Need
I think Need is a very
special band both musically and lyrically. They definitely deserve our
attention cause they have something really important and valuable to offer
us... Good music! So get acquainted with the band through this very interesting
interview that reveals an open minded and down to earth band.
1. HELLO! HOW ARE YOU? “THE WISDOM MACHINE”
IS YOUR FIRST OFFICIAL EFFORT. SO BEFORE WE TALK ABOUT THE ALBUM, GIVE
US SOME INFO ABOUT THE GROUP AND PRESENT THE CURRENT LINE-UP.
Hi Nikos! Everything is fine here in the Need
camp. Well I should tell you that the band started back in 2003 basically
as an idea because the establishment of a stable line-up proved a hellish
task for us. But we managed to make “avoidinme” Promo-CD and with perseverance
and patience we stabilized the line up and we are now moving in the right
direction I think. The band consists of Jon V. on vocals, Ravaya on guitar,
K.K. on bass and last but not least Pete on the drums.
2. YOUR SOUND BALANCES BETWEEN THE OLD AND MODERN
SCHOOL OF HEAVY METAL. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND TO THE PEOPLE
THAT HAVEN’T LISTENED TO YOU YET? NAME SOME OF THE BANDS THAT HAVE STRONGLY
INFLUENCED YOU AS MUSICIANS.
Well it’s really difficult to say. Every single
review we ‘ve got so far carries the same sentence. “Hard to classify,
unique” and so on and so forth. So as you can imagine it’s really hard
for us too. Personally I would describe it as metal played in the year
2006. That’s all. It’s not single sided, that’s for sure. As far as influences
are concerned there are many but that doesn’t mean that all of our influences
necessarily come out in our music. Now if you want names I would say Metallica,
Pantera, Nevermore, Tool, Dream Theater and much non-metal music.
3. YOUR FIRST EFFORT CARRIES THE MYSTERIOUS TITLE
“THE WISDOM MACHINE”. SO WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU MEAN WITH THIS TITLE?
Well first of all I have to tell you that
the album is a concept. According to the concept, which will be presented
shortly as a story on www.needband.com,
the wisdom machine is the entity that triggers the effect of showing a
dead man all of his life passing before his eyes rapidly at the time of
his death.
4. WE THINK THAT WISDOM IS SOMETHING THAT ONLY
HUMANS CAN POSSESS WHEN WE LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES. DO YOU THINK THAT IN
THE FUTURE WE WILL SEE A “WISE” MACHINE AS WELL?
Well who knows really, who says that nature
doesn’t possess wisdom? The plants and the animals have managed to survive
longer than us and are probably wiser than we will ever become. So, no
wisdom is not a human asset. Now, as far as machines are concerned things
are moving towards the creation of sentient machines and this is indeed
a matter to think about.
5. WHO WRITES THE LYRICS IN THE BAND? WHAT KIND
OF THEMES INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE ABOUT? IN A FEW WORDS GIVE US THE MEANING
OF EACH SONG THAT YOU HAVE INCLUDED HERE.
The lyrics for “The Wisdom Machine” were written
by Ravaya, but this doesn’t mean that the lyrics for the band will be written
by a sole person in the future. Already for the new songs there are lyrical
contributions by both Jon and K.K. The fact that the songs were written
before the new line-up and that the album is a concept intertwined for
the lyrics to be written by one person. Now really I can’t give you the
meaning for every song first of all because what I mean may not agree with
what a listener may think and who knows maybe the listener’s interpretation
is more interesting than our own. Of course that doesn’t mean that lyrics
were written arbitrarily, it’s just that we like to be open to every possibility.
Now for those who wish a more detailed approach there will be the short
story posted on www.needband.com
in a while.
6. DID YOU INCLUDE ANY SONGS FROM YOUR PROMO ON
THIS CD? IF YES, DO THE SONGS SOUND THE SAME OR HAVE YOU CHANGED THEM IN
ANYWAY?
Yes, we did. All four songs off our Promo-CD
are included in “The Wisdom Machine”. As far as composition is concerned
the songs haven’t changed. Of course the sound is different since we re-recorded
them for the full-length and of course they carry our new drummer’s playing
which significantly changed them. Let’s just say that we experimented with
the sound in the Promo and decided on a sound format for the full-length.
7. BY YOUR EXPERIENCE HAVE YOU NOTICED UNDER WHICH
CIRCUMSTANCES OR EMOTIONS YOU BECOME MORE PRODUCTIVE AND COMPOSE MUSIC?
There are no emotions under which one is more
productive or less productive. My personal belief is that composing music
as well as creating anything has to do with emotional availability. For
example if one is under extreme sorrow and does not open himself to experience
it, then it is certain that this specific vibration will not be able to
transform into something productive. On the other hand if one is sitting
at a bus stop and allows himself to experience all the facts and controversies
there, one might be able to create a masterpiece inspired by simple facts.
So to answer your question we create better music when availability happens.
8. IN THE EARLY 80’S THE METAL FANS LIKED TO LISTEN
TO METAL MUSIC WITHOUT CARING WHAT KIND OF GENRE IT IS. IN OUR ERA NOW
METAL FANS ARGUE ABOUT WHICH GENRE OF METAL IS “TRUER” THAN THE OTHERS.
WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THIS HAPPENS?
Since I do not believe that any genre is “truer”
than the other I cannot answer your question as to why people think that
way. The only thing I will say is that it saddens me to see a minority
like us metal-heads arguing with each other when we should be concerned
with how our music can go further and reach bigger audiences, without losing
its integrity of course. And to sum up I ‘ll quote the legendary Frank
Zappa “There is only good and bad music” he said. Ergo there are good and
not good death metal bands, good and not good epic bands and so on and
so forth.
9. ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? WHICH BIG NAME YOU
ADMIRE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE STAGE WITH?
Sure we‘ve done quite a bunch of gigs until
now and we‘ve no intention of stopping especially now that the album’s
out. On November 12th for example we’re having the live release party for
our album in Underworld club together with our friends Vulnus and Distortion
of Perception. Now as to big names there are so many bands that we admire
and respect that the list is too big to mention.
10. DO YOU REMEMBER WHICH WAS THE WEIRDEST OR
THE FUNNIEST QUESTION THAT THEY HAVE EVER ASKED YOU?
Actually no, we haven’t been asked any weird
or funny questions but we hope that this will happen since different questions
are the spice in an ordinary interview.
11. IMAGINE THAT YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A CROSSROAD
AND MEET MR. DEVIL. WILL YOU BARGAIN YOUR SOUL WITH HIM? IF YES WHAT WOULD
YOU ASK FOR EXCHANGE?
Ok, first of all I think this question is
indeed the weirdest one we ‘ve been asked so thanx man! Now seriously the
soul is the sole instrument by which we progress and create so under no
circumstance real or fictionary would it be bargained.
12. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME! THE LAST WORDS BELONG
TO YOU AND LEAVE A MESSAGE TO THE READERS OF BEHIND THE VEIL WEBZINE.
Thank YOU Nikos for the interest you‘ve shown
for our band. Our message to the readers is visit our websites www.needband.com
and www.myspace.com/needmetal
where you can download some of our music and if you like it, come down
to one of our live shows and see what it’s all about… And of course take
care and stay Metal!!! Cheers!!!
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
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