Dark
Nova
Dark Nova is one of the
best Greek metal bands, for me! I respect them a lot and I follow them
since the first time I listened to their debut album, which simply magnetized
me with its beautiful melodies and raw power! Now I hold in my hands the
band's 3rd studio effort that hears in the name "Sivilla" and here we have
Elias Koskoris, the man behind the band, revealing us all sorts of interesting
things. I think you should take a few minutes to read this interview!
1. FIRST OF ALL, I’D LIKE YOU TO TELL US IN
A FEW WORDS THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND AND YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS
TO DATE.
Moments: Me and Nick (drums) back in 1988
changing the name to Dark Nova. The record deal for our debut “The Dark
Rhapsodies”. Recording “Sivilla” with the best Dark Nova line-up ever!
(Kiki, Mary, Nick, Michael and I). E-mails and letters all these years
from people who like our music, from all over the world.
Achievements: The most important: Despite
the ups and downs, we have achieved to play all these years the music we
love, without having to change our personal style in the name of music
industry.
2. WHAT MY EXPERIENCE HAD MADE ME REALIZE IS THAT
THERE ARE NO GREEK BANDS THAT HAVEN’T FACED ANY PROBLEMS DURING THEIR EXISTENCE
OR CAREER IF YOU PREFER… I MEAN THAT IT’S VERY DIFFICULT FOR A GREEK BAND
TO WORK ON A PROFESSIONAL BASIS AND BECOME FAMOUS ABROAD. WHY? WHICH ARE
THESE REASONS ACCORDING TO YOU?
There are no right persons (managers) to promote
and support heavy metal music here in Greece in the right way. There is
no support to Greek bands, so after a short period of time, many get disappointed
and quit.
3. IF A METALLER CAME ASKING YOU TO DESCRIBE FOR
HIM “SIVILLA”, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL HIM? WHICH WORDS WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
Imposing atmospheric, melodic, progressive
but first of all heavy metal.
4. WHAT’S THE BEST AND WHAT’S THE WORST PART IN
YOUR MUSIC, ACCORDING TO YOU? WHERE DO YOU NEED FURTHER IMPROVEMENT?
For us, there are no best and worst parts
in our music. We just express ourselves. Some people like it, some
other don’t.
5. WHICH ARE THE MAIN SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
AMONG “SIVILLA” AND YOUR PREVIOUS 2 RELEASES?
We have a much better production, the keyboards
are now a main instrument not just a supporting one and we have found the
perfect balance between melody and power.
6. YOU HAD SOME LINE UP CHANGES SO TELL US A FEW
THINGS ABOUT THAT… BY THE WAY, I THINK THAT’S A COMMON QUESTION, BUT HOW
DO FANS REACT WHEN THEY SEE 2 WOMEN IN YOUR LINE UP?
We had many line up changes due to musical
differences and life… priorities. You see, it is difficult here in Greece,
because you can’t live off your music. All of us have day jobs. I don’t
blame some of our previous members, because everybody has his own priorities.
There was a time –after “1999 A Step Beyond?”- that only me and Nick (drums)
were left rehearsing and writing music. Fortunately, our current line up
consists of people sharing the same vision and passion for music. As for
the ladies…fans react with surprise not because they are women, but because
none of them… sing. Mary is a pianist/keyboard player and Kiki is the bass
player.
7. NOW TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE LYRICAL
CONTENT OF THE ALBUM. WHICH THINGS INSPIRE YOU?
We are influenced by the ancient myths of
“Sivilla”. You couldn’t say this is a concept album; however the general
idea is what we told. Unfortunately, I am not the right person to give
you details about the lyrics but Michael, our vocalist, could. However,
there are metaphoric references in the songs.
8. WHAT DOES “SIVILLA” MEAN AND DESCRIBE THE COVER
ARTWORK PLEASE… WHAT DOES IT SHOW? WHAT’S THE CONNECTION? I THINK THE COVER
COULD BE A BIT BETTER…
First of all I’ll start with an observation.
In our days we have more than many computer digitalized artworks and personally
I don’t like this very much. So we called an artist from Thessaloniki
(Alexander Touliopoulos) to create an oil paint on canvas. “Sivilles” or
“Sibyls” in ancient times were women that had the gift of prophecy. For
example: Pythia in Greece, Cassandra in Troy, Cuma in Rome etc. Our artist
has been inspired from Sivilla’s theme and created this paint. You can
see a woman’s head (Sivilla) in an ethereal form and a tree full of human
bodies. These bodies/souls are all men that gave a false meaning
to Sivilla’s prophecy and now they are doomed.
9. WHICH ARE YOUR INFLUENCES, MUSICALLY SPEAKING?
BY LISTENING TO “SIVILLA” I COULDN’T ESCAPE NOTICING SOME RIFFS AND MUSICAL
THEMES THAT SOUND CLOSE TO METALLICA AND NEVERMORE. BESIDES, THERE ARE
SOME MOMENTS THAT YOUR VOCALIST INTERPRETS WITH THE SAME MOOD AND FEEL
AS WARREL DANE. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Influences: any kind of good music. Heavy,
ethnic, classical, strange rhythmic patterns… Besides, Michael is a very
emotional vocalist -and a little bit theatrical also - and maybe that’s
the reason why he reminds you of Warrel.
10. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
For “Sivilla” …imposing. You’ve got the painting!!!
: )
11. IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO INVITE FAMOUS MUSICIANS
TO PARTICIPATE IN “SIVILLA” WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
Bjork and Ronnie James Dio for their incredible
feeling, Paco de Lucia for emotional latin guitar playing, Vitalij Kuprij
(Artension) because he is one of the best piano/keyboard players…there
are many to mention.
12. IF YOU COULD BE A FAMOUS PERSON FOR A DAY
AND HAVE A TASTE OF HIS/HER LIFE, WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE AND WHY?
I would like to be Paco de Lucia of course,
because playing guitar is a very important thing for me and who knows,
maybe the way of playing electric/classical guitar would sound a little
bit…different!!!
13. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT ELECTRICITY CEASED TO EXIST
ONE DAY…WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO METAL MUSIC AND DARK NOVA? DO YOU THINK METAL
COULD BE TRANSFORMED OR ALTERED AND STILL MAINTAIN ITS MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS?
For one day no electricity, no electric instruments…let
me think…Always Nick with the drums, me with a classical guitar, Kiki with
an acoustic bass, Mary with piano, Michael singing…there are still power,
passion, melody. Here we are!
14. WHAT TITLE DO YOU THINK COULD SUM UP THE WHOLE
DARK NOVA CAREER TILL NOW?
“Beware!!! The fire is still burning…”
15. WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN COMPOSING THE SOUNDTRACK
FOR A MOVIE? WHAT KIND OF MOVIE WOULD THIS BE? IS THERE A BOOK YOU READ
RECENTLY THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SEE IT ON THE CINEMA? IF YES, WHICH IS IT?
Of course I would be very interested to compose
music for a movie. Perhaps a fantasy movie or something that deals
with forces of nature. I have always been a fan of role playing games
and especially of the “Dark sun world” from TSR/wizards of the coast. I
have all the game products (rule books, miniatures etc) and also all the
novels. I would like these novels to become movies. One movie,
two, a trilogy I don’t care!!!
16. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE
TO MENTION?
Thank you very much for your time and support!
Stay heavy and open-minded! I am looking forward to meeting you all…Cheers!!!
:)
Christine Parastatidou
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