[colored_box color=”yellow”]“The fans that make the band. When you play an awesome live, one of the reasons you play that way is the crowd.”[/colored_box]
Here’s the third and final part of the 1000mods frenzy on Metalpaths Webzine. After the “Vulture” review and the report from their latest concert, we are proud to present a face to face interview with one of the coolest company of guys you’ll ever meet, on the backstage of AN Club after the Vultures’ release party.
Although exhausted from their explosive performance on stage, they greeted me like a friend and after a short round of chatting and vinyl signing with the remaining fans they were more than eager to answer all of my questions.
So, about 3 a.m in the night, with all of us running on back up energy after that show and 1000mods give out yet another great performance, for your eyes and ears exclusively!
P.S What makes this interview even more important is the fact that we had to overcome many technical and various other hardships.
But…
A) the guys showed great understanding of the situation.
B) Metalpaths has taught me to be a vigilante and laugh sardonically in the face of danger. We weren’t going to miss this chance no matter what. Enjoy!
– Achilles Pantogyios
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After the explosive release party of Vultures, they are ready to talk with us about their new album and much more. AN Club was packed tonight, those of us under the stage experienced a powerful show. Tell us about your experience on stage!
– Dani: This was our first sold out ever. It was amazing and the crowd was spine chilling, really beautiful.
So you didn’t expect so many attendants ?
– Dani: So many…
– Giannis: It was perfect. A release party can’t be better than that! I believe the crowd also understood they helped us give out a great show.
Like when you supported Graveyard, you produced incredible energy on stage and you have a strong connection with the fans. How do you do that?
– Giannis: This is the amazing art of Dani G., man! The wizard of the band!
– Dani: Nothing is coincidental!
– Giannis: I think it’s the fans that make the band. When you play an awesome live, one of the reasons you play that way is the crowd. If the people did not like what they were seeing, they would bail on you. They wouldn’t give you that extra push to perform your best, it’s interdependent.
– Dani: It’s the fans that boost our performance, when we see them banging on as we play, it’s beautiful.
About “Vultures” now, this time you chose to work with “The lab records”, whose roster includes Nightstalker, Deus Ex Machina…
– Dani: The Last Drive…
Your “Valley of the sand” EP. How did you decide that and how do you think it helped on “Vultures”?
– Labros: We had worked together on “Valley of the sand”, we’ve been friends the guys for a long time and have collaborated with “The Lab t shirts” and when it was time to hit the studios we’d already talked and agreed about it. And we were both satisfied with “Valley of sand” so it was only logical.
– Dani: We love those guys.
Vultures’ length is smaller than Super Van Vacation…
– Dani: There’s more!
For me that worked positively. Why’d you choose this tactic and not the same as your debut?
– Dani: We didn’t choose it, that’s how it came out for us. We had almost nine tracks, and we picked out eight, relatively new in contrast with the ones in Super Van and that’s how it happened.
– Labros: And the compositions are “tighter” than “Super Van”.
– Giannis: It’s a recording that went down clearly in studio environment. It’s obvious from the great duration and the lengthy jamming that, for “Super Van”, we stayed in a house for one and a half months. And that was conveyed in the album. Six people, including the producer and sound engineer, inside a room for ninety days, do not aim at something particular. Since 2006, we have a discography with lengthy songs. This time we entered the studio with finished tracks and it came out tighter, more bonded more straight and heavy rock. I think slow parts are not missing in this album.
– Dani: There are some doom parts.
– Giannis: But it had to be more compact, because if we chose to put in a few more tracks we’d have to go with double vinyl.
– Labros: Again.
– Dani: We didn’t want that.
The producer of Super Van was Billy Anderson, right?
– Dani: Yeah, Billy Anderson.
Worth mentioning. Going back to Vultures, it’s apparent that, although advanced, the sound is in the same league with the previous full length. How did you reach this massive, groovy sound when compared with your psychedelic start, in demos like Blank Reality or Liquid Sleep? How did you reach this bulky sound?
– Giannis: The songs had a particular structure, so we laid our sound on those songs. There was no chance that, by writing a straighter album, meaning faster or less lengthy, we’d turn down the throttle or the groove. It’s just rock, it’s the sound of 1000mods and this is taken in by the fans at live shows.
The artwork of “Vultures” is again made by Malleus Studios?
– Dani: No. It’s by Indyvisuals
– Labros: It’s a Greek team with graphic designers and artists.
– Giannis: I don’t think Malleus would be fitting for Vultures, musically speaking.
– Labros: Indyvisuals are all about clear lines. The moment they sent the cover we said “This is it”.
It’s as straightforward as the music. In Metalpaths’ review of “Vultures” it is mentioned that, although sharing elements with the classic American sound, you don’t copy the southern culture or accent. It has that special Greek stoner sound. Tell us about this and your influences from Greek or foreign bands that helped build your present style.
– Dani: George?
– Labros: I’ll give you a nice pass! (Talking to George). Truth is, as a band and as individuals, in the past we had many southern influences, Black Label Society, Corrosion of Conformity, Down…
– George: A long time ago!
– Labros: And we were never convinced to head down that way. We loved it, but it couldn’t come out for us.
– Dani: Till we listened to Kyuss and Monster Magnet closely.
– Giannis: Weren’t you going to give him a pass?
– Labros: We were more on the psychedelic side.
– Dani: Sabbath is the base.
– George: You start from 60’s and 70’s with all the goods, Cream, Sabbath, Hendrix and the rest.
– Giannis: It’s pretty simple.The southern style just couldn’t come out!
– George: Other influences would come out for us. Of course that doesn’t mean we denounce the southerners, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers. We’ve heard them and love them. We preferred the other way.
– Giannis: When it comes to Greek bands…
– Dani: Nightstalker!
– Giannis: We have partied big time with ‘Stalker!
– George: And we listened to them alongside the legends, back in the 90’s.
– Dani: I can’t say we were influenced by other Greek bands.
– Giannis: ‘Stalker is the main influence we had as kids starting up.
You gave me a great pass though; you talked about the early days. How did you meet and decided to create 1000mods?
– George: There’s going to be tears! Tough question.
– Giannis: I told them “Here’s twenty bucks, come and play”!
– George: And we followed!
– Dani: We are all childhood friends.
– Labros: Before we started playing music.
– Giannis: We played in many different bands starting up and since we knew each other and listened to a common music genre we ended up together. So we formed the band.
– Dani: Having fun!
As it seems from the band name, you originate from Chiliomodi, a small town outside Korinthos. How hard was it to become known to a wider audience and create opportunities since you started from a provincial town and we all know that’s not something easy?
– Dani: These two, John is from Korinthos and George from Chiliomodi.
– George: When the band name occurred, we were three from Chiliomodi, two guys, me and John from Korinthos. Then came the addition of Dani on vocals and Labros, with whom we played in some other project. And the base was in Chiliomodi, all the early songs were jammed and recorded there.
– Giannis: Valley of sand and Desert side were written before 2004.
– Dani: In the first recording of Valley Giannis was the singer!
– Giannis: You should listen to it!
– George: We’ll send it to you!
– Giannis: Never!
Where did you rehearse and record?
– Giannis: Dude, we initially rehearsed in a basement in Chiliomodi.
– George: Then, in Giannis’ basement.
– Giannis: We even found ourselves in a car repair garage!
– George: And inside some school grounds!
– Giannis: Yeah dude, the technical school!
– George: We played everywhere, anywhere we could. Then the base became the vacation home of Labros near the sea in Korinthos and there we wrote Super Van.
Since we talked about the domestic stoner scene, there have been many great bands popping up lately. Korsikov, Godsleep, Automaton and the list goes on. You live this scene from the inside, what can you tell us about it? Is there support and cooperation between the bands? What do you think led to this explosion?
– Giannis: The guys who live here (in Athens) and attend shows should talk.
– Dani: You see now, in smaller shows, venues that fit 100-150 people are packed. Bands starting now, with only one album or demo recently released, gather a lot of people on their shows and the bands support this with really strong performances.
– Labros: And they have great productions. That wasn’t happening 6 or 7 years ago.
– Dani: Bands like Automaton and Cellar Dogs who played with us, appeared 6 months – 1 year ago and they perform like veterans. You saw them today. Or Allochiria per say.
– Giannis: There are many bands. When I come from the providence to see a show, the way the guys I first meet on a show treat me, shows this scene has a bright future ahead. There is a feeling of solidarity and understanding between the bands and it helps a lot.
– George: This was built up gradually.
– Dani: And because we know what each other is going through. To do what we do went through some things and so did Planet of Zeus or Nightstalker.
You and all those bands first appeared at a time when the economic crisis was starting to become very apparent in Greece. How did that affect your evolution as a band?
– Labros: It had a great effect, sadly.
– Dani: Not so much in the evolution.
– Labros: Yeah, more in how hard it made the whole effort. In 2007-8 we all had a job, buying stuff and funding the band and then 3 of us became unemployed and it all became harder.
– Giannis: Was your question about how that helped to bond the scene together?
More like how that affected bands which had already appeared. Did it stall them or made them even more determined?
– Giannis: I will borrow a saying from my buddy over here. “You can play the guitar even with one string”. No matter how poor you are, you can still play music.
– Dani: Someone else has said that!
– Gannis: OK, George says that as well!
– Altogether: All this can help you express yourself even more easily.
– Dani: If you don’t have anything to do, you’ll do what you know best. To us, this is music and this is what we do.
Aside from Greece have you toured abroad?
– Labros: We have toured Europe twice so far…
– George: YOU have toured!
– Labros: Yeah, alone! Anyway, one after Super Van was released and one in 2013 and in various summer fests, one off and back home. And if all goes well, we plan to hit the road in October-November for the new album.
What were your impressions from abroad on the scene and the crowd?
– Giannis: Balkans is super strong, man!
– Dani: Just like Greece.
– Giannis: Any Greek band that says they toured Europe and didn’t play in Balkans, it’s like they didn’t tour at all.
– George: You’re missing out! It’s terrific.
– Giannis: The dynamic of the fans and the way they deal with music is terrific.
– Labros: They are hungry for shows.
– Giannis: Despite they face huge problems. And this answers to your previous question! Although they have terrible problems, they manage to do some great work there.
– Dani: Central Europe has a cooler vibe.
– Giannis: Yeah because they see any band in the world.
– Labros: The big number of bands and the rise of desert rock has become like a fetish to them. Germany has risen in this genre.
Germany produced a lot of vintage rock lately.
– Labros: Totally.
– Dani: And Sweden, while in the past was “only metal”. Companies that only deal with metal also release stoner records.
How’s the crowd compared to Greece and Balkans?
– Giannis: Way more relaxed, they watch the show and they dig it of course! They have fun.
– Labros: And they support strongly the band merchandise!
– Giannis: No matter how you see it, they’re different.
– Dani: The Greeks will party during the show, the Germans won’t.
Any strange incidents that you remember from these tours?
– Giannis: He (Dani) should talk, he’s the one they stripped!
– Dani: During the first tour we had trouble on the Croatian borders.
With the police?
– Dani: Cops, undressing and that stuff…
– Giannis: They were trying to convince us we were transporting huge amounts of drugs! And they were sure about it, they performed thorough search on the whole vehicle and Dani! But Croatians are awesome, the cops had the problem.
– George: We were late for that show, but the staff of the venue was awesome.
– Giannis: When they realized we were going to be late, 20 people set up the stage for us in 15 minutes.
– Dani: But they knew what is going down on the borders.
– George: And it was one of the best shows we’ve ever been in.
– Dani: Has anything else happened? In general it’s been well so far, nothing wrong’s happened.
– George: Some flat tires, some fines!
– Giannis: We received some great fines in Bulgaria, 10 o’clock in the night. If the cops were real, that we don’t know!
Very nice! Well, our time with 1000mods is over. The last words are yours guys!
– Dani: Thank you very much for the support and the interest and a big thank you to the crowd that came here tonight and filled the venue, sometimes it was just spine chilling. We’ll keep on playing and releasing albums!