I am glad when I am talking with
musicians that we share the same love for the same bands. Especially when
the chat comes to RUNNING WILD (they rule!!!). George Drimilis is the vocalist
of the Greek epic metallers RAGING STORM and he has many interesting things
to say. Oh!...by the way the greatest team in Greece is ARIANARA (heheh)!!!
1.HELLO !FIRST OF ALL GIVE US A BRIEF
BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAND AND THE CURRENT LINE-UP.
RAGING STORM HAS BEEN FORMED IN NOVEMBER
OF ’97. AFTER SOME DIFFICULTIES THE LINE-UP ENDED TO BE:CHRIS MOSALOS-GUITAR,
HARRY BOUDAMOUR-BASS, GEORGE VASSARAS-DRUMS, DIMITRIS DELIS-LEAD GUITAR
AND GEORGE DRIMILIS-VOCALS.
2.HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC?WHICH
ARE YOUR MAIN INFLUENCES?
WE WANT TO BELIEVE THAT OUR MUSIC CAN
BE DESCRIBED AS PURE HEAVY METAL INFLUENCED BY GROUPS SUCH AS IRON MAIDEN,
RUNNING WILD, CIRITH UNGOL, OMEN, MANILLA ROAD, SORTILEGE, SLOUGH FEG,
BROCAS HELM, MANOWAR, CRUSH AND OTHERS.
3.WHY DID YOU SELECT THIS BAND NAME?IS
THERE ANY STORY BEHIND IT?
THE NAME OF THE BAND IS INFLUENCED
BY SOME RUNNING WILD LYRICS AND IT IS A ‘HEAVY’ NAME THAT ALSO REFLECTS
THE MUSIC OF OUR BAND.
4.WHICH SUBJECTS DO YOU LIKE TO HURT
THROUGH YOUR LYRICS? WHICH THINGS INSPIRE YOU IN WRITING LYRICS?DO
YOU LIKE TO WRITE ABOUT EVERYDAY SITUATIONS OR DO YOU THINK THAT
SOME TIMES FANTASY IS A NICE AND EASY WAY OF EXPRESSING REALITY?
THE LYRICS MOST OF THE TIMES REFER
TO BATTLES AND HEROIC ACTIONS MADE IN DIFFERENT AGES AND CIRCUMSTANCES
OF HUMAN HISTORY. THERE ARE ALSO SOME ‘EVIL’ LYRICS, OTHERS INSPIRED FROM
GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND FEW ABOUT EVERYDAY SITUATIONS.I WRITE MOST OF THE LYRICS
AND ALWAYS AFTER HAVING FINISHED THE MUSIC PART. I HEAR IT MANY TIMES AND
AFTER HAVING FOUND THE BASIC IDEA IT’S EASY TO COMPLETE THE ‘PUZZLE’.
INSPIRATION IS SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN
NEVER UNDERSTAND. THERE ARE TIMES THAT YOU WANT DESPERATELY TO WRITE SOMETHING
OR HAVE AN IDEA AND YOU END UP WITH A BLANK PAGE AND THERE ARE ALSO TIMES
THAT YOU ARE NOT IN THE MOOD TO WRITE ANYTHING AND WONDERFUL IDEAS FILL
YOUR HEAD.
I LIKE WRITING BOTH ABOUT EVERYDAY
SITUATIONS AND FANTASY/HISTORIC THEMES WHICH OF COURSE ARE A NICE WAY OF
EXPRESSING REALITY. IN MOST OF OUR SONGS I THINK FANTASY LYRICS SUIT BETTER.
5.RECENTLY YOU HAVE RECORDED A DEMO,
TELL US FEW WORDS ABOUT IT:WHICH ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS, WHERE
HAVE YOU RECORDED THE DEMO? ARE YOU STILL SATISFIED WITH IT?
THIS DEMO WAS NECESSARY BECAUSE WE
HAD SEVERAL LIVE APPEARANCES AND THERE WERE SOME PEOPLE THAT WANTED
TO HEAR STUDIO MATERIAL. SINCE WE HAD MATERIAL FOR A FULL LENGTH ALBUM
OUR PURPOSE WAS TO WAIT UNTIL IT WAS RELEASED BUT THEN SINCE WE HAD
STARTED WRITING IN STUDIO WE DECIDED THAT IT WOULD BE BETTER TO MAKE OUR
NAME MOST KNOWN BY GIVING THIS DEMO FOR FREE TO ANYONE THAT WAS INTERESTED!
IT WAS RECORDED AT STUDIO‘ACTIVE’ AND WE ARE VERY SATISFIED WITH THE FINAL
RESULT.
6.WHO DESIGNED THE COVER ARTWORK OF
THE DEMO?
WE ARE LUCKY BECAUSE OUR BASS PLAYER
HARRY IS ALSO A VERY GOOD DRAWING ARTIST SO HE MADE THE ARTWORK IN WHICH
I MUST SAY WE DON’T GIVE MUCH ATTENTION BECAUSE THE MUSIC IS ALL THAT COUNTS
AND NOT A FANCY COVER.
7.ARE YOU SATISFIED FROM THE REVIEWS
THE DEMO TOOK FROM THE PRESS AND THE FANS? HOW CAN SOMEONE
GET IT(BUY IT)?
WE ARE VERY SATISFIED OF THE REVIEWS.
IT SEEMS THAT MOST OF PEOPLE THAT HEARD IT RECOGNIZED THAT WE ARE SINCERE
AND PASSIONATE ABOUT OUR MUSIC. AS I SAID BEFORE THE DEMO IS MADE FOR THE
FANS. IF ANYBODY WANT TO HAVE AN IDEA OF THE BAND HE/SHE CAN SEND A BLANK
TAPE SO THAT WE WRITE OUR DEMO THAT CONTAINS 4 SONGS.THE ADDRESS IS:
GEORGE DRIMILIS
NESTOROS 6-8,PL.ATTIKHS
10445,ATHENS
8.DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW SONGS READY?
OF COURSE! WE ARE ALWAYS WORKING NEW
SONGS AND NOW EXCEPT OF THE SONGS THAT WILL BE INCLUDED IN OUR FIRST ALBUM
(WHENEVER THIS WILL BE RELEASED) WE HAVE 3 NEW SONGS AND THE 2 OF THEM
WILL BE PLAYED ON 25TH OF NOVEMBER.
9.WHICH ARE YOUR AIMS/DREAMS AS A BAND?
WE DON’T HAVE ANY PARTICULAR DREAMS
OR AIMS.WE JUST WANT TO BE REMEMBERED AS THE DIRTIEST AND SLEAZIEST BAND
THAT THIS COUNTRY EVER GAVE BIRTH!!!
10.ON 25TH OF NOVEMBER YOU WILL PLAY
AS AN OPENING ACT TO THE LIVE OF BROCAS HELM, HERE IN
GREECE.HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?DO YOU SEE IT AS A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO
MAKE YOUR MUSIC MORE KNOWN?
IN THIS PARTICULAR APPEARANCE THE LEAST
THAT WE ARE THINKING IS TO MAKE OUR MUSIC KNOWN.WHEN YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY
TO BE IN THE SAME SCENE WITH GROUPS SUCH AS BROCAS HELM (ONE OF THE BEST
BANDS EVER!) THE ONLY EMOTIONS THAT YOU FEEL ARE PRIDE AND EXCITEMENT BECAUSE
EXPERIENCES LIKE THIS COME ONCE IN A LIFETIME!
11.I BELIEVE THAT GREEK METAL FANS
DON'T SUPPORT THE GREEK METAL SCENE? WHY DO YOU THINK IS THIS HAPENING?
THE GREEK METAL FANS WERE ALWAYS HESITATING
ABOUT GREEK BANDS AND RARELY SUPPORTED THEM. I THINK THIS SITUATION BEGIN
TO CHANGE NOW AS WE HAVE MANY GOOD BANDS. A GOOD SOLUTION WOULD BE THE
ORGANIZATION OF A TWO OR THREE-DAY FESTIVAL TWICE A YEAR OR MORE
IN WHICH WILL PARTICIPATE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT BANDS SO THAT THE AUDIENCE
(WHICH IN THIS CASE WILL BE A BIG ONE) HAVE A COMPLETE PICTURE ABOUT THE
HELLENIC SCENE. THEN IT IS UP TO THE BANDS TO PROVE THAT THEY DESERVE SOME
ATTENTION. FORTUNATELY THERE IS A SMALL CORE THAT SUPPORT GREEK BANDS FANATICALLY
AND THEY ARE NOT INFLUENCED BY ANY TRENDS THAT SOME METAL MAGAZINES SERVE
THEM.
12.WHICH OTHER GREEK BANDS DO YOU THINK
THAT THEY DESERVE TO HAVE MORE ATTENTION FROM THE FANS?
THERE ARE MANY GREAT BANDS NOW IN GREECE!SOME
OF THEM ARE AIRGED LAMH, DREAM WEAVER, MARAUDER, BATTLEROAR, CLAIRVOYANT,
REFLECTION, POWER CRUE,CRYSTAL CLEAR, CRUSH, CRYSTAL TEARS, BRAINFADE,
FOUR SEASONS, BLOODSTAINED, REFLECTIONS REVERT, VIOLET VORTEX, INNERWISH
AND MANY OTHERS.
13.WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE
POLITICAL SITUATION DEVELOPED NOW, AFTER THOSE TERRORIST ATTACKS IN THE
U.S.A.? WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN NEXT?
THE POLITICAL SITUATION NOW IS VERY
COMPLICATED. BOTH SIDES ARE FANATICS EVEN THE ‘CIVILIZED’ U.S. WHO WANT
TO HAVE THE WHOLE WORLD UNDER THEIR COMMAND. SINCE EARTH LEADERS ARE MORONS
THE ONLY SOLUTION IS AN ALIEN INVASION FROM METAL PLANET WHICH WILL SPREAD
SANITY AND HEAVY METAL IN ALL OVER THE WORLD!!!
14.THANKS FOR THE INTERVIEW. THE LAST
WORDS BELONG TO YOU. I WISH YOU THE BEST!
WE WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THIS INTERVIEW.IT
WAS VERY INTERESTING AND ORIGINAL(AEKARA FOR EVER).
DEFEND THE METAL FAITH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!