Niota
Niota is a UK based band
that delivers a different and unique blend of hardcore... melodic hardcore
is a pretty close description of their sound without being able, however,
to include everything you can find in their compositions. So, read this
review and listen to their songs and believe me you'll realize that you
have come across an amazing band!
1.First of all please present the band
to the readers and point out your aims. You are a very young band, so introduce
the current line up to the readers.
Our band is Ben Keenan (Vocals), Hugh Harvey
(Guitar/Vocals), Andy Pritchard (Guitar/Vocals), Rich Ingham (Bass) and
G (Drums). We've been together foraround a year and a half, and we've played
all over the UK at some of the country's most prestigious venues, including
the Mean Fiddler and Garage in London. We play heavy, melodic hardcore,
and we try to include strong choruses to make our songs as memorable as
possible. We are currently looking to secure a management deal by releasing
our new two track single, "Shatter", which will hopefully lead us to a
record deal allowing us to grow musically and build our fanbase internationally.
2.By the way, how did you come up with this
moniker? What does it mean?
Our guitarist Andy was watching a movie a
few years back about a town called Niota in Illinois that was rebuilt by
convicts from a local prison after a devastating flood, and after they
were released a lot of the prisoners ended up marrying into families from
the town they saved. We liked the idea that something negative like breaking
the law could end up leading to something so positive.
3.Your music is very unique and innovative!
It's melodic hardcore, but please tell me how do you manage to make every
riff you play sound so melodic? Does it happen on purpose or is it just
what comes out of your mind and soul?
All our members have very diverse tastes in
music, and we try to make the music we would choose to listen to, so the
sound that comes out tends to incorporate the heaviness of the metal we
listen to and the melody of the acoustic and more mainstream music we hear.
It basically comes down to us trying to make our music as interesting to
play as possible, and sometimes the loudest thing possible isn't the most
satisfying thing for us!
4.If you had the chance to describe and present
your music to the listeners, what would you say, trying to be as objective
as possible? Is there anything you'd like to change?
We're a guitar driven, passionate band. We
try not to label our music, but we do try to give the listener something
a bit different, and something we'd like to hear ourselves. We wouldn't
change anything we've done already, but we know that our music will evolve
more and more into something closer to the vision we all have for Niota.
5.I have to congratulate your singer here,
he has an incredible voice and I think he is a big plus for Niota. Another
thing I’d like to note is the fact that although you exist a couple of
years, you have managed to achieve a very clear and professional sound.
Please comment on these...
First of all, thanks! We've all been a part
of the music scene for several years, and we know what it takes to capture
the sound we're trying to achieve. It saves us a lot of time when we're
recording because we use producers we trust and who we know will be able
to get the best out of us.
6.Like I said, your sound is very personal
and I think it has your personal stamp, however some bits and pieces of
it reminded me of Evergrey and your compatriots Nero Circus, who later
became Sidewinder. Are you aware of these bands? What do you think of them
and please mention some of your most beloved bands...
There are hundreds of great bands in the UK
that give us inspiration, our influences range from Poison The Well, Sevendust,
Kiss, 311, Funeral For A Friend, Deftones, Vision of Disorder... Anything
we hear I guess!
7.Which are, according to you, the best and
which are the worst parts in your music? Is there a field or any elements
you’d like to experiment with in the future?
We really couldn't say what our best or worst
points are, it's difficult when you're so close to the music, but in the
future we're likely to experiment with all kinds of things - electronica
maybe! We're doing an acoustic session for a radio station soon which should
broaden our sound too.
8.Do you have any plans for live shows? What
should the fans expect to see in one of your gigs?
We're always playing shows in the UK, mainly
London, and we've earned a reputation for being very energetic on stage.
We think it's important to give those people who've paid to watch us something
we'd like to see ourselves, and that usually involves throwing ourselves
all over the place and bleeding somehow.
9.Are you satisfied by the feedback you’ve
got this far? What was the best and what was the most unfair comment you
read about your music?
We really haven't had a bad review yet which
is amazing, somehow we seem to be connecting with people and that's the
best feeling we could ask for. Any review is great because we use it as
constructively as we can.
10.Have you aroused the interest of a label?
What kind of things are you looking for in order to sign with a record
label?
We've had varying levels of interest, but
nothing solid yet. We'd love to give up our jobs and play music full time,
but we realise that being a heavy band makes it that much more difficult
to get the kind of attention that we need.
11.The demo’s title is ‘Sepia.’ What does this
word mean? How did you choose it?
Sepia is the colour of old photographs, it
doesn't mean anything really deep, but it fits the subject of the songs.
It's tricky coming up with something we all like and that was one that
worked for us!
12.By the way, tell us a few things about the
lyrics. Who is responsible for them? Which are your sources of inspiration?
Ben writes all our lyrics, he takes his inspiration
from past experiences, anything and everything. He used to work in a book
shop so he knows a lot about words!
13.Who is responsible for the cover artwork?
If I am not mistaken this is a pigeon. Right? How is it connected to the
album title and the lyrics?
Andy is a professional graphic designer, so
he does all our artwork. The artwork for Sepia is not really symbolic of
anything, but we thought it fitted in with the theme of the song visually,
and we needed something simple so it didn't cost much to reproduce!
14.Do you have any new songs ready? If so,
when do you plan to release them and point out the most important differences
and similarities to ‘Sepia.’
We have a number of new songs written that
we're playing live at the moment. In relation to Sepia, we still
have the softness and melody of that song, but the heavier bits have much
more groove now, we've worked hard on making the whole song structures
work better and the vocals as good as they can be. We're pretty happy with
the direction its going in!
15.If your music was an emotion, what would
it be? If it was a painting, what would it show?
If our music was an emotion, hmm.. I'm sure
it would be many different emotions, there's so much going on at any one
time from each member. If it was a painting it would probably be very dark
and very layered, as the artist in the band I guess I have to be arty,
it'd look like Guernica by Pablo Picasso!
16.If you had the chance to invite famous musicians
to participate in one of Niota’s live shows, who you choose and why?
We'd all pick different musicians to each
other so it's tough to answer on my own. I suspect Ben would choose Lajon
from Sevendust, Hugh would invite all of Kyuss, El Caco and Queen, Rich
would have 311, G would probably get Kiss up on stage and I'd choose Chino
Moreno from the Deftones, and Greg Puciato from Dillinger Escape Plan.
That would be one hell of a show! To be honest though, we don't need anyone
else - Niota is the five of us and it always will be.
17.Thank you! Is there anything else you’d
like to mention and I forgot to ask you?
No, thank you! I guess the only thing left
to say is please check out our music if you haven't heard us yet, visit
our website at www.niota.co.uk,
and come be our friend at www.myspace.com/niotacore.
One day we'll make it out to Greece sowe can try to get a sun tan and spread
the Niota word across your fine country! Cheers!
Christine Parastatidou
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