Whoever hasn’t got in touch with Allochiria’s music better do it, i mean like yesterday. The Athenians create a beautiful mix of post-metal, sludge, heavy doom riffs and a few of post-rock elements while with Irene on vocals that gives and outstanding performance like there is no tomorrow, they give an outworldy atmosphere that literally no one should miss.
Hello sirs and madam, welcome to Metal Invader. The big show in “Rockstadt Extreme Fest” might not have happened unfortunately, but you were atoned for that in the Romanian crowd with your participation in “Something for the core Fest” that took place in Bucharest. Which are your impressions after the return?
We had a great time in that particular festival. In general, Romanians are very warm as a crowd, there is a lot of response, so in turn we liked it a bit more.
There is a lot of motion in your camp and you fly from one festival to another. What are your feelings for the upcoming show in Desertfest Athens?
We are excited to play there. It has been a while since we played in an indoor space in Athens, this particular festival has great response, so we can’t wait to be there.
Among other things you were part of “New Long Fest”, you opened for Toundra which signify a wider acceptance and exposure to bigger crowds. How do you feel about that?
We like to play shows in general, even more in occasions like these. We would like to play as much as possible and we are happy when that happens.
You have given many shows in Europe. What are the differences with the Greek scene, if there are some, and where do you think you fit more?
The differences might be in the crowd, the organization, the price of the entrance etc., we can’t really categorize them.
We don’t believe we “fit” more somewhere, neither do we prefer to play somewhere in particular, with the exception of indoor spaces maybe, because of the more predictable and possibly better sound that we can get. Other than that, every live show is different and you gain something out of it, may it be an experience, or more people, a collaboration, or you just might enjoy it to the fullest without asking something more out of it.
How difficult was for you to record “Throes” with Eirini (vocals) living in Belgium? How is this fact affecting the band?
The biggest part of the vocals was written 1-2 weeks before Eirini leaves, while the 2 or 3 songs that remained were recorded after about six months. The hard part was to make sure that we finish what had to be finished within the few days that Eirini was in Athens, without leaving something for later. Thankfully everything worked out fine.
The visible differences are in rehearsals. We rehearse without Eirini and Eirini without us. It works out, but the feeling is different, especially for Eirini, who doesn’t have live music to accompany her. The good thing is that when we rehearse all together, it looks like a live show, the feeling is the same as in the very beginning of the band.
Tell us about “Throes”’ course until now. Are you satisfied with the result, first personally and second from the comments you received?
I think it went pretty well and the comments are very positive. We personally feel very nice with this release, even if we are never 100% satisfied with our work, something that I find positive and creative because we never settle down.
This question goes out to Eirini and is a question I always make in similar cases. How is it to be in a scene that is mostly, unfortunately, dominated by men?
In general I have always been more among boys than girls, in the university, in concerts etc., so it didn’t make any impression on me.
The unfortunate is that indeed a female presence in the scene is being noticed, while according to mine/our opinion it shouldn’t be commented on, not on a sex basis that is. In the ‘inner circles’ of the scene, if I can call it like this, there is no such thing as male domination and thankfully in its bigger part there is respect among musicians regardless of sex, heritage etc. I hope that for no woman men being the majority in the scene is a reason to be kept away from playing music.
In March you did a mini tour to support “Throes”. In the poster one can detect a few diy places/squats as also clubs. The characteristics of these places and the conditions with which they perceive and carry out a concert are totally contradicting. What was the thought of putting them all together?
The first reason, sincerely, was that there was a small period time that we would all be together in Greece. Beyond that, we have been always trying to support DIY spaces, either playing or watching concerts there. The fact that some places have much more strict policies, for us doesn’t mean that we won’t respect them or that we will demand to have it our own way. It is their decision to accept us as a band that also plays in clubs. We wouldn’t like to play only diy places or only clubs. Sometimes clubs offer much better gear and we are interested in playing our music as good as possible and sometimes we unanimously want to support the cause behind a show in a squat for example. We are also trying to be realists. It has happened once that someone came to see us in a diy space after seeing us in a club and with that he gave a second chance in the diy culture, something that we and that space appreciated. But for sure by doing this tour in these places we don’t want to smoothen the differences between a diy space and a club, but we are hoping in a more conciliatory crowd and a not so one-eyed treatment. Life is much more colourful than black and white.
What does the future bring to Allochiria?
We are already writing new songs, but we are also flirting with a European tour since a long time, so probably we will focus there for the immediate future.
Thank you very much for your time. The epilogue is yours.
Thank you very much, hope to see you soon!
