Interview to THE STELLAR LAKE (Greece)

1. Hello dear 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 my dear friend Edu, thank you for having me. i'm doing very well. Right now i am in my house kitchen and having a beautiful morning. I like the light coming in from the window. Today is cloudy.

2. Being the sole musician behind the band as well, would it be possible to tell us more about your personal musical background?

Yes. Around the age of 20 i picked up the guitar and started playing simple melodies and riffs. Later i took some lessons and started writing my own material. I continuously wrote down thoughts and ideas. Started making full songs playing also the drums. Dark Thrashy, Classical, Gothic. I liked many genres. Today i try to organize my study more seriously, studying also other guitarists and composers. Initially i wanted to become a scientist! Music won me over though!

3. The Stellar Lake is delivering a crushing mix of modern metal with some tech death elements – how did the band end up playing that exact blend of metal?

As i mentioned earlier i have an interest in many types of music. From metal, a lot of Gothic and also Tech-Death, Melodic and Thrash. Classical music as well and experimental bands like Elend. I do listen to all genres of music. Maybe it was natural that all these interests came together through a personal filter. I really wanted the Tech-Death elements to exist under a Gothic veil though. It is so rewarding when everything comes together harmonically.

4. Did you have a ‘mission’ and goal ready when you first started out, or did the music and direction first take shape as you crafted songs and so forth?

It took shape as i crafted songs. Nothing was planned. Some thIngs of course i knew. It would be Gothic - Atmospheric. I remember the moment i thought "I definitely want to put a Tech-Death segment here!" because it fits and serves the music. But it is as i mentioned before under a Gothic veil. And so are the other elements of power and classic heavy in the album.

5. What would you say inspires your songwriting, as in topics or emotions?

Inspiration comes from thoughts and life experiences for me. Living in a contemporary world. Definitely landscapes and nature. Your musical expression reflects how you feel about things that happen in life. Of course failures and hits, sadness, influence a great deal your emotions. But then it's the love of life and the will to overcome all difficulties that come above that. The appreciation of the gift of life God has given. It gives you strength to progress in life.

6. What challenges and advantages do you experience as a one-man band?

There is a major challenge you face which is the difficulty of performing as a full band live. It's possible nowadays to appear live as a guitar player performing your material with backing tracks. The definite advantages are that you realize your composition exactly as envisioned with no delay from discussions of different versions. Second is you make all the decisions yourself in everything.

Fast pace and straight course.

7. How’s the promotion of your new album “A Guide To Suicide” going? Would you say this is a conceptual album portraying a narrative or is this its own separate entity?

I think it's going well. After uploading to Bandcamp i was happy to receive the interest of people from radio shows and magazines as Rotten Pages and others which i am very appreciative of and also people from the industry. In a way it's both a conceptual album and a separate entity as it is about a set of experiences within a certain period of my life but it is not a continuous story with beginning and end.

8. How much time does it take to put a record together? Do you have extra material that’s left out after choosing what fits you most?

The recording process for me was relatively quick taking two to three months to complete. All the prevous months of the year the ideas take form in your mind which is a much longer period finally leaading up to the recording. You think about it a lot to the point where it is almost ready in your mind and when you begin to record it's easy and rewarding. Thank you for asking. After finnishing all the parts everything seemed to be exactly in the right place and nothing was left over. But there were two more releases which were the continuation of this album the following years and they will be uploaded to Bancamp as well at some point.

A Guide To Suicide was completed in January 1st 2007.

9. What are some topics discussed in “A Guide to Suicide” and why did you select this title for your album? 

Excellent questions! As i might have mentioned there was a period of my life which was very difficult. Socially and emotianally. Things seemed to conflict with each other. You might find yourself lost indeed. With music you express the negatives and the positives. Sadness, loneliness, being lost. And then letting go, perseverance and determination to overcome all difficulties. I try to focus on the latter.

Just Me and Essence is about an ordinary person who walks a difficult road but will not ever quit. They much rather see the beauty in life because that matters.

Cosmic Dance is about the point in time where you leave your past self behind, and change your path towards reaching your goals thus joinning all others in the world of creation.

The Death Of Melancholy is about realizing when that feeling as warm as it can be moderately it can be addictive excessively and lead you down a path not so good for you. You then have to take action and leave that feeling behind.

A Break In The Chain and My World is about the difficulties you experience when you are being deceived that your logic is wrong and how you see things is wrong. Letting other so called truths replace your truth which for me should never happen. I believe that you should never see yourself through somebody else's eyes!

Safe is about a person who has escaped in another plane of existence entirely and lives there in a castle alone. But what happens there? I will let you find the other details for yourself in the lyrics!

Mina is about a beloved cat of mine that due to the young of my age i was not able to properly provide for her so she was adopted by another person. I felt responsible for what happened. It was not easy for me to leave her...

Snakes is about certain experiences in the world of relationships and how you decide to break away from that cycle and circle of people.

Caress Of The Edge is about a person who doesn't care anymore. They are fed up with hearing every kind of opinion and will follow the path they are on no matter where it leads them because at least that path is true to them.

Dare i say that living the music, in a way, every time i was writing a song about an experience, i was reliving that experience. The material had both dark and light aspects to it but for some reason i was only reliving the dark aspects! Not the light! At some point it became too heavy for me. I felt overwhelmed. The album took the name A Guide To Suicide because if you stay continuously in the negative aspects of life then...that is...the title of the album. We all want to progress in life. Never stay on the negative. Always move forward! Surpass all difficulties!

10. What do you attempt to capture, express or communicate through your music? What is the goal of your art?

I try to express the intense emotions in life that many times overwhelm us

but at the same time we have the will of the human spirit to overcome each and every obstacle. With my art i would like to create something that is peronal and hopefully has something new to offer to a listener.

11. Have you ever considered enlisting members to handle the various instruments in order to perform live, and if not, why not?

Actually The Stellar Lake started with two guitarists and a drummer. But it lasted only for a while. It is ment to be a full band and i am always on the look for the right people.

12. What is the heavy music scene like in Drama? What are some other bands from your country that we should be paying attention to?

I've been living in Drama Greece for 11 years now.

Originally i am from Athens but I moved here to be close to northern nature. I know there are rock fans and musicians here. I even so a modern metal band live in a all genres festival but beyond that i haven't kept touch too much with the general scene.

From my knowledge i would recommend from Gothic Metal The Seasons Of Wither, Shadows Dance and highly recommended is Elysion! Particular songs would be Oceans from On Thorns I Lay, Always Forever from Bare Infinity and Psycho Love which is a great catchy Tech-Thrash song from Acid Death. From the melodic and post metal scene Morning After and Eyes Like Stars are very good bands with remarkable songs. From the Viking - Folk metal scene i like very much the music of Spyromagic which has great compositions. I actually collaborated with the artist for the song Mystical Movement in a Viking version.

If you are interested in experimental guitar orchestration a blend of classical and metal but different from neoclassical you might find something in Earth Stone And Night Sky. It's symphonic based music almost all guitars.

13. What do you do other than the band, for fun/work and do you like being in Greece?

I exercise and go out for walks. I have my cats that bring happiness in my life! A simple day out, maybe even visit a coffee shop appreciating life fills you with energy. As you know Greece has had some hard times. I live on social wellfare but always work on improving my living standarts. Like i said, never quit! Once it was really tough living in Greece. After travelling and working abroad i come to appreciate it more and more. I really do like living in Greece now. There is a lot of potential here.

14. Let’s finish this interview by looking into the future. What would you like your band to be known for?

Thank you for this question. I would like to be known for offering something positive. Something new. That someone was inspired by the music. That maybe they found something that resonated with them. That fills me with joy and helps me to offer more art.

Thank you so much Edu my friend and all Rotten Pages readers for taking an interest in the music. It is an honor for me. Always be well and strong!

Links: The Stellar Lake Band https://thestellarlake.bandcamp.com/album/a-guide-to-suicide

Mystical Movement Song: https://youtu.be/2PnbCBICWYM?si=OKpcjEfKQK9McH_I

EyesLikeStars Band: https://www.youtube.com/@eyeslikestars6282

Earth Stone And Night Sky Band:

https://youtu.be/UwD09gOLaBM?si=wc0TyfHUiWuxz3un