George Charalambous
Winter's Verge
Hi Lior! Thank you for taking the time to do this with me. I am well, hope you guys are too. This period has not been easy no, but we will get through this.
The main reason we wanted to sign with a label again, is that there are things that you can do on your own, but there are things that you can't. When you are alone, there is a limit to what is possible and the amount of audience you can reach. With a good label behind you, like Pride & Joy, you can raise the bar and do much much more.
This all started when I went to my very good friend Mr. Frixos Masouras said to him, "I want to collaborate with you. but not just any collaboration. You write the story; I write the music. I want to make this cinematic, where the music sounds like a soundtrack. Each song will be a chapter in the story." This was not meant to be a "Metal" album. In the end though, I guess what you love most comes out, integrates itself when you least expect it.
Actually, this is what happened. Continuing my answer from the previous question, Frixos was very excited to do this project with me. He wrote 5 different loglines for me. 5 different stories. We had no idea how or what would happen in each one, but they were just basic 2-3 lines summarizing a story. He said - "Choose". So this is the one I had chosen. James Tig was born that day!
It is not as much as identifying with the actual character, but the whole story. I'm a sucker for Great Big Epic movies, like LOTR or Pirates of the Caribbean. This story has a drive, epicenes, revenge, love, pain, I mean I could go on and on. Each of these gives a different kind of feeling, therefore different melodies can be created according to what you are feeling at that given moment. This was not something that pre-existed and we were like, let's do this one. We created it along the journey. Each song was written side by side with the story.
In my view, simply never give up. And never be afraid to fail. If you really fight for what you believe in, you will always get to where you want to go. Just like James Tig when he was a child. He worked for years and saved his money, to learn how to be a sailor and then a captain. He saved his gold until when he was able to buy his own ship and set forth to try and find Killagorak. (All this is in the Novela that Frixos Masouras has written. The book will not be released by the label, but if you want a copy, you can contact us through our FB page, and we can ship it to you.)
I truly think that as we grow we learn. Musically we are more mature than how we started, and we want to keep growing. I mean, our first album was straight power metal. Simple and to the point. But musically it was not rich. This one has detail. We cannot stay on the same level forever. I want to grow as a musician and explore. But I think this is where the band should focus on direction. Maybe add a little more speed to the songs, and of course the guitars will be more "involved". But other than that, I think we are on a Good track to becoming much better.
Yes, we seem to have started something different and interesting with this choice of musical direction, so i think we should focus here and evolve.
Oh man.... I remember those nights, brutal hours. )))) Writing would begin every night at around 10pm and end at around 4am. I would write things and send them to Frixos. we would discuss what happens in the story and he would. This took about a year to finish writing. The other thing I remember was the delivery on the vocals. Trying to find the correct feeling for each part. I'm not an actor!
Well, the first part of it has to do with getting along. Good people that you can hang out with and have a laugh together. The second is to find good musicians that will share your vision and dream! Savvas and Deniel are totally different Guitarists. But both are great at what they do. Their styles are very different but yet when together can be awesome! Stavry on the keys... well... the truth is a real person is much different from samples. We always have had Keys in our songs, so we always had sample playbacks during our live shows. Having an actual person play that is so much better! And brings new horizons to the band. We have not yet written anything together, but we will, soon enough. Can't wait to hear what will come out of this!
It's the first song I wrote for the album, as soon as the idea was born. Melodic, and intense, with a lot of ups and downs. It just brings out the first dramatic part of the story. This is one of my favorite tracks. I love the melody and it's the first one I wrote.
Exactly! This is where we want to be. The only thing I believe that's missing, is the guitars need to be a little bit more involved. Obviously, For James Tig, being a more Cinematic approach, the guitars were laid back and came forward only in a few places. But for the future it will not be like that. I believe we are close to the direction we want to be.
Unfortunately, we cannot have any of that quite yet. Hopefully things will change soon.
Yes we have! We may or may not already have 2-3 songs ready. The possibility of it being another concept album is there! It remains to be seen.
Crossing fingers, we want to get out and do some shows! Can't wait to play for our fans!
Thank you! Can't wait to share a beer together! Cheers
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