Angel
Under Glass
Angel Under Glass is a
new band from Greece which amazed us with their song "Hallucination" in
the Greece Attacks comilation CD. So, things were simple. We emailed the
band and asked them whether they were interested in an interview. The result?
Lies here below...
1.HELLO GUYS AND MY CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR
WONDERFUL ALBUM "HALLUCINATIONS"! SINCE YOU ARE A NEW BAND, CAN YOU GIVE
US A SHORT BIO AND TELL US WHICH YOUR MOST IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENTS TILL
NOW ARE...
Hello, guys! Congratulations for your wonderful
job! Angels Under Glass is a project group formed in Lavrio, Attica, in
summer 2003. ?he line up is: Kostas Karageorgiou (vocals), Salvatore Bezzi
(keyboards, bass, piano), Giannis Tsiotas (lead, rhythm, acoustic guitars),
Costas Tzogas (rhythm guitar) and Giorgos Stathakis (drums). We are a new
group, so our most important achievement till now is our participation
in the album Greece Attacks 2.
2.YOUR NAME IS QUITE BIZARRE...WHAT DO YOU WANT
TO SUGGEST WITH THAT AND HOW DID YOU CHOOSE IT? DO YOU BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE
WHO DOESN'T KNOW HOW YOU PLAY, WILL UNDERSTAND YOUR MUSICAL STYLE BY THE
BAND'S NAME?
We chose our name from the real story of a
little girl that was found mummified in a catacomb somewhere in Italy.
She was in a great condition and scientists managed to keep her like that
since then, by placing her behind a glass. So, they named her “Angel under
Glass”. What we want to suggest with our name is that our music will last
for many years. As you have remarked in your review, our music can’t be
categorized, so anyone who wants to understand it must listen to our demo.
3.SINCE WE SPEAK ABOUT YOUR MUSIC. I REALLY FIND
IT DIFFICULT TO CATEGORIZE YOU SINCE YOU HAVE MANY PROGRESSIVE, POWER AND
ATMOSPHERIC METAL ELEMENTS. SO PLEASE GIVE US A DESCRIPTION OF YOUR SOUND
CAUSE I BELIEVE THAT IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE PEOPLE THAT HAVEN'T LISTENED
TO YOU YET...
The sound of the demo “Hallucination” is a
mixture of different styles, because it contains songs that were written
from 1997 till 2001. Our basic style though is progressive/ atmospheric
metal.
4.AS I SAW IN YOUR LINE-UP YOU HAVE ALSO AN ITALIAN
MUSICIAN. DON'T YOU THINK THAT THE DISTANCE BETWEEN YOU WHO LIVE IN GREECE
AND HIM COULD BE A PROBLEM FOR YOU? HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO SURPASS THIS OBSTACLE?
Salvatore, our “Italian member”, comes from
Italy but was born and lives in Greece, so we have no problem in communicating
with him.
5.THE LYRICS OF YOUR SONGS ARE NOT WRITTEN BY
BAND - MEMBERS, BUT FROM OTHERS. CAN YOU TELL US WHO ARE THE WRITERS? DO
YOU CONSIDER THEM AS MEMBERS OF THE BAND? WHY YOU DON'T TRY TO WRITE YOUR
OWN LYRICS?
The lyrics in “Hallucination” are written
by Dora Moutsoula, Stefanos Xefteris and Nikos Oikonomou. They are all
friends of the group and their work for our demo has been great. Angels
Under Glass write their own lyrics, but during the production of “Hallucination”,
we decided that it would be interesting if some of our friends could participate
in it by writing their own lyrics, inspired by our music. This demo is
a group work all the way! We would also like to thank Valantis Konstantinou
for the amazing artwork and title design of the demo.
6.SINCE WE TALK ABOUT LYRICS, CAN YOU TELL US
IN A FEW WORDS WHICH THE THEME OF EACH SONG INCLUDED HERE IS?
Our most important inspiration has been the
human feelings and the fantasies that can be created by the human mind
under certain situations. Fear, stress, sorrow, melancholy, remorse can
make us see the world and ourselves in it from a totally distorted point
of view. That’s what “Hallucination” is all about!
7.WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO RELEASE A FULL - LENGTH
CD-R AND NOT A DEMO WITH 3 SONGS? DO YOU THINK THAT WITH FULL LENGTH RELEASES
IT'S EASIER TO ATTRACT THE ATTENTION OF A LABEL? DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER
COMPOSITIONS APART FROM THE ONES INCLUDED IN YOUR "HALLUCINATION" CD?
Our main purpose was not to attract the interest
of a label, but to make something out of the material that we have been
dealing with all these years. This is why “Hallucination” is a full- length
CD. It represents the first “circle of life” of our group. Of course, we
have plenty of new material, which we intend to use in our next work.
8.YOU'VE ALSO PARTICIPATED WITH THE "HALLUCINATION"
TRACK IN THE GREECE ATTACKS COMPILATION. HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO PARTICIPATE
IN THAT PROJECT? DID YOU LIKE THE FINAL RESULT? DO YOU THINK THAT IT REPRESENTS
THE GREEK METAL SCENE? WHICH OTHER BANDS DID YOU LIKE FROM THIS COMPILATION
AND WHY?
“Hallucination” is one of our first songs
and at the time we read about the contest it was the only one fully- produced,
so we decided to use it. Besides, we think that it is a very good song!
When we were notified that we would participate in the “Greece Attacks
II” compilation we felt totally thrilled, because we think that it’ s a
great sample of the Greek Metal scene. The other bands that we like from
this compilation are Suffer In Silence, Orion’s Reign, CrossOver and Dol
Ammad.
9.HOW DID THE PRESS AND FANS RECEIVE YOUR ALBUM
TILL NOW? WHAT WAS THE WORST AND WHAT THE BEST REVIEW YOU'VE RECEIVED?
DID YOU GET ANY INTEREST FROM A LABEL? I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO KNOW IF YOU'VE
SENT IT ABROAD AND IF YOU HAVE CONTACTS WITH FOREIGN METALLERS AS WELL.
We’ve received several letters and e- mails
from fans that have already got our demo and their feedback was very good.
One of the best reviews for “Hallucination” was the one published in your
site. The worst one –and least explained- was published in Metal Hammer.
We haven’t contacted any label yet, nor have we sent the demo abroad, but
we intend to.
10.I BELIEVE THAT EVERY ARTIST IS INFLUENCED BY
OTHERS. SO WHICH MUSICIANS HAVE INFLUENCED YOUR STYLE AND NAME 5 OF YOUR
ALL TIME FAVORITE ALBUMS...
Each one of us has different preferences,
so it would be rather difficult to refer to all of the musicians that inspire
us. Our favourite albums, though, are:
1. And Justice for All- Metallica
2. Train of Thoughts – Dream Theater
3. Wake of Magellan- Savatage
4. Lateralus- Tool
5. ( )- Sigur Ros
11.HAVE YOU DONE ANY LIVE SHOWS TILL NOW? IF YES,
DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST ONE AND HOW HAVE YOU FELT? DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS
FOR LIVE SHOWS IN THE FUTURE? IS IT POSSIBLE TO COME OVER HERE IN THESSALONIKI?
We’ve had a live show in our city, Lavrio,
but it was the only one because our drummer was serving in the army. Our
first live stressed us but the presence of the audience made it easier!
We are now working on our second demo, but we’d love to have live shows
and especially in Thessaloniki, which best represents the Greek Metal Scene!
12.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT
BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
If our music was an emotion, it would be melancholy
and if it was a painting, it would be in black and white and would show
a chained Angel, trying to escape.
13.IF YOU COULD INVITE FAMOUS MUSICIANS TO PARTICIPATE
IN YOUR ALBUM, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
That is a very nice question! We would like
to have Lars Ulrich and Luca Turilli with us. Do you think they’d like
the idea? We’re joking, of course! It would be an honor to work with Greek
metal bands, which we’re planning to do in the future.
14.IF YOU COULD BE AN IMPROTANT PERSONALITY FOR
A DAY, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHICH PERIDO OF HIS/HER LIFE WOULD YOU
LIKE TO HAVE A TASTE OF?
George Bush! And we’d commit suicide for the
sake of the whole world!
15.THIS IS THE END OF OUR INTERVIEW. THAT MEANS
THAT TOU HAVE TO LEAVE A MESSAGE TO THE READERS OF BEHIND THE VEIL WEBZINE
AND ALSO WRITE WHATEVER ELSE YOU WANT ABOUT YOUR BAND OR ANYTHING ELSE...
Hey, readers of Behind The Veil Webzine! Stay
Heavy and support the Greek Metal scene! We’d like to thank the whole team
of the webzine for their interest in our music! Guys, keep up the good
work! Hope to see you soon in Thessaloniki!
Nick "William_Kidd"
Parastatidis
|