Tears
This is the second interview
we do with Tears and things seem even better and brighter for this promising
band. Having just released their third demo CD we thought the time was
ideal to interrogate them a bit on the band's present goals and future
plans...
1. HELLO! AFTER SO MANY INTERVIEWS I DID WITH
EXTREME METAL BANDS, FINALLY AN INTERVIEW WITH A MORE MELODIC ACT! YOUR
SOUND IS REALLY STRANGE! HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE IT IN A FEW WORDS IN ORDER
TO GIVE A PICTURE TO THOSE THAT HAVE NEVER LISTENED TO YOU?
Emotional metal. Our main influences are the
following: Metal-prog-goth-Classical contemporary. Basically our music
is a blend of several metal styles and some classical contemporary influences…since
I can go on forever describing Tears music I would suggest you download
our songs from our site :). I wouldn’t describe it as strange though. Maybe
dense as far as our orchestration is concerned but still I think our songs
have several ‘catchy’ parts that will make your head go up and down :)
2. “EMPTY SOUL” IS YOUR THIRD DEMO RELEASE. WHICH
ARE THE NEW ELEMENTS THAT YOU HAVE ADDED IN COMPARISON WITH YOUR PREVIOUS
RELEASES?
Well, fist of all our playing and composing
skills have been improved as most reviewers were kind enough to point out…Our
music is a bit heavier than before and we have used synth sounds that could
be described as rather modern. I have also sung more choir parts this time
and did a few scream type of vocals. Our songs are more catchy but at the
same time harder to perform and more interesting as far as I am concerned.
3. EXCEPT FOR THE MUSIC, I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED
IN THE LYRICS. HOW IMPORTANT ARE THEY FOR YOU? I THINK THAT ON YOUR NEW
DEMO THE LYRICS ARE SOMEHOW CONNECTED. AM I RIGHT? CAN YOU TELL US A FEW
THINGS ABOUT THEM?
I’m glad you find my lyrics interesting. Up
until now I have been writing about personal experiences or thoughts of
my own. My lyrics are very important; they describe in words the
statements I need to make via my music. I have to admit that when it comes
to ‘art making’ I am very selfish.
Yes, there is a concept the new promo is based
on. It is about this guy who caught his beloved girlfriend fucking with
his best friend! The concept starts backwards with the song ‘Emptiness’
describing a man with now feelings, a man who believes he has experienced
everything there is to experience in life. In the first track I am basically
building up the personality of the main character of the story and describing
his hollowness. At the end of the song the story starts to progress, here
the main character is realizing that this emptiness of his might be due
to the way his friends and loved ones treated him. There is a rather optimistic
message here: if you feel miserable because of the way your friends treat
you, all you have to do is give them the finger and make new friends…I
always like to point out both sides of the coin. Although very pessimistic
myself, I always try to stretch the fact that there is always a bright
side of things.
Now, ‘I promise you’ is a song which basically
describes this messed up relationship between the main character and his
girlfriend. Their relationship goes thru various phases, love, hate, friendship.
In this song I am trying to point out how hard it is to pretend to be friends
with someone you are truly in love with…it eats you up! It’s like putting
a nice candy in a child’s plate, and tell him he isn’t allowed to touch
it! In this song I am also pointing out that it is equally hard to pretend
to be in love with someone in order to preserve a relationship…
The third track is where I describe the main
character caching his girl cheating on him with his best friend. Something
like that, a double betrayal by the two people one trusts the most can
scar one forever…or can make one stronger, wiser and simply find new friends
and people to socialize with.
In the end of the ‘Emptiness’ track the main
character is realizing his two options…
4. HOW EASY OR DIFFICULT IS IT FOR YOU TO “TRANSLATE”
YOUR EMOTIONS INTO MUSIC? IS THERE A CERTAIN PROCESS THAT YOU FOLLOW DURING
THE SONGWRITING PROCESS?
Writing music and lyrics about my own experiences
is my personal catharsis…Of course, any talented and skilled musician can
make the listener feel anything he wishes to, it doesn’t have to be something
he has personally experienced. On the other hand, I like being true about
my music and feel that my songs are more real if they are about my own
life experiences. Every song means something special to me.
The transformation happens by itself…There
is no certain process I follow, I just write music. There are always composing
techniques to develop a melody or put certain ideas together and make a
song that makes sense. Nevertheless, what counts the most is the initial
spark, the initial idea a song or a piece is based on. This idea can be
anything, a sound, a melody, a chord sequence, a story, a person…
5. THE USE OF THE PIANO INSTEAD OF THE KEYBOARDS
GIVES A WARMER FEELING TO YOUR SOUND. DO YOU AGREE? DO YOU PLAN TO USE
OTHER “NON” – METAL INSTRUMENTS IN FUTURE RELEASES OF YOURS AS WELL?
I certainly agree it gives a mellower feel
to the parts where it is used. I find that the piano is a beautiful instrument
and I have always used it in almost all our songs. We are experimenting
a lot on various tone colors, we are quite open minded and we are out there
to make something interesting maybe something new. Tone colors are very
important for defining the style of a band. We are very careful when choosing
what sounds to use on the keys and what extra instrument on our songs.
6. FROM YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, DO YOU
THINK THAT THE METAL LABELS ABROAD ARE PREJUDICED WHEN THEY HAVE TO DEAL
WITH GREEK BANDS?
Maybe they used to be, but not anymore. There
are a few Hellenic bands releasing their work with major labels. I think
it always had to do with Hellenic bands not being able to tour in big countries
as easily as other bands living in those countries. Now things have changed
drastically with the mp3s and the internet and labels need to do more releases
so they sign more bands…I don’t think they have the luxury of being prejudiced
anymore.
Anyway, labels are represented by people,
and people are always people.
7. DID YOU HAVE ANY OFFERS FROM LABELS? WHAT EXACTLY
DO YOU WANT A LABEL TO OFFER YOU IN ORDER TO SIGN WITH THEM?
Yes, we had a few interesting offers by some
kicking ass labels and at the moment we are recording our full length album!
The way things are it is rather hard for a record label to pay for a new
band to do their record. They expect you to pay for the production and
give them the final product to promote and distribute. I think that’s fair
enough as long as they offer bigger percentages over the sales since a
major part of the investment for the release is done by the band.
8. WHICH WAS THE WEIRDEST QUESTION THEY HAVE EVER
ASKED YOU SO FAR?
A record label asked recently
–Why is your site so pink??
Obviously they typed the wrong web address
:)
9. DO YOU REMEMBER A REVIEW THAT YOU READ
AND YOU THOUGHT THAT THE REVIEWER DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT EXACTLY YOU WANT
TO DO WITH YOUR MUSIC?
Look man we play prog shit I don’t expect
anyone to get 100% of what was meant to come out of Tears music. The thing
that I find so interesting is that everyone likes our stuff for different
reasons. Our music is meant to be multilayered. If you listen to the songs
with headphones every time you will discover a new melody and a new sound
in the background. Obviously it’s hard to get everything out of it by having
one or two listens.
My goal is to make songs you will feel like
listening again and again but not getting fucking bored of them after listening
to the record 10 or 20 times.
Anyhow, it is true that all reviewers usually
get the main picture and I think that’s a good sign. I want to believe
that our music is equally interesting as comprehensive.
9. WILL YOU PLAY ANY LIVE SHOWS? DO YOU REMEMBER
ANY FUNNY INCIDENTS THAT OCCURRED TO YOU WHILE YOU WERE PLAYING LIVE?
At the moment we are recording so we are focusing
on finishing our first record. Make sure everything is right…we are definitely
planning on doing some shows but we will wait till the record is out and
hopefully get organized and do a tour.
The funniest incident was when we played at
Fakana theater, where the bass player came out wearing his eye glasses…He
was wearing them all day and I think he was unaware that they were actually
on his face. After the first song we all started some serious head banging…and
so did our beloved bass player…next thing you know his eyeglasses fly off
his head, over his back and spontaneously, in a desperate try to save them
from falling he kicks them with his heel ‘a la maradona style’…the
glasses were intact! We have this incident on tape and none of us realized
anything had happened until we all saw the gig on video the other day!
Until then, the bass player mentioned nothing about it…
10. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME! THESE LAST LINES
BELONG TO YOU…
I wish to make a difference in the metal scene…I
wish my music touches as many people as possible without having ever to
make any compromises. Without my music I would be some scum, would have
probably killed myself or some shit. I wish that Tears music will help
people go thru shit I’ve been thru. Stuff I managed to overcome only thanks
to music.
Thanks for reading and stay mother fucking
heavy.
TEARS
www.tearsband.org
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidou
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