Swan
Christy
Swan Christy will surely
give a hard time to everyone who wants to explore and dive into their music,
since their sound is unique, original and unconventional. It's hard to
be an artist and manage to avoid making any sort of compromises. Spiros
Pagiatakis is here, on behalf of the band, to clear these things out for
us and present their latest musical endeavor that bears the title "A Decent
Album". Here is what he told us...
1. FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS YOUR 5TH STUDIO RELEASE
AND YOU HAVE QUITE SOME EXPERIENCE TILL NOW. SO, DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC
GOALS SET YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH SWAN CHRISTY?
First of all, this is our second studio release with the current
roster. Keep in mind that Swan Christy since "Julian" is a totally different
band. The tracks are created using techniques that have nothing to do with
the way Swan Christy made songs before. The process in the studio is quite
different also. When we enter "Praxis Studio" we have almost 85% of the
record ready. What is most important is that the way our minds work when
creating music, or approaching new material is also different. Kostas and
Iraklis have no comparison between the way they work now with Dimitris
and me,w ith the way the band worked during the pre-Julian era. So the
experience you mentioned is something that Swan Christy is getting
as we speak. I believe, and I know that the rest of the band agrees, that
our specific goal since the first track we laid down for "Julian" is to
walk the path we chose with no compromises. Evolve and become better and
better in the music we chose to do regardless of any consequences.
2. COULD YOU PLEASE PINPOINT THE MOST IMPORTANT
MOMENTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE BAND TILL NOW?
Funny you ask that question because recently I had this discussion
with Iraklis. As far as I can tell you, the biggest achievement for Swan
Christy was not breaking up after the releasing the not too well accepted
"Black is the white color", but rather reformed and took on a different
musical direction succesfully. Then we come to the biggest achievement
which probably is "Julian". And that is because the band explored something
very very different from its style but after all managed to achieve something
good, create honest music and started again from scratch while preserving
its artistic integrity.
3. EXPERIMENTATION AND PROGRESSIVENESS ARE THE
ONLY WORDS I CAN MENTION IN ORDER TO DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC. NOTHING ELSE
CAN FIT. MOREOVER, “A DECENT ALBUM” IS BASED ON ELECTRONIC SAMPLES, THE
PIANO AND THE VOCALS. WHY? ISN’T THERE ANY PLACE FOR GUITARS IN YOUR MUSIC
AND IN SWAN CHRISTY’S FUTURE?
I cannot find a difference between guitar, piano, electronic samples
and vocals. For me these are all parts of the music we create, they are
equal to my mind, means to create and bring to life the music that's in
our heads. They are there to serve the song. So that means that the sounds
we use are chosen, very carefully actually, to create the mood and the
atmosphere we want. I understand that you are a part of the Metal fan world
and guitars mean a lot to you, but to us mean something only if they serve
the purpose we want at that given moment. That's why we used guitar in
"Gently rated". Dimitris played the guitar for the track and I processed
it in a way to create a new sound and feel from it that is out of the ordinary.
So guitars have a place in our music in the present and the future. Of
course an all-guitar release is certainly something that will not happen,
because for our way of creating music traditional guitar playing is somewhat
limited musically.
4. THIS IS YOUR 5TH RELEASE AND YOU STILL CONTINUE
CHANGING ALBUM AFTER ALBUM. WHY? HAVEN’T YOU FOUND OUT YET THE SOUND THAT
CHARACTERIZES AND REPRESENTS YOU THE MOST? IS IT PERHAPS THAT YOU DON’T
FEEL COMPLETELY “CONFIDENT” WITH YOUR MUSICAL DIRECTION YET?
The sound that characterizes and represents Swan Christy, is the
sound of their current release. We feel very confident with it. I could
never imagine myself creating two albums with the same sound. What would
I do then? Change the lyrics? Use different chords? Perhaps make the song
a little faster? Our style and sound is something that is shaped everyday
by millions of things. Life, opinions, views change every day. So does
our music. As an artist I feel obliged to incorporate that truth in my
work. Push my boundaries to the maximum and when I reach that place when
I don't know what will happen next, shape my style and create my sound.
That's the way we work in Swan Christy.
5. I SUPPOSE YOU ARE ALREADY AWARE OF THE FACT
THAT YOU GIVE REVIEWERS A HARD TIME TRYING TO DESCRIBE AND PRESENT YOUR
MUSIC. SO, I WANT TO REVERSE THINGS. LET’S IMAGINE THAT YOU ARE GIVEN “A
DECENT ALBUM?” TO REVIEW IT. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY? I KNOW IT’S HARD BUT TRY
TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE.
I am really sorry, but that is impossible. I spent a whole year
of my life working on this release very hard. I can't be objective about
a part of myself. If it wasn't something that I believed in and liked 100%
I wouldn't go through it. I also think that giving reviewers a hard time
describing our music is good, because that means that we are doing something
new, that requires thinking and research to break down and explain.
6. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST AND WHAT THE
WORST PART OF YOUR MUSIC? IN WHICH FIELDS DO YOU THINK YOU NEED FURTHER
IMPROVEMENTS?
The best part I think is its openmindness and freedom. The worst
part I can only think of is that it is difficult for most people. Because
most people want easy stuff they can bang their head to, or shake their
ass to, or listen in the elevator. So it is actually not a worst part artistically,
but financially. We are not in it for the money so if they don't get it
screw them. I couldn't care less. The field we need improvement is
live sets. We would really like to play live our stuff, to see how it will
come out. But I don't think we will ever improve in that part. Our jobs
will not allow us.
7. IT’S OBVIOUS THAT “A DECENT ALBUM” CAN NO LONGER
BE CLASSIFIED AS METAL. SO, WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH YOUR FANS? WHICH IS THE
TARGET-GROUP OF PEOPLE YOU THINK YOUR MUSIC MAINLY ADDRESSES TO?
I really don't know what will happen with our fans. I believe that
we are building a new fan base with our two last releases. We haven't got
a target group in our mind. We make music to share it with anyone that
searches for something new or finds something stimulating in it. Something
that excites them and puts their emotions and thoughts in action. Of course
they are not people that want something easy and fast. We don't serve fast-food.
We prefer DECENT meals.
8. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS?
As I mentioned before no. Our day jobs, that
we cannot quit, have made that quite impossible. We will need many rehearsals
and it is impossible for us to work together (all four members) for more
than fifteen days. We actually had to use the days from our summer vacation
leave twice to record the album.
9. I READ IN YOUR BIO THAT YOU ARE ALSO PRODUCING
A SHORT FILM WITH YOU ACTING. WHAT WILL IT BE ALL ABOUT?
This is something that can't be discussed
yet. Not that it is a surprise or something, but because it is in a stage
that there is nothing to discuss about it yet.
10. WHY DID YOU NAME THE ALBUM “A DECENT ALBUM”.
DOES THIS SHOW A BIT THE FACT THAT EVEN YOU DON’T KNOW HOW THE FANS AND
PEOPLE WILL REACT, THUS YOU TRY TO “REASSURE” THE FANS EVERYTHING’S FINE?
?
We named the album like that probably because
we felt like we were producing a very decent album while we worked on it.
I am not sure why, but that title seemed to fit perfectly our work musically
as well as mentally. I also thought it blends perfectly with the artwork.
It is certainly not a reassurance to the fans that everything is fine.
As I mentioned we feel very confident with our new release..
11. YOUR SINGER HAS A MAGNIFICENT AND VERY THEATRICAL
VOICE! I THINK HE IS A BIG ADVANTAGE FOR YOU! WHAT DO YOU THINK ON THAT?
DOES HE SING ANYWHERE ELSE OR IS HE 100% DEVOTED TO THE BAND?
Yes, Kostas is a great singer and he adapted
quite well to our new style. I always enjoyed so much the process of adding
his great vocals to the songs. He doesn't sing anywhere else, only on Swan
Christy. He is a big advantage for the band, but things don't work in Swan
Christy in the way you imply. Each member of the band finds his inspiration
in the work of the other members. We are influenced by each other. We don't
rely on a member to make an average song sound good. If a song is crap
good vocals wouldn't make it sound good. I believe that Kostas finds inspiration
on the music we create and adds to its feeling and takes it one step further.
Although we have to give him an extra push sometimes to get there. All
four of us communicate very well and I think that can be seen very clearly
in our music.
12. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
It wouldn't certainly be only one emotion,
but if I tried to narrow it down, for me that emotion would be impatience.
I am already wondering how our next release will be. And I can't wait to
see where our future work will lead us artistically. I already tried to
transform our music into an image. The result was the artwork on the album.
The cover and the booklet. I can't think of other images that would go
together with the music on "A Decent Album". So, the answer to your second
part of the question lies in our album. I understand that you probably
wanted me to answer that question, from the view of a listener of our music,
but I can't do that because I took part in creating it.
13. IF YOU COULD BE A FAMOUS PERSON FOR A DAY,
WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO BE AND WHICH PERIOD OF HIS/HER LIFE WOULD YOU LIKE
TO HAVE A TASTE OF?
I would like to be Stanley Kubrick when he
was creating "2001:A Space Odyssey". Because as an artist he was free to
create an absolute masterpiece. He reached his peak during that period,
and I would like to feel that tension of that peak. The thoughts, the emotions
and the outcome of a work that comes from the depths of the heart and mind
and materialises so clearly in a true masterpiece.
14. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT SUDDENLY ELECTRICITY CEASES
TO EXIST. WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN TO METAL MUSIC? WHAT DO YOU THINK
SWAN CHRISTY WOULD DO THEN?
Metal music, as well as many kinds of music
would cease to exist. Along with life as we know it on the planet. Swan
Christy would probably be collecting wood in the forests or hunting animals
so they could keep warm and have something to eat. Maybe they would try
to defend themselves from the harsh nature or perform "Rehearsal Recording"
with vocals only and natural percussion around a fire at night for their
friends, after a hard day.:)
15. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE
TO MENTION?
Thanks for a nice interview, I hope I helped
you with my answers. Bye!
Christine Parastatidou
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