Laki Ragazas

Devil's Train

After taking the world apart with the hammer of the German Metallers MYSTIC PROPHECY, the guitarist Laki Ragazas was once again asked to enter another powerful realm with Dimitris Liapkis, singer of MYSTIC PROPHECY, into the pits of DEVIL'S TRAIN, the new Hard Rock / Metal outfit that could be the next thing. Steinmetal talked with Ragazas about his appreciation of the band, the opportunity, the members, himself and the material.

By Lior Stein

• May 27, 2012

Hello there Laki, I would like to convey my thanks for taking the time for answering this interview for Metal-Temple magazine. What is rocking on your end?

It's me who should thank you, for giving me the honor to talk about our new band, DEVIL'S TRAIN, and our debut album, already released since February 17th, from Edel - Ear Music… I feel so excited about the whole thing, lucky and privileged to be a part of this great band… Right now the album has received amazing reviews from all over the world… People who have already bought the album are posting very enthusiastic comments in the band's Facebook page, and are already asking for concerts… The band's first two video clips, "American Woman" and "Sweet Devil's Kiss" are doing great on YouTube… So I couldn't be happier about it…

Since I believe that both Rock and Metal know who are the members of your band DEVIL'S TRAIN, please tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

I started playing guitar when I was 14, self taught at first, soon I started playing with local bands, which gave me the chance to enter fast into the magic world of music, later on I had some guitar lessons with Greek guitar wizard Panos Tsakiroglou, who guided me into the depths of technique and soulful playing… I have made several self-released CDs with local bands here in Thessaloniki, with my personal guitar project "Killer Sixgun", back in 2006, and with BLACK INVERSE, a great Thessaloniki based band I still play with… I also participated in Oliver Weers' second release, "Evil's Back", in 2011… I have Harmony and Counterpoint Certificates, one scholarship from Berklee College of Music and was candidate for a full Scholarship in Atlanta's Institute of Music… My latest activity is playing with MYSTIC PROPHECY, Lia's German based amazing Power Metal band since 2000, touring in Europe in March-April 2012…

What are your main influences as a guitarist?

I've been influenced by many guitarists and bands over the years, but the strongest ones are by Jimi Hendrix, Gary Moore and Michael Schenker… All three made a huge impact in my way of thinking on guitar playing, with their amazing feel, technique and inspiration… But through the years I learned to listen to many styles of guitar playing… Blues, Funk, Classical Guitar… I would distinguish players like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Peter Green, Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, who have influenced me a lot as well…

How were you recruited to DEVIL'S TRAIN? I assume that Lia came to you with the offer?

It was around October 2009 when I first got in contact with Lia, and we started discussing about making a band together in the style of Heavy Rock'n'Roll… We started exchanging song ideas, and soon we realized that we had the same vision about how this music should sound… We have great chemistry working together,
and when we decided to put all the ideas together, it took us no more than ten days to do it… That's how it actually happened… Later on Lia came in contact with Jorg, in the STRATOVARIUS – MYSTIC PROPHECY tour in January 2010, Jorg was interested from the very beginning, who later suggested Jari to be the bass player in the band…

How is the feeling of working with the rest of the members of the band, which have alreadybeen out there in both the Metal and Rock worlds for quite some time, especially Jorg and Yari?

Jorgand Jari are such amazing musicians, and above all, great guys… I feel honored and privileged to play with them in DEVIL'S TRAIN, and it certainly feels that this band has the strongest rhythm section ever… They have played for so many years together in STRATOVARIUS, touring around the world several times, they are very talented and experienced, a fact that brings the band to a higher level, and all this you can clearly hear it on the album… Lia on the other hand is an amazingly talented singer, composer and producer… We wrote the music together, he wrote all the lyrics, did the production in the album… DEVIL'S TRAIN is actually his brainchild… Being surrounded by such great and talented musicians' feels like a dream come true…

Do you think that music of DEVIL'S TRAIN reflect your own niche in Rock and Metal in full? Do you think that the band's music is your milk and butter?

Definitely yes… Besides the fact that there are many of my riffs and guitar work in the album, this style of music feels like the ultimate package to me… I have the chance to play all the things I like the most… Powerful riffs, amazing groove rhythm stuff, not to mention the solos… I have the unique chance to play in the way I've always felt like… with all my heart and soul and at the same time maintaining a perfect balance between feeling and technique… It feels so natural… But I have to mention that the same goes for all of us in the band… There was an amazing sense of energy flow and spontaneity during the recordings, and I think you can hear this in the songs… So I definitely think this band is the ideal one for me…

Now let's talk about the new album recently released. Which tracks do you find as the best example of what the band is for you?

Songs like "Devil's Train", "To The Ground", "Sweet Devil's Kiss", give a clear picture of what this band is about… Basically the whole album feels like a Rock'n'Roll party, feels like a great opportunity to leave everything behind and have a good time… It feels like living out on the road, seeing the world spinning before your eyes… But at the same time, as pure Rock'n'Roll music should be, you get the feeling of rebelling against the establishment… There are songs like "Coming Home", speaking about the cruelty of war, and "Yellow Blaze", where the lyrics speak about nuclear pollution… "To The Ground" is about stopping drug abuse…

Please share with the readers how were you involved in the writing process of the material for the debut album.

As I mentioned before, I worked closely with Lia on making the songs… We had an amazing flow of ideas together, we both realized that we had the same vision of what we wanted to do… We had lots of fixed ideas for songs, so we started exchanging them… And his music fitted like a glove with mine… I went over to Germany and in 10 days' time we finished these 11 songs you now hear in the album… We have an amazing chemistry when composing… and we 're both sure that this will be the case for a long time, since we already started working on new material, and our cooperation in making music is equally great…

Can you tell us what is coming next for DEVIL'S TRAIN?

We are so eager to play this amazing music in concert … I believe this is the perfect music for stages… but the album has just been released a couple of months ago, so it's too early to say about concerts… So we just wait and see how it goes, but I 'm sure you're soon going to hear about the DEVIL'S TRAIN… We have some festival dates, but we would like to reveal everything in good time…. Just stay connected with us through the band's official website (www.devilstrain.com) Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc., to see all our latest activities…

Laki, thanks a lot for answering this interview. I must say that I enjoyed both your own musicianship and the DEVIL'S TRAIN album in general. I hope for your success. Cheers mate!

Thank you for giving me the chance to talk with you about me and DEVIL'S TRAIN!!! We believe that the lovers of this music, and all the people who have the love for the good-old-Rock'n'Roll- party-all-day music will definitely find what they are looking for in our album… We believe we made an album that speaks right to the heart, has amazing balls of groove, and gives so much energy that it can drive you crazy!!! Thanks one more time, I hope to see you soon on tour!!!

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