Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 12:05 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Always close to quality underground bands that don’t have to be neccesarily into extreme sound and since their debut “Out of the black” deserves your attention, we talked with Alphastate. Let’s hear what Manos and Pete have to say…
Since this is the first official interview of the band, tell us a little about you! When, how and why did you start Alphastate?
Manos: Pete started the project himself around 2013. He contacted me in early 2014, having already recorded a demo of 4 tracks. Completing the recordings for these songs we realized that we had in our hands a strong enough material, so we decided to start creating a normal record along with the creation of a full line up, so we reached the release of “Out of the black”.
Pete Breaker: The band began essentially as a project with 4-5 songs without vocals at the beginning. In 2014 I decided to turn this project into a full band and came in contact with Manos who I knew from a band he sung in many years ago, called Celestial Ode. Thus we cooperated and formed Alphastate. The album “Out Of The Black” came out in November 2015 with the full line-up consisting of Phoebus Andriopoulos on the drums and Dimitris Tsounakas on bass duties.
What does your name exactly mean?
Manos: The name refers to a phase which we experience when the mind is awake while the body is in total relaxation. It usually happens just before the person wakes up in the morning. It seemed to me quite representative because I did not feel any kind of pressure or whatsoever during the synthesis process.
Who writes the lyrics of the songs? What do they deal with?
Manos: The lyrics are written by me and refer to real situations both of us have experienced. Sometimes it is purely personal and in other cases describing various incidents happening around us.
Very nice cover, who is responsible for this? Is it based on any of your ideas or lyrics?
Pete Breaker: The cover is an idea and a creation of Manthos Stergios (Manster Design). Manthos, when we announced the title for the album thought of that concept for the cover. It is very imaginative and inspiring and fits perfectly with the title of the record.
If we had to classify you in a certain genre, would you say that you are a Heavy / Power Metal band? Do you will agree with this characterization? Who composes the music of the tracks and what bands do you consider having a significant effect on your sound?
Pete Breaker: Well, so far no one has managed to fit us into some “classic genre” as heavy, power, thrash, etc. We’re playing MODERN heavy metal with classical influences and contemporary aggressive sound. The truth is that we’re trying to create something new and original with a characteristic sound. The composition of the music is handled entirely by me. Generally we are looking to make something that does not have restrictions, as long as its “metal”. My influences are driven by heavy metal to death metal and generally I’m trying to integrate in Alphastate any idea that I like. That’s the only way to evolve.
Manos: My own influences come from bands like Iron Maiden, Crimson Glory, Accept / UDO, Manowar, Exodus, Ayreon, Helloween and several others.
You have a mix of modern (sharp) guitars and the vocals are of more classical forms and often remind me of Dickinson in terms of the way they’re trying to be heard.
Manos: My own influences on the issue of voice come from musicians such as Michael Kiske, Midnight, Eric Adams, Tom Malicoat and of course the huge Bruce Dickinson who has affected too much in the way of writing melodic lines and the placement of the voice. Also, due to my involvement with classic music, there are intense elements from the opera house.
Have you played live outside Athens? How important is it for you to play live or do you consider it secondary and try to dedicate yourselves to the best music composition?
Pete Breaker: The live performances are one of the most important pieces of a band if not the most important. This is because live you show your work, your songs and people have the opportunity to know you better. I believe that the only good time for a band to have “break” from the gigs is only to write music, to get into the studio and relax for a couple of months. Afterwards, you hit the road again with your new project, so that people can see what you’ve done. On October we will book many live gigs, outside Athens this time.
What level you think the Greek metal scene is on?
Manos: The Greek scene has made huge leaps in relation to the mid-90s, when I started getting involved with it. There are now many bands releasing works of quality, thus the level of the music has dramatically risen. Plus there is the matter of musical equipment; everyone can find relatively easily remarkable instruments, which you could acquire in the past by selling your house. The peculiar think about this is that while there is this saying “it’s good for a Greek band” the crowd still doesn’t support the scene or ignores it at best. I don’t know whether to blame for this the poor level of live scenes or the negative propaganda of the Greek metal press which for many years considered the domestic bands a bad joke. The truth is that – with few exceptions – the bands of our country find it unimaginably difficult to promote their work and this is because there is a wall of indifference by the majority of the media and in this are included the webzines, fanzines, web radios, radios and television broadcasts. I don’t blame the crowd but those who inform it or they claim to do so. There is great scorn and irony by the side of these people towards everything that comes from our country that reach fanaticism. If a Swedish / Norwegian / American band “farts” it magically becomes “news” while a new release or a live gig is ostentatiously ignored.
How do you imagine Alphastate after 10 years?
Manos: I would like for us to have recorded 5-6 albums and be proud of their quality as we are now for “Out of the black”. Also, to have managed to get our music out of the borders of our country, making with plenty of good impressions.
When should we wait for the release of your second record, or do you feel that “Out of The Black” has not completed its cycle yet?
Pete Breaker: We think that our second record will be released in 2017 and the recordings will begin in August – September. As soon as we’re finished, we will seek for a label and when we find something interesting we will release it. “Out Of The Black” of course has not run its course yet, since there are a lot of people who don’t know us yet. We want them to meet us and we will pursue this by making many appearances.
Manos: The next album will probably be released at the beginning or in the spring of 2017 meaning that “Out of the Black” still has life ahead and naturally we will support it with as many live gigs as we can.
What is the response so far? Is there anything that displeases you in this and would like to change?
Pete Breaker: So far the response from the crowd and from the press is very positive. We hear enough good things about our songs and the whole album in general. Our appearances in Athens that we have made so far have gone too well. There’s nothing to displease us to tell the truth, our course has been very good.
Close the interview as you wish!
Pete Breaker: Be well! Keep rocking and stay heavy!
