Hannibal
Hannibal is a magnificent
and stunning band. Their debut work simply left me speechless and it took
me a while to realize that the sound coming out of my speakers belonged
to a Greek act. "This Is U" is simply amazing both musically and mentally!
A great music that goes hand in hand with thought provoking lyrics. Do
I need to say more? Everything is here in the interview below...
1. CONGRATULATIONS ON “THIS IS U”! A WHILE
HAS PASSED SINCE ITS RELEASE DATE. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? ARE YOU STILL
SATISFIED WITH THE FINAL OUTCOME OR ARE THERE THINGS YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE?
First of all I would like to express my feelings
about your nice words for this CD! Thank you very much. The album is on
the road and I’m following it. I feel very complete because I’ve waited
a long time for this day. My journey in the Greek scene had everything
except my signature printed on this “little disc”. Now the only thing I
want is to perform this material live.
There is always something to do in a better
way but this is an endless quest for perfection that drives an artist to
a dead end that pushes him to go back in the very beginning again and again
and again. So if I were in another country I think I could have a better
production but for now I am very satisfied with the final outcome.
2. SINCE THIS IS OUR FIRST INTERVIEW I THINK IT
WOULD BE NICE IF YOU POINTED OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND’S
LIFE TILL NOW. PLEASE PRESENT THE CURRENT LINE UP AS WELL.
I think that this is the most important moment
of the band. There are no other highlights for this 3 year old band who
formed for a very strange reason. One day I decided to send my songs to
a song contest that “filippos nakas music house” has announced and the
first award would be a contract with a great record label. Songs such as
“Lonely Nights”, “The It”, “Reaching Out For The End” made a very good
impression, so they called me and invited me to perform live my songs.
But I had a problem. No band! So in four days time the band was formed
and performed and managed to get the highest score but not the contract
cause it was an English spoken one! Greece rules! Anyway from this band
there are still me - Hannibal-( lead vocals, rhythm guitar, music+lyrics),
Jon Advocat (bass, backing vocals), Harry Fotter (keyboards, backing vocals).
Neo the lead guitarist is in the army now and his position has mambo-jumbo.
On the drums is Vakillus. The band recently presented this album at the
Underworld club in Athens and also took part in the 3rd summer in the city
festival at the same place.
3. WELL, THE FIRST THING THAT STRUCK ME IS THAT
YOU ARE A BAND FROM GREECE AND NEVERTHELESS YOUR SOUND IS VERY SPECIAL
AND UNIQUE THAT MADE ME THINK YOU ARE A U.S. METAL ACT. HOW DIFFICULT WAS
IT FOR YOU TO CREATE AND DEVELOP SUCH A SOUND?
Since I was 16 years old the bands that I
preferred to listen to were mostly American and British. So these sounds
and colors became a part of my culture. Now I am 34 and I still listen
to such stuff. My blood is poisoned from hard and heavy venom. So it was
inevitable for my music to sound like this. As for the unique sound it
was my strong belief that when you are making songs you must be open-minded
and ready to experiment with sounds, words and melodies. I tried to cheat
less than other bands.
4. DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC IN A FEW WORDS. LET’S SAY
THAT YOU HAD TO WRITE A REVIEW FOR “THIS IS U”. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY, TRYING
TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE?
Fresh, dynamic, alternative, optimistic, not
dark, clever, simple, not heavy, not orientated, a huge mix of many colors.
Very objective I suppose.
5. WELL, CONTINUING ON THE SAME TOPIC, COULD YOU
NAME SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS AND ALBUMS? WHO WERE THOSE MUSICIANS
THAT MADE YOU REALIZE THAT YOU WERE “DESTINED” TO CREATE MUSIC?
Operation Mindcrime - Queensryche, Keeper
of the 7 keys part II - Helloween, Transcendence - Crimson Glory, Appetite
for Destruction - Guns ’n’ Roses, Nevermind - Nirvana, Bad Motor
Finger - Soundgarden, The Real Thing - Faith No More, The Black Album -
Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Whitesnake and many many others. As for the “destiny”
thing you asked me, the moment I realized that something is going on with
music was my first live show. When I got on stage I felt like home. The
warm lights, the smell of electricity, my friends in the band and the feeling
of security that the distance from the people gave me. Strange?
6. YOU HAVE A GREAT SINGER. SO I’D LIKE TO KNOW
WHAT HE THINKS OF WHILST INTERPRETING THE SONGS. WHERE DOES HE FIND THE
IDEAL TONE AND BALANCE FOR EACH SONG?
Thank you again, you are talking about me.
It’s easy when the singer is writing songs for himself. I feel lucky. The
only thing that gives me a hard time is to balance between the singer and
the song. I have to be fair.
7. YOUR SONGS ARE VERY COMPLEX AND HAVE A VARIETY
OF SOUNDS IN THEM, SO, WHAT KIND OF PROCEDURE DO YOU FOLLOW WHILST COMPOSING
THEM? WHERE FROM DO YOU DRAW ALL THIS INSPIRATION?
A song is a reflection of the song writer’s
emotional status at the moment he composes it. The most important things
are melody and the basic chords. Then a phrase comes and the whole story
begins. Now, the orchestration, depends on what you want to say with this
song. So many feelings, so many stories, so many sounds, so many colors.
Life is full of inspiration! The interpretation that everyone does on what
he sees is the difference between musical styles, bands and humans. The
angle is different not the issue.
8. DO YOU WANT TO FILL US IN LYRIC-WISE ON “THIS
IS U”?
There is our hero. A simple man with a painful
past. He has a diary and everyday he is making notes in it. Everything
he sees, everything he thinks, everything he remembers, everything he visualizes.
I found his diary and I wrote songs inspired by it. This is the concept
of this album.
9. IS THERE A SPECIFIC MEANING BEHIND THE ALBUM
TITLE? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SUGGEST WITH IT? IT’S OBVIOUS THERE ARE THINGS
BETWEEN THE LINES, THINGS YOU’RE IMPLYING. SO, CAN YOU CLEAR THINGS OUT
FOR US?
Just read the words and you have it. All these
songs are inspired by our everyday life. Take a look at the cover. Human
kneels before god (fear feeds respect), he wants to be like him (scripts
say that), he wants to fly and reach him (but he has no wings), he meditates
(for spiritual ascendance), but he is bound in chains cause he is a sinner
since the day he was born. Everybody has a good opinion for himself and
he believes that he is right. But is that possible? I think that it’s easier
to play god than to be a human. We must look inside so we can get better
and if we get better this fuckin’ planet will be better. Have you heard
about positive and negative energy? I think it’s obvious that this is the
negative era. But we can work it out.
10. WHAT’S THE BEST AND WHAT’S THE WORST PART
OF YOUR MUSIC, ACCORDING TO YOU?
I really don’t know. There must be both but
I can’t tell. People who listen to it will say.
11. WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK HAVE YOU RECEIVED THIS
FAR? WHAT WAS THE MOST FLATTERING AND WHAT THE WORST COMMENT YOU’VE READ
ABOUT YOUR MUSIC?
The feedback is positive. The most flattering
comment was that the album can’t be placed in a specific category. On the
other hand has no orientation. Same opinion different angle.
12. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? PLEASE
DESCRIBE A TYPICAL HANNIBAL LIVE SHOW.
The band is armed and ready. Just waiting
for the appropriate time and place. A typical Hannibal live show has energy,
power, humor, and most of all simplicity and honesty.
13. HAVE YOU GOT ANY MORE SONGS READY? WOULD YOU
BE INTERESTED IN ADDING MORE ELEMENTS INTO THEM AND EXPANDING YOUR ALBUM
SOME MORE? IF YES, WHAT KIND OF ELEMENTS WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADD?
Half of the songs are almost ready. The new
album will have songs that everybody could sing. I won’t add anything.
I don’t know how this album would be. I don’t even know the title. I never
schedule the style. The only thing I can tell is that it will be the next
step of Hannibal and it will be dedicated to my newborn son.
14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH HANNIBAL?
DO YOU THINK IT’S POSSIBLE TO MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE HERE IN GREECE?
I want to express my feelings and ideas. I
would like to do some opening acts for great foreign bands and to perform
under good conditions in Greek festivals. Greece is a very nice country
for holidays and to make someone’s love dreams come true. As far as it
concerns this musical kind’s future, it is very dark.
15. HMM... BY THE WAY WEIRD NAME FOR A BAND. WHY
DID YOU CHOOSE THIS ONE IN SPECIFIC?
As a professional singer I was singing at
the “cross of south” club. The drummer there used to call me Hannibal because
my hair was cut such as the well known Carchedonian leader. I liked it
and so I kept it. I liked also Hannibal Lector in the movie and I decided
to name the band like this.
16. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
Emotion: confusion
Painting: labyrinth
17. WHAT WAS THE WEIRDEST OR FUNNIEST QUESTION
YOU’VE BEEN ASKED?
This one. Unfortunately there is no humor
in our days. Also number 16 was the most interesting in 2 years time.
18. WHAT TITLE DO YOU THINK IS SUITABLE FOR HANNIBAL’S
MUSIC AND ESSENCE?
Sophisticated-alternative- new metal
19. THANK YOU! LEAVE A MESSAGE TO YOUR FANS AND
TO OUR READERS. IF THERE’S SOMETHING MORE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY, FEEL FREE…
To my fans: thank you for supporting me through
all these difficult years. Each one of you is significant. You are not
numbers. To your readers: Hannibal’s world has something interesting in
it, musically and mentally. This is not another band to be shown as a spectacle.
Hannibal is a small society of people who are thinking, searching, dreaming.
Dreams are made to be followed, if you like, follow us. And something for
the zine: Keep up the good work. This kind of music needs efforts such
as yours.
Best regards, Hannibal
Christine Parastatidou
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