There is no much introduction needed for Nightstalker. There are only a few bands that have been honored and loved by the greek audiences in such level that every time they appear somewhere, no matter how many time have been there before, manage to bring the place to the ground. Since the Streetmode Festival in Thessaloniki is right in the corners, we exchanged some words with Andreas Lagios for the band’s point of view on various subjects regarding today’s reality and of course, the band’s future plans.
Good evening guys, welcome to Metal Invader. I hope all is well.
Good evening to you too. So far, so good.
It has already been two years since the release of your most recent studio effort “As Above, So Below”. Would you change anything in it today? How has the feedback been so far?
It was very positive. The sellings went as every time, better than expected, which means that every time we have a record coming out more people come in touch with our music. I think every artist would change things constantly in his creations, it is something common in art.
Despite that you guys have been around for 30 years, the band made a huge breakthrough, if not with 2009’s Superfreak, definitely with 2012’s Dead Rock Commandos. What do you think is to blame for that? What made your latest records that special?
I honestly cannot understand what happened in 2012 and we gained such a success. I personally believe that in every record there is decent material and we had been really wondering why this hadn’t happened earlier. Each album of ours could have been that successful. Maybe in 2012 the conditions were more mature for the audience. I will set as an example the album “Use”, which was something extraordinary for the time it came out.
“Children Of The Sun” was the spark that started a fire; a fire that made the Heavy Rock scene in Greece grow huge. It rocks indeed. Bands like Planet Of Zeus, Last Drive, 1000Mods are huge names today especially in younger audiences. What do you think attracts those audiences this, let’s not say “trend”, let’s say, paths?
First of all, the bands you mentioned are of grgeat quality with decent songs. This led to the creation of a scene people are happy to follow. We are very happy to be a part of the greek heavy rock scene, consisting of so many great bands. Nothing like that has ever happened before; probably something similar was due to arise in the beggining of the 90’s in Black Metal but never happened due to lack of proper education.
You are constantly on tour. I’ve attended your show about 6 times already in Thessaloniki and Trikala. Every time , anywhere you play, you bring the venue down! How do you manage to do that?
People seem to enjoy it, so they always come back. The truth is that since we are a well known band, new people come every time we play, giving us a motivation to move on. I also think that there is a “pure” connection between the band and the fans; low cost tickets, no rockstar attitudes and shit like that.
Why are people attracted to stoner that much lately? What makes it so special in constrast to other rock subgenres?
That’s a touch question. I would say two things; First of all comes the music. It’s more easy-listening that metal and have a more “punk” attitude that mainstream, sweet rock. The other is about what people seem to “enjoy” lately, if you know what I mean…
Usually, the time gap between your releases is 3 or 4 years. Do you think that you become more productive when the gap is big than if you had an album coming out every year? What I’m trying to say is that even if you play all over Greece every year, I wonder how difficult it is to create a setlist that is not repetitive, while to include people’s favorites.
You’re right about the setlist. You have to satisfy the kids who come for the first time and want to hear the classics. As for the time gap, new music comes out whenever the artist feel ready to let it happen. I believe that a 3 year gap is ideal.
Which is your personal favorite record of the band’s discography and why?
The new one! We have already created the next record and we listen to it all the time (in a pre production form of course!). I don’t have a personal favorite because each one is connected to specific memories from my life.
After Argy’s heart problems people had thought that your live appearances would be lessened a lot. However, you’re still out there pulling out a great amount of energy. What keeps you going?
First of all, it happens because of the music, but also for the love and support of the people. The truth is we had planned some live appearances abroad but they are now rescheduled. In the meantime we had some studio time, to work on new songs for the new album.
During the prime years of the band, Argy was a vocalist and a drummer. How come did that change later?
Since the beginning, we didn’t want Argy back there, so to be a little more “vivid”, you know. It might sound weird, but we couldn’t find a drummer, since Argy’s drummer was unique. In 2000 we had Costas, but then the albums were recorded by Argy. After that Argy stopped to play and Superfreak was recorded by Costas. Costas left so eventually we had to look for a drummer, until now that the lineup is full.
What’s up with the other countries?
Even though people don’t know us that much, they really seem to like us!
Do you think that music and politics should be connected? You have been a part of specific festivals, so people might have an idea on what are your points of view on that…
We don’t have a connection with politics, but we, as artists, are in support of freedom in all aspects of life. Every artist should be in support of it, because without freedom, there’s no art. Freedom to everyone and denial to denials.
You appeared at the New Long Fest, taking the lineup to the topand now you’re soon to be a part of the Streetmode Festival once more! What should we expect this time?
Rock and sweat, as Argy says. New Long Fest was quite a surprise, after the cancellation of the Gyftopoulou Fest because of the bad weather conditions. I always attend New Long Fest so we couldn’t resist to decline the offer, even though it happened really quick.
What are your future plans?
If everything goes as planned, we might have a new record out in 2019. We are planning to enter the studio after the festival season.
Thank you so much for your time. Any last words?
Have as much fun as you can. Be positive because the world it getting really crazy…