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C:
Hi George, I’m fine thanks! I’m in Sweden right now. Ok!
Lets get started. Why did you deicide to release two albums in the same
time? C:
Well, we had 55 songs to choose from, and we had over 30 songs that
were so good that we definitely wanted them on a record. We would make one
record first, promoting, go on tour and then a second record, promoting
and go to a tour again, but this would be a long time until we get to the
third record. By then this material would be very old and probably by then
would have written another 55 songs. So, we decided that the best thing to
do was to record and release two records at the same time and then have
the songs ready for the third album. It was quite a heavy work, cause it
took us over 9 months to record these albums. How
long did it take you to compose all these tracks and to record the albums? C:
We started composing straight after “Deggial” and we were working
on these records, actually we thought that it would be one record and we
were working on our new record after “Deggial”, and I had 8 songs
ready and then I woke up one day and said no, no I need to make a concept
album, I don’t want to do this album! Why
did you title the first album “Lemuria” and the other
“Sirius B”? C:
Well, we didn’t have an idea for the titles so; we chose two song
titles, two songs that we liked and sounded beautiful for the main title. Have
you read something more specific about those two places? C:
They are fascinating
mythologies and especially the Sirius B. Of course, Sirius B is also a
star that circles around Sirius A, but the interesting thing is that an
African tribe called the Dokos, and they live in Mali, they new about
Sirius B long before we did and that is really fascinating, because no one
can explain how they knew about these stars before we and the rest of the
world did. They also knew that there was a third star and this is
something that our astronomers were suspecting and researching, but they
had no proof! Have
you heard or read anything about Sirius A? C:
Sirius A is just a star. What really catches my interest is that
according to the Dokos tribe, there were people coming from Sirius B and
actually landed here! Of course, astronomy is always fascinating as well,
but I focus more on the mythological aspect. What
about Lemuria? C:
According to mythology “Lemuria” was a continent just like
Atlantis, but it was much older. There have been no real archaeological
findings but it is very interesting. We have another song called “The
Wondrous World Of Punt”, where Punt was a very wealthy kingdom that
there are no archaeological findings, but Egypt had described this
country… Ok!
Lets go to the music part now. You used for once again a choir and an
orchestra. What would you say to the fans, in order to make them listen to
your new albums? What are the differences with your past releases? C:
The first thing I can say is that we used much more musicians for the
orchestra and the choir and we also used some more instruments than before
like the balalaika, the Greek mandolin, and others. Actually, I didn’t
know anything about mandolins, I just knew how they sounded and the reason
I used the mandolins is that I recorded three songs with balalaika and
something wasn’t exactly the way I wanted it to, so I thought maybe its
mandolin what I need and then run to the store and rented three mandolins.
One other instrument, which was very hard to record, because I don’t
like any compromise to my music, was the real church organ, I wanted. So,
we rent the oldest church in Copenhagen and we recorded the church organ.
It was very mighty and when you hear the church organ on the record it
sounds exactly how it sounded in the church, we didn’t change anything!
Also we have changed the role of the guitars and now they are faster and
much heavier. We mixed the guitars much louder and we gave it much more
space and the production is much heavier. Would
you like to tell us little information about the vocalists? C:
Yes, the first one is Piotr Wawrzeniuk, our old drummer and although I
didn’t have any specific songs for him, now I am very happy he did some
songs! Also for the second vocalist I was very lucky to get Mats Leven who
has a perfect voice. He did a perfect album with Abstrakt Algebra and I
think his voice is perfect for a metal band. As for the opera vocalists I
really chose very carefully the appropriate vocalists. For example, if I
want a dramatic feeling a chose a tenor with a dramatic voice… as for
the baritone is really hard to find a base baritone. Maybe in Russia is
easy to find one cause they have a lot of baritones, but in Europe is very
hard. How
difficult is it for you, to combine the metal music with the classical
music? C:
It is extremely easy for me, because I listen to both and I listen
everything in the same time in my head when I compose a new song. Let me
put it this way, if we would stop selling records so that we couldn’t
afford recording with an orchestra I would stop writing music! The music I
write sounds like this, I can’t do it in any other way! Who
classic composers do you admire most. C:
When it comes to opera it’s Richard Wagner, he is the alpha and the
omega for me, everything! I like of course Claus and others, but when it
is for the opera I think Wagner is the best. I don’t like much the
Italian opera, but I like some Russian opera composers such as Prokofiev
and for me opera should be German. When it is for the classical music I
like the German composers but I really prefer the Russian ones,
Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky… Which
are your favourite songs from the two albums? C:
It’s so hard to say…”Blood Of King” will be one of my
favourite songs when it comes to playing live. Also “An Arrow From The
Sun” is one of my favourite songs, because it has much power and “The
Khlysti Evangelist”, because it is a heavy metal song and I grew up with
heavy metal. What
are your plans for the future? Are you going to play live in any European
summer festivals? C:
I think that we are going play in Poland, Germany, in Grasspop
Festival in Belgium. We are also going to give some live shows in Mexico
and South America then in Turkey and Greece in October and we will play
both in Thessaloniki and Athens. It is going to be really great! Ok!
Are you going to give any live shows with a full orchestra or will you use
the samplers? C:
No, no we don’t use samplers! We have a digital machine which sounds
like a real orchestra. If you are going to play with an orchestra you must
play in a bigger place and have much more money. Unfortunately we don’t
have thousands of people every time we play and I don’t know how much we
can expect in Athens. The only place where we have thousands of fans is in
South America and we have some ideas of making one or two live shows with
an orchestra, but they are very unorganised there contrary to Europe. So,
it is very hard to make things actually work. In Colombia and in Mexico we
will give big shows in big arenas and there will be no problem with the
people, it’s like a fiesta. We also discuss that we may do it in Russia
because it is very cheap and Therion are very popular there. In Europe we
don’t call much people and if we were to play with an orchestra we would
need to give a number of shows, not just one or two, because the
rehearsals would cost too much. Unfortunately, I can only think of three
places where we could play with an orchestra Poland, Athens and Hungary…
But in the live shows you will really think that a real orchestra is
playing in the scene! What
do you enjoy more, composing music and recording in the studios or playing
guitar in the live shows? C:
I prefer composing and recording in the studio because that is what I
really do. I really love playing live but it is a different thing. If I
would stop playing live I would really stop making records. So, I can’t
really choose, but playing live is something I enjoy. Also I never
practise guitar and when we went at the rehearsal room for the two albums
I haven’t touched the guitar for one year! Now
let me ask you some more general questions. The band’s name comes from
the Greek language and many times you have been referred to the Greek
mythology through the lyrics. What do you know about Greece and the Greek
mythology? C:
Greece is the richest country in the world when it comes to mythology
and there are so many things that have been in Cabbala, the Jewess
mysticism, that origin in ancient Greece… for example, mythology of
numbers, numerology. There are so many different and interesting things in
ancient Greece…Also when it comes to philosophy, mythology and so many
other things, you can’t be interested in these without being interested
in Greece and that’s a fact! Do
you believe that any future release of your band will be able to shock the
fans as the “Theli” album did? C:
No, I don’t think so, because people are prepared for the worst. You
shocked them once and you did a lot of drastic changes and it is not
possible to shock them again. If you make an album with only ballads this
doesn’t shock people. Also, when we released “Theli” people where
much more narrow-minded and there are so many things that happened since
then… Also all kind of bands now record with an orchestra, Dimmu Borgir,
Cradle Of Filth, Metallica, Iced Earth, Scorpions, everybody wants the
orchestra. I think that we opened the minds of people and said, “Look!
You can do a lot of different things in metal”. Of course, Celtic Frost
with their first EP said this before us and was the first metal band that
said that! I think that we also changed people’s image of what metal has
to be. Is
there a chance to release a personal album under you name? C:
No, I don’t think so, because whatever I want to do I can do it with
Therion, but who knows? Maybe in a few years… Kristian and Johann have
been in the band for five years and Therion is a democratic band, sure I
am the captain of the ship, but I really listen a lot what they say and
sometimes they say one thing I say another thing and I think you are two I
am one we are going to do what you want. So, I didn’t feel the need to
make a solo album so far. So,
do you consider Therion as your personal band or is it a project? C:
Therion is not a band
obviously, because we don’t have the normal band setting. It’s more
like a gigantic musical project or whatever you like to call it that has a
few permanent members, me, the other guitar player and the bass player, we
don’t even have a drummer that all the other bands have. I think it
would be very hard to say that we are a band… Actually, it doesn’t
matter how you call it, Therion is Therion! Can
you also tell me which album of Therion do you consider as the best? C:
I always like the new album best, because if I didn’t I would never
release it. As soon as I was going to the studio I had songs that I liked
most. I think it’s very sad when you have bands that make a few classic
records and then they release medium albums. For example, Iron Maiden, I
think that their last album is good and they are doing well but it is not
as good as “Piece Of Mind” or something like that. With Therion people
have their personal favourites; others think that “Theli” is the best
album, others “Vovin” and others will say that our last album is the
best. Now, it is a tricky situation, because I have two records at the
same time and I have to choose my favourite… I don’t know... I think
“Sirius B” is my favourite. Do
you earn your living from your music, or do you have to resort to other
jobs too? C:
I have been living from music. I remember having a job and they
didn’t like it when I was taking a lot of time off, because of a tour or
something like that. I had to chose between the band and the job and I
said, “Ok, I quit and I choose the band” and my parents where pretty
upset “Why did you give up your job”?… It was a bit difficult in the
beginning… I remember every time I had to pay the rent, I had no fucking
idea how I would pay it! Now I can afford paying my living and I’m glad
I don’t have to make a record to pay my rent, because we can make
quality things, not rushed things. That’s all I ask, to pay my rent and
the gas for my car… Now
let me ask you some weird questions, just to relax… If you were living
in Middle Earth which character would you choose to be and why. C:
I am not really a big Tolkien reader… If I had to chose I think I
would choose Saruman. How
do you imagine that the music world could be, one thousand years from now?
C:
In
a thousand years? If the planet is still populated… I don’t know! That
question is truly above my head; I mean just look what happened to music
the last 100 years. I don’t know, I think sooner or later there will be
an end of progress. If someone would have been playing techno music in the
50’s or 60’s I’m not really sure if they would call it music. So, I
can’t think of how the music will be in a hundred years not beyond that! Imagine
that your wife is selling your whole album-collection just to buy for her
an expensive ring. How would you react? C:
She wouldn’t be my wife for
very long after that! I have so many rare records, old albums and
especially from the 70’s
that it would be like selling my soul! Ok
Christopher I wish you the best for the new albums. If there is anything
else you would like to tell to Grande Rock readers you can do it. C: Thank you very much! I’m looking forward to play in Greece. The whole band is looking forward for these shows. Be there! We will play some old songs, because I know that in Greece we have fans that really like our very old songs.
by George Kouvelis |
Hello
Christopher, how are you doing? Where are you right now?