February 2014 Issue 14 | $1.99
Mark
Jansen Open’s Up! Tim
Burton Dark, Gothic Macabre -Vol 2-
Californication A sobers’ guide
X RAY STORIES Introducing
Deaths of famous artists Inside BURST!
9 772241 538000
ISSN 2241-5386
14
MINISTRY’S
Al Jourgensen “Don’t be like me, be yourself”
2
would you kill for a photo? www.argophotography.com
Burst www.afternoiz.com
3 Burst Magazine
pages 6-15 Articles
pages 16-44 Interviews
pages 46-49 Albums Reviews
page 50-52 Director’s Cut
MINISTRY “Al Jourgensen” Are you politically correct? Do you detest spontaneity? Do you hate a wicked sense of humor? If your answer is “yes” to more than two of the questions above, we dare you to stop reading these lines right away... Read the whole interview on page 16!
pages 54-56 Film Reviews
Cover photo by by Allan Amato
page 58 TV Series Beginner’s Guide
Burst www.afternoiz.com
4
publisher
Raphael Aretakis
editor in chief
Spiros Smyrnis
senior editors
Cristina Alossi Sissy Fanouraki Jo Gogou Marianna Kofinaki Panagiotis Tsoutsis
editors
contributing editors
proofreaders
photographers
USA photographer Spanish photographer special guest Design & Layout
Pana Apostolidou Danae Christopoulou Helen Marie Joyce Kostas Krasonis Eleni Lampraki B|S|Orestis Stathia S. Pedioti Angie Rouska George Davleris Giorgos Kotrozinis Dimitris Kotsilinis Paschalis Koutsogiannis Alexandros Nalbanis Korina P. Mike Ritchie Sotiris Stilianos Petros Xatzistilianos Helen Marie Joyce Matina Katsarakou Marianna Kofinaki Apostolis Kalliakmanis B|S|Orestis Jo Gogou Kalliope Tsouroupidou Raphael Aretakis Joe Prostredny Nat Enemede Karolina Pacan Raphael Aretakis
advertising
Eleni Lampraki
art advisor
Aikate D.
2 Ag. Theodoron str, Athens 14451, Greece
Burst www.afternoiz.com
Connect
www.afternoiz.com/burst www.facebook.com/burstmag www.twitter.com/burstzine Email: info@burst-magazine.com Landline: +30 211 800 1916 Mobile: +30 697 915 7815
Subscribe
www.burstsubscriptions.com www.scribd.com/burstmagazine
Advertise
Send your request to our advertising department at eleni@barelymedia.com and we will work out the best deal for you and your needs.
5
BURST WANTS YOU!! Want to be part of the burst crew??? We are looking for photojournalists from around the world, able to take quality photos, write live reports and conduct face2face interviews with artists. send us an email at info@burst-magazine.com be creative about yourselves and give us a top10 of your best live photos!
Burst www.afternoiz.com
6
Joe Bonamassa The Blueskeeper Long time ago, a really good friend of mine wrote a live report about Joe Bonamassa’s show at Newcastle, UK. I still remember the title of that report: The blueskeeper! A title so spot-on, that if I had been asked to name Joe Bonamassa with just one word, that word would be ‘Blueskeeper’! Joe Bonamassa was born in May 8, 1977 at New Hartford, New York, United States. In an interview conducted by the Guitarist magazine (issue 265), he cited the three albums that had the biggest influence on his playing: John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton (the Beano album), Rory Gallagher’s Irish Tour and Goodbye by Cream. He also stated that Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Texas Flood was a big influence to him at a young age (Wikipedia). Even though he is American, Bonamassa has clearly been influenced by English and Irish guitarists, such as Gary Moore and Rory Gallagher, which is something that became more obvious over the years. But enough with the boring trivia! In 2014, Joe Bonamassa commemorates his 14year presence in discography and he is the hottest name in blues rock this time of speaking! A child prodigy, Bonamassa was finessing Stevie Ray Vaughan licks when he was seven and by the time he was ten, had caught B.B. King’s ear. After hearing him play for the first time, King said, “This kid’s potential is unbelievable. He hasn’t even begun to scratch the surface. He’s one of a kind.” By age 12, Bonamassa was opening shows for the blues icon and went on to tour with venerable acts including Buddy Burst www.afternoiz.com
Guy, Foreigner, Robert Cray, Stephen Stills, Joe Cocker and Gregg Allman (the part is taken from jbonamassa.com) As you may understand someone who impressed BB King at the age of 12, well, it is common sense that he will impress the rest of the world as well! So, unlike many bluesmen, little Joe wasn’t standing in the shadows, but he started his journey to the stages of the world at a very young age instead. Despite that, when he turned 23, he released his first solo album titled “A New Day Yesterday”. The album and Bonamassa alike sounded rough and immature, without losing the true blues’ feeling whatsoever. Thirteen music albums (live and studio) later, Joe finally tastes the sweet smell of success, like a real bluesman would, by giving 200 shows a year. Apart from his solo career, he has already released two great albums with the Blues Lady Beth Hart (Beth would you marry me?) and three ones with the hard rock supergroup Black Country Communion (with Glenn Hughes on bass and vocals, Derek Sherinian on keys and Jason Bonham on drums). Although most people think Bonamassa is only into blues, Joe defines his sound exactly as stated in his interview to Sonya and Puneet Singh for Los Angeles Magazine as:” It’s a combination of every influence I’ve ever had from classic rock to blues to acoustic music to Americana, British blues, and heavy metal. People who buy my albums know that anything
could show up: a country tune, something that’s heavy rock, or a 12-bar Chicago shuffle with horns. Somehow, it all glues together. You have to call it something. It’s blues-ish but it’s not blues in the traditional sense. It’s not even close.” Pay no attention to him, guys, he’s just kidding! If you don’t believe me, then give a listen to Bonamassa’s version of “The Meaning of the Blues” and you will get your answer, especially if you know what it means to walk alone. And what it means to be? Be by yourself. And what it means to cry by yourself? Do you know what it means To love a woman you can’t own? If you do, you know the meaning of the blues. Joe definitely knows this meaning, as he Is one of the very
by Spiros Smyrnis few blueskeepers. Although he achieved so much like his sold out show on Albert Royal Hall in London, some time ago, he is so down to earth. He has already played in the biggest arenas in Europe, he has been nominated for a Grammy, he has sold thousands of albums but he still plays this goddamn guitar like there is no tomorrow, like he spends the last minutes of his life with his beloved mistress. For that, Joe, I wanna thank you, ‘cause you keep such a great company to me and to other blues lovers, in happy and difficult times alike. There are so many times when Sloe Jin, Dislocated Boy, The Whale that Swallowed Jonah, Happier Times and Blue and Evil were floating from our speakers, so we raise our glasses high, saying all together “to Joe, the Blueskeeper”!
7 Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop Hey ho, let’s go! Hey ho, let’s go! Hey ho, let’s go! Hey ho, let’s go! They’re forming in straight line They’re going through a tight wind The kids are losing their minds The Blitzkrieg Bop They’re piling in the back seat They’re generating steam heat Pulsating to the back beat The Blitzkrieg Bop Hey ho, let’s go Shoot’em in the back now What they want, I don’t know They’re all revved up and ready to go They’re forming in straight line They’re going through a tight wind The kids are losing their minds The Blitzkrieg Bop They’re piling in the back seat They’re generating steam heat Pulsating to the back beat The Blitzkrieg Bop Hey ho, let’s go Shoot’em in the back now What they want, I don’t know They’re all revved up and ready to go They’re forming in straight line They’re going through a tight wind The kids are losing their minds The Blitzkrieg Bop
Stathia’s Track
by Stathia Pedioti
consider it as a sexual innuendo, meaning either sex or masturbation -also giving the example of Cindy Lauper’s “She Bop”, to base their arguments. The characterization “Ramones and Clash are the best poppunk bands ever” -among other comments about the band-was written many times online. Can someone explain to me why it’s called pop-punk and not just punk? Just ‘cause some songs lack “heaviness” they’re magically transforming into a pop sub-genre that didn’t even exist back then? When criticizing the past, look through the eyes of the specific decades, not today’s. Many seem to claim that the combination of the words “Blitzkrieg” and “Bop” is literally what the first punk fans did in the early punk years, and which these days some call “moshing”: A crazy fast dance, under aggressive yet exciting music. As for this very song, you can say “it’s Ramones!”, meaning that the whole point of this is nothing deeper but to have a good time, “bop”, and have your revolution -in your ways.
But what do the Ramones have to say about their song? Joey Ramone: “I hate to blow the mystique, but at the time we really liked bubblegum music, and we really liked the Bay City Rollers. Their song ‘Saturday Night’ had a great chant in it, so we wanted a song with a chant in it: ‘Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!’. ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ was our ‘Saturday Night’.” (songfacts.com) Tommy Ramone: “I wrote ‘Blitzkrieg Bop,’ but Dee Dee contributed the title and he changed one line. There was a line that went, ‘They’re shouting in the back now.’ He changed it to ‘Shoot ‘em in the back now,’ which is a non sequitur. But to him it made sense.” (songfacts.com) Stay rock and make your own conclusions on this “classic”. You could either call it a car race song or a WWII song, or even a song about teen sex in the back seat of a car. As for us, we’ll sing it without thinking too hard about it.
They’re piling in the back seat They’re generating steam heat Pulsating to the back beat The Blitzkrieg Bop Hey ho, let’s go! Hey ho, let’s go! Hey ho, let’s go! Hey ho, let’s go!
And The Verdict Is One of the most recognizable punk songs in history, sung by each and every single one of us -you just can’t help it when you listen to it somewhere in public. It surely is a song that helped punk music become more popular back then. But how can I analyze these lyrics when everyone has something to say about them, while others call the whole song “meaningless”, just a punk song made to
become mainstream? Well, let’s do what I do every time: Get all the opinions and consider them. “Blitzkrieg” according to Wikipedia, is a tactic used by the Germans in WWII, and it means “lightning war” in German. “Bop”, some say, stands for “Breach of Peace”, and it makes quite some sense if you’re thinking of war. Others Burst www.afternoiz.com
8
Farewell Mr. Jordison By Sissy Fanouraki The split up between Slipknot and their long-time drummer Joey Jordison shocked the fans and of course became the event of 2013! Joey Jordison, (aka Nathan Jonas Jordison) born on April 26th, 1975 in Des Moines, Iowa, was the drummer and co-songwriter of Slipknot from 1995 to 2013. Before starting documenting the facts – and fiction – let me briefly introduce you to the musician, songwriter, drummer and producer Joey Jordison. In the summer of 1995, Joey, who grew up in Waukee, joined the band The Pale Ones, which later changed its name to Slipknot. Although he was the third out of its nine members to join the band, he was assigned to number 1, since his drums are recorded first! With Joey behind the drum kit, the band released 4 studio albums, plus he helmed the production of Slipknot’s live album “9.0: Live”. In August 2010, Joey Jordison was voted the best drummer of the past 25 years by readers of British drumming and percus-
Burst www.afternoiz.com
sion magazine “Rhythm”. What happened…? It should be noted that Slipknot went on hiatus not once or twice but three times. Sometime in the mid-2002, Slipknot went on hiatus for the first time due to internal conflicts, while the second time occurred in 2005. The third “split” came after bassist Paul Gray died on May 24, 2010, when he was found dead in a hotel room in Iowa. The band grieved deeply and the future of Slipknot was uncertain. In Corey Taylor’s exact words “He was everything that was wonderful about this band and about this group of people. The only way I can sum up Paul Gray is ‘love’”. Slipknot returned on stage in 2011 with a European tour, they headlined the Sonisphere Festival and Rock in Rio and performed at Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium as well. Corey Taylor stated that these shows served as a ‘celebration and tribute’ to Paul Gray and he commented “If this tour doesn’t work, this band might be over — straight up. And I’m not gonna lie; I’m
not the guy that’s going to lie to the fans”. In response to his comments, Joey Jordison stated that “Slipknot will continue with or without Corey Taylor”. Once again… smells like internal conflicts! However, no official announcement was made regarding the future of the band until December 13, 2013 when Slipknot made the departure of Joey Jordison public with the following statement: “It is with great pain but quiet respect that, for personal reasons, Joey Jordison and SLIPKNOT are parting ways. We all wish Joey the best in whatever his future holds. We understand that many of you will want to know how and why this has come to be, and we will do our best to respond to these questions in the near future.” The motto “personal reasons” stands for “internal conflicts” -or what…?
a day after Slipknot’s announcement, during an interview, Corey Taylor commented that couldn’t discuss it “Legally and respectfully” and added “We’re trying to protect him, protect us – just making sure we do everything right.” He also posted the following comment on Twitter, dismissing all rumors spreading that the band is over and done “For those who think the ‘Knot are falling apart, you are greatly and sadly mistaken. Bring on 2014. Great things are coming. Stay tuned.” Indeed, on January 8th, 2014, guitarist James Root posted on his Instagram account a photo which portrays his arm holding a guitar over a mixing board confirming Taylor’s earlier statements that the long awaited fifth studio album is currently in progress. However, few days earlier, on January 2, 2014, Joey Jordison responded to Slipknot’s state-
ment by claiming that he did not quit the band. In his own words: “I want to make it very clear that I DID NOT QUIT SLIPKNOT. This band has been my life for the last 18 years, and I would never abandon it, or my fans.” It seems that Joey was fired from the band, with one of the reasons for that decision possibly being Joey Jordison’s absence from the songwriting sessions, at least according to Corey Taylor’s comments... Anyhow, the main reason for the split still remains a mystery... Slipknot will not leave us fans in the dark and they will hopefully “speak up” soon… How long do you think will Shawn “Clown” Crahan and/or James Root remain numb? Hypothetically speaking, these comments could only be the beginning of a fueled dispute between Joey Jordison and the band. Joey Jordison’s side projects: Murderdolls & Scar The Martyr Besides Slipknot, Joey Jordison was also the lead guitarist of Murderdolls (ex- The Rejects). The band signed a record deal with Roadrunner Records and released the EP “Right to Remain Violent” in 2002 and few months later, in August 2002, the band released its debut album “Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls”. Murderdolls played its last show on January 17, 2004 in California, with the band going on hiatus right after. In 2010, two of the original members, Joey Jordison and Wednesday 13, were reunited and released another album on August 31, titled “Women & Children Last”. Following the band’s tour, it was announced that Murderdolls had split up for good. Last but not least, it should be mentioned that Joey Jordison has also performed alongside Rob Zombie, Metallica, Korn, Ministry, Otep and Satyricon. As for his most recent side project, Scar the Martyr, its selftitled debut album was released on October 1, 2013.
XStorieS Ray Deaths of famous artists by Jo Gogou
The deaths of famous artists is such a huge topic, that even before you can start analyzing, you can’t properly put it into pieces. Stars of the music industry and what is known as the 7th art have been a target for many. Question is: Were these deaths faked or not? Plus, what happens to each unsolved mystery and who never had the chance to testify to their own death? Peter Tosh (Winston Hubert McIntosh, 19/10/ 1944– 11/9/1987) On September 11, Tosh is found dead in his house in Jamaica. On his way home, he encountered three men pointing guns at him, with their intention being robbery. Since they found no money -rumor has it he told them that there was no money because he was unemployed- one of the guns was aimed at Tosh’s head while the other two pointed at the DJ’s Doc Brown and Jeff “Free I” Dixon. Leppo. Tosh’s murderer is still behind bars. As for the other two, they were never found. Kurt Cobain (Kurt Donald Cobain, 20/2/1967 - 5/4/ 1994)
Murder or suicide? Forensics investigations name the scene as Crime scene/suicide. What was left were ill-based rumors and still there are people who are looking for clues that could bring them to his killer, among which is Cobain’s grandfather. A note and a gun were found next to him. Plus, the blood tests have shown drug abuse, something that could have made it impossible for him to act in such a tragic manner. The note next to him was tested and the handwriting was proven not to be his. The name of his wife, Courtney Love, was mentioned in the note and she is still considered guilty by many.
9
Part #1
was found dead under unknown, shady circumstances. Although some say he even sold his soul to the devil to get his incredible talent in playing the guitar, he didn’t make it past his 28th birthday. Many claim that his death had something to do with jealousy, since Johnson was involved with a woman, who was married to a jealous husband. Ultimately, poison reached his guts. Strychnine was found in his whiskey, a fact which was also confirmed by his partner, David Edwards, before his passing in 2011. Others claim it was syphilis that took him. Sam Cooke (Samuel Cook 22/1/1931– 11/12/1964) A violent murder. The soul legend Sam Cooke, experienced a “spectacular” death in two ways: when it became public and also later on when the talking started. Cooke was accompanied by Elisa Boyer, friend or date, none knows- and they stayed in Hacienda Motel, Los Angeles. It has been said that Boyer herself claimed that he attempted to rape her. She managed to get away from him and got all his clothes. According to witnesses from the hotel, Cooke, half naked, went after Boyer (who was accused for prostitution) into the office of the hotel manager, Bertha Franklin, attacked her and then she shot him. Cooke’s fortune was never found and that aroused suspicion for a potential robbery by Boyer. Franklin was off the hook, Boyer was never charged and the “Having a party” performer died at the age of 33. Jim Morrison{ James Douglas “Jim” Morrison 8/12/1943– 3/7/1971)
Robert Johnson (Robert Leroy Johnson, 8/5/1911– 16/9/1938) “Don’t ever knock a bottle out of my hand.” According to the legend, the blues player Burst www.afternoiz.com
10 In 1971, Jim Morrison is found dead in his bathtub in Paris. It is said that he died from an overdose but he was buried before an autopsy was conducted. According to Pamela Courson, his girlfriend at the time, the cause of death was drugs. However, some still think that he is alive. Forty years after his death, a friend of the singer’s claimed that Morrison did die from an overdose, that his death occurred in the restrooms of a nearby club, and that the drug dealers carried him home to avoid the police. “The End: Jim Morrison”
discovered in the Cotchford farm, next to his pool. His friend, Anna Wohlin, was certain that he was still alive when they took him out of the pool and that there was still a heartbeat. Unfortunately, Jones was already gone by the time the doctor arrived. The ones who were in his house claim that the last man that saw him alive was Frank Thorogood, who fought with Jones and - accident or not- killed him. Thorogood worked for Brian Jones; it is said that Jones fired him that day. Thorogood did confess it to the Stones driver, Tom Keylock, who later on denied everything.
Bobby Fuller (Robert Gaston “Bobby” Fuller 22/11/1942 – 18/7/1966)
The coroner’s report states that the death was caused by an accident and adds that the liver and his heart were significantly damaged due to drug and alcohol abuse.
Bobby Fuller Four’s frontman , Robert Gaston aka. Boddy Fuller, was found dead in his mother’s car outside his Hollywood apartment, over an open gas vessel, on July 18th 1966 at the age of 23. The coroner considered three versions: 1. suicide, 2. accident, 3. murder. At the possible causes of death for the 23 year old, involve his relationship with a woman from the local mafia and the use of hallucinogens on the night he died. And on top of that, the name of the notorious Charles Manson is also involved in the case. Erik Greene, a relative of Sam Cooke’s -see above-, reports several similarities to the deaths of Cooke and Fuller. The case still remains a mystery. Brian Jones (Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones 28/2/1942 – 3/7/1969)
Following Jones death, many of his personal items disappeared. People talked about what he had kept as future plans was stolen. To this date, nothing has been found. Later on, Pete Townshend (the Who) wrote a poem titled “A Normal Day for Brian, A Man Who Died Every Day” that was published in The Times; Jimi Hendrix dedicated him a song in the USA television and Jim Morrison (The Doors) dedicated him a poem, the “Ode to L.A. While Thinking of Brian Jones, Deceased”. Just like Jones, two years later, Hendrix and Morrison would die too, aged 27. The Rolling Stones held a free concert in Hyde Park dedicated to him, on July 5th,1969, two days after Jones’ passing. The concert was initially planned for the presentation of their new guitarist, Mick Taylor. Hundreds of white butterflies were released that day and the live opened with Jones’ favorite song, “I’m Yours and I’m Hers”. Many believe that the instigators of his death were the Stones themselves, who had gradually excluded him from the band due to his addictions and who didn’t attend his funeral. The grave in Cheltenham Cemetery was dug 3.7 meters deep, due to superstition. Richey James Edwards (Richard James Edwards (22/12/1967, disappeared in 1/2/1995, died in 23/11/2008)
One of the founding members of the Rolling Stones was found dead at his house pool on July 3, 1969. At the dawn of July 3, 1969, Jones was Burst www.afternoiz.com
One more mysterious and still unsolved death is the case of the Manic Street Preachers’ guitarist. Since 2008, the official police files report him dead, although neither a clue nor his body have been
found since 1995. February 1st, 1995 is the day Edwards leaves America for business. He disappears and two weeks later his car is found with no battery, something that indicates he may have lived in the car for a few days. The car was found close to the Severn Bridge, a popular place for suicides, so many believe that he may have killed himself by falling in the river. He did face chronic depression but he had repeatedly spoken against taking his own life. Witnesses have spotted him in India and other parts of the world, but nothing has been proven true. Marvin Gaye (2/4/1939– 1/4/1984) Marvin Gaye -facing financial issues, depression and drug addiction- moves back to his parents’ house in 1983. His relationship with his dad, Marvin Gay Sr. ( Marvin Jr. added the extra «e» to his last name), was never a positive one and the fights were constant. On April 1st,1984, Marvin Sr. had a fight with the musician’s mother, that lasted for
days. After that, the conflict was turned between father and son and resulted in Marvin Sr. shooting twice, on contact, his son in the chest, thus killing him instantly. He was transferred in the ER in the medical Center of California, where he was pronounced dead at 13:01. During Marvin Gay Sr.’s trial it was revealed that the gun that shot the artist was a gift he had given to his father for Christmas. However, the bruises in his father’s body and the drugs in the victim’s blood were the clues he based his self-defense card and the reasons why the 70 year old father was not charged for murdering his son. His answer when he was asked if he loved his son came as a shock. «let’s say I didn’t dislike him».
11 After the funeral, Marvin was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific ocean. Michael Hutchence (Michael Kelland John Hutchence 22/1/1960 – 22/11/1997) It was another tragedy for INXS. It was the morning of November 22, 1997, when the singer Michael Hutchence was found dead in a hotel room in Sydney, Australia. The maid finds the body and the view of him shocked her . She found him hanged naked in a room full of -legally prescribeddrugs and alcohol. At the time he was constantly fighting with his wife, Paula Yates, over the custody of his daughter, Tiger Lily. On February 6, 1998, the court reached the verdict of death under a state of depression and possible suicide. Yates testified that Hutchence died in an accident, in an attempt of erotic asphyxiation. November 27th. The coffin is taken to St Andrew’s Cathedral. The band dedicate him the “Never Tear Us Apart”, while Nick Cave with another friend of Hutchence’s, play “Into My Arms “ live during the funeral and ask from the media not record this performance. “Michael, You’ve Got A Lot To Answer For” Duran Duran “And I know that you’re going to call... if you need me.” “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” Bono U2 Died in the age of 37.
report, withy “Elliott” being noted as “Elliot”. It was reported in the Smoking Gun: “that Smith’s first name was misspelled in the report”. So, in December 2003, the official report states that possible cause of death is intentional homicide. The producer Larry Crane reports that they were planning to work together; as for his communication with Chiba: “I hadn’t talked to Elliott in over a year. His girlfriend, Jennifer, called me [last week] and asked if I’d like to come to L.A. and help mix and finish [Smith’s album]. I said ‘yes, of course’, and chatted with Elliott for the first time in ages. It seems surreal that he would call me to finish an album and then a week later kill himself. I talked to Jennifer this morning, who was obviously shattered and in tears, and she said, ‘I don’t understand, he was so healthy.’” The public was informed on the funeral but the location was never announced. Tupac Shakur / Notorious B.I.G. / Jam Master Jay In the music industry, at least in the macabre part of it, there are three mostly known murders of legends in the hip hop scene, all of which remain unsolved. However, they all seem connected in a strange way. The deaths of Tupac Shakur and Notorious
Elliott Smith (Steven Paul “Elliott” Smith 6/8/1969– 21/10/ 2003)
1)Tupac Shakur (Tupac Amaru Shakur 6/6/1971– 13/9/1996) It was a night of September, 1996, when Tupac along with friends, visited a MGM boxing game in Nevada. (Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon). When the game was over, they did not return to their place but got into car racing and a wild night out at Club 662. Women, alcohol, guns and drugs soon led to a turnover. Tupac was discovered badly shot and was transferred to the hospital. His mother delivered the news of his death at 4:03 a.m. Shakur’s body was cremated on the next day and some of his ashes were mixed with marijuana and smoked by members of the Outlawz; that was mentioned in his 5th album, the The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day was actually released two months later. 2)Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher George Latore Wallace 21/5/1972– 9/3/1997) In February 1997, Notorious B.I.G. aka Wallace was traveling to Los Angeles, to present his new album and movie, titled “Hypnotize”.
On October 21, 2003, Elliott Smith dies at the age of 34 in his apartment in Los Angeles. Cause of death is determined as two stab wounds. His girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba, who was in the apartment at the time of death, claimed that they had a fight and Smith stabbed himself, leaving a note behind that said: “I’m so sorry—love, Elliott. God forgive me.”. He was transferred to the hospital only to be pronounced dead at 1:36. According to Chiba’s testimony, she removed the knife from his chest, although the wound does not reveal hesitantly made wounds. The fact that the victim was found with his clothes on was also suspicious, since it was something inconsistent with typical suicide cases. The new scenario? Murder. The fact that there was no alcohol, or drugs or any illegal substances found in the body of the «Miss Misery» creator supports this theory. A spelling mistake was made in the autopsy
information has not been disclosed -even from the L.A. P.D.- and that his “opponent” Notorious B.I.G had some kind of involvement in it. Before his own death, a year after Tupac was killed, Notorious B.I.G. denied everything. Randall Sullivan’s book, Labyrinth, published in 2002 had references to the murders of Wallace & Shakur. It was a vendetta, where evidence was managed to be hidden quite well, but first things first:
B.I.G. (1996 and 1997 respectively) were a result of a vendetta between the West and East coast of hip hop. In the Jam Master Jay (2002) case, Ronald Washington was charged as an accomplice. Washington was also involved in the murder of Randy Walker (1995), an associate of Tupac Shakur’s. Tupac Shakur’s murder was investigated by many and rumor has it that
On March 5, 1997, he gave an interview to the KYLD of San Francisco. He requested for private security due to some recent violent incidents and some past misunderstandings. In March, 1997, he attended the music awards, he even gave one to Toni Braxton, the 1997 Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles. In March 9,1997, at 12:30 he left from a party, thrown by some of his friends. He was in his car, so when he stopped at a traffic light, a Chevrolet Impala SS slowed down next to him. Wallace mistook it for the security. At 12:45, an African American in a blue suit shot him with a 9mm gun and disappeared. He was transferred to a hospital at 1:15. The autopsy was out in December 2012. The report states: Burst www.afternoiz.com
12 “strike[d] the left side of the scrotum, causing a very shallow, 3/8 inch linear laceration.” 3)Jam Master Jay (Jason William Mizell 21/1/1965 – 30/10/2002)
WordsOf Wisdom by Karolina Pacan
In late October 2002, at 7:30 p.m., Mizell was shot and killed in a recording studio, the Merrick Boulevard in Jamaica. Urieco Rincon, who was also there, was shot in the ankle and survived. It was rumored that in 2003, Kenneth “ Supreme” McGriff, a known drug dealer, confessed that he acted against Mizell due to a blacklist of 50 Cent that exists and “reports” on who is involved in the drug business. Another settling of scores in the drug history. “Ghetto Qu’ran”
THE LION WITHIN
later- on a used, red MG TD sports car. In March 1955, Dean negotiates with MG for a brand-new Porsche Super Speedster. The negotiation started 3 days after East of Eden movie was finalized. In the same year, James Dean (James Byron Dean he signed for a new film, “Rebel Without a Cause”, where he would play Jim Stark and 8/2/1931– 30/9/1955 ) which got him nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor. March 1955: At the same time, he starts racing in Palm Springs with the Speedster. He finishes first in the amateur games (Saturday’s category) and second in the whole Sunday main event. Racing would soon become a kind of obsession for him. In another game, in May at Bakersfield, he also reached the top position. On September, 30, 1955, a memorial day in Santa Barbara, Dean is working on a Porsche 550 aiming to participate in a local car race. He became the face of the car’s ad and a cover for Colliers Magazine. At 13:15 on the same day, he starts running around with the car, practicing for the game.
Just three movies were more than enough for him to build a short yet great career, that established James Dean as a star and a Hollywood charmer. From the beginning of his career till his death, he has been – and still is-the symbol and the idol of a whole generation. He was nominated for four Oscars, two of which post mortem. 1954: Following the relative request, the contract was signed for the role of Cal Trask in the movie East of Eden, which was released one year later. It was because of this role that he took home the Academy Award for Best Actor & BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor- Jussi Award for Best Foreign Actor. With the money he earned, he bought a Triumph Tiger T110, a 650cc bike and – Burst www.afternoiz.com
According to witnesses –as revealed on October 1st, 2005 in Los Angeles TimesErnest Tripke and his associate corporal Ronald Nelson were called in the accident in Route 466/41. They saw a deformed car and the driver’s left foot crashed between the brakes and the clutch. The driver had a broken neck and many external and internal injuries. Dean was put in an ambulance and so was one of the drivers who was passing by, also dead. Dean was transferred dead in Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital at 18:20. The news for his death was spread around the world and made people wonder, “What if?” Dennis Hopper, his co-star in “Rebel without a cause”, had the answer to that question; He revealed that Dean’s dream was to become a director and the “reason” was that he could not stand being treated as a puppet in the shootings. « James Dean Memorial Junction “
You were born as a certain creature. But, society has pushed away your inner self. Ambitions and plans were replaced by common personality, so that nobody stands out. Don’t be a fool! Break the chains that make your eyes to see what “THEY” want you to see! If you were born as a Lion, don’t let the “reality” make you believe that you are a sheep ! Stand up and roaaaaarrr !
13
Pics by Timo Isoaho
Nightwish: The next chapter, Floor steps in!
By JRoberto Zenteno
Great news was out in October 2012, when Jansen was appointed as a temporary member (replacing our beloved Anette Olzon) for the Nightwish tour, “Imaginaerum World Tour”, which was killer! It is now officially confirmed that the band is to release a Live DVD / Blu-Ray with Floor Jansen. For this special opportunity, they chose the famous Wacken Open Air festival. The keyboardist, Tuomas of Nightwish, commented that this was a wonderful way to “immortalize the current vibe of the band on film”! With that move, Floor was officially the new Nightwish singer, something truly amazing for the fans. Her voice perfectly accompanies the masterpieces of the band! Floor Jansen is a symbol of empathy, talent, strength and vitality; plus, with every single performance, she demonstrates her artistic nature and the transcendence she gives to the genre, let alone she seems somehow stronger
and bolder in her appearances. The band now seems complete and their chemistry is amazing. As they make their way into the music industry, their steps seem to be more certain and their common experiences give them harmony on –and off-stage. It is being said that Floor’s singing style is a combination of her predecessors, yet that is not the case. Her voice may confuse some indeed, however if you pay closer attention her vocal range is totally different. Not only does he possess operatic abilities, but also she can expand her singing towards a more pop/rock oriented direction. Anyhow, they are based on diverse approaches yet they are all lovely, and that is what really counts. To sum up, in this new chapter that opens for Nightwish, we expect new and innovative things with a unique personal touch. Burst www.afternoiz.com
14
By Spiros Smyrnis
1st rule about Fight Club: You do not talk about Fight Club. 2nd rule: You DO NOT talk about Fight Club. 3RD rule: If someone says “stop” or goes limp, taps out the fight is over. 4th rule: Only two guys have to fight. 5th rule: One fight at a time. 6th rule: No shirts, no shoes. 7th rule: Fights will go on as long as they have to. 8th rule: If this is your first night at FIGHT CLUB you HAVE to fight. Burst www.afternoiz.com
15 There is also a ninth rule. You have to watch Fight Club immediately if you haven’t done it already. There were two movies that addicted me on cinema, turn me to a film maniac, The magnum opus of Martin Scorsese, Taxi Driver -where Robert De Niro marked the history of cinema with the most intense performance an actor ever given- and the film of David Fincher, Fight Club. Fincher few years ago directed probably the best thriller of all times, Seven starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey. It was the crucial year of 1999, when the book of the unconventional and anti-conformist writer Chuck Palahniuk (an insane genius that is in the frontline of independent American Literature) finally came out on the Big Screen. The cinema was never the same again. The screenplay of Jim Uhls based on the book of Palahniuk is a venomous speech addresses to humanity and especially to our fucking generation. Jack (Edward Norton proves why he is characterized as the De Niro of his generation) is a fucked up guy. He wears a suit; he has a job that he hates, a house right from an IKEA catalogue, in which he is suffocating. He couldn’t sleep at nights, suffering from insomnia. He is desperate so he is seeking from some tenderness and a way to change his routine in group therapies. He meets people who will be dead soon and pretends he is one of them. Each day, a different group, each day a different disease. There’s a woman doing
the same thing with him. Her name is Μarla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter sketches the profile of this strange, sexy depressed- femme fatale- junkie outstandingly). He meets her at a very strange point of his life. One night he takes a plane to get back home. In the next seat is a good-looking guy. His name is Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt proves he is a great actor for one more time). Let’s take a break here and say our prayer. In Tyler Durden we trust bitches. So motherfucker, Tyler is a guy selling soap. Mischief. Mayhem. Soap. These are the three steps you have to follow. A soap seller, yeah who doesn’t give about self-improvementself improvement is a masturbation-, like the rest of the world. Self-improvement another stupid value you have to work for in capitalism. He is a fan of self-destruction, that one gives sense in his life. Let’s leave Tyler aside for a minute. Let’s talk about your life man. You seating in a computer somewhere in this place called Earth, reading these lines. You might know that this is your life and it’s ending one minute at a time. Let me ask you a few questions though. Have you ever been to a fight? I am sure you haven’t. Like Tyler and Jack. You’ve been raised in a society where dying without any scars is a great achievement. So they-Jack and Tylerstarted a fight in the middle of nowhere, punching each other with their bare hands. They promised themselves to do it again sometime in the near fu-
ture. They started to see things differently. They felt they are alive, for these ten minutes they fought one another. How many of you felt alive even for ten minutes in your whole life? Let’s do it like a TV contest. Those who felt alive for ten minutes in their boring fucked up life may get another five minutes for free. All you have to do is to watch our show, give us your number, sign a form with all your personal id stuff, like our official facebook page, and tattoo at the back of your head the moto of our last TV commercial: You always get what you deserve. We live in a society where everybody is scared of strangers, friends, enemies, time, diseases, death. Scared of falling apart. Hey suckers “Even Mona Lisa is Falling Apart!” Write that down and post it on your facebook wall. Tweet it immediately, do it now, cause another scared sucker will do it before you and get the “likes” you are seeking for. Somehow heroes get enlightened. They understood that they do not want this shittycondo life they live in. They were born for something bigger than big houses, flat screens, mp3s, android phones, personal computers and IKEA couches. Did you ever think the possibility that our God probably doesn’t like us? Even worse he hates us. Yeah! Like Slayer once wrote. God Hates Us All. “Fuck Damnation, fuck Redemption! We’re the God’s unwanted Children. So be it!”
I wanna hear some people scream that. Especially those well-suited guys taking their kids on church every Sunday try to spell the message of God. A priest threatened you all, reminding your sins but if you are able to pay enough then your sins will be forgiven. This is God’s plan maybe. Please the next time you are about to go into church with your kids, save yourselves sometime and read them Tyler speech: “An entire generation, pumping gas, waiting tables. Slaves, with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes. Working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of History. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars but we won’t. We are slowly learning that fact. And we were very, very pissed off. So you better mind your business, as long as you can. Cause one day we will come for you. Fight Club is more than a movie, more than a book. Is the ideology of a generation who is sick and tired of being raised to be sick and tired. We are the all singing, all dancing crap of the world. Get used to it. “We cook your meals. We haul your trash. We connect your calls. We drive your ambulances. We guard you while you sleep. Do not fuck with us” Beware!
Burst www.afternoiz.com
16
Burst www.afternoiz.com
17
MINISTRY’S
Al Jourgensen Inside BURST
by Marianna Kofinaki Photos by Allan Amato
Are you politically correct? Do you detest spontaneity? Do you hate a wicked sense of humor? If your answer is “yes” to more than two of the questions above, we dare you to stop reading these lines right away – and that’s - I grant you- no reverse psychology thing. Ok, you have been warned! So, for all of you who’re still here and keep on reading these lines, we have one last ‘warning’ for you: You’re gonna read this entire interview from start to finish and you’re gonna lose track of time, learn a lot of things you’ve been probably wondering whether they are true or not and get some laugh wrinkles along the way. No further introduction is needed for Mr. Al Jourgensen… The first words that come to mind is “authentic”, “spot-on” to his responses yet totally revealing and with a wicked sense of humor. Quoting from what he said, a true artist cannot be conventional and yes, there’s a very thin line between insanity and genius, and we absolutely love that! But enough of my ramblings. Ladies and gentlemen, we had the pleasure of having a chat with the Ministry mastermind himself, Mr. Al Jourgensen, who was more than eager to shed some light to his new –and probably officially last- album, the death of Mike Scaccia, his book, his life and his future plans in general. Just like in the Highlander saga, “there can be only one” – and that is exactly the case of Al Jourgensen. Care to find out why? Read the lines below and ENJOY!
You’ve been hinting that this Ministry album “From Beer to Eternity” will be the very last. Is that true? I’m asking you this because you have been continuously stating that this or that Ministry album will be the last. To be more precise, after disbanding in 2008, you stated there would never be a reunion and that ‘The Last Sucker’ was indeed the last Ministry album, due to the fact that Ministry takes up too much time, that you were in charge of six other bands, and that you could release seven albums in a year if you didn’t have to focus on Ministry. Yup, that’s true, I said that The Last Sucker was gonna be the last Ministry record. At the time I said that, I was having major health problems (2007-2008) and I felt like I was going to die. Turned out, a few years later in 2010, I almost DID die - almost bled to death on my bathroom floor from a ruptured ulcer and stomach artery. But, I didn’t die, so I went ahead and did two more Ministry records Relapse and FBTE. Oh, I’m so sorry to make more music !! I don’t get these questions - all journalists ask me this, they say: “But you said that The Last Sucker would be your last record.” Yeah, and then I made two more - my fans aren’t complaining that I’m still alive and making music... I don’t see the problem, really... in fact, our Ministry fans want us to make ANOTHER record and do ANOTHER tour... It’s kinda like, for me, when Black Sabbath said they were re-uniting and touring I was like - “Oh wow! Awesome!!!” I wasn’t like, but they SAID that they were retired... blah blah blah... coz I’m a FAN of Black Sabbath and if they want to make records and go on tour - hell ya! I’ll get behind that...I don’t care if they once said “Oh no no no - no more records, no more tours....” I don’t get the
point of this question is it a “Gotcha” journalist standard to try to “catch” artists changing their minds - OMG, an artist changed his mind - how strange - how rare - how unusual... Well said!! Of course we the fans –journalists included- are more than happy to give a listen to more Ministry records as time goes by and we truly hoped you would change your mind (laughs). If “From Beer to Eternity” is the very last album indeed, Is Mike Scaccia’s passing the main reason for that decision? Mikey’s death was a huge blow to me - on so many levels. He was not only my partner in crime in terms of making music, but also he was my best friend...I really don’t know how I could do another Ministry tour or record without him. I really really miss him...a huge hole in my heart...I’m still grieving, not over it at all, not even close. It’s a huge loss for me...I’m barely recovering from it... I love your new album! I think that there are some really killer songs featured in there. How could you describe it to the fans who haven’t given it a listen yet? From Beer to Eternity is Psalm 70. How did you come up with the album title? We drank a LOT of beer while recording it....that was the inspiration for the title, plus most Ministry titles are puns or a play on words or a phrase... What about the lyrics? Which were your main sources of inspiration on that aspect? Well, I wrote most of the lyrics AFTER Mikey died, so the Burst www.afternoiz.com
18 lyrics are a reflection of my reflections on the abuse of power, celebrity, over-medication, life, death and politics - the usual shit, but then also a nice homage to William Burroughs on Thanx But No Thankx working with my good friend Sgt. Major of Rio Grande Blood fame...I felt as though everything had come full circle on this album. MINISTRY has also released Enjoy the Quiet: Live at Wacken, which stands as a fine tribute to Mike Scaccia, along with From Beer to Eternity. How did Mikey’s passing affect you personally and the band as a whole? Oh, I think I answered that already. One word: DEVASTATION Are you happy with the production of the album? Yes, actually, I am. I’m my worst critic, but on this one, I think Sammy [D’Ambruoso/] and I nailed it. What was the taste the fans and critics got from “From Beer to Eternity”? Are you happy with the album yourself? Well, from what I’ve heard from the fans and read from the critics, this record is considered one of the best Ministry albums ever. Fans love it and the critics love it (except for the critics who HATE ME personally, that is...the ones that say I should just go away and die and retire... nice! I heard about that, by the way, and I got your names and addresses, just FYI). I love FBTE, very happy with it and I never say that about my records. Do you have any new musical projects in mind? What are your plans for now in general? Gonna try to kick booze this year and move to Los Angeles and write some books and maybe get a film off the ground for my autobiography The Lost Burst www.afternoiz.com
Gospels....we’ll see...I need to focus on my health this year, which is not good at this moment. But we, of course, at 13th Planet have some projects in the can; this year we’ll release a double disc DVD of the DeFiBriLlaTour 2012, a remix of FBTE called Dubble Dose and my favorite project, a blues band called The Dusters, which Mike Scaccia played on before he died and which I produced with my engineer Sammy.
crazy.
Any chance for us, the fans, to see you promoting the new album live?
Definitely lost some brain cells.
Nope. Coz if I tried to tour this year, I’d die. Seriously, not figuratively. I’ve read somewhere online that you were to start a new project with NIN’s Trent Reznor. Is that true or is it just rumors? Just some rumors. Would love to work with Trent again one day. Maybe. We’ll see. Maybe he’ll come to my house in LA and we’ll see what happens. I recently reconnected with CeVin Key from Skinny Puppy and that was really awesome and very creatively inspiring. I’ve also read somewhere that you are to collaborate with Lil Wayne. Could you tell us more about it? I got nothing. You have always made some political comments in your music, for example in the case of George W. Bush and before that, his father (“New World Order”). What about now, when the international crisis hit on a worldwide scale and we witness things such as the war in Syria? What’s your opinion on the current state of the world? Everyone is completely losing their minds - we’ve gone INSANE. And now that we have the internet and cable news everything is in your face 24/7 and I think it’s making people
Speaking of anti-Bush songs, during the antiBush trilogy, you said that you felt your I.Q. dropped when you listened to so much of George W. Bush when you were sampling him. What about the Fox News samples on From Beer to Eternity? Did they have the same effect on you?
What would you do if you were President of the U.S.A. for a day? Legalize Gay marriage and pot nationwide. Then I’d definitely get into Air Force One and take it for a spin to Spain. I’ve started reading your book. It was really entertaining, I must say and of course you have a wicked sense of humor! Although you’ve been through any kind of wild behavior, you seem pretty harsh with others when they have similar attitudes. Could you give us more info on how you decided to write it and why? It was my wife and manager, Angelina’s idea. She said it was time for me to chronicle my “experiences” since she’s been hearing all about them for over a decade now. I didn’t really want to do it, but now that it’s done, I’m glad I did it. Have any of the artists you…umm….mentioned in the book (such as R.Kelly and Madonna, for example) got angry with you when it hit the shelves? Honestly, what was their reaction? How did you answer back – if you actually did? Are there any funny incidents relating to the book release you’d like to share with us in particular? I haven’t heard anything from anyone, actually. All I know
is that I had to do about three months of press phoners and there’s nothing funny about that. I did learn how to Skype, though. And I started my own Facebook page and it’s brought me closer to my fans and I’m enjoying that at the moment. How can you describe your collaboration with Jon Wiederhorn on the book? How did this come up? Wiederhorn had interviewed me many times over the years. I didn’t like him back then. Not at all. He’s a tough journalist, old-school, so he’s a tough interviewer. But once again, it was Angelina that got us together. She actually always liked Wiederhorn; as she was once a journalist, she had a lot of respect for him. So they talked and the next thing I know, he’s sitting on my couch in my mancave with a tape recorder, we’re getting drunk and he’s asking me about my childhood.... kinda surreal. Let’s set music aside for now. You’re now assisting in the creation of a comic book series, in which you are to become the main character. To that end, you’ve been working with the iconic artist Sam Shearon, who drew plotlines based on conversations he had with you and your wife. Man, I can only imagine the stories you shared and I can’t wait till July! Could you shed some more light on that comic book in question? It’s called MINISTRY: The Devil’s Chord - The Chronicles of Alien F. Jourgensen. It’s going to be a 13-issue comic book series and each issue is based on a Ministry record. It is based loosely on factual events, but Sam is going to embellish me and my co-conspirators with Super Hero powers and we’re going to fight the Oligarchies of the music industry and government and aliens. I can’t wait to have superpowers!! Sam was also the one who
19
Burst www.afternoiz.com
20 designed some of the artwork on From Beer to Eternity. I bet you had a great collaboration since you decided working on the comic as well. By the way, how did this whole story come up? And I bet you had countless stories to tell…. How did you choose what to include in the book and what to leave out?
documentary Fix.
Once again, Angelina’s idea to get Sam and I together for this collaboration. She worked with him on the FBTE artwork - he created and designed the back cover art, which the fans LOVE! They loved it so much, that they demanded we make a poster of the back cover art. So Sam came to El Paso and we clicked and he and I and Angelina started creating the basic outline and themes for each issue. It was Sam’s idea to have each issue based on a Ministry record. He came out a second time and that’s when everything really fell together and at a certain point, the storyline started writing itself.
I drink a lot, watch sports and news and then I get on SpaceBook and chat it up with my fans. Every now and then, Angie makes me take the garbage out.
Let’s go to the big screen now. You and Ministry have appeared in the film ‘A.I..: Artificial Intelligence”, following director Stanley Kubrick’s request. How did this come up? Do you have any other plans on appearing on the big screen in the recent future? Kubrick was a huge Ministry fan. I don’t have any plans to be in film, but hey, you never know!! Is it true that you once scared Metallica out of a dressing room by sticking vegetables up your ass and then running backwards at them? More info, please! I did that. To see more, rent the Burst www.afternoiz.com
Which are your favorite pastimes now that working on the last Ministry album is over and the book is complete? Is there a “typical” day in Al Jourgensen’s life- except for watching hockey, for example? I don’t think there is, but I’ll dare to ask!
Speaking of hockey, I know that you’re a huge fan of Blackhawks! Would you ever own your own hockey team if you had the chance? I almost bought a local Texas team once, but at this point, I don’t think I’d want to own a hockey team - I’d rather be a scout for a hockey team... If you got to choose among all the crazy things you’ve done in your life, what would be your personal favorite? What would be your least favorite a n d w h y ? Any regrets?
I think blowing up tour buses is up there...my least favorite was Mikey dying. My only regret is that he’s not alive. In your opinion, what’s the worst song you’ve ever written and why? Worst song? Probably “Stolen” by Paul Barker. You’ve been quoted that you wanted to become a history professor. Are you still up to it? Sort of... I think now I’d like to give lectures at universities... travel around. You’ve claimed to have seen aliens more than once. Could you share this experience with us? We live in the desert...there’s a UFO sighting every few days around here... it’s not that unusual for me or for my friends who live here to see stuff. How many times did you almost die after all? It seems that you’re a superhero in real life, not just in the comics, since you came back! More info, please! I’ve died twice and almost died twice. How do you feel being such an influential musician after more than 30 years in music? I feel like shit. Honestly, I don’t think about it much. What piece of advice would you give to the musicians that want to become like you? Don’t be like me, be yourself. The last words are yours. What is the message you’d like to share with our readers? Go Fuck Yourself. And have a nice day.
21
Burst www.afternoiz.com
22
Mark Jansen by Korina P. Photos by Tim Tonckoe
Mark Jansen is definitely one of the masterminds Jansen is metal definitely oneEpica of the masterofMark the symphonic genre. have hugely minds with of the symphonic genre. Epica evolved time, they havemetal already been around have hugely evolved they have alfor 10 consecutive yearswith andtime, they have managed been around for 10popular, consecutive toready become one of the most up andyears rising andofthey to become oneremains of the acts thehave metalmanaged scene. However, Mark uphe and rising acts metal a most simplepopular, man and is totally downoftothe earth. scene. However, Mark remains a simple man and he is totally sat down to earth. Burst magazine down with him and had a chat about almost everything; the new Mayan alBurstthe magazine sat down him and had aof bum, forthcoming Epicawith album, his point chatabout aboutthis almost the newand Mayan view and everything; that, his tour plans how album, the changed forthcoming album, his point things have afterEpica so many years. of view about this and that, his tour plans and howreaders things have changed afterenjoy! so many years. Dear just sit back and Dear readers just sit back and enjoy! Burst www.afternoiz.com
23
Burst www.afternoiz.com
24 Hello Mark. I would like to thank you very much for this interview. How are you? I am fine. I have a big cycling round going on and it feels really great day by day. This sounds really nice. So, let’s begin! The second studio album of Mayan has been officially released and you have just finished the recordings of the sixth Epica album as well. You seem to me like an extra busy man (laughs)! Can you tell us a few things about these brand new studio albums? For example, will it be concept albums or not? No, there will not be any concept album but there are some certain topics that will be all over. The lyrics deal with topics like how human beings act nowadays, they want to take all the time and they don’t actually find any time to relax anymore. These are more or less the top-
Burst www.afternoiz.com
ics on the upcoming Epica album. As for the upcoming Mayan album, the songs are about our freedom, privacy and how the world has ended up. All the usual topics that you always like to write about, I guess. Yes, these are exactly the topics I like to write about. (laughs) Could you give us any further hint or clue about the lyrics of the Mayan album? Well, what really annoys me is the fact that whatever we do or write on the internet is being marked down. For example, even if you delete one of your personal messages it will still be stored on a database and they can use it whenever they want and in any way they want. They say they can use all this information to avoid terrorist attacks. I personally think that they just want to get a lot of information, they gather as much as they can, in order to use it for economic purposes,
or if they consider a person as a pain in their ass they use this information against this person. All this fuss about terrorism nowadays is a very insignificant reason to do such a thing and it’s not even the true one that makes them collect all this information about everybody in the world. So once again your lyrics deal with serious social issues. Let’s talk about Epica a little bit. I have noticed that there has been some kind of tradition for Epica until now. Every Epica album has been recorded at Gate Studios and produced by the legendary Sascha Paeth. That’s right. (laughs) However, for the first time in Epica’s history you chose to work with a different producer, whose name is Joost Van Den Broek (some of us already know him from his work with After Forever and
Stream Of Passion). You have finished the pre-production and the recordings of the album at Sandlane studios. This is something new for Epica, I guess. If I am not mistaken, you have worked in Sandlane studios very recently with Mayan, too. Have you finally decided to try a different studio and producer for a change? Were there any special reasons for this change? We had this feeling that we needed to come up with something new. Some new energy, some fresh ideas and stuff like that. We had the feeling that we did everything we could possibly do in Sascha’s studio, that we have already used every capacity of these recording facilities, and now we really needed to open a new horizon. Actually, we still worked with Sascha Paeth; we collaborated with him for the vocal lines. Joost definitely brought some new elements to the band; he helped us to explore some new
25 ways of writing our very own music. We worked together on a new sound and it was really fascinating to work in that way. We brought out our songs and later on he came in and tried to make them sound better and worked on that together with us. I personally think that Joost has been a very important part of After Forever. Even when I left the band and later on Joost joined them, I noticed that simply because of Joost a lot of melody was added to the band’s songs. Joost was a very important guy for the career and the evolution of After Forever. And now with Epica, we decided to use Joost’s qualities. I honestly believe that he is one of the most talented musicians in the scene.
and elements. I started composing and programming the keyboard parts and I noticed that most of the catchiness of the keyboards was being lost when I started programming and then, I decided to write the music in a more old-fashioned way. So, speaking for myself, I combined the old way of working with the new way of working and in this way the old and new Epica elements come together in this album. If you seek for some old After Forever influences though, you had better listen to the new Mayan album; I think it contains some elements that will bring to your mind After Forever’s early days. (laughs)
Let me tell you Mark that I totally agree with you. I really liked his work with Revamp on their recent studio album Wild Card. You stated that you had already written 18 songs and you just picked the best ones and included them in the album. Plus, you said that the songs contain all known Epica elements and the result will be a balanced mix between old and new influences. So, should we prepare ourselves for some surprises or just maybe for an awesome album like Epica usually record and release? You just said the name of your former band, After Forever, and I was wondering if you decided to go back to your roots with the new Epica album.
(laughs) That was a hell of a clue for me and for many fans out there who miss After Forever a lot.
Joost worked with us in a way that he did not add a big personal influence to our sound. We are the ones who created Epica’s sound and we will keep it that way. We don’t want to change our sound, so Joost’s mainly influenced us and gave us a hand on how to improve our songs a little bit, how to make the choruses a little bit stronger, for example and all this kind of things. I think that the new album is a mixture of old and new Epica songs
You just made me smile.
So, guys out there, if you miss the After Forever days and seek for some more you’d better check out the new Mayan album. (laughs) Joost worked with me on the new Mayan album, as we have already said. Awesome! Will there be any special guests in the new Epica album? We have not approached any guests because we did not think that any of the songs needed any certain guest singer. In early 2013, Epica decided to play a special show for your 10 years anniversary. It was called Retrospect and it was recorded and released on November 8, 2013 in several different formats. This was a nice move from your side, since many fans missed this show which became a sold out in only a few days! Many people complained about missing this show and at least, they can watch the DVD now! (laughs) I think that people are really happy with the fact that we finally released a DVD after all
these years being around. To be honest with you, in the past years we tried to record and release a DVD, but every time we did something went wrong. It finally happened and this special show, Retrospect, was the biggest show we ever did in our career; we had never done such a big show before. So, the biggest show we have ever played has been released on a DVD. It’s not bad, is it? All these years, our fans were asking for a DVD and now they have one. You have already said that this show was an “one night only event” but I will ask you anyway, is there any possibility to repeat such a thing? Maybe a small tour with the orchestra and choir, for example?
happened though: Isaac Delahaye decided not to participate in the band anymore. Once again, Laura Macri and Henning Basse participated in the vocal parts and even became permanent members of the band. Marcela Bovio and Floor Jansen participated in the vocals as well. Plus, a Greek artist, Dimitris Katsoulis, who is a great violin player contributed. Will this upcoming album have any similarities with Mayan’s debut?
Actually a journalist has told me that the new Mayan album reminded to her a lot of the After Forever sound. I haven’t realized that until she said it and then I thought about it. Jack Driessen plays the keyboards, This would be kind of a risky he used to be an After Forever thing to do with a full orchestra band member and his playing because everything has to do style is obviously still the same. with the expenses and logistics. In addition, Joost collaborated But I hope we can do that in the with us and Floor Jansen parfuture, a tour project like that, ticipated in two songs of the that would be simply amazing. album. As you can already see, many After Forever people So, I guess, this is a plan of were involved in the new Mayours. yan album. (laughs) It would have been a strange thing for It’s not really a plan but if we this album not to sound like Afhave the chance we will defi- ter Forever. I must say that of nitely go for it and do it. course it sounds a little bit like the old After Forever style but There were 3 theater pre- it is still an extreme and more mieres for Retrospect. IThedeath at the same phonemetal rang album and wow! just wanted to ask you, time. I would say in a few words An amazing “dark” voice answered! were there any special rea- that it’s a wild version of After Derrick the tallest sons for you to do such aIt was Forever’s oldGreen, style. (laughs) singer of all times!! Sepultura, which thing? by the in Portuguese means Twoway Mayan release shows the in ultimate Brazilian It was exactly the same thing“grave”, took isplace late January as you sit and watch the DVDheavy 2014. Do you have furmetal band, formedany back in in your home. The only differ-1984 ther plans Maandtour Derrick Greenwith has been ence and the main reason weits member yan for since 2014?1997. Sepultura did that was because we want-have been described by the press ed to enjoy Retrospect with our For me, these two shows were as the band that attacks “organized fans, sitting next to them and the first ones for 2014 and it government” watching it all together. Wereligion wasand coolrepressive to be onstage again. (1993, Robert Baird, Phoenix New just wanted to enjoy this DVD Hopefully, we will be able to Times) but this time “The Mediator along with our fans. do some festivals during sumBetween Head and Hands mer; everything dependsMust on That was so nice of you.Be Epica’s schedule and I about guess The Heart” is an album Let’s talk a little bit abouthumanity, there won’t be much time to his do the human being and your other band called Ma-struggle shows Mayan. towith survive. yan. As it has been alreadyBorn in Cleveland, Ohio, Derrick is said you just released Ma- Mark you started Mayan the youngest of three children and yan’s second studio album because of your personal far from being just ancient another which will be called An-he’sfascination for the metal guy! He’s creative and loves tagonise. A lot of changes Mayan civilization.
diversity in music.
Burst www.afternoiz.com
26 Consign to Oblivion’s lyrics (which is Epica’s second studio album) had been inspired by the Mayan civilization as well. My question is, for how long have you been thinking of starting up a personal project like Mayan? I was always very happy in After Forever and Epica so I didn’t really feel the need to do something like that. But when I got in touch with Jack Driessen and we just did some music for fun it felt pretty cool to do music together and so we decided to do a special project and to call it Mayan. We were looking for names and because of my connection and interest for the Mayan civilization we came up with this particular name. Musically, Mayan is not a very different project from Epica. I mean, it’s not technical speed metal or black metal! (laughs) The symphonic elements, the soprano and melodic female vocals and the harsh male vocals are still there. I guess Mayan offer you some more freedom as a composer, right? As a rule of thumb, artists create side projects for this specific reason and you have stated that the philosophy of Mayan is to let things happen intuitively and be totally open-minded for each other’s ideas. Let me tell you that the music featured on the new Mayan album has nothing in common with the music to be featured on the new Epica album. I have different plans and ideas for Mayan and different ones for Epica. If this wasn’t clear to me, then it would not make sense to have Mayan. It would be totally pointless for me to create a similar band to Epica. Even though, like you just said, female operatic vocals being featured in Mayan as well but they are just in small parts. We focus more on the grunts and clean male vocals, which are being performed by Henning Basse. Plus, the writing process Burst www.afternoiz.com
27 for Mayan is completely different. In Epica, we write music in our home studios, each of us write personally and later on we come together and give to each other ideas about each other’s songs. On the other hand, in Mayan, we have been just 3 composers from the very beginning. Jack Driessen, Frank Schiphorst and me sat together and wrote the songs all together. As you can see there are some basic differences between those two bands of mine. That’s crystal clear now. Your first band, if I am not mistaken, was After Forever. You, Sander Gommans and Floor Jansen were the founders of the band. Sander participated in the songwriting process of the first Mayan album. Floor has shared the stage with Mayan and Epica so many times. Joost, who used to be After Forever’s keyboardist as well, is the producer of the new Mayan album and the upcoming
Epica album. It seems that you guys, all the former After Forever members, still work together in one way or another. That’s really nice. As some fans like to say, “after forever spirit lives on” even in this way. In this way you put it, it’s true. (laughs) Mark, I ask this question to every artist I have the chance to talk with: Music industry is facing a tremendous crisis, not only an economic one. Bands disband because they can’t even live from their music anymore, labels go bankrupt, whole tours are being cancelled and so on. What is your opinion on this issue? Do you think that better days will come sooner or later or you are more negative about this issue? I try to stay positive in my life anyway. What happens now is not only a bad thing. People
download a lot of stuff and in my opinion that’s very good for the bands. And things have not changed that much; we can still go on tours, we can still do what we like to do. The glorious days of the CD’s are gone and now people seem to prefer the mp3 files more. We make music in order to make it sort of art, we can still make a living by doing our thing. We don’t have to be rich, we just love what we do. The fact that people do not buy CD’s anymore is more a problem for the record companies. There is some certain damage because of that and of course I would like that to change but I think this cannot change anymore. I guess people won’t start buying CD’s again. That’s true; the majority of the listeners download music yet pay for it. For example, there are legal ways to download music from websites like Itunes or Spotify. Yes, that’s exactly what is happening now.
Let’s dig a little bit to you personally as an artist. Apart from a harsh vocalist, you are also a guitarist. Do you consider any famous guitarist as an idol, or is there any guitarist who has influenced you as a guitar player? When I was a little kid my idol was Slash and I never had any other idol ever since. When I got to know, Slash I understood that I wanted to start playing guitar. He was definitely my youth idol. You have also stated that you are really into classical composers like Chopin or film music composers like Hans Zimmer. Have you ever thought of writing an instrumental album or music for a movie, for example? In Epica’s shows, and especially in Retrospect show, you have played some really nice and interesting cover songs.
Burst www.afternoiz.com
28 Yes, I also like this kind of music and I actually work on an album which features more classical music. I have some things in my mind and I am actually working on some stuff. Maybe one day in the future I will make a classical opera. Jack Driessen from Mayan has had the exact same idea and we have talked about it, so maybe in the future we will do something like that as well. Ok, I strongly believe that the fans who will read this interview will jump with joy! (laughs) Most of Epica’s lyrics are being written by you as well. And those lyrics are not about butterflies and flowers let’s say! You seem to be a very thoughtful person, since through Epica’s lyrics you always express feelings and true beliefs. Most of them deal with society, religion, politics, wars and stuff like that. This is not very usual for a female fronted band that plays popular music and in my opinion this is the very special thing that makes Epica unique and different from all the other symphonic metal bands with female vocalists. I guess that one of the reasons that you started Epica was some kind of a need of yours to express your opinion about society and all these issues through music no matter what managers or labels say. We don’t work with managers, we decide ourselves to do what we want to do. We just follow our thoughts and hearts no matter what others say and that feels really good. If one day somebody would change that thing we would not like it anymore. As you pointed out, our lyrics make us different from other bands and the reason why we write this kind of lyrics is that we really want to make people think. We don’t want to put our listeners in any certain pattern of thinking but we want to write about something which will make people Burst www.afternoiz.com
to think about their own opinion on the issue. The only thing we want to do is to initiate them to think, to make them start thinking about topics that maybe they had never thought of. If we manage to do that then we have reached our goal. Let’s head back to music again. There will be a release party for the new Epica album in April 2014 in Tilburg. So during 2014 both bands, Epica and Mayan, will have their new albums released. How would you deal with the schedules? I guess both bands will tour extensively to promote the new stuff. We will try to book some shows for Mayan in festivals that Epica will play as well. In this way, we will play two different shows in one festival both with Mayan and Epica. That’s our plan because some of the band members are the same in both bands (me, Ariën van Weesenbeek and Rob Van Der Loo). Rob and Arien are not really writing music for Mayan. Rob actually wrote one song for the new Mayan album and this is a really cool track, I must say. But generally speaking, both guys are not composing any stuff for Mayan and that’s the main reason we try to keep the styles of both bands as different as possible so people won’t say “hey this sounds like Epica”. Epica will be really busy in 2014 and this makes it hard to find any room for tours and shows with Mayan. Whenever we have the time and the ability to do some shows with Mayan, we will definitely do it. And speaking of tour plans, it seems that your lives have started changing a little bit guys. The years passed by and Simone has just became a mother. Do you think that this fact will affect the band and especially your tour plans? In the way I think of it, this fact affects the band only in a positive way. Simone really wanted to become a mother and if she
wouldn’t have been able to have this baby, I guess she would have been really sad. This baby made all of us really happy and we will adapt our tour schedule to help out. The way I see it, this won’t be a problem; this is more like an opportunity. Of course, we are kind of limited in terms of our touring plans but it matters a lot to be happier in personal life. Practically, we try to do everything. In a band, the best thing you can do is being patient; for example when Simone was pregnant we gave her all the time she needed. If you put pressure in situations like this you will have the opposite effect. I think it works really well right now, we were able to work in our new album in the meantime and we don’t have to tour all the time, you know. It’s nice to have a lot of gigs now that the album is to be released. This is a tricky question but I will ask it anyway! (laughs) Floor joined Nightwish as a permanent singer. You and Floor are good friends and colleagues so I -and many other fans- was wondering whether there is any chance to see Epica and Nightwish together on tour! We are really positive about that. If there was any chance like that and Nightwish would want us to tour together we would definitely consider it and try to do our best in order to be on that tour. I think it would be a great combination, but it’s more on the hands of Nightwish because they are bigger name than we are and they decide which bands to take with them on their tours. If they ever want Epica on their tour they can give us a call and we will try to make it happen. Ok, this would be definitely an “once in a lifetime touring lineup” for the fans but you already know that! (laughs) Yes, yes, definitely! (laughs)
So, Mark once again thank you very much for this interview. I would like you to finish this interview with a promise to your fans. Well, as a person, I don’t look ahead too much so I have no clue what the future will bring. I never have any kind of expectations for the future because every time you think of something about the future it will eventually end up in a different way anyway. We are still around after so many years and I am really happy about it. I can’t be aware of what happens next; I just hope that we will still be around recording albums and having so many beloved fans. That would be great! (laughs) That sounds definitely like a promise to the fans, Mark! See you on the road soon! Thank you, and see you soon.
29
BURST is against animal cruelty.
“Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we have learned to live well with others.” -César Chávez-
www.argophotography.com Burst www.afternoiz.com
Tareq
30
by Cristina Alossi Photos by Borja Olivan
Good boy in a bad World... Born and raised in Thessaloniki, Greece, with roots in Arabia, the talented Tareq left his home and his band Techsoir to go to London and pursue his dream. He opened his heart and talked about his second album “Fish”, his work with Greek and foreign artists and his love about electronic music. What makes Tareq happy, how he welcomes Greek musicians in London and lot more... Enjoy!
Burst www.afternoiz.com
How does it feel having been born in Greece, living abroad and producing music for your native country and the rest of the world alike? In the past few years I lived in Athens, where I established my music career. It was something that came beautifully and unexpectedly at the same time. I left for London in early 2013 so that I could start promoting my work on an international basis, which is something that requires time. I started working on the album “Fish” in Athens and completed it in London. At the same time, I formed a new project, Cur, alongside the famous Vangelis from the famous Can U Relate?, which explores a more Underground house sound. The album “Fish” features various and interesting collaborations; could you tell us a few things about them? I usually work with friends, with people with whom I have shared things and I appreciate as artists. In this specific album, I was lucky enough to work with many distinguished ones. Prior to the album, , a duet with Marietta Fafouti, the single Cin Cin had been released, which was loved by many people. Right after and prior to the the release of the album, the single “Share Your Love” was out, which is a house pop duet with Ilia Darlin. It was released along with 9 remixes, created by some well known producers like Mikael Delta, Thodoris Triantafillou, ELIOT, V-Sag etc. I worked with my beloved Natasa Bofiliou on the song “Take Me Higher”; she is some kind of a lucky charm for me. Marina Satti and the fresh duet Esterina & RSN also take part. It also features compositions and lyrics by Evaggelatos Gerasimos and Karamouratidis Themis, ELIOT, Lacquer, Niadoka &
Charis Attonis, Quiet, Menela Siafaka and Nikos Legakis. The fact that all of them are my friends makes me particularly happy. Is there an artist with whom you would really like to work in the future? There are many Greek artists I would like to work with, although I’m honored to have already worked with all the ones I appreciate. One of my dreams is to be able to make an official remix for Goldfrapp; she’s on top of my list! Which are the first and the last albums you bought respectively? The first album I have ever bought was the maxi single of Ace of Base - All that she wants. I was 10 years old and it was my secret for many years. The last one was the Tales Of Us, by Goldfrapp. It has been my favorite band during these last few years and I’m collecting all of their albums. How and when Tareq composes his music? I always keep my equipment at home, so I can write any time. It usually all happens late at night until dawn, with headphones on. While I’m composing, I like to be able to be inside music and that nothing would cut me off. These days, I am on a break. I want to let my need to write grow, so I can start the next one and, of course, promote “Fish”. You have opened concerts for many great artists. How much do you think that living in London has helped on that aspect? Are you treated differently when people find out that you come from Greece? The truth is that in London my only live performance
31 was with Natasa Bofiliou last March in the historic Dingwalls, in Camden. It takes time to establish yourself. However, if you are good, many will be open to collaborations. Lately, they have been searching for ethnic sounds abroad. Would you ever attempt to work on something like that? In general, I am open to all musical fields, but, I don’t think that the ethnic sound would be something I could follow. That doesn’t mean I do not like that music. I like flirting with the eastern culture since I have Arab heritage. That could possibly show up in my music at a certain point. What lead you to the music you are working on today? Well, I was a fan for electro pop music from a very young age and later on a fan of the electro underground music scene; so, I tend to serve this sound. My studies were classical, however I soon realized I was annoyed by the genre in question, so then I got into production; at least now I held a computer and a midi keyboard in my hands. It took me time to get here but I am satisfied with my course. Misfits: You are in the middle of a storm; the electricity from the thunder falls directly on you and gives you a superpower. What would that be and what would you do with it? I would like to be able to fly like Superman. I’ve always been dreaming to see the world. If I had that power I could go anywhere with little expenses for transportation and no visa. Isn’t that enough?
Burst www.afternoiz.com
32
by Marianna Kofinaki
LEFT SETTER Hello, how are you? Thank you so much for this interview! Hello, everything is going well here in Chicago. It’s winter time so it’s super cold and snowy here! Thank you so much for this interview, we are blown away at how much you did your homework on us. First of all, could you introduce yourselves to our readers, by providing us a brief bio of the band? I know this is kinda hard for you, since you’ve been active for about 2 decades in the music scene; anyhow, would you give it a shot? Burst www.afternoiz.com
Left Setter is: Nick Langis-singer/songwriter, George Langisguitar/backup vox/songwriter/ producer/engineer, Jimmi Nolan-bass guitar /songwriter/ keys/ backup vox, Sean Keenehan- drums/percussion/songwriter/ backup vox. We have been together as Left Setter for about 14 years. Prior to LS Nick, Jim, and George played in a band called SPHINX 19881995. Nick, George, and enter Sean Keenehan formed the band SOMA 1996-1998, and finally formed LEFT SETTER in 1999 – present day. So “Left Setter” is the name…. How did you come up with it?
We were scheduled to play a showcase show as SOMA at CBGB’s in New York City in 1997 for the annual CMJ Music Festival that year. When we arrived in New York and went to the Lincoln Center to pick up our credentials for the CMJ Fest they told us the band SOMA had already picked up the badges and everything. Apparently there was a New York band called SOMA who thought it was them booked at CBGB’s for the CMJ Fest. Long story short we got ahold of the band and told them we were playing CBGB’s that night and they best not show up or it was going to get ugly!! We arrived at CBGB’s and there was no sign of the other band and
we ended up playing a pretty inspired set. After that when we got back home to Chicago we decided to change the band name to something more original. Nick and I struggled with the name change we loved the idea that the word SOMA in the Greek language means body and we were like one. LEFT SETTER came up by us looking for first, an original band name no one ever used before. Then we started putting word combinations together and thought well our ideas, views, approach is a bit left of center, so LEFT SETTER seemed to be quite fitting. Also, we liked the idea of having a two word name.
How could you describe
33
your music?
choose those themes?
beating.
Heavy Alternative Rock with a Heavy message
Irene or HPENE is a female name and also in the Greek language means “Peace”. It is just the perfect sentiment the duality of the word, especially for the times we were in. The Bush administration was one of the bloodiest, destructive, most humiliating times to be an American citizen. As artists we could not be silenced so we express ourselves through songs. We are still trying to comprehend the damage that was done to this generation and the generations to come. Loss of life, loss of control, loss of money, loss of hope for so many people. We are living in fear, humanity has taken a
You have opted for a DIY attitude and approach. Was this a conscious choice for you and why? Do you feel that you have absolutely no limits in terms of artistic expression that way? Do you think that this choice gives you more integrity in what you do?
Your latest release, “IRENE”, features –quoting from your website“socially conscious tracks, documenting the hope and confusion of life within a struggling society and its disassociation with interpersonal relationships”. It seems to me that those words perfectly describe the society we currently live in. Do those hard times provide you with inspiration when writing your music and lyrics and why? What made you
We have been a DIY outfit from the time we got out of my parents basement in 1989. After a couple of years of rehearsing at this big rehearsal complex, one night our rehearsal studio was broken into, all our equipment was stolen, we then moved into this 600sqft storefront on the
north side of Chicago and built our first jam spot/ recording facility. George had geared up with a ¼ inch 8 track recording set-up and we began writing and recording everything we had. SPHINX up until that time had released two short demo’s and had sold about 5,000 units off the band stand and out of a couple of local record stores, and had gotten some radio play on college radio and an Chicago’s only local metal station. We were offered a production contract from a local Warner Brothers Rep. that we ended up passing on. A little while later after a show at China Club we met producer/engineer Johnny K. ( Disturbed, Stained, Megadeth ) who had just started Burst www.afternoiz.com
34 Groovemaster Recording out of his house in the south side of Chicago. Johnny recorded and produced a six song EP for SPHINX at Groovemaster titled “Tribal Beauty”. “Tribal Beauty” was released locally circa 1991-1992. We were tired of shopping our music to all the big labels and hearing the same old thing rejection, rejection!! We weren’t enough of a hair band back then to get signed to a big label, we were more an alt rock band with a unique sound so rather than wait any more for a “break” we decided to find a way to record and release a full length record and get our music out, tour nationally and try to break out of Chicago. We then signed this deal with a local management company called Heart & Soul. They had in place some distribution, radio experience, and booking chops. Perfect for what we needed… We would be able to pay, record and produce our own record, license it over to H & S, have them release it, work it to radio, and have us tour as much as we can afford to. All in an effort for us to create a national buzz for ourselves through our own hard work. Well the SPHINX “TEST” album was released in the US in March 1994. We worked it to radio for about 12 weeks, played about 150 dates in 18 months. Within the first six months after its release in the US, a German Record Label called Megarock then licensed the album for European release, and then a record label out of Japan called Zero Records which was a Sony music affiliate licensed the album for all Asian territories. SPHINX “TEST” ended up peaking out #8 on CMJ’s Loud Music Radio Chart, charted on the Gavin Report, The Album Network, received national and International distribution and press, and had accomplished far more than we thought. Ever since then we learned how to work our band and record with this formula. We formed Signal Sound Source Recordings and have been putting out records ever since, applying the same principles as on SPHINX Burst www.afternoiz.com
“TEST”. I do feel you are able to create your own destiny and maintain integrity in what you are putting out there to people by having this DIY approach. But fair warning, this is not easy, it takes a toll on you both financially, and emotionally, but you do end up with more control across all aspects of your career. How does it feel being a DIY band in a huge country like the United States of America? Which are the opportunities you get in order to promote your music on a larger scale? What is the feedback you received so far? It feels like a little fish swimming in a big ocean. Nowadays with all the social media out there the opportunities and ability to connect with people from all over the world are amazing!! From a financial / expense perspective it’s also better now. Before the internet to get your music out to the masses just in a physical way by mailing everything used to cost a small fortune. We have spent a down payment on a house in FEDEX shipping alone not to mention phone calls, scanning and xerox copies, etc… Now those expenses are virtually totally gone. That’s a huge advantage for any group. So far we have had some great feedback and support. We live in the era of information, when a band can take advantage of the new technologies in order to promote their music more effectively. Do you think that this trend is good for you and why? Is it helpful for you to reach more fans on a worldwide basis or does it hinder you from doing specific things? Yes the trend is very good and helpful. With the internet bands now can promote themselves both visually and musically with very little money spent. It still takes human creativity and great ideas, that will never change. That being
said it is much easier and cost effective to reach a worldwide audience. During your 20-year-long presence in the music scene –congratulations btw on your 20-year anniversary!- you have formed a series of collaborations with several famous music artists. Could you name a few and let us know how those collaborations came up? Any best memories to share with us on that aspect? Thank you. Early on with SPHINX we got lucky and worked with some very young and talented producer/ engineers. Peter Mokran (R. Kelly, Christina Aguilera) recorded our first SPHINX demo’s which we released in 1989-90. Then after that Johnny K. produced and recorded SPHINX’s “Tribal Beauty” in 1991. One of the most memorable relationships was with this amazing band from Chicago called Material Issue. I used to work at this music store and met Jim Ellison the singer/guitarist/songwriter in Material Issue. I learned all about what to do and not to do from Jim. Advice on booking, promoting, working radio, touring. Material Issue was a huge influence on us. They were doing all this themselves in 1989 and landed a deal with Mercury/Polygram. I later recorded demos for MI on my 8track home studio and played guitar in a side project with Jim in 1995/1996 called AMX. At one point I started working around town as a freelance producer/engineer and met some great people. One of those people was Jeff Moleski. Jeff had a studio called Soundworks and was very instrumental in the recordings of The Smashing Pumpkins early years. I was working at Soundworks one day and Jeff asked me to assist him recording The Smashing Pumpkins summer of 1996. They had just released “Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” and where going to record a new record of covers
and B-sides to be released in time for the holidays. The CD ended being called “The Aeoroplane Flies High” and was a box set of different material. Not too long after that I took a loan out and put together a professional recording set-up that consisted of a 2” 24track analogue tape machine, a 32-channel mixing console and started Signal Sound Source Recording and Production. We moved into a 1,500 sq. ft. loft space on the west side of Chicago and built out our new studio. We did all the construction work ourselves framing, drywall, painting it was a serious project but it came out super rocking. At that time I was recording and producing as much as I could, working with tons of local and national acts. Our band SOMA at the time recorded and released an album titled “Stolen Moments of Bliss”. In late 1998 SOMA was invited to play a gig in Peoria, IL. opening for this band called Mudvayne. I met the guys and at the time they were looking for someone to record this batch of songs and shop for a record deal. In April of 1999 they came up to Chicago and we recorded 6-songs. We shopped the material and Mudvayne signed a deal with Epic records in the fall of 1999. Epic then pressed up 10,000 copies of 2-songs they selected off the demo’s and Mudvayne hit the road with Slipknot for about 3 months of dates before the release of their first album “LD50”. Well the rest is history. I was awarded my first gold album for LD50! Around that time is when we changed our name to Left Setter and started work on Left Setter’s debut record. We finally released LS 1 in 2002. We had gotten the Budweiser “True Music Live” deal so we had some money to work the album properly to radio, and to do some touring support as well. We played with Disturbed, Sevendust, Chevelle, Ratt, Queensryche, Puddle of Mudd, Alter Bridge, Gravity Kills, Fear Factory to name a few… Mudvayne at the time had the same management as the band Anthrax. Anthrax was putting together
35 a DVD that represented their history and a comeback tour with both of their singers Joey Belladonna and John Bush. Charlie Benante of Anthrax had moved to Chicago, and management needed someone to go over to Charlie’s house and interview him, so my assistant Asim Ali and I drove over to Charlie’s, introduced ourselves and we filmed this interview. That’s how we met Charlie. Forward a little now. When Charlie started writing for “Worship Music”, he asked Asim to run the protools rig he had at his home studio to work out his song ideas. Later when they got ready to record their album “Worship Music”, Charlie wanted to stay in Chicago and record and asked for us to find a studio that would accommodate him and the band. In the fall of 2008 we recorded the rhythm sessions for “Worship Music” at a studio in town called Studio Chicago. Speaking of your 20-year anniversary, are there any special surprises in stock for the fans? How do you plan to celebrate such a crucial moment in your career? For our 20 year anniversary we hosted a show/party at the Abbey Pub on Nov. 29th. We played a very unique set that included music from basically the last 20 yrs. It was a great
evening!! You’ve received great feedback for your energetic live shows back home. You even took home a Budweiser “True Music Live” sponsorship. Well done, guys! Can you shed some more light on how this came up? The Budweiser “True Music Live” sponsorship came about like this. Nick and I work in the liquor business and one of our beer reps knew we were in a band and told us we should submit our music for this “TML” promotion. We were selected as part of a 2 year national music promotion. We had a marketing team working for us pressing up t-shirts, stickers, access to a national database of other bands touring to book shows with and a pretty decent budget for tour support. We were also in Maxim magazines bands to look for edition, it was great while it lasted. It allowed us to release LS 1, work it to radio, place some print ads, and pay for travel/ lodging for about 100 dates on the road. Really helped us out, it was an ideal situation for any DIY outfit. Is there any chance we, your European fans, get to see you on stage as well? What about Greece in particular?
(Nick) One of my earliest rock fan curiosity moments was when my family arrived in Athens in 1979 and we stayed at our aunt’s flat. Our cousin Voula had her walls covered with Jim Morrison and Scorpions posters!! It was very cool. Traveling through Greece that summer the song “Holiday” from the Scorpions “Lovedrive” album echoed everywhere. I vacationed to Greece recently and I was lucky enough to checkout Greece’s music scene in 2013. My nephew Orestis is in this cool band called TERPSIS. They were part of “Schoolwave 2012”. I saw the DVD for the entire show and my jaw is still on the ground. The talent and vibe of some of those bands were incredible. These young Greek kids sounding like Clutch, Helmet, old Blues, old Metal, and the production of Soundwave is so pro! So good! I also was at this club called 7sins in Athens, it was an all-ages show and the kids were moshing, dancing having a good old time- good stuff!! Shout out to Axladokambos Greece, our village. As far as playing in Europe and Greece goes, we would be honored to come out and tour Europe and especially Greece!! What about any new album releases? Are there any such plans at the moment?
We are starting to work on new material now. We took a break the last few years after we recorded Left Setter’s third album “Irene”. We were honestly just fried out. You know this DIY approach can really wear on you!! We plan on getting some new material together and out soon. What is the next step for Left Setter? What else is there in stock for us? The next step is to take a deep breath and keep pushing forward. I would love to play and visit places we never have before!! We needed to re-charge our batteries a little and get inspired again. I hope we can translate that in our upcoming music, for us it’s about playing together, writing, recording, and having a good time doing so. We really do love the process so let’s see what happens!! Once again, you have our heartfelt thanks for this interview and we wish you all the best in every possible way! The last words are yours! Thanks for listening!! You can find more info, songs, etc. at www.facebook.com/leftsetter, www.soundcloud.com/leftsetter, www.facebook.com/signalsoundsource and also cd baby and iTunes.
Burst www.afternoiz.com
36
Burst www.afternoiz.com
by Marianna Kofinaki
KLONE
37 Although the French scene is currently thriving, we could say you were among its pioneers! How can you describe the band’s progress 14 years and 5 albums later? Yann: We remain focused on what we wanted to do without worrying about what people might think; with ups and downs like all bands, but still to serve our music. We just make music that we want to hear. We have worked a lot for many years and we believe in what we do. I think this is the typical story of a band that believes in their music and that is at the service of music. Guillaume: Yes, I agree with Yann; at first music is something really egoistic. We just make the sound that we want to hear! We don’t really care about what people think of it … If they like it, it’s cool, if not, we don’t care! We make the music we feel good and we don’t care about the trend. We’re really passionate about creating music and a special universe. You have developed your very own musical identity after all those years. Was it an easy process for you, which came natural, or was it hard for you as a band?
You were formed back in 1999 in Poitiers, France and you’ve been active in the European scene ever since. How did everything start? Could you introduce yourselves to our readers? Yann: Klone was formed in 1999. We have recorded 5 albums and one EP. We’ve played in more than 300 concerts in France and Europe and took part in 3 tours alongside King’s X, Gojira and Orphaned Land. We play a kind of psychedelic rock metal. Guillaume: At first, it was like a school band; we tried to learn how to play music together. It
took maybe 3 or 4 years to find the way we want to take in music, to find something personal. I think the best way to discover the band is to listen to the music on internet and to come to see us live. We come from the Rock and the Metal scene… bands like Pantera, A Perfect Circle, Porcupine Tree, Gojira, Alice in Chains etc. influence us a lot . How did you come up with the name ‘Klone’? Guillaume: We were young and stupid. It was the name of a Vision Of Disorder song , a Hardcore band from USA . We just changed the “C “into “ K” ^^
Yann: We’ve found our way working on it since a long time. Everything did not come overnight, but we know exactly how to approach the composition and so on. In our case, it came naturally. Guillaume: Yes, it’s that natural process … Let the music come to you, don’t ask yourselves too many questions when the first feeling is good. We have to be possessed by the music we play! Your music is so diverse, featuring a great variety of different musical styles and influences. Your own music aside, even the covers you choose are the ultimate proof of that. Which are the artists you truly ad-
mire the most? Which are your main sources of inspiration in terms of music and lyrics? Yann: We appreciate a lot of artists and bands, coming from different kinds of music (rock / pop / jazz / classic …) The list would be longer… We all love what is good! I think music is a place of taking risks. We do not want to do the same things twice, so we need to renew ourselves. I compose the lyrics after the music and it’s the music which guides me to choose the words. It’s some kind of a landscape for me, with a lot of relief and different colors. Finally, the lyrics have to support the music conversely, but it’s the heart of music that decides on the inspiration of lyrics. Your singer, Yann Ligner, has a very powerful and versatile voice. He can switch from one singing style to the other in a very unique way. I’d say he’s part of the signature sound of the band. Which other elements do you think that make Klone unique and why? Guillaume: Klone work a lot with the atmosphere around the music . The arrangements are really important because they change the mood of the songs. We use a lot of ambience guitars, plus saxophones, bizarre instruments and electronics. We like to have a lot of air in the songs; if a song doesn’t make you travel, it’s not a good song. Further to a brief research in your Facebook page, I read that with “The Eye of Needle”, Klone stands fully behind the now progressive side of their music. How do you define progressive? Yann: “The Eye of Needle” is an EP featuring 3 songs: “The Eye Of Needle Part 1” and “Part 2” and “Monster” -this song comes from recording sessions of “Black Days”-. We’ve recorded “TEON” in a jazz studio in Burst www.afternoiz.com
38 Paris and Quentin Fleury is the origin of this collaboration. We wanted to make something different at this moment, so we composed 2 more progressive songs, which was a new challenge for us. Guillaume: For me “progressive” means that the music takes the time to install a mood and it also becomes stronger and stronger. You don’t repeat the same thing without adding a new element. The best progressive band is King Crimson, the kings of progressive music and unique sounds! Can you tell us some more about your upcoming fifth album? What should the fans expect from you? Is there anything new in your sound on that aspect? Yann: We have some new songs but it’s just the beginning... It could be something more rock. It’s difficult to talk about that, because we still have a lot of work to do. We will start working seriously on our next album at the beginning of the next year. Some news will come soon! I was among the lucky ones to have seen you live in Athens alongside Orphaned Land, Matricide and The Mars Chronicles. I must say I was really impressed by your performance! You’re truly amazing on stage! Speaking of the tour in question, what is the feedback you received from fans so far? Yann: All the feedback we received is very good! We meet a lot of people during this tour, and it’s amazing to see their reactions. We saw some people in the crowd sing our lyrics! And for us it’s some kind of a Burst www.afternoiz.com
reward. In summer of 2011, you shared the prestigious Main Stage of the Hellfest with Down, Morbid Angel and In Flames. I bet it must have been some kind of turning point for the band. Can you tell us some more about this show and what it meant to you? Yann: In France, Hellfest is the festival not to be missed! We opened the festival on the main stage and it is something very important in the career of KLONE. The welcome was amazing and we met a lot of people during this festival. It will remain a great memory. If I’m not mistaken, you have signed with Seasons of Mist, alongside numerous great artists. Are you happy with this choice? Do you think you receive the support you need? Yann: For “The dreamer’s Hideaway” we are in self-production by Klonosphere; Season of Mist is our distributor. They make a good job; we have already sold all the CD’s of our last album. Which are your plans for the future? What else is there for the fans? Yann : We end the year with the European tour with Orphaned Land and we will work on the next album in early 2014. There are already some songs composed but there is still much work left. The last words are yours. What is your message to our readers? Thank you for supporting Klone! It was our first in Greece and for sure, we will come back soon!
NEED
Need have released an awesome brand new album, titled “Orvam a song for home”. BURST got in touch them and Jon Voyager (vocals) answered all of our questions. Read that loud! By Spiros Smyrnis
39 Give us a brief bio of Need for those who may not know the band! Need were formed almost 10 years ago. In 2006, we released our debut album “The wisdom machine” and in 2009 our second album “Siamese God”. In January 2014, we released our new album “Orvam:a song for home” via Trailblazer Records. The greatest moments in the band’s history so far include a 3 week European tour with Jon Oliva’s Pain in 2010 and our appearance in Sonisphere Festival in 2011, opening for Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Mastodon and more. The best is yet to come! Who are the men responsible for the making of “Orvam”? Production, mixing, mastering? We recorded “Orvam” in Devasound studios in Athens, which was engineered by Fotis Benardo. The production was mainly handled by us with a little help from Fotis. The mixing was done by Neil Kernon in Chicago and the mastering by Alan Douches in New York City. How was it working with men like Neil Kernon and Alan Douches? It was a very interesting experience to work with someone who has worked and recorded with the likes of Nevermore, Queensryche and so many more great artists we admire. He had a lot of wisdom to share and this reflects in the result you hear in “Orvam”. We had previously worked with Alan in “Siamese God” and –just like thenworking with him was a piece of cake. A great guy and a great team to work
with! Which are the stories behind the lyrics of “Orvam”? The main inspiration behind the lyrics of “Orvam” is this dark vibe we are all living in the last few years, which is the result of many things and behaviors, both our own and also our politicians’, hence the “song for home” in the album title. You could say the lyrics have a “social” vibe to them yet an esoteric one. In the end, there is a light at the end of the tunnel if we dig inside ourselves and find the truth there first. Personally, I hate the “progressive” label that some people put on your music and I want you to describe it, leaving this term aside. Well, both the good and the bad thing about the “progressive” label is that it includes so many different things and sounds, so given that, I don’t have that much of a problem with that. But, all in all, I would say that we are trying to combine our influences from different bands we all love, like Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Nevermore, Savatage, Tool, Deftones, Porcupine Tree, Rush and so on, and present our own vision of how we want our rock/metal music to sound. Which are the main differences between Orvam and your previous albums? For starters, I would have to say that the main difference is us. We have grown both as persons and as musicians/composers and this reflects in the final outcome, I think. I believe it’s the best material we have
composed so far. The way we worked was different as well. We jammed a lot, we spent quite some time in pre-production and we worked a lot on the layering aspect of the songs. There were some lineup changes in the band. Introduce us the new members and I’m gonna ask you if they are the right persons to do the job. After quite a few years playing with the previous line-up, we have now Victor Kouloubis on bass and Stelios Pashalis on drums and we’re more than happy with the new line-up. The guys are definitely up to it, love the material and have the urge and love for music that we need to take this thing one step ahead. More info about the amazing artwork! The person responsible for our artwork is our good friend Dimitris Tsoutsas, who was also responsible for the artwork in our debut album “The wisdom machine”. Basically, what we did is that we gave him the album with the lyrics to give it a listen, and this is what he came up with. We believe he did a great job. The look of the man on the album cover pretty much reflects the whole atmosphere of the album. You have signed with Trailblazer Records. How is your collaboration going? So far so good! It’s pretty early to say as the album is just being released but the guys love what they do and they believe a lot in the album so I think it’s gonna be a pretty good collaboration. You choose one “hot” Greek label instead of an unknown foreign one. How did you
reach this decision? When we finished the album, we decided that we would only try and knock the doors of a few “big” labels we had in mind. We had some contacts with them, unfortunately they weren’t interested so instead of contacting an unknown foreign label, we preferred to work with people we know and can contact anytime for anything that will come up. You have some very interesting appearances by Polyxeni Aklidi and Akyllas Karazisis in your new album. How did these come up? Both Polyxeni and Akyllas are friends of our guitar player Ravaya, who has worked with both of them in the theatre in several different occasions. Basically, it was his vision to have both these guys in the album for those very special parts. I believe they both did an excellent job. I’d like you to share the main idea behind the acting play of Hotel Oniro with us. “Hotel Oniro” is a one-act play Ravaya had written a few years back. When we were composing the material for “Orvam”, he felt that this could fit in the album, sort of like an interlude. Ravaya is also performing on this track together with Stefania Goulioti, a well-known actress in the theatre circle. Ravaya and Anthony, Need’s keyboardist, composed the music that accompanies the words and we were all stoked when we heard the final result. The last words are yours! Support good music, do what makes you happy and spread the love! Burst www.afternoiz.com
40
Burst www.afternoiz.com
41
Meet& Black soul horde GREET
This is a brand new column on BURST Magazine, dedicated to all the bands out there that may not be so popular, but they totally deserve our attention ‘cause their music will blow your mind and kick your ass! Simple as that! On this issue, we are gonna bang our heads in the rhythm of Greek True Metallers under the name of Black Soul Horde! Keep the faith, keep it real! By Spiros Smyrnis
Ladies and Gentlemen Black Soul Horde are: (bio and members) To make a long story short: John (guitars) came up with a bunch of killer epic/ heavy metal songs for his one-man studio project named Inside it Grows and while he was in search of a guest vocalist to sing ‘em, I came before him, asking him to compose some metal songs for me to sing. We did some pre-production sessions and, since the whole thing seemed to be working just fine, we decided to turn it into a full band. The rest of it is history! The members are: Jim Kotsis (vocals) / John Tsiakopoulos (guitars) / Costas Papaspyrou (guitars) / Stelios “Tragos” Dogas (bass). And having just parted ways with studio drummer Dimitris Zafiropoulos, we are in search for a new one. More updates on this matter will come soon! Date of Birth (of Black Soul Horde)? I’d say that the whole idea was born in late 2011. That was the time when we did the first pre-production studio sessions. Personal Heroes? As far as I’m concerned, I’d say Cliff Burton, Geezer Butler, Bruce Dickinson, Ronnie James Dio, Ian Lemmy Kilmister… well… the list can go on forever!
with a few nice names, asked me what my opinion was about them and with me having chosen 1 or 2 out of them, a few days later he announced to me that the name of the band would be “Black Soul Horde”. This wasn’t one of the names I liked in the first place, of course! He can be a pretty moody bastard sometimes! Hahaha!
with an epic mood, combined with fasterthan-hell guitar solos and enriched with melodic vocals and brutal growls, while embraced by dark, mythological lyrics.
The feedback of “Tales of Ancient Ones” release so far…
As it always was, the biggest obstacles are the lack of time, money and willpower. This goes not just for a newcomer band but for every single underground band out there!
Can’t complain! The feedback from both the local and the international press was very good and all the crowds we played till now seemed to be very enthusiastic about our music. We hope that we’re soon coming up with an even better release so that we won’t let all these beautiful people down! The men behind your debut album! Mixing , mastering, production, artwork John (guitars) did all the production and mixing, Stelios Efentakis that I’ve also worked with in the Mahakala album (my other band) mastered “Tales of the Ancient Ones” and the artwork was designed by the mighty Vance Kelly, who has worked with bands such as Down, The Sword and Huntress amongst others.
The name story?
You have 30 words to present us “Tales of Ancient Ones”. Use them wisely!
The name was John’s idea. He came up
Ultra heavy, traditional metal riff-ology
Which is the biggest obstacle in the way of a newcomer band in order to release a debut album?
The moment of Glory for Black Soul Horde so far! Our participation in Up The Hammers Festival, opening for the mighty almighty Angel Witch. Moment of glory indeed! On the road to hell! (Upcoming gigs and tour plans?) We’re currently working on an unplugged live show that will take place around April 2014, right after we find a new drummer; we’re definitely getting out there to hit some stages again! Which band would you like to play at your funeral? Well I know it’s not pretty Black Soul Horde-ish but I’ve been stating for years that the band that I’d like to play at my funeral is Megadeth.
Burst www.afternoiz.com
42
Meet& Phase reverse GREET
By Spiros Smyrnis
Photo by Eleni Josefina Doetsch
For the December issue of BURST Magazine I made an “It’s Not Greek to Me” tribute to the second official Phase Reverse album. Of course this is wasn’t enough for me so I contacted Chief (guitars) in order to learn a few more things. Read that loud and may Phase be with you!
What happened to the band, between your selftitled debut and “Phase 2” albums? We actually decided to change some things in the band, starting with our former singer and bass player who told us that he wasn’t able to follow the band’s schedule. It wasn’t easy but a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. We had to cancel a lot of gigs and started looking for the best possible guy or guys to do the job. So we came up with Takis on vocals and Kostas on bass.We immediately started working and had our first shows as a quartet. Which is better a powerquartet or a power trio? Pros and cons? The difference is mostly optical than aural. I mean that the actual instruments remain the same so there is no difference in what you hear. In terms of performance the truth is that four can do it better than three. Since every member of the band has only one thing to do he is able to give more things to the band. In a trio one has to play and sing so he has to be Burst www.afternoiz.com
a super talented multi tasking person to be able to make it! Let us know all the technical stuff about Phase 2 album? (Mixing , mastering, recordings) Feel free to write down anyone who’s involved in the album. Bittersweet taste! I like to play music, compose, arrange, record mix, master and get involved with every process of an album’s creation. It’s my job and I love it. When it comes to Phase Reverse it’s much more difficult ‘cause I have to do it all subjectively and to do it good too! Sometimes it’s easier to get the personality out of a band you produce, than do it in your own band! I just don’t like to eat fast food and this is my biggest problem with almost every metal production I’ve heard the last ten years or more! They all sound the same! No color, no personality, no nothing! The worst part is that musicians are used to it. We tried to get the best out of us and keep it this way until the end of the process without ‘’replacing’’ our sound with any fucking ready ‘’burger deluxe’’ sample sound just to sound like Metallica. Oops, I’ve
just described how some people produce music nowadays! Well fuck off and do another job! More info about the amazing cover! The cover was designed by Riaj Gragoth an amazing artist from the U.S. We gave him the title of the album and discussed a bit about the concept. There couldn’t be any other object to describe the album’s title than the Totem! He came up with some drawings and that was it! From what I’ve seen the feedback so far about Phase 2 is great? How do you feel about it? We are amazed! It’s not easy for us to realize if our album is good or bad. So far we’ve got excellent reviews and this is giving us strength to continue working. We definitely feel proud and lucky! I noticed that you evolved your sound without losing of course the Phase identity. More bluesy, more into heavy metal, while
the speed metal dynamite “Mindblow” is among album’s highlights. That’s the freedom you get when you are a quartet. You can play anything. We didn’t have this privilege on our previous album and this may occurred as a reaction! Higher tempos and more aggressive riffs are definitely the elements of this album.You know, an album is like a photo from a certain period of our lives. This one mostly describes the last year. The new album lasts 70 minutes. There is enough material for two albums in Phase 2. I bet this is a gift for your fans, for waiting so long. Am I right? Everything we do is for the fans. The truth is, it’s been a while but you know what they say, better late than never!Be sure that if we could fit more songs in the album we would! There are songs left outside for this reason. Songs that will probably be in our next one! The lyrics are very angry in most of the songs. What pisses you off nowadays?
43 Is music the cure to all of that, or what we need is to start a revolution? Τhe lyrics describe our everyday lives, our conversations about the problems of the society and everything you could actually hear being discussed by normal people in a normal home! What we live in 2013 as humanity, is the reason we are sad. Watching children growing in an environment where you know that they are Born to be dead in a Land of five and although there may be a Cornerstone among them, someone will try to teach them how to Kill in order to repent, or even to Fuck for a buck, hav-
ing no choice to ESCape from a system where the ‘’superiors’’ Divide and conquer, leaving you Alone and broken, At the gates of a civil war where you walk on a Tight rope wondering if Man created God resulting a Slaver from whom you manage to ESCape and you feel Free and deranged until you dig your hands into the ground trying to find your life Earthing and when you do… it’s a Mindblow!!!
could happen to us and we are very happy to be in their roster! I liked a lot the Speak Your Mind section on your official website? How did this come up?
You’ve recently signed Leaders Records. How is your co-operation?
It’s all about the communication we want to have with the people listening to our music! From the moment we produce and release our music it becomes their music and we want to know how they feel about it. Sometimes you get the best ideas out of people you’ve never met and they may even not be musicians!
We feel like home! The guys are the best thing that
How did the “Southern European Pentatonic Heavy
Metal” term come up? Chief: It’s the need to describe best what the fuck we are playing man! They call us Stoner band, Heavy Rockers, Hard Rockers, Heavy Metallers etc. You can even call us assholes but S.E.P.H.M. is what we call our music! You’re already on tour but let us know the rest of your tour plans Touring mostly, Greece and Europe. It’s too early to discuss about a new album but it is definitely on our mind. We just hope we are all IN good health and do what we love best!
Meet& Inside It Grows GREET
By Spiros Smyrnis Photo by Marios Alexopoulos
Inside It Grows is one of the most interesting one-man bands out there coming from Greece. “Blood” is the latest release of John Tsiakopoulos’ project so BURST Magazine found the mastermind of Inside It Grows who answered to all of our questions. Give us a brief bio about Inside It Grows IIG is my personal studio project under which I write all kinds of rock and metal music that pour through me as the years go by. The purpose is to explore all sides of life and express feelings that live inside me during specific periods of time and express them through music. That is the reason why there is no continuity between releases. Date of Birth (of Inside It Grows)? I believe it was back in 2005. Personal Heroes? David Gold, Quorthon, James Hetfield, Carl McCoy, Steven Wilson, Natasha Khan, Criss and Jon Oliva, Mark Reale, HansiKürsch and Kai Hansen to name a few. The name story?
Music comes from the heart and from the soul, from inside. Feelings, ideas and personal experiences grow inside and they eventually come out in the form of an album or sometimes just one song, hence, Inside It Grows. The feedback of your new album so far… It has been positive mainly. There are some that didn’t really like it and they told me so, which is something I appreciate very much since it shows they were actually interested in listening to it and express an opinion. That is what matters. Not if the opinion is negative. Also, since each release is of a different genre, no matter that they are all bound together by metal in general, it is simply natural that people will like different releases. For example someone who likes “Blood” will probably not like “Crawling in My Dreams”. Feedback is positive throughout the years however. I’m just happy that people Burst www.afternoiz.com
44 listen to my stuff! How difficult is to have a one-man band? Not very. The difficult part is to find people that you need for completing a release. People who will take on a task I am not good at, as for example, vocals. That can actually take months. Otherwise it is relatively easy. You set your own schedule, record, mix and decide that it’s ready. Less hassle. It is however a bit frustrating that I can’t perform my music live. Well, at least at the moment! Tell us everything we should know about “Blood” production, mixing mastering? The album was actually recorded somewhere in 2007 or 2008. After that I became occupied with full bands such as Thought Converter and then Speeblow and had no time to spend on Inside It Grows. I also had a writer’s block and couldn’t, at the time, come up with any lyrics. After it was possible again to spent time on IIG, I mixed the album and then wrote down some lyrics. Then I began looking for someone to sing on the album. Had a few tries but they didn’t really “stick” and this brings us in 2013 when I got in touch with Aris. We did a song, we both liked it and we went on in recording vocals. I did a fresh mix and sent it off for mastering. There you go. Poor thing was just sitting there for almost six years. I had to finish it. I can’t have things that are half finished. It’s always eating me alive! Which are the guests of “Blood” ? Aris “The Demon”, who is the singer of crust band Sarabante and an old friend, did the vocals and Jimmie D, who now plays in Word Is Bond and previously in Voidwalker, recorded the drums. The moment of Glory for Inside It Grows so far! Burst www.afternoiz.com
Moment of glory? I don’t know. They are mainly personal. I pour myself a drink when I finish an album and think that is good. I could also consider a moment of glory every time a fan sends me a message to tell me his or her opinion or that they liked my latest album. I suspect though, that what you’re asking me is what my favorite album is. It’s like asking a parent which is his favorite child. Well, I think Slave of Saints, Dark Lochs and Darker Plains and Blood did the best in school. They get a candy bar! You are also the owner of Traiblazer Records. The latest release of yours is Automaton EP. Anything new from your label? Yeap, I am indeed. We are now a whole crew, with an A&R guy and a PR guy and we all contribute into making it a stronger label than before. Automaton is the first release we did in a while and it is not going to be the last. We are planning of doing our best in putting out some great albums this year as well as organize a few good and selected shows! Oh! Don’t forget to check out the Unplugged Experiment we’ve put together, which is basically a series of acoustic shows from various rock and metal bands of the underground scene that will take place throughout the whole season. Is it possible to see Inside It Grows on stage sometimes? So far unfortunately no. It would be a very difficult task. I would need to find musicians who would have to learn all the material and be able to perform it live, I would need to get the guests to come in for rehearsals and that, rehearsals would be impossible. We would need to practice for over six months and almost every day to be able to go out there and present a decent show. That would require a lot of time and a lot of money. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot from either. There is however a possibility of go-
ing out and presenting just one album at the time. That would be easier. I’d love to play and Inside It Grows gig. Maybe if more people knew about IIG and wanted to see them live I could set up individual album presentations. That is a thought that comes and goes. Which band would you like to play at your funeral?
Wow. That’s a bit morbid. No worries though, I do morbid pretty good. I would really like it to be Woods Of Ypres. Problem is, David who was the heart and soul of WoY, is no longer with us, so that option is off the table. Maybe Crowbar could do it instead.
45
BURST is against animal cruelty.
“Know that the same spark of life that is within you, is within all of our animal friends, the desire to live is the same within all of us...� -Rai Aren, Secret of the Sands-
www.argophotography.com Burst www.afternoiz.com No animals were harmed in the making of this fur coat
46
MUSIC REVIEWS
Within Temptation
Hydra
Hydra. The mythical multi-headed beast. This is a great description of this album and of Within Temptation itself. As WT fans already know, the band has evolved through several style changes over the last 16 years. WT started out with a doom/death metal style in the late 1990s. They progressed to symphonic rock in 2000, eventually evolving into a more guitar-heavy band on their last album, The Unforgiving. Within Temptation continues to evolve in the current direction with Hydra, as this is easily their heaviest album to date. The album is full of heavy guitars, awesome guitar solos, and more rapid drum cadences than any of their previous works. Yet the signature symphonic elements that WT is known for are maintained. There are death metal growls on two of the songs that we have not heard from WT in 10 years. On at least two of the songs, Sharon’s voice heads back into the high soprano range that was prevalent on their early albums. WT seems to remind us of where they are going and where they have been, the multiple heads of the mythical beast that is Within Temptation. Hydra features ten songs in all, most of which are heavy with two or three being more ballad-like. WT has frequently had duets with other vocalists in the past, but they went all out with four duets on Hydra. Tarja Turunen, Howard Jones (exKillswitch Engage), David Pirner (Soul Asylum), and even Xzibit (a rap artist) all accompany Sharon on the album. The latter seems like an odd choice, but I have to admit it works with the song. Hydra is a diverse album. Hydra is an awesome album, the next step in Within Temptation’s evolution that is sure to please their older fans, and bring them new ones as well! Joe Prostredny
Burst www.afternoiz.com
Photo by Paul Harries
47 sound quite inspiring and bombastic. Last but not least, Joost Van Den Broek has been proven to be the right guy for its production. This is definitely not a commercial album. Korina P.
Mayan
Antagonise It has been often said that the first studio albums of a new band is not always as representative of their potential and overall sound. This applies in the case of Mark Jansen’s band, Mayan. To be honest, Mayan’s first studio album (Quarterpast) really disappointed me. Now, in 2014, they strike back with their sophomore studio album titled Antagonise, which, I must confess, actually takes them to a much higher level. Mark Jansen recently stated on Burst that he aims to make people think about various things that maybe they have never thought of before through his music and mainly with his lyrics. This time, the lyrics are about the so-called world war against terrorism and its consequences to our everyday lives. Songs such as Burn Your Witches feature some certain elements, which are reminiscent of Mark’s good old days with After Forever, especially in the case of music themes and keyboard melodies. Apart from Mark’s growling vocals (who -let’s face it- is not the best growler in the world) Henning Basse gives some pretty aggressive and passionate vocal performances (Lone Wolf). The female vocals could not be missing, as Laura Macri adds some extra points to the whole album with her angelic soprano vocals here and there (Capital Punishment, Insano), along with Marcela Bovio and Floor Jansen (Redemption – The Democracy Illusion) who literally nails it! Antagonise’s closing track (Faceless Spies - National Security) features a superb violin solo by the Greek virtuoso violinist Dimitris Katsoulis. Overall, the keyboard melodies and the drum -parts of the album
all of your Kreator/Destruction influences and spit them to the maniacal audience. The new guitarist (ex-Exarsis) did a very good job, since the whole album sounds so solid. Brace yourselves ‘cause you are about to live another thrash metal holocaust. I know it’s cliché but it’s also real, so who cares…Suicidal Angels are about to smash many places around the world so don’t miss your chance to be there. Beers Up! Spiros Smyrnis
Suicidal Angels
Divide and Conquer There are times when you are so fucking angry. You do not know who to judge but you are deep in all the shit you’ve been to during the last few days. To me, this is the best time for listening to a thrash metal album, one that perfectly suits your mood. When you are about to listen to the fifth official album of the Greek thrash metal pioneers, Suicidal Angels, then it’s quite certain that you’re going to have a hell of a time. Suicidal Angels decided to celebrate their tenth anniversary on discography -their first EP under the name Bloodthirsty Humanity was released in 2004- with a brand new album, which I am sure that will establish the band’s name among the leaders of thrash metal. Furious and angry, the thrashing attack by Suicidal Angels begins with two true dynamites, “Marching Over Blood” and “Seed of Evil”. The Great Fredrik Nordstrom (mixing and mastering) puts his name on a thrash metal album after fifteen years and this time it’s totally worth it! The production of “Divide and Conquer” took place at Zero Gravity studio and it is flawless given the old school thrash metal feeling; that’s more than enough, especially for me. “Divide and Conquer” is not going to change the trash metal history; anyhow, that’s not the point. The point *is* to have some true thrash metal sing-along hymns like “Lost Dignity” and “Pit of Snakes”. The point is to absorb
Indica Shine
Indica is an all-girl quintet, best known for their collaboration with Nightwish’s mastermind Tuomas Holopainen. They were lucky enough to receive some attention from Sony BMG, Finland, let alone get signed by this huge music label. In my opinion, they have definitely taken advantage of the chance they have been given. Shine is Indica’s sixth studio album, so this is actually the second time they took the chance to write and perform lyrics in the English language -they were previously into writing lyrics in Finnish only. I suppose this clearly shows their desire to open up in wider crowds. Although the album opens in a rather down-tempo way, with two tracks featuring rather nice and catchy orchestrations and themes, they lose many points because of the floppy and without nerve vocal performances. A Definite Maybe and Goodbye To Berlin come right after and certainly cheer the listener up. Run, Run and Here And Now will certainly fill the listener with positive energy coming straight from the Scandinavian mountains. MissBurst www.afternoiz.com
48 ing could easily become a smash radio hit if only it would have featured different vocals. Hush Now Baby is a dreamy and gloomy track, featuring a rather simple yet beautiful melody. The beauty keeps on spreading with Behind The Walls and then A Kid In The Playground, the most interesting song of the album follows, which actually reminds of different times. Shine’s closer track, War Child, leaves the listener with a nostalgic feeling. The title of the album, Shine, describes how this album will make the listener feel like in an excellent way; it brings out a very positive feeling and it will definitely brighten up your day. Some of the songs are quite typical and predictable but I guess this is not a sin for an easy-listening pop rock album. Korina P.
James LaBrie I will not Break
Being the singer of the best contemporary progressive metal band is a huge accomplishment, yet it involves so many responsibilities. True to this cause, James LaBrie, the singer of Dream Theater, has released his first EP, “I will not Break”. The EP kicks off with “I Will Not Break”, which is a decent progressive metal track, standing out thanks to its excellent production. “Unraveling”, is a decent melodic song based on familiar sounds. “Why” features quite an aggressive structure, a melodic chorus and some death metal elements, -the latter thanks to Matt Guillory’s contribution. “Coming Home” [alternate mix] is a mediocre ballad in terms of composition and lyrics alike. As for “Jekyll or Hyde” and “Just Watch Me”, they’re more or less similar to the tracks that follow. “I tried”, “Over the Edge” and “Euphoric” feature an electronic sound, which is something unpredictable for an artist in the likes of James LaBrie; “I tried” has a nice beat that makes you wanna dance. “Over the Edge” is Burst www.afternoiz.com
actually a dub-step song, which becomes too monotonous from a point on. As for “Euphoric” it’s based on an intense combination of metal with electronic music. So, if you don’t like sticking “labels” to your fave music, it’s undoubtedly your cup of tea. George Davleris
Tad Morose Revenant
The comeback of the Swedish progressive/power metallers Tad Morose took…a tad long. More than ten years have passed since the release of their sixth album “Modus Vivendi” back in 2003. As for now, the band, after having gone through some significant lineup changes, is finally back with “Revenant”, a brand new album via Despotz Records. Apparently, the first thing that comes to mind is that that the title sounds somehow prophetic, since it’s like the band has risen from the dead after such a considerable amount of time. Before pressing the “play” button, I couldn’t help but wonder: What has changed and what remained the same? First of all, the first noticeable change relates to one of the most signature elements of the band’s identity. Former vocalist Urban Breed, following his opting out of the band in 2005, was replaced by Ronny Hemlin (ex-Steel Attack). The founding member and guitarist Christer “Krunt” Anderson and the drummer Peter Moren are the only two longterm remaining members, with guitarist Kenneth Jonsson and bassist Tommi Karppanen being more recent additions to the current lineup. The keywords here –to quote one of the songs and undisputable album highlight for me - are “Absence of Light”: Darkness remains, although, this time, it is expressed in a somehow different form: Hemlin’s vocals evidently include a different vocal range, with a heavier yet less atmospheric vocal style and mood in comparison to his predecessor. One of
the most remarkable assets of the album is the diverse, crisp, heavy riffing with a generous dash of doom elements, interesting guitar solos along with a solid, well-structured drum/bass section and choruses that climax along with the tempo and ultimately get stuck in your head, mainly thanks to the lament-like, introverted lyrics, mostly focused on the struggle and the will to live despite the hardships of life. Although the heavy, opening track “Beneath a Veil of Crying Souls” is strongly reminiscent of the Tad Morose of old and I bet it’s gonna be appreciated by the diehard “old-school” Tad Morose fans, the album also features a few symphonic elements, chanting backing vocals (e.g. “Babylon”, “Follow”, “Millenium Lie”) and an overall different tone from the band’s previous releases. Last but not least, the production is undoubtedly the best ever done for the band so far, especially in the way the guitar sounds. Marianna Kofinaki
A F O Y R DIA AN! MADF urite
Pick
favo your
it to mail
e
re
burs
onth
e and
tim te no
Was
bject:
U
s su se thi
I
hed!
blis w pu
vie
is re
ill ge
n
ky fa
luc one
ee h t to s
w
om
ine.c
gaz t-ma
ym Ever
.
dress
g ad owin l l o f e
th
us to
info@
d
ds an
wor n 600
t it i
abou
ion r opin
you
rite
se, w
elea cent r
g!!!
ittin
wr start
!
dFan
Ma am a
49
HIT&RUN
OT It’sN all Greek to me
by Spiros Smyrnis
by Spiros Smyrnis
Incognita Sperans Incognita Sperans
King Fear Frostbite
Long long time ago I read an interview by Otep Shamaya. The mastermind of Otep spoke among others about the revolutionary meaning of punk, hard rock and metal genres and bands’ duty to speak out their minds against governments, capitalism and mass media.. However it is very hard to be devoted in such cause that’s the reason why I admire bands like Incognita Sperans and their way of seeing music. They see music as a “weapon” as a movement to change things and make our lives better. By better I don’t mean easier or more comfortable I do mean instead closer to ultimate freedom, which is to me the right for everyone to breathe free, wherever he is, wherever he lays his head to sleep. Incognita Sperans is a post-rock / post-metal band with female vocals from Athens, Greece, formed back in 2005. Their political ideology is lining with the anarchic movement, thing that makes their music belong to be anarcho-D.I.Y. standards. This is a brief bio as it was published on last fm only to have a hint on Incognita’s music. On December 2013 they released their debut full length album, adjusted to their beliefs and nowadays social reality. I think that their words would clear some things out: Criticism, self-examination, causes, these are our provisions. Versus us is the common world to us all, a world full of leaders, presidents, specialists, artists, professionals and has even more in comparisons to citizens, members, amateurs and ignorant. Till our actions and ideas do not change all these, we just feed our self-mutilation. There is no note that speaks for its self, all they have to be explained from the start and walk the road we choose. That’s what we call action… Incognita Sperans is a different and very interesting case. Leaving aside their political ideology their post rock is wonderful and draws perfectly everything the band wants to share. Their work is so elaborate and finest. Artwork, lyrics, music everything is adjusted to their cause. Images in black and white, shadows, fading lights, repeating down tempo riffs, haunting stories… Each and every time I put the cd on I feel so touched because I know that something grows here. “Incognita Sperans” is not a usual album, a radio-friendly one but a difficult one. It is “difficult” because it requires your attention. You have to read very carefully the lyrics and the ideas of Incognita to understand their point of view. Few minutes ago the album ended. However I still remember the amazing post rock version of the Kleitos Kyrou poem: «Προσταγή», the eerily female vocals, the distorted melodies the poetic lyrics. Incognita Sperans do not have a facebook page but you can contact them on incognita.sperans@gmail.com. If you are lucky you could get one of the few remaining copies of the album, which is given by the band without asking for money hand in hand. I’m walking by the ghost parade, their empty eyes I feel with hate but I won’t stray, I won’t stray from here.
Barishi Barishi
Switchblade
Heavy Weapons
Nebulous Nebulous
John Jeff Touch Warnings
If you are looking for some trivia on King Fear, then you should know that the former Dark Funeral singer is a member of them. So, in that way, you may get a hint on their music. You guessed that right. Straightforward black metal. Nothing less, nothing more. With one foot on early Darkthrone and the other on Satyricon, I like their black n roll side, while “Conquering the Useless” is definitely the album’s highlight. Fans of Norwegian sound may appreciate “Frostbite” I won’t lie. The first thing that draws my attention at Barishi’s self-titled debut was the amazing front-cover. Coming from the proud land of New England Barishi, they present themselves as a progressive metal band. You better not compare them to Dream Theater and Fates Warning, since they are closer to bands like Protest the Hero and Between the Buried and Me. They aren’t afraid to use saxophone and electronic samples in order to experiment on their sound and the result is above average. If you think that the only Israelis playing heavy metal are Orphaned Land, you better think again! Switchblade just released their debut album for which I don’t have much to say. Heavy Metal! Simple as that! Songs like “Metalista” and “Heavy Weapons” spread their word loud and clear. Accept riffs and vocals that remind the Samson days of Dickinson mixed with passion and love for the gods of heavy metal! Switchblade won’t rock your music world but they’ll definitely bang your head! Coming from Portugal, Nebulous released their self-titled and self-funded debut album some time ago. I found their music very interesting and I have to say that they deserve your attention. The Moonspell influences are pretty obvious but not in a bad replica way! The result of “Nebulous” sounds solid, modern and inspired, while “Nausea” and “Dharma” are my personal highlights of the album. Modern metal to the fucking point with ambient elements Nebulous create a dark music universe you wanna walk straight in. John Jeff Touch is a solo artist, singer, writer and producer, who released his third official album titled Warnings via WebArt. The album sound is based on rock and features some interesting melodies; as for John Jeff Touch’s voice, it’s surely the album’s highlight. I think that “Global Arena” and “Monsterplan” were the strongest moments of the record, mostly due to the cutting riffs and beautiful choruses. If I had to change something that would be the pop direction in terms of production, because I think that it doesn’t fit in the dark concept of “Warnings”. Burst www.afternoiz.com
50
Director’s Cut
tim Burton Dark, gothic, macabre... By Eleni & Elektra Lampraki Photo Š Leah Gallo
Burst www.afternoiz.com
2 L -VO
51 In the previous issue of Burst Magazine, we started a tribute to a favorite child of film, the director who embraces the weird and loves the different. Just a short while after the millennium, back in 2001, we see Tim Burton strike back with the “Planet of the Apes”. Burton accepts a project which remains stuck in pre-production for more than a decade and shoots a new science fiction film based on the original novel of Pierre Boule, yet not so close to the famous film series of the 1970s. Set in the near future, Mark Wahlberg plays Leo Davidson, a United States Air Force Astronaut, who accidentally breaks into another world dimension and is captured in an alternate world, governed by apes while humans face slavery. Burton said later that he wasn’t interested in creating a remake or a sequel to the original film, but he wanted to give a different perspective of the ape world instead. Humans become the rebels for the end of their slavery, chimpanzees are either sinister or humanitarians (like Ari), and the whole known world switches sides, reversing the roles of mankind and animal. Despite the best intentions, the complicated storyline and the non-explanatory ending (the Earth is ruled by Apes as well) contributed to the film’s mediocre commercial success. To this day, Burton will not return to such a kind of science fiction filmography. However, in that very film he meets Helena Bonham Carter for the first time, who -except for his domestic partner- she is to become a standard actress starring in his next movies. In 2003, away from skulls and dark forests, Burton directs “Big Fish”, probably his most luminous film. A story much different of his typical ones, “Big Fish” becomes a very sweet movie about the acceptance of both fantasy and reality, about the strained relationship between father and son, and -of course- the power of love. In other words, the film tells a story, where reality and fairytale are just an inch away. Albert
Finney and Ewan McGregor portray the grand storyteller Edward Bloom – in an older and a younger age respectively –, whose life’s story annoys his son – played by Billy Crudup. But what matters the most is the acceptance and the reconciliation, not the truth or the stories themselves. Coincidentally, the film was some kind of redemption to both Burton and screenwriter John August, due to the difficult relationships and misunderstandings they had been facing with their own fathers. Tim Burton’s father passed away in 2000, so the director stated that although impossible, he tried to find his resolution in this film. Two years after, he is back with a double strike, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride”. The “Corpse Bride” is the third stop-motion-animated film after “The Nightmare before Christmas” and “James and the Giant Peach”. A gloomy and macabre film at the first reading, where the shy and clumsy protagonist Victor Van Dort accidentally awakens the spirit of the Corpse Bride, a girl who had been murdered just before her marriage, but, alas, Victor is in love with his completely alive fiancée Victoria. In Burton’s unique, magic way, behind the darkness and the deathly atmosphere, the movie turns out to be a great story of self-sacrifice and limitless love. A special-ticket journey to the world of the dead, now with two Burton classic actors Depp and Bonham – Carter -she also appeared in the double role of Jenny and The Witch-, giving their voices to Victor and Emily and composing a classic dark, Goth and very Burston-ish animated fairytale. On the other hand, we have “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, a cinematic adaptation from the fully respected novel under the same name penned by Roald Dahl, a film which chocolate lovers would adore. Once again, Johnny Depp is involved in the project as the protagonist, the biBurst www.afternoiz.com
52 zarre and eccentric chocolate maker Willy Wonka, while Freddie Highmore plays the young, poor and non-spoiled/ competitive/ arrogant or glutton Charlie Bucket. A colorful and weird fairy-tale in nature, where bad habits or behaviors are oddly punished, while family life seems to be the greatest gift. The feeling is that Burton enjoyed making that film; he has put inside all his mastery and artistic insight, yet remaining loyal to the original book. For sure one of my favorites, with the other classic figure in Burton films of Deep Roy (Planet of the Apes, Big Fish, Corpse Bride) making the Oompa-Loompas a signature for the film. In 2007, Tim Burton chooses to film the famous Broadway and West End musical and the classic Victorian tale, “Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”, telling the story of the deadly barber of London. Johnny Depp portrays Sweeny Todd/ Benjamin Barker and sows panic with his blade. This time, one bloody musical and a very dark story hit the big screen, without the element of redemption or the macabre, but with the usual joyful Burton feeling. It’s the story of a serial killer, a story of revenge, of tragic ironies and human meat pies. Burton recalled his experience of seeing the show, saying, “I was still a student, I didn’t know if I would be making movies or working in a restaurant, I had no idea what I would be doing. I just wandered into the theatre and it just blew me away because I’d never really seen anything that had the mixture of all those elements. I actually went three nights in a row because I loved it so much”. Although the actors are not professional singers, and Burton is not a musical director, the musical part of the film was high level. The longtime familiars of the director, Depp and Bonham- Carter are the protagonist duo, with -once again- an extreme makeover in Depp’s appearance, who definitely makes Sweeney Todd his own. Dark eyes, a streak Burst www.afternoiz.com
of white hair inside greedy, wet and dirty old London -the colors play a significant part in the atmosphere of the film-. “Sweeny Todd” was a commercial success; as for the critics, it is considered one of the best Burton films and one of the best of 2007! Three years after the bloody “Sweeny Todd,” the beloved director takes the reins of a very special project. With his magical arrangements, he creates his own dark version of “Alice in Wonderland”. With Alice, now 19 and not 9, we explore a new Wonderland -or Underland?who is in plight due to the Red Queen. With the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and the White Queen as allies, Alice embarks on new adventures in a very well shot and yet special version of the classic fairy tale, in a family edition. Unfortunately, the film lacks the transportation of the real darkness of the fairytale on screen. Burton has his own sensitive dark shadows; however, the Wonderland and the Burton-land didn’t come in terms. Most characters have a special appearance or trademark, like Helena Bonham Carter’s digitally increased head for the role of the Red Queen or Johnny Depp’s orange hair (an allusion to the mercury poisoning, hatters suffered), while Anne Hathaway plays the pacifist, peaceful yet eccentric White Queen. Mia Wasikowska, in her first major role, gives a well-formed portray of Alice, who struggles between the expectations of Victorian society and what she really wants to do with her life. Tim Burton has said for “Alice”, that “the goal is to try to make it an engaging movie where you get some of the psychology and kind of bring a freshness, but also keep the classic nature of Alice.” Burton uses his familiar cast, and a visual paradise, but the result is less than expected for Burton and Alice fans alike. Back in 2012, Burton chooses to bring a legendary television series to the big screen, no other than the TV hit of the mid 1960s “Dark Shadows”. Faith-
ful to the clichés of the modern commercial cinema, he once again chooses his favorite actor Johnny Depp to portray Barnabas Collins, -what else?- a vampire. Awakened after many years; he has to face the ‘60s era as well as his own offspring. Probably not his best movie, but still a funny and enjoyable one, due to a unique thin irony and a caustic sense of humor. Every family has its own shadows, and “Dark Shadows”, is probably a shadowy film to Burton’s career. It failed to win critics and audience, thus receiving mediocre acceptance. The storyline struggles between comedy, drama, horror and soap opera, confusing the audience, whilst the Burton – Depp collaboration, has started to write off. Michelle Pfeifer, Eva Green and a proper supporting cast (with Alice Cooper playing himself) had their best interests but the result wasn’t worthy of Mr. Tim’s previous directing career. Only a year after “Dark Shadows” we have “Frankenweenie”, the last movie of Tim Burton yet. It’s a different version of Frankenstein’s story, with the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, to be a young boy who tries to bring back to life his beloved dog Sparky; a very sweet, kind and sensitive movie, with Burton returning to animation after an 8-year absence. For the record, it’s the second attempt of this plot-line; Burton had previously directed “Frankenweenie” as a short film, back in 1984. “Beetlejuice” actresses Winona Ryder and Catherine O’ Hara lend their voices to the female protagonist roles of Elsa Van Helsing and Susan Frankenstein, while two more of Burton’s fellows appear in the film, Martin Short and Martin Landau (“Mars Attacks!”, “Ed Wood” and “Sleepy Hollow”). It seems like our favorite child of Gothic cinema and strange folktales found himself again; darkness of the classical Frankenstein kind and a sweet and strange protagonist (like Edward or Charlie), who just wants his best friend back, create the perfect combination.
Tim Burton’s cinematography couldn’t be described in a single article. We chose to present it in two parts, excluding short films like “9” or video clips like “Bones”. His style, his unique way, his fascination with the strange, the dark and the spooky has made him a favorable one. From weird characters like Beetlejuice and Jack Skellington to classic fairytales of “Alice in Wonderland” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factoty”, Burton has created his own, magical, Gothic world, where everyone is welcome. At least anyone who has a kind affection to skeletons, zombies, vampires and scary things.
53
Η μουσική είναι θέμα... ροκιάς, γούστου, ιδεολογίας, τρόπου ζωής, διασκέδασης, κατάστασης, περίστασης, ακουσµάτων, ψαξίµατος, παρέας, επιρροών, επιλογών, ιστορίας, πολιτισµού, κουλτούρας, ιδιοσυγκρασίας, χαρακτήρα, ταπεραµέντου, ηχοσυστήµατος, συστήµατος, ώρας, στιγµής, λεπτού, τόνωσης, εκτόνωσης, θεραπείας, φιγούρας, φαγούρας, πόρωσης, ευαισθησίας, διάθεσης, ηλικίας, κλιµακτηρίου, εποχής, ταχύτητας, χωροχρόνου, ειδώλων, µίµησης, αποµίµησης, µύησης, σύνδεσης στο internet και τόσων πολλών άλλων πραγμάτων.
Για εμάς όμως η μουσική είναι και κάτι παραπάνω... ΤΡΟΠΟΣ ΕΚΦΡΑΣΗΣ! Burst www.afternoiz.com
54
American Hustle (2013)
By Spiros Smyrnis
Photo by Francois Duhamel - © 2013 Annapurna Productions LLC All Rights Reserved.
You know, I really enjoy the Oscar period. It is the time of the year when most people ask me ‘did you see this?’ ‘Is that one really so good?’ ‘Which is the movie of the year?’ so there is no better period to visit a cinema next to you and watch one of the so-called movies of the year! If you ask me which is this one film I enjoyed the most among the Oscar nominated ones, The Wolf of Wall Street will be my answer. If I were in charge of the Oscar voting committee, then American Hustle would be my choice for best film. Let me justify my opinion. Martin Scorsese has made at least seven films better than the Wolf of Wall Street. Steve McQueen’s first film ‘Hunger’ is much better than Twelve Years A Slave (the other Oscar front runner) while American Hustle is by far the best movie helmed by David O’Russell (who has been also nominated for “The Fighter” and “Silver Linings Playbook”). I know they’re apples and oranges but, trust me, O’Russell did a hell of a job and took the best out of all his actors, that’s why they are all nominated (Christian Bale for Actor in the Leading Role, Bradley Cooper for Supporting Role, Amy Adams for Actress in the Leading Role, Jennifer Lawrence for Supporting Role), while O’Russell himself being nominated for Best Directing, Original Screenplay (with Eric Warren Singer)and Best Picture at the same. American Hustle tells the story Burst www.afternoiz.com
of a brilliant conman, Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), who, along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), is forced to work for the wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that’s dangerous yet equally enchanting. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving’s unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down (to quote Sony Pictures Entertainment plot). O’Russell draws a hilarious portrait of the American 70’s with amazing costumes, loving sons and excellent actors. He didn’t lose the rhythm of the film at any point and he led them like he was directing choreography! I can’t help but notice he is in love with his actors, but not in a cheap way which sex, money fame and glamour could lead the picture. He really loves ‘em, that’s why Christian Bale shows his talent again, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence prove that Silver Lining Playbook wasn’t just a “firework” and Amy Adams impersonates the sexiest character on film since Jessica Rabbit! Louis C.K and Robert De Niro add their touch in a movie you can’t miss cause “Everyone Hustles to Survive”
Nymphomaniac: Volume I (2013)
By Spiros Smyrnis
Photo by Photo credit: Mary Cybulski - © 2013 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Well, well. How should someone start a review on the new Lars Von Trier movie, especially when the new movie of the Danish Provocateur is the first part of Nymphomaniac?! Personally, this was the movie I most was looking forward to seeing in 2014! Thank god -or maybe Antichrist-, Lars Von Trier treated me right again, proving he is the most interesting director of his age. As a director, Trier is a classic love or hate case. Honestly, I cannot see what haters see on Trier; I simply can’t! After each and every movie of Trier I proudly scream to his sworn enemies that I am a hardcore fan of his! Anyhow, let’s focus on Nymphomaniac. A self-diagnosed nymphomaniac recounts her erotic experiences to the man who saved her after a beating. These were the two lines available as Nymphomaniac’s plot since a long time ago. There were also some amazing teasers and some extreme, intense, beautiful photo frames. Charlotte Gainsbourg is Joe, a Nymphomaniac, as she is to confess to Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård), the man who saved her and offered her a bed and a cup of tea at his house. Even from the beginning of the film, I felt mesmerized by Trier’s lens. The use of Fuhre Mich by Rammstein was spot-o, with the industrial rhythm immersing you into Trier’s
bleak universe. The story of Nymphomaniac is divided in chapters. In film volume 1, we see the first five chapters of Joe’s life, from the age of 2 till her early twenties. Stacy Martin portrays Joe at a young age, by giving an excellent performance despite the “difficult” scenes she is into. As for Skasgard and Gainsbourg, they make a unique duet. Once again, Trier dives into women’s psychology and sexuality by provoking the viewer. I am pretty sure that after Nymphomaniac the accusations of the director being a misogynist and a sexist would be multiplied, especially in the ‘mea vulva, mea maxima vulva’ part! Just like always, Trier also points a finger to religion and morality, by bringing up questions that seek answers for hundreds of years now. Amazing photography, probably one of the best I’ve seen in years, while the scene where Joe is lubricated in front of her father’s death is already among the best in the Danish director’s filmography. Firm, stable with Dogma 95 motives, intense, inspired, Nymphomaniac volume 1 is the movie you shouldn’t miss because in approximately two hours, it features material enough not for just one movie, but for ten. Welcome again to the world of an artist provocateur. Welcome again to the world of Lars Von Trier!
55
Do you dare?
Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
By Eleni Lampraki
© 2012 - Razor Film, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Winds in the east… mist coming in… like something is brewing… about to begin… The first time I watched “Mary Poppins”, I was about seven years old. My nanny brought me the videotape and I must have watched it a hundred of times since then– no exaggeration. I strongly believe that it is one of the movies that turn a child into a happier adult… and an adult to turn into a child again. So if you are a fan of the film (or the books, unfortunately, I have read only a couple of them), “Saving Mr Banks”, is your movie. “Saving Mr Banks”, is telling the story behind the scenes of “Mary Poppins”, how Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) invited P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), the original books’ writer to his studios in America, in order to persuade her to sign the rights and allow her to make a film. But, at the same time, it tells a second story which is even more interesting. How P.L. Travers, came up with the beloved characters she created, and who was the real Mr Banks, no other than her own troubled father (Colin Farrell). I have to admit that like most Hollywood kind of biopics, the film version is a kind of softer one, with a spoonful of sugar added. I don’t know exactly the aspects of P.L. Travers’ childhood, but some serious and interesting aspects of her adulthood, career and life, most notably her bisexuality, are removed. I can understand, that a homage to a
classic Disney movie has nothing to do with sexual interests; I am just thinking that the portrait is incomplete to the point that P.L. Travers was not just a bizarre, grumpy and lonesome middle-aged lady. But apart from that, which I say again, it’s just a perspective; the movie achieves its goal. Nostalgic, emotional, funny and sweet, it makes you feel like you are eating your favorite childhood comfort food after a long time, especially when you hear again “Chim Chim Cher-ee”, or “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. Who hasn’t cried when listening to “Let’s go fly a kite”? And, of course, (once again) we have to praise the performances of Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, who make a remarkable and sparkling duo. Emma Thompson excellently portrays the complex nature of P.L. Travers (to the point the script allows it) and Tom Hanks makes Walt Disney seem sweeter that might have ever been in real life, yet extremely smart, confident, perspicacious and persistent. Colin Farrell gives one of his best performances, making Travers Goff the charming, charismatic yet self-destructive protagonist of the film. Additionally, Annie-Rose Buckley is just as loving and sweet as needed for a perfect opposition with her future as Pamela Travers. In a few words, fans of Mary Poppins, do not miss it. All the others, watch the actual film first.
Burst www.afternoiz.com
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
By Kostas Krasonis
WO RST M OV I E S EV ER
56
George Lucas is one of those people. He is responsible for countless nerds breathing and living off of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, including me. He is also responsible for the fourth installment in the Indiana Jones franchise, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But first things first; the year is 2008 and I’m spending my summer holidays in an organized camping site. Among the amenities of the campsite, there is a free movie projection every afternoon. Needless to say I couldn’t be happier that I could watch my favorite archaeologist in action without having to pay a dime! Some people deserve our gratitude; I believe it’s a fact. Some people should be praised for the worlds of imagination they have created for our pleasure. With that in mind, I also believe that when these people fail to understand the consequences of sacrificing their work for money, they should be treated with nothing but contempt for betraying their own creation.
Burst www.afternoiz.com
As the film got underway and even though I was so excited, I couldn’t help but notice some sequences that can be described as at least idiotic. There’s this scene where Indiana Jones tosses some gunpowder into the air and it starts floating towards a highly magnetized box at the other side of a huge storage facility. The whole time, all other metal things seem to be apathetic to this magnetic energy, until the box is finally discovered. Okay… I can live with that. After all, it’s a movie! Then, there’s that scene, where a nuclear bomb is tested and Dr. Jones finds himself in the middle of the dummy town set to test the effects of the blast. Unable to leave in time, he gets into a refrigerator which is thrown a mile away bouncing mercilessly due to the blast and when it finally stops Indiana Jones comes strolling out unharmed like he had time to squeeze in a power nap in the process… I started to feel a little unease, but I told myself to keep an open mind.
Big mistake! From that point on, the film becomes utterly moronic. The fighting sequences are slower than watching grass grow; there are flesh-eating ants who are intelligent enough to form a structure going on top of one another in order to reach someone who is hanging from a tree branch; there are car chases in amphibious vehicles, which of course end up in a river, where Indy and his family manage to survive falling from three, huge waterfalls into the rocks below, ultimately finding the hidden cave where the Crystal Skull is supposed to be returned. Did you notice I said “family”? That’s right! In this feature, Indiana Jones meets his son and reunites with Marion Ravenwood, his love interest in the third Indiana Jones film. At that point in the movie I wanted to scratch my eyes out so I couldn’t see this travesty of a hero I idolized as a kid. What followed made me wish I had done exactly so. As it turned out, the “Crystal Skull” belonged to an alien(!) body and when it got returned all the other aliens that had been waiting for years in this Mayan pyramid merged into one, burned the villain’s eyes out (oh, how I envy her) and took off on the flying saucer that was hidden underneath the pyramid. I couldn’t make those things up! But, unfortunately, Spielberg and Lucas did. In conclusion, although I have never been a Spielberg fan, I have always admired George Lucas for his ability to create worlds. I’m naïve and believe that some things that are already perfect shouldn’t be destroyed for profit. My only hope is that the new Star Wars installment won’t make it to my column…
BURST is against animal cruelty.
57
“Auschwitz begins wherever someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: they’re only animals.” -Theodor W. Adorno-
www.argophotography.com Burst No animals were harmed in the making of this furwww.afternoiz.com coat
58
Californication A sobers’ guide
By Helen Marie Joyce // Photo by Showtime - © Showtime
What is Californication? ‘Californication’ is the story of a New York writer, Hank Moody, who moves to California after an offer to get his latest book turned into a movie. The series centers around the main character, Hank, and his struggle of adjusting to California’s lifestyle, on all levels. Essentially, it is about how Hank is ‘Californicised’.
Having experienced writer’s block and fighting his personal demons for quite some time in New York, Hank moves to L.A., a city in which he constantly tries to balance his vice indulgences of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll against his sense duty towards his daughter Becca, his soul mate yet often ex-partner Burst www.afternoiz.com
Karen and his dwindling career.
The show is a ‘dramedy’. Ringing true to its label, the creator Tom Kapinos never fails in producing an episode with a plot that implicates the main characters in hilarious incidents or sorrowful predicaments; this, along with excellent characterizations of the cast, result in leaving the audience with great suspense from one episode to the next. The series also features a typically rock n’ roll soundtrack, laden with countless contemporary Rock music references, the greatest of which is Hank’s book titles that carry names of Slayer albums, as well as Hank’s ‘completed-work’ ritual.
59
Who does Hank Love, Hate, Love?
His best friend and agent, Charlie Runkle (Evan Handler) is almost like the series’ scapegoat. He is like a “human penis” although women find him strangely appealing. He is boyishly charming in the sense that he is excitable and has no limits. Throughout the series, he discovers S&M fetishes, experiences sex injuries and has two affairs before realizing how much he is in love with his wife, Marcy. However, Charlie is so eager to cover all bases and is erratic professionally, that he often ends up with a conflict of interest between his own clients, Hank being one of them. Verdict? Hank loves to hate to love Charlie. Karen (Natascha McElhone) is Hank’s other half, the “mamacita of his bambino”, Becca (Madeleine Martin), and she can do no wrong in his eyes; she is his princess Lointaine. She is ethereal, talented, striking but also a bit of a prude. Hank tries to please her, but often fails, yet never entirely. The progression of their on-off romance is one of the main interests of the series. Hank love love loves her! The ‘daughter’ Becca is also flawless in his eyes, although they do clash during her puberty. Marcy (Pamela Adlon), Charlie’s wife, is often referred to by Hank as the “horny Smurf” who is outgoing, ballsy, funny and is also
Karen’s best friend. Amidst rough patches with Charlie, Marcy explores lesbianism, she has a fling with a rock star, develops an expensive coke addiction, goes to rehab, all the while she is trying to find her own boundaries and her own identity away from Charlie. Hank loves Marcy! Mia (Madeline Zima) is one of the hated in the series; she is the root of all evil as Hank, “not knowingly”, sleeps with her. She is the source of inspiration for a novella of Hank’s, but she is also the daughter of the man Karen is planning on marrying in Season 1, and 16 years old, making Hank a statutory rape felon, should she want to play it that way. She is a psychotic in the making, and is obsessed with being as close to Hank as possible. Her audacity haunts Hank, who is entirely at her mercy for sympathizing and keeping the secret that could set his world on fire. Hank hates Mia. He wishes he had never met her in actual fact.
GOD HATES US ALL
Psychological Profile: Hank Moody
Hank Moody is a charismatic, talented, writer who has made himself quite a reputation. He is special in the way that he has his own set of morals, and is 100% endearing in all he does, even when he fucks up. And that’s a lot! He is one of the real men, with charm and brutal instincts whenever the occasion calls for it. Yet he doesn’t play very well with others. He is social but he is also a bit of a recluse. He had a complicated relationship with his father, which surfaces in the series and gives ground to many of his reactions. He is stubborn at times, when it is not in his best interest to be and then misses a chance to be stubborn when he is in right to. There are times when the worst has happened and he is surprisingly calm, then loses it over something of little importance. He is moody. He has contradictory behaviors and often double standards that alarm us of a person who is experi-
encing internal struggles. The hardest part is that although he has hopes that life would be sugar-coated in Cali, he ends up resenting mostly everything about California. California is the setting of his defilement, but like a phoenix Hank tends to rise from his ashes. Hank also loves everything he hates. He loves the idea of being in love, whether it be with Karen, with whom he shares something deep and perennial, with every woman he beds to compensate for him and Karen being apart, or with his writing -or lack thereof. He resents the changes in his life that are not of his own will and the tumultuous relationship with Karen is an integral part relating to the order in Hank’s life. So is his writer’s block which is dependent on the Karen front as well as influences by his prodigal livelihood. Hank is a conflicted person, constantly fighting at cross purposes. Burst www.afternoiz.com
60
195 million children worldwide suffer from the effects of malnutrition. In 2011, MSF treated 408,000 children in more than 30 countries. Copyright: Francesco Zizola
Burst www.afternoiz.com