Ελληνικά
Shortly before their -awesome- appearance on the trailer at Svenfest, we seized the opportunity to kidnap Giannis (guitar) and Nikos (vocals) and force them to tell us a few words! Feel free to enjoy…
American scene or Swedish? Which one prevails at the band’s preferences?
Nikos: Both. We don’t favor either one. The beginning of the music we play took place in Sweden. America took it one step forward, with bands like Lamb of God etc in a newer phase. The foundations were set in Sweden, however lately our big love is America, no matter what… The old stuff is the history, still new stuff is released, quality stuff…
You have played with many great bans the last few years… Which one left you the best impressions with its attitude?
Nikos: Look the coolest, professional, to hung out with us and share a few views with us, were Darkest Hour. Also Sepultura and Moonspell were very cool people, they weren’t no divas, though they carry a heavy name.
Giannis: At The Gates were also cool…
Nikos: Yeah, At The Gates were fuckin’ A. Friendly, said hi and hang out with us….
Giannis: With Unearth, last year, we also had a lot of fun…
Nikos: Yah, basically with Unearth we spent a lot of time together… With Darkest Hour we are friends, so Darkest Hour and Unearth are the bands that we set apart by far, still all of the rest, despite their popularity, were very cool and fun guys…
You mention Raised Fist as one of your major influences… How do you feel about opening their live in September? Is there any uncertainty regarding this show after all the cancelling in recent live acts?
Nikos: As it happens that Vassilis (drums) is one of the promoters of the show and the band is his big love, there is no way that the live will be cancelled. It flows smoothly, the presale has already began as we speak. Vassilis fuckin’ digs Raised Fist, we all do, but he grew up with their music. We love 100% that we will be playing with them, there will be no cancelling. Kyttaro will have a blast that night, it will be packed with people.
You recorded “A Vicious Circle” in Devasoundz Studio with producer Fotis Bernardo. What are your impressions?
Giannis: It was a great experience for sure, as the band, up to that point, had never recorded in a big studio. It was an important experience for the guitarists and the bassist of the band, to view the whole recording process. We definitely did learn a lot of things and I think the result was rewarding.
Nikos: It was, all in all, a worthwhile experience, one takes what he can from it and then this helps you move forward and that’s how life goes by… living and learning.
Giannis: George Emmanuel was very helpful as well, doing the mixing and Sakis (Tolis), who did the mastering. This is nice, getting to know one another with other great Greek bands.
Mihaszna Films’ video clip for “Circles Of Inferno” is one of the best Greek band’s video I’ve ever seen. Tell us a few about it…
Giannis: Very tiresome I must say haha… Actually, I hate video clips after my experience with this one!
Nikos: Yeah, Nikos hates them now… we sat down and did some research about what kind of work we would like to do, which crews were the fastest and gave us the impression that they really love their work, not just produce video-clips. For instance, nowadays in Greece, Tusia is very talented.
Giannis: Personally, I must point out that the crew had done a clip for Darkest Hour that drew our attention. We got in touch asap and they sent us a concept with the clip’s story within two days and asked: “when do you want us there?”. Solid professionals, they took a van, came down here, we put this thing together and within a week all was ready and done.
Nikos: A lot of work and exhaustion, no question about that. For a week we worked like slaves! We had friends painted black with coal and we were sweating like pigs and driving in all Athens with the van all day long. The result was rewarding, no doubt about that!
It is obvious that a band from Greece has more problems and challenges to deal with compared to a Central/Northern European band. What is does your own experience on this issue show?
Giannis: I think that Greece geography does not help, especially Athens, because one has to cover some distance to reach a central place, from where you can say “I’ll drop by here and there to do some live shows”. Unfortunately, we are pretty unlucky at that point, still bands are given lots of opportunities. I believe that bands need to keep chasing opportunities even harder.
Nikos: I have to add something – Central Europe definitely has bigger and more frequent festivals, so no matter what, as a fan or a band you’re given the chance to get to know more fans, more promoters, you get to be at the center of metal acts and that makes things just easier… Still, nothing comes easy in the scene. Nothing comes easy without shedding a lot of sweat.
Despite the problems, our scene seems to grow stronger rapidly. Was it the fullness of time for this to happen, with crisis or not?
Nikos: Look, all the bands that are in the game and try hard to push their music all around and make a name of themselves, they have worked full-time in order to achieve this. That was not often in the past, only a few bands were up to it. There are, simply, far more bands that spent far more time on making music than before. Back in the day, the whole scene was not taking itself seriously. There were bands that played in An club all year long in order to stay in Athens. From that point on, the thing is to get the band together, arrange leaves for all band members, decide on what their goals are, how much effort they are willing to put to it… If there is no common goal, there will be no progress. A band must leave all setbacks behind and always move forward. That should be always on your mind, how to progress and have understanding among each other, so that things that needs to be done will be done.
“A Vicious Circle” was released two years ago and was well-received. Do you feel that you have progressed as musicians since?
Giannis: We have definitely made some progress. I believe we made many steps forward all that time…
Nikos: We have generally learned how to work more effectively. As time passes by, a band learns how to make things both easier and more difficult. From performing a pre-production, to the way it rehearses and what each member needs.
What is your status when it comes to new material? Is there a timeline for a new record?
Giannis: There is no certain timetable regarding a new release. There are written songs, all of us are working on those. We figure there will be a 2016 release. Now, if this release will be a full-length or an Ep, that has not been decided yet. There are some songs ready, others keep pilling in. At the end we will see what it comes to.
What do you think about underground gigs, like Svenfest, which are becoming more and more popular in Greece?
Giannis: We absolutely dig ‘em!
Nikos: We support ‘em 100%. That is obvious if you take a look at the gigs we take part in. All underground, in many cities.
Giannis: Basically, we enjoy playing! We don’t really care if it’s a truck-trailer or a stage, if it’s in Karditsa or in Kalamata.
Nikos: It is way to show -to ourselves not to others- that we got balls. We need to show to ourselves what we are worth. To be able to create the proper sound and kick ass on a truck-trailer or at the basement of a club. The best example for that was on our Europe tour, when we played in places varying from a solid club to a student squat, in which one had to pay just 50cent to get in.
Giannis: So, we’re with Svenfest 100%…and we wish that it keeps growing and get to host big bands and three stages (laughs)!!! Nikos: Meaning more cotton trailers (more laughs)!!!!
Some final words for the readers of Metal Invader…
Nikos: Greek fans should listen to and separate out what they like or not from each genre’s Greek bands. They must keep searching, as there are bands out there to like from in every genre. It is practically impossible not to like at least one Greek band! And once you get to like a band, be supportive and spread the word. If we do not have the support from the fans, from the new friends we make, hear from them that what we do kicks ass…ok we’ll keep on doing it anyway, but that is what gives us boners!
