Nocta
"Wicked Woman" is one of
the most original and unique albums I've listened to in a long time. Nocta
have managed to create a very personal sound with multilayered compositions
that not only do they stick in your mind, but they also mind travel you
to dark and imposing places. This is a band no one should miss. Read this
interesting interview and you'll find out why...
1.FIRST OF ALL MY CONGRATULATIONS FOR AN INCREDIBLE
ALBUM!!!
Thanks! We are very proud of it too, if I
may say so!!
2.PLEASE GIVE US A SHORT BAND BIO AND INTRODUCE
THE CURRENT LINE UP.
The idea was conceived while me and Ares were
serving together in the army! As soon as we finish our obligations to the
Motherland we begun putting things together. After only a year we were
signed by XRC and released our first album Prima Nocta (AOR style with
Greek Lyrics), We released also an album through Universal with the infamous
Hmiskoubria called La Klikaria. The band short after crumbled as different
opinions and different personalities were colliding, and we took the decision
to sack everybody and start all over. Our first effort as a ''band reborn'
'is in your hands now!!!
The lineup consists of:
Stavros J: vocals &flute
Ares: Lead and rhythm guitars
Kostas: Rhythm&lead guitars
Apostolis: Bass
Nick: Drums
Nick is the drummer of Tsopana Rave and is
playing with us on stage since G Kollias is on tour with Nile now.
3.I THINK THAT YOU HAVE MANAGED TO CREATE AN ORIGINAL
AND PERSONAL SOUND AS A BAND. A SOUND THAT GAVE ME A REALLY HARD TIME TO
DESCRIBE OR EVEN GIVE A PROPER HINT IN MY REVIEW. SO, WHERE DO YOU PLACE
NOCTA MUSICALLY SPEAKING?
We would like to believe that we are an original
Heavy Metal Band, but you can say that we are Stoner too!!! We all love
the pure 70's Heavy Metal........
4.CAN YOU POINT OUT SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS
AND ALBUMS? WHO WERE THE MUSICIANS THAT "GUIDED" YOU TOWARDS THIS MUSICAL
PATH?
My all time favorite band is Black Sabbath,
Ares' is Pink Floyd, Stavros loves Jethro Tull and Apostolis is a huge
fan of Rainbow.... As you can see the similarities are only on the age
of these groups(lol)!!! If I have to say which is my all time favorite
album I would say "Heaven and Hell", but today I'm listening a lot to Machine
Head their last album did it for me....
5.WHAT KIND OF PROCEDURE DO YOU FOLLOW DURING
THE SONGWRITING PROCESS? ARE THE DECISIONS MADE IN A DEMOCRATIC MANNER
OR NOT?
We don't have a process, but we do have Ares..lol,
me and Stavros bring the lyrics, I will bring some riffs and Ares will
put the bloody things together (with the addition of his riffs too). You
can descibe it as a combined effort. Sometimes democracy has its cost but
it's inevitable to make decisions together as a group.....but some other
things concerning the group are not negotiable.
6.THE AMAZING THING IS THAT BESIDES THE, LET'S
SAY, "NORMAL" SOUNDS AND ELEMENTS I EXPECTED IN YOUR MUSIC, YOU SURPRISED
ME WITH SOME JETHRO TULL-ISH MOMENTS AND SOME DARK AND DOOMY PARTS. HOW
DID YOU COME UP WITH SUCH STRANGE AND EXTRAORDINARY, FOR YOUR KIND OF MUSIC,
SOUNDS?
Jethro Tull is a huge inspiration for us and
Stavros who worships Ian Anderson, added the flute parts to our songs to
create this unique feeling to our music, our dark and doomy parts to our
music where not added on purpose, it's a part of who we really are. We
want to create atmoshere and set the mood with our songs, the dark elements
is what comes natural to us.
7.LET'S SUPPOSE THAT YOU HAD TO REVIEW "WICKED
WOMAN". WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE? ARE YOU
SATISFIED BY THE FINAL RESULT?
I would describe it as an honest Metal album,
with good production, a journey to the roots of the Heavy music.
8.WHAT'S THE BEST AND WHAT'S THE WORST PART IN
YOUR MUSIC, ACCORDING TO YOU? ARE THERE ANY ELEMENTS YOU'D LIKE TO ADD
OR EXPERIMENT WITH IN THE FUTURE?
According to my opinion the best part is that
the whole album's contents are homogeneous and we succeded in creating
something of a dark theatrical atmosphere. The only thing that, if I may
say so, I regret is that we didn't work too much on the backing vocals.....
9.NOW, TELL US WHICH THE MAIN TOPICS IN YOUR LYRICS
ARE. WHICH ARE YOUR SOURCES OF INSPIRATION?
Since I've written most of the lyrics, I would
have to say that I was inspired mostly by books or movies, but I always
like to project real everyday situations, relations with a bit of exaggeration.....
10.PLEASE DESCRIBE THE COVER ARTWORK, TELL US
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT AND CONNECT IT TO THE ALBUM TITLE. DID YOU TELL
THE ARTIST HOW YOU WANTED THE COVER TO BE OR IS THIS WHAT HE "RECEIVED"
FROM YOUR MUSIC?
Our album's art was desingned by Vassilis
Arnaoutoglou who is no longer with us, a tremendous artist and a fantastic
person.We miss him so much and it is painfull to talk about it now. Vassilis
listened to the album and came up with the artwork we didn't interfer at
all since we are huge fans of his work.Wicked Woman is portrayed on the
cover, half naked smoking weird stuff... and creating illusions as to what
she really is....a beauty or a man eater....
11.NOW WHAT? WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR NOCTA?
DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE APPEARANCES?
We are appearing live quite often, but our
main goal remains to do a small European tour. We want to promote our album
and we will play everywhere to support it.
12.WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK HAVE YOU RECEIVED UP
TO NOW? WHAT WAS THE MOST FLATTERING AND WHAT THE MOST UNFAIR COMMENT FOR
YOUR MUSIC?
Untill now all reviews that we get are excellent!!!
But we don't dread the bad reviews, we welcome them because they are bringing
another point of view that we may haven't noticed. We welcome all reviews!!
Good or Bad.
13.WHICH ARE YOUR GOALS AND AIMS? WHICH OF THESE
DO YOU THINK YOU CAN MAKE REAL WITH SLEASZY RIDER RECORDS?
Sleaszy Rider is supporting us all the way
I think some chemistry is building up between us now!!! Our aim is to be
able to play heavy music for as long as we can.We want someday to see our
music mature with the same anger and honesty through the years. Yes we
want to become a big band.
14.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT
BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
If it was an emotion, it would be mixed emotions
lol..anger, fear, insecurity, with a great deal of passion. If it was a
picture, it would have to be a gothic representation...
15.WHAT'S THE IDEAL TITLE TO SUM UP ALL YOUR EFFORTS
AND ACHIEVEMENTS THIS FAR?
So Far, So Good, So what......
16.THANK YOU! LEAVE A MESSAGE TO THE READERS.
We thank you and we feel like shouting to
all of you: HEAVY METAL IS HERE TO STAY!!!!!!!
With love and anger
NOCTA
Christine Parastatidou
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