1. Hello my friend, pleasure to have you on Rotten Pages ´zine. How are you doing today? Let us set the scene first. Where do we find you right now? Please describe your surroundings.
Hello Edu, the pleasure is all ours! We are currently in a rock pub, here in Piraeus, out for a beer to answer to your questions together!
2. What are your origins surrounding metal- as far as when did you get into the style and how did you gravitate to finally picking up an instrument and playing?
Nikos: When I was 14, I saw a few seconds of a Metallica music video and I fell in love with heavy metal. A few weeks later I decided to buy a guitar and start playing.
Byron: In the summer of 2008, Nikos sent me several metal songs on my phone. One of those was “Wish I Had An Angel” by Nightwish. In the next year, during rehearsal for a school music performance I saw a drumkit and I was instantly mesmerized. Soon after that, I started taking drum lessons.
Haris: I had taken a liking to rock by early 2005 through bands like Green Day, Good Charlotte etc… And some time later, I happened upon “B.Y.O.B” by System of a Down on a Greek late night rock/metal TV show and found it extremely awesome. I started classical guitar lessons soon after that, and took up bass duty for my first band the following years (in which Nikos V. was also the guitarist).
3. Band’s origins are from Athens. How is this city for metal music? Friendly or opposing? How are the younger generations in Attica area in general?
The Greek metal scene is very big, with many very talented underground bands representing a wide variety of subgenres, but unfortunately there is little to no support from the Greek mainstream music scene or the government.
4. Congratulations with the successful release of “The Perfect Illusionist”. If you have to summarize EP’s main message in a couple of sentences, how it would sound?
The main message of the EP is mostly socio-political as well as introspective. It deals with the concepts of unity and solidarity, but also of personal delusion, paranoia, and the consequences of one’s actions.
5. The band is existing since 2010, It took you almost 13 years to record something, why?
We made an effort to record our first 11 songs back in 2010-11, as a debut album, but we found the recording quality not up to our standards so we decided to improve our sound and experiment more. The 5 songs you hear on “The Perfect Illusionist” EP are songs we composed afterwards. Now that we have found a suitable sound for our music, we plan to also re-record the first album in the future. So keep your eyes and ears open for that!
6. In your songs you guys use clean vocals and growl. How do you determine which song will have cleaner vocal and vise versa?
The choice is made according to the feeling we want to convey, the music we already have for the song, and the general vibe. We view all the different vocal techniques as various tools in our arsenal, so we pick the most suitable one every time.
7. The production on your EP is really solid and clean. What can you tell me about the recording process and what kind of sound you were going for? Are you satisfied with final results?
Thank you very much for your good words! Music production is something that has interested me (Haris) since I first set foot in a music studio, and every time I had the opportunity I observed the producer/engineer and learned their tricks. So, when time came for me to undertake this, I had a lot of second-hand experience to work with. I hope I delivered, and I am very happy that you acknowledge the care put into the EP.
8. What are some topics discussed in “The Perfect Illusionist!” and why did you select this title for your EP?
The song “Perfect Illusionist” talks about the contrast between reality and the paranoid fantasies one has in his head. It is about a man losing touch with reality and choosing to live inside a world of illusions, as perfect as they are fake. It is a very diverse and dynamic song, and we really love it, and that’s why we chose it as the title track.
9. Where is your favorite place to write your songs? And from what symbols, feelings, stories or environments do you get inspiration?
Our ideas mostly begin when we are at home, and they are fleshed out when we get together during rehearsal, where we all pitch in. And as far as our inspiration, we draw from different art forms, like movies and manga, from personal turmoil, from socio-political matters, and, in general, from anything that touches our soul.
10. Was it difficult to release the EP while being without a record company? How did you guys overcome the challenges?
In this day and age, we are very fortunate to have the means to release our music independently without too much struggle. We take pride in being as DIY as we can.
11. What do you consider the strengths of Inpoisonous as far as musicians and your Heavy metal style?
Inpoisonous isn’t just a band. It started as a group of friends playing music together and this is still very much the feeling, 15 years later. So any music that comes up is very organic and doesn’t need to adhere to any one particular style.
12. Playing live is a totally different beast to studio work. How does your music work in a live environment? How would you describe the band in terms of your live performances?
We rehearse the songs constantly, so a live performance of our songs is very tight and very close to the studio recordings. We also have very good live energy.
13. It's time to conclude, perhaps you could tell us about your future projects or something?
“The Perfect Illusionist” EP is but a first part of a bigger saga. You will experience the continuation of this story in our second EP, hopefully coming out by the end of this year!
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