A BAND THAT WASN'T RIGHT!?!?

SOLITARY PAINYARD

SOLITARY PAINYARD IS A NEW GREEK METAL BAND AND VERY SOON ARE PLANNING TO RELEASE THEIR SECOND DEMO. A FEW LINE - UP CHANGES OCCURED 'TILL THE RELEASE OF THE FIRST DEMO AND BEHIND THE VEIL DIDN'T LOOSE THE CHANCE TO INTERVIEW THEM! KEEP THIS NAME TO YOUR MIND, SOON YOU WILL HEAR MORE ABOUT THIS BAND... TILL THEN READ THE INTERVIEW

1.TELL US IN A FEW WORDS THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S HISTORY. WHICH IS TODAY'S LINE UP?

The most important moment of this band was by far the recording of our first demo "Haunting Nightmares". It was the first big step we made. Another important moment for our music, which may seem meaningless but it isn't, was the addition of the 7-string guitar to our music. It really helped us a lot in writing better, heavier and more atmospheric songs. The current line-up of Poltergeist is: Markos Samaras - guitar, Xristos Ampatis - guitar and Fotiss Delinikolas - drums, while we are still looking for a bassist and a singer.

2.WHY HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MONIKER FROM DETHRET TO POLTERGEIST? HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK IS THE CORRECT >CHOICE OF A BAND NAME?

When we grew up a little, Dethret sounded so childish (it's a mix of Death and Threat) and uninspired, and we decided to find a better, more representative name for our band. And that's how we came up with Solitary Painyard (it's a kind of a ghost). We liked it because we like anything that has to do with supernatural and it's also a name that only a few people know what it means, thus, it grasps everyone's attention. A band’s name is a very powerful weapon with which you can either make people get interested in the band, or just ignore it.

3.GIVE US A DEFINITION OF YOUR MUSICAL STYLE AND NAME SOME OF YOUR MOST
BELOVED BANDS AND ALBUMS.

Our musical style can't be described at one word (power, thrash etc.). Our music is a mix of everything. We have songs that could remind you of Nevermore, Scorpions, Judas Priest, Soilwork and so on..!But we are metal, that's for sure. I prefer to say that we are heavy/prog metal, but even that can't describe our music at best. Some of my most favorite albums are: Annihilator - Never, neverland, Septic Flesh - Revolution DNA, Evergrey - Solitude*Dominance*Tragedy and Judas Priest - Jugulator.

4.THIS IS A ONE MAN BAND. RIGHT? WHY? DON'T YOU THINK THINGS WOULD BE
EASIER FOR YOU IF MORE PEOPLE WERE INVOLVED?

Poltergeist used to be an one man's band. We are no longer something like that. One or two years ago, I wanted Solitary Painyard to be "my" project, because it was “my” dream and “my” songs. But later on I realized that it's much easier if you let others involve in your songs with their ideas - then music becomes variable.

5.WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO MAKE THESE LINE UP CHANGES? WHICH WERE THE
DIEFFERENCIES YOU HAD WITH THE OTHER GUYS?

The line-up has changed two times since the beginning of Poltergeist. Both times the reason was just musical differencies. We never had fights or things like that! We just liked to play different music, and that's why couldn't be in the same band. With the “newbies” we have something very common: we are all Metallica-fans!

6.TELL US SOME GENERAL THINGS ON THE BAND RELEASES. ARE YOU STILL SATISFIED WITH THEM OR IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO CHANGE?

Our only release worth mentioning is the "Haunting Nightmares" demo. When Solitary Painyard were still named Dethret, I had recorded two tapes but they were really pathetic, since the songs were played with two guitars only and nothing else! So, I think that only our demo CD could be considered as a Solitary Painyardt release. Things always get very complicated when I talk about this demo. On the one hand, it received positive comments from everyone, especially Metal Hammer wrote:"...the 'mid-tempo' heavy metal they play can be heard with pleasure. It has many good harmonies and melodies which make it differ by far from the usual. Especially "Loneliness" is a great song!". It's a fact that almost everyone liked a lot "Loneliness", but also all of the other songs. But when I listen to the songs now, I realize that they are empty and monotonous. Except that, the production sucks and unfortunately we lacked experience at this time and we didn't know the sound recording "tips". The songs have already changed and they are really better because I cut-off the boring parts and I added new, heavier parts that really stick to your mind. And I also have more experience now, so the next time that we'll walk in the studio to record a demo, I'll know how to make our sound rich and heavy.

7.WHAT ARE YOUR LYRICS TALKING ABOUT? WHAT INSOIRES YOU AND WHAT CAN TAKE AWAY THE INSPIRATION FROM YOU?

To tell you the truth, our songs have no lyrics yet (no singer, no lyrics), but I've started writing some and my perpetual inspiration will always come from supernatural events, human relations and various personal experiences. What can take the inspiration away from me for good is...sleepiness! I can do nothing when I'm sleepy and I always depend on coffee to prevent my eyes from closing!

8.WHAT MADE YOU DESPITE BEING FAN OF THIS MUSIC ALSO TRY TO COMPOSE YOUR
OWN? AND WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU COULDN'T EXPRESS YOURSELF MUSICALLY?

I'm a human being like everyone else and as a human I have feelings and ideas that need to be expressed somehow. And I couldn't think of a better way to express myself than grabbing the guitar and relieve my feelings. If I couldn't for some reason play music, then an alternative way of expressing myself would probably be breaking things. Every kind of things. Walls, tables, plates, everything!

9.WHICH IS THE BEST PART IN YOUR MUSIC AND IN THE BAND IN GENERAL AND
WHICH THING DO YOU THINK YOU SHOULD CORRECT? WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU NEED IMPROVEMENT?

I think that what is best in our music, is the combination of heaviness and atmosphere. And that’s what others think, too. They like the fact that we can compose some very good ballads and atmospheric parts, but we can also play some really heavy metal stuff. However, there is a section in which we need to be improved and that is the quality of our lyrics. Although I can write some pretty good lyrics, I still envy the lyrics of some groups that have all these strange phrases, similes, metaphors etc. etc. That’s why I’d like to find someone else to write the lyrics for our songs.

10.HAVE YOU SENT YOUR DEMOS TO ANY LABELS OR ZINES? WHICH WERE THE
REACTIONS?

No, no, we have sent our demo to noone, because as you may have understood already, after the recording of our demo I realised that it should be a lot better and I was a bit dissappointed. That’s why we decided not to send it to anyone until we get the chance to walk in the studio, rerecord our songs and make them the best, as they had to be from the beginning. After we do this, a great promotion “campaign” will begin. I have made a list of 50-60 companies and 30-40 fanzines/webzines and I’m planning to send our demo to all of them.

11.WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE GREEK METAL SCENE? WHY AREN'T THE BANDS BONDED AND HELPING EACH OTHER?

First of all, I have to admit that the greek bands have produced some really wonderful, clever and unique songs. In my opinion, what counts is the second word, clever, because lately someone rarely listens to a song that has something new to offer. Unfortunately, 50% of the songs that I listen to are by 99% a copy of Iron Maiden, Dream Theater etc. etc. But with the greek scene things aren’t like that. Most of the groups know that they have to do something unique; something that is their idea and not Harris’ or Hetfield’s! Of course, there are some greek bands that copy famous groups, but they are the minority (fortunately). As far as the second question is concerned, I don’t think that our bands aren’t bonded. I believe that we are very close. Of course, there may be some exceptions of feud between bands, but they will be just exceptions. In general, the greek bands create strong bonds among them and try to support each other.

12.WHILE YOU WERE RECORDING "LONELINESS" YOU REALISED THAT A PIANO WOULD BE SUITABLE TO MAKE THE SOUND RICHER. WILL YOU HAVE A PIANO TO ALL YOUR SONGS OR JUST ONLY TO THOSE SONGS YOU THINK THAT "NEED" IT? IS THE USE OF KEYBOARDS IMPORTANT TO YOU OR NOT?

We are against exaggeration. We don’t like the songs that are full of keyboards and piano parts. If we feel that a song is “begging” for a piano, then we will definitely not hesitate to put some piano in it. This is how it happened with “Loneliness”. The song was made to have piano in it, we just realised it a bit late! Anyway, the final answer is: No, we will not use piano all the time, just when it is needed.

13.WHICH IS MAN'S BIGGEST TEMPTATION?

Speaking as a man, definitely women. But speaking as a musician, guitars – lots of guitars! Actually, musical accessories in general. I spend hours in music shops looking at different kinds of picks, strings etc.!

14.IF SOMEDAY YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET THE CREATURE THAT CREATED THE
UNIVERSE, WHICH WOULD YOUR BIGGEST QUESTION BE?

Can I say two? “Why?” and “How?”. But If I had to choose, I would ask Why. I haven’t yet been able to think of a logical answer to this question, except that this creature – whatever it is – felt so lonely that it needed a “toy” to play. And he created the universe, the biggest Role Playing Game ever! But even this answer doesn’t fulfill my curiosity. There must be another, more complicated answer, but we will never know it.

15.IF TIME TRAVEL WAS POSSIBLE, WHICH HISTORICAL PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO
VISIT AND WHY? WHAT WOULD YOU MISS THE MOST FROM OUR TIME?

Oh, I wouldn’t go far. I would go back to the 70’s, when hard rock/metal started. It was probably a very exciting period, because something new had been born. I would like to meet so many great bands at their beginning when noone knew them and I would “copy” songs from various famous bands of the 80’s and I would earn lots of money, and, and, and…! I would miss nothing from our time. I mean, what could someone possibly miss? The exhaust gases? The ozone hole?Poverty? If I HAD to miss something, I would only miss the 7string guitars that didn’t exist back then.

16.WHAT PROLOGUE AND TITLE WOULD YOU LIKE THIS INTERVIEW TO HAVE?

title: “A band that wasn’t right” (‘cause of the continuous changes) and prologue…hm…I can’t think of any, I leave it up to you!

17.THANK YOU!HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?

I thank you, the questions were great and I really enjoyed answering them! The only thing that I would like to mention is how you can find us on the net. Our official site is http://sol-pain.cjb.net and all our MP3s are at Keep playing music!

NIKOS "William_Kidd" PARASTATIDIS

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