering electro, industrial, EBM, gothic, and darkwave. My work includes features and live coverage, as well as concert, portrait, promo, and theater photography. What interests me most is the connection between artistic intention, what the work communicates, and what unfolds live on stage, all in pursuit of the bigger picture behind the music.

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