.: Interview :.

.: Interview - veilgr.com » Overgarven Overgarven is a highly promising band with lots of potential. What they only need is a good chance to prove all they have and all that lies ahead of them in their path for recognition... So, after a very interesting promo release, we felt that we should ask them a few questions and get to know this band a bit better... 1. HELLO! FIRST OF ALL SINCE YOU ARE A NEW BAND I WOULD LIKE YOU TO GIVE US SOME INFO ON THE BAND. HOW MANY ALBUMS HAVE YOU RELEASED SO FAR AND ALSO PRESENT THE CURRENT LINE-UP. HI! WELL OVERGARVEN EXIST SINCE THE END OF 2000 AND WE HAD MANY CHANGES FROM THE FIRST LINE UP. THE CURRENT LINE UP IS DICK - SOLO GUITAR, NICK – RHYTHM GUITAR, PERY –BASS GUITAR, TEO - DRUMS AND KOSTAS - VOCALS. DICK, PERY ANND KOSTAS ARE TOGETHER FROM THE BEGINNING OF 2001. NICK AND TEO BECOME MEMBERS OF OVERGARVEN IN 2004 AND UNTIL THEN WE HAVE NOT HAD ANY OTHER CHANGES. THE BAND HAS 2 SELF-FINANCED INDEPENDENT PROMOS (2003 & 2005) AND NO OFFICIAL RELEASES UNTIL NOW (SOMETHING WHICH WE ARE EXPECTING TO HAPPEN WITH THE 2ND PROMO).  2. AS YOU SAY IN YOUR BIO, MOST OF YOU PLAYED IN THE BAND CROSSOVER. SO, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU WHICH THE REASONS THAT LED YOUR FIRST LINE-UP TO DISBAND WERE. HOW, ARE YOUR RELATIONS WITH ZION AND WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE LAST ALBUM OF CROSSOVER DICK, PERY, AND OUR FIRST DRUMMER TEO PLAYED IN THE BAND CROSSOVER. THE REASONS ARE THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF MUSICAL STYLE THEY LIKED. NOTHING ELSE. WE SPEAK WITH ZION AND WE HAVE VERY GOOD RELATIONS, BUT YOU CAN SEE THAT CROSSOVER AND OVERGARVEN PLAY DIFFERENT STYLES OF METAL. THE LAST CROSSOVER ALBUM WAS GOOD, BUT I THINK COULD BE BETTER IF IT HAD THE LINE UP OF 2004 (THE LINE UP OF THEIR DEBUT ALBUM). 3. IN 2003 YOU HAVE RELEASED A PROMO. WILL YOU INCLUDE ANY SONGS OF YOUR PROMO ON YOUR NEW ALBUM? WILL THEY SOUND THE SAME AS ON THE PROMO OR WILL YOU CHANGE THEM A BIT? OF COURSE! PROMO 2005 IS A TASTE FROM OUR DEBUT ALBUM. WE HAVE RECORDED 10 TRACKS AT NEMESIS STUDIOS AND WE ARE ONLY LOOKING FOR A CONTRACT! ALSO TRACKS FROM PROMO 2003 (WITH MANY CHANGES) ARE GOING TO BE INCLUDED ON OUR FULL ALBUM. FOR EXAMPLE “WORLD DISGUST” COMES FROM THE PROMO 2003 AND “BLEEDING WORLD” FROM PROMO 2005, BUT WE MADE TOO MANY CHANGES WITHIN THE TRACKS (GUITARS, FEMALE VOCALS, LYRICS, KEYBOARDS) SO KOSTAS THOUGHT WE SHOULD ALSO CHANGE THE SONG TITLES, BECAUSE THE DIDN’T SOUND ANYTHING LIKE THE FIRST COMPOSITIONS. 4. ALTHOUGH YOU HAVE RECORDED SONGS FOR A FULL LENGTH RELEASE, YOU’VE PRINTED 500 PROMO COPIES INCLUDING 5 SONGS ONLY FOR THE PRESS AND LABELS. LET’S SAY THAT YOU DON’T GET GOOD REVIEWS, WILL YOU CONTINUE AND RELEASE YOUR ALBUM OR WILL YOU STOP? KOSTAS: WE HAVEN’T DISCUSSED THAT THING, BUT MY OPINION IS THAT WE WILL STOP THE RELEASE OF OUR FIRST ALBUM AND WE WILL TRY TO KEEP SOME GOOD TRACKS AND CREATE NEW COMPOSITIONS FOR A NEW DEMO/PROMO. IN GREECE IT’S DIFFICULT TO PROMOTE AN ALBUM ON YOUR OWN!!! WE ARE SWIMMING IN DEEP SHIT!!! 5. IN YOUR BIO YOU SAY THAT ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE BAND PARTICIPATE IN THE SONGWRITING PROCESS. ISN’T THAT A PROBLEM? DOESN’T THE PROCESS OF COMPOSING THE SONGS THIS WAY DELAY YOU? HAVE YOU EVER HAD INTENSE ARGUES ABOUT THE COMPOSITION OF A SONG? IT DEPENDS! WHEN WE ARE WRITING SONGS WE HAVE ALWAYS BEERS OR VODKA TOGETHER IN THE STUDIO. SO NO ONE HAS A PROBLEM WITH THE SONGS!!!! THE MAIN RIFFS COME FROM DICK & NICK, BUT ALSO FROM ME AND ARGY (EX-OVERGARVEN).THIS WAY OF PROCESS MAY CAUSE A DELAY IN THE SONGS BUT NO ONE ARGUES IN THE END. THERE ARE ALWAYS ARGUES OF COURSE, BUT WE TALK ABOUT THEM AND SOLVE THEM. THAT HAPPENS BECAUSE THERE ARE 5 PEOPLE IN THE BAND WITH DIFFERENT PREFERENCES IN MUSIC. DICK IS AN OLD STYLE METALHEAD (IRON MAIDEN AND HEAVY METAL INFLUENCES), NICK HAS HARDCORE/DEATH INFLUENCES MOSTLY, PERY HAS BLACK/DEATH INFLUENCES AND KOSTAS & TEO HAVE INFLUENCES FROM ALL KINDS OF METAL.  6. ON YOUR NEW ALBUM SOME OTHER MUSICIANS PARTICIPATE AS GUESTS. CAN YOU TELL US WHO THEY ARE AND IN WHICH BANDS THEY ARE MEMBERS? WELL TASOS KARAPAPAZOGLOY HELPED US WITH SOME CLEAN VOCALS AT “LET ME DIE” & “SOUL DESPAIR” TRACKS. HE IS A MEMBER OF THE POWER METALLERS         ELWING. ELENI GALANOPOYLOY HELPED IN “LET ME DIE” & “BLEEDING WORLD”. SHE IS AN OPERA SINGER AND SHE IS NOT A MEMBER OF ANY BAND.  7. YOUR BAND’S NAME HAS TO DO WITH WAR. WHAT IS WAR FOR YOU? CAN WE SAY THAT YOU ARE WARLIKE PEOPLE OR YOU USE WAR AS A SYMBOLISM? OVERGARVEN IS JUST A NAME!! OVERGARVEN IS A SPECIAL UNIFORM FOR SOLDIERS IN CASE OF A CHEMICAL WAR. FROM THAT MAYBE SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS THAT WE ARE AGAINST WAR & KILLINGS AND NOT WARLIKE PEOPLE.  8. YOUR SINGER, KOSTAS, WRITES THE LYRICS. SO I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU WHAT THEMES INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE ABOUT? CAN YOU TELL US IN A FEW WORDS WHICH THE THEME OF EACH SONG INCLUDED ON YOUR PROMO IS? THE THEMES OF OUR LYRICS HAVE TO DO FIRST OF ALL WITH LIFE & DEATH. AFTER THAT WITH FEELINGS (PAIN, HATE ) AND SOME OF THEM HAVE A WAR FEELING. FOR EXAMPLE “REHENTA” HAS A WAR FEELING WITH LYRICS TALKING ABOUT THE GODDESS OF FREEDOM OF OUR MINDS (REHENTA) , “JUST A FAKE” TALKS ABOUT A PERSON WHO FEARS EVERYTHING AND AT LAST REALIZES THAT EVERYTHING LIES JUST IN HIS MIND AND THOSE ARE FAKE FEELINGS.  “BLEEDING WORLD” IS FOR THE DIRTY WORLD WE LIVE IN. “CIRCLE OF BLOOD” IS FOR A CREATURE WHO TAKES LIVES AT THE ABYSS. “LET ME DIE” HAS TO DO WITH A GUY WHOSE LIFE IS SHIT AND HE PREFERS TO DIE. “WARFARE OF MIND” IS FOR SOMEONE WHO FIGHTS HIS THOUGHTS AND “SHATTERED VALUES” AS THE TITLE SAYS DEALS WITH THE SHATTERED VALUES OF OUR CORRUPTED WORLD.  9. YOU HAVE ALREADY, AS WE SAID, YOUR DEBUT ALBUM READY. WHY DID YOU SEARCH FOR A LABEL INSTEAD OF RELEASING IT BY YOURSELVES AND JUST FIND A GOOD DISTRIBUTION? WHAT CAN A LABEL OFFER YOU NOW THAT YOU HAVE AN ALBUM READY?  HERE ARE BANDS WITH A CONTRACT IN GREECE AND WE DON’T KNOW THEM! WHAT CAN WE MAKE ON OUR OWN IN THAT NATION? LABELS CAN OFFER YOU PROMOTION AND A GOOD DISTRIBUTION BUT MOST OF THEM JUST DON’T HELP. 10. WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU WANT A LABEL TO OFFER YOU IN ORDER TO SIGN WITH THEM? KOSTAS: I THINK THAT WE CAN’T ASK FOR ANYTHING FROM A LABEL. ESPECIALLY ALL THE NEW BANDS WHO ASK LABELS TO RELEASE THEIR FIRST ALBUM... SIMPLY WE ARE JUST WAITING FOR THE BEST OFFER AND THEN WE WILL SIGN. 11. DO YOU HAVE ANY CONTACT WITH METAL FANS FROM ABROAD? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE GREEK HEAVY METAL SCENE? WHY MOST OF THE PEOPLE ABROAD DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE SCENE OF OUR COUNTRY? YES, ESPECIALLY ME BECAUSE I AM THE PERSON WHO CONTROLS SIRRAH PRODUCTIONS AND I HAVE CONTACT WITH MANY BANDS ABROAD AND FANS WHO HAVE HEARD OUR MUSIC. AS FOR THE GREEK METAL SCENE? THAT’S A THEME WHICH WE CAN DISCUSS FOR HOURS. THE GREEK BANDS ARE MANY STEPS BEHIND APART FROM SOME OF THEM NOT BECAUSE WE DON’T DESERVE THE ATTENTION, BUT BECAUSE THE MUSIC INDUSTRIES EXPLOIT THE  BANDS AND DON’T PROMOTE THE GREEK METAL SCENE ABROAD IN THE ALTAR OF MONEY.  12. WILL YOU DO ANY LIVE SHOWS? WILL YOU PLAY HERE IN THESSALONIKI? WE WOULD LIKE VERY MUCH TO MAKE LIVE SHOWS ANYWHERE WE CAN ESPECIALLY IN THESSALONIKI. 13. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME! THE LAST LINES BELONG TO YOU OVERGARVEN WOULD LIKE THANK ALL THE METALHEADS WHO SUPPORT US AND WE HOPE SEE U SOON ON STAGE!!! Nick  “William_Kidd”  Parastatidis