Interview with Efthimis
Q>>
Hello Efthimis! Hey, you know... I interviewed you ten years ago when you guys
issued your excellent debut-album "Parade Into Centuries" on the French
Holy Records. And now I'm back to you because I got your latest "I Am Jesus",
which I truly loved ;-) Now... when you look back at your debut, what images
come to your mind instantly?
A>> Hey, that's good to know, really… and thanks for your kind words!
Good old pals are always a good thing to meet and spend some time with, that's
for sure. Looking back in time is always educational as who forgets his past
has no future, mate!
Q>>
Little by little, you've moved into a less Doomy direction. How come? Was it
a natural evolution or did you feel like Doom was too difficult to sell around?
A>> I have to clarify things a little bit here referring to Nightfall's
"style" as our entire discography doesn't support the concept of a
sole, specific genre like Doom, or Death, or whatever, and this is due to the
fact that as personalities we've never handled this band as yet another commercial
group of professional musicians aiming at good sales and good income; neither
have we treated our fans like customers! In less words, the first principle
a commercial band ought to follow is that of keeping the same style from album
to album in order to expand its fan/customer base with each new release whilst
-of course - it does keep the old ones there with it. A principle we've never
respected in Nightfall! Hence, the Doomy style of our debut changed into something
really aggressive in the second album "Macabre Sunsets", simply because
we felt that way during the composition period, and it went the same way for
the third album, etc.
Q>>
I think "I Am Jesus" is your first recording for Black Lotus Records.
How did you end up on that label and - most of all - what made you choose to
work with them?
A>> The fact that the so good relationship we had with our ex-label collapsed
"overnight" - like a castle made out of sand - due to a lack of communication
mainly made me very skeptic in respect to Nightfall's future cooperations. So
much actually that I said to my self: "I will always pay much more attention
to the persons' background rather than their promises, proposals, or anything
that has to do with the strictly "materialistic" side of things".
Staying in touch with the people that are supposed to support you and promote
you is a must indeed and since we learned our lesson well it would be a sign
of utter stupidity to make the same mistake, no matter what the excuse would
be! Black Lotus was a label in need of a reputable act like Nightfall and we
were in need of a label 100% committed to us. We're a good match for each other;
we really are!
Q>>
The new album features a couple of hits... How did you work on these songs?
A>> Hits?! Well, can't say we followed any specific path to produce such
material. Actually the time when the whole thing was inspired was pretty painful
to us all as we were badly stuck in a very difficult situation; the ex-label
breached the contract on one hand, whilst it didn't let us go free on the other,
i.e. the band could not release anything at all! Under such circumstances the
only thing a musical group can do is jam in the studio to "ease" its
pain. It's from that sort of jamming that "I Am Jesus" came forth;
no planning, no goals back then but a great appetite to "masturbate"
musically as a band.
Q>>
Since the very beginning, you've always written very elegant lyrics. Where did
the inspiration come from this time?
A>> Lyrics have always been a very important thing to Nightfall and it
is a pity most metalheads don't pay any serious attention to them, generally
speaking; a pity 'cause I see numerous Metal albums out there hiding some astonishing
words that - almost - none bothers to read, let alone understand. For us, as
individuals and artists, sang words are everything! It is the spirit, the soul
of the track, whilst the music is the body, the temple, so to speak. Inspiration?
This flows richly from everything surrounding us; we turn the vibrations in
our own environment into pure words expressing spiritual beings' struggle to
find their actual roles in this shallow world.
Q>>
I saw that you produced the album yourself. Are we talking about an executive
production or an artistic production here?
A>> Both. We had to prepare a demo for all those labels interested in
us and I thought that since we had to enter the studio one way or another for
such work it'd be much better to take our time and record the whole album ourselves
with the aim to license it to the label we liked best at the end. That's what
we did, without any sort of pressure from deadlines whatsoever. Difficult task
but great challenge!
Q>>
I think the Tico Tico let you walk out their door holding a fantastic product.
Are you happy with it?
A>> Frankly speaking, it couldn't sound any better I believe! But let's
not forget that the recordings for "I Am Jesus" took more or less
an entire year to complete.
Q>>
How do you Greeks feel during your stay in Finland (for the recording sessions)?
Did you bring along your duffel-coats?
A>> We went there back in 1997 when we recorded the "Lesbian Show"
album in December/January, but for "I Am Jesus" I personally managed
to conduct all recordings in Greece (mainly in our private studios) following
some guidelines/hints by Ahti (Tico-Tico), and then I sent everything to Finland
for editing, processing, and mixing. Hey, it was my "payback time"
after so many years in studios here and there ;-)
Q>>
I heard you have family in Belgium, is that correct? Have you been here some
times?
A>> In Belgium? No, not at all I am afraid. However, yes I've been to
the country a few times, always with my band though.
Q>>
Anything you'd like to add?
A>> Thank you very much for your time and efforts for Nightfall. Looking
forward to seeing you all there soon; you are my family after all ;-)
www.nightfallstar.com
RNO