First of all, thank you for this interview.
It’s my pleasure, my honor.
You have started the “Apostles of Darkness (Over the Americas)” tour. The tour is half way done… how has it been so far?
Yes, exactly. We are exactly in the middle of the tour. It started with some shitty shows but after that it got better and better. More people are showing up for the concerts. The concerts now are quite good; the response of the public is very positive. I’m looking forward for today’s concert.
Any highs and lows until now?
Yes. In the beginning, the first 3 or 4 shows were really “down” [not too many people showing up]. Then, after Canada, it got better. Now there are enough people showing up.
We have a good time with the guys here, we have a really smooth tour and we get along very well. So, everyone is satisfied … so far… we’ll see! We are just in the middle.
Do you like playing in the US?
Yes. We like playing in the US but it’s not like Europe. More people show for the concerts, not only for Rotting Christ for all the bands, people are more into metal, the promoters take more care and respect the bands more. Here is like throwing the dice: you don’t know where you are playing, who is the promoter, sometimes you don’t have dinner… they don’t treat you so well. But, this is America, we know what to expect, this is the reason why we always tour here, we would like to expand our music.
Where do you guys like playing the most?
We like South America. This is the best place to play for us. Brazil is a very nice place to play. This is not a compliment just because you are from Brazil [I told Sakis that I am Brazilian]… It’s true. People there respect the bands, they treat us very well and people are really into metal music. So we enjoy being there.
Are there still countries where you guys haven’t played yet but would like to one day?
Maybe Japan. We have played all around the world except Japan. Maybe they don’t know us there.
Your latest album “AEALO” was released a little bit more than a year ago. Were the results of the albums what you were expecting? Are you satisfied with the results?
For the 11th album I can say it was really positive. The majority of the people consider it our best album ever which for me is a big honor because I composed it. After two decades we are still creating interesting music. That’s really important for us. The reviews are really positive and that’s the reason why we are getting offers to play all around the world.
As it has been said before: Your last two albums have a few “folk” elements…
Yes… you say folk... Rotting Christ was never a folk band, but we used some ancient Greek elements in our music. That’s all we did. We established our music more.
Yes… so, considering that there are a lot of folk metal bands that use traditional music from their countries in their music and that you guys toured and played in festivals with some of these folk bands: Do you think that they may have inspired you somehow?
I don’t think so… but maybe… unconsciously.
You guys have released 11 albums and several of them are really different from each other...
Yes, they are different…but still metal.
>Yes.. Of course! Even though they are different albums, with different elements, you still have faithful fans. You have kept your fans. What is the key for doing this?The key? Your attitude! As a band, we have changed directions in the past but always kept our attitude down to earth. And also, we keep a certain “atmosphere” in our music. There is an occultism, something mysterious in it that we have always kept even when we changed styles. So, maybe that’s why we have a strong fan basis, which has been following us during all these years. We have changed our music direction but it has always been metal.
Do you think that any band would be able to pull this off?
I don’t know. Maybe… yeah… we did it, why not other bands?
Now the opposite question: Do you think that over these years, the fact of experimenting has also caused you to lose fans?
Yes we did but we gained some new. We never did it on purpose. I never said to myself: “Ok, let’s do that to sell more albums”. It doesn’t work actually… if you do something on purpose things come back the other way around.
Still talking about your discography: I saw some interviews on youtube from almost a year ago. Someone asked you about your latest album and you said that you guys did whatever you felt like doing at the time and that maybe the next one will be completely different.
Yeah, completely different…
So now, a year after, do you already have some ideas for the next album?
On this tour I started to think about it. It’s been more than a year since the last album has been released. I promised myself that after this tour I will start writing some new stuff. But I mean… writing… it’s really easy for me to grab the guitar and write some new riffs. What I would like to do is “talk” to myself and see if I have something new to share with people. I don’t want to be one of those bands that release an album every year with the exact same style.
I would like to move forward… at least I try. So, I will search myself to see if I have something new. If I have it I will go on and write some new stuff. Otherwise, I won’t… it wouldn’t make any sense.
So, you haven’t started yet…
No, not yet. But I have something in my mind. I like to surprise our fans a little bit… album by album.
How do you work on a day–to–day basis? I heard that you are the only band member who works full time for the band…
Exactly. Writing music is hard sometimes because you may not be in the mood. This is something that you have “to do with yourself”. If I want to write something new I would have to be out of this world: I have to escape, be isolated in my home, I have to create art. This is very hard to do sometimes.
I am a normal person, you know. I have to wake up, take care of my home, of my daughter, finances… this is almost an “anti-artist” attitude, to take care of “everyday things”.
So, yes… If you have to record an album it’s kind of a full time job because I write the music, the lyrics, I book the shows… I’m doing almost everything for the band. That’s why I told you before that I’m tired (laughs). [Sakis mentioned that he was tired before the interview started].
Shifting the subject a little bit: The metal scene… has it changed these last 5 or 10 years? Is there anything that has affected Rotting Christ?
Metal is always changing. I don’t think
so [that something affected the band]… at least I want to believe that it hasn’t. I want to believe that we have kept our spirit alive since our beginning.Even internet: the music downloading? I saw some of your interviews and you said that people don’t buy albums anymore…?
Yes, people don’t buy the albums anymore.
I buy them! I buy all my albums!!!
Give me five!!! (laughs) [Sakis raised his hand and we did a high five].
Even if you buy … we don’t really see many “dollars” from album sales. Sometimes we lose money… But I like very much to release my music. People react positively… you know? Especially on forums, youtube... Some people still buy albums; I also buy…not as much as I used to, like back in the days, but I try to support other bands because I am a fan: I go to the shows, buy the albums…
Any bands that have caught your attention lately? Or even, any new albums that you have liked?
There are so many… I can’t really name any… Many bands play very well, all the bands nowadays have good production, good mastering and good mixing. Every band sounds good… proper. But the problem is: I miss the unique sounds. I miss those bands that can touch my soul…talk to my soul. And this is something that has to do with how much time the composer is spending with his music. We are living in really “fast” times. “Fast” everything… “You must release an album every year”…
More of a personal question now: What do you listen to when you are not touring or writing?
I try to follow up with new releases. I try… but I’m also experiencing some other styles of music. For instance: I like to listen to ethnic music from all around the world. This is the different style of music that I am listening to besides metal music. Metal music is my “thing”… I have been listening to it for 25 years.
What are your favorite albums this moment?
For me … the last "Amon Amarth" is very good. The last "Trypticon" also… I liked it very much.
And what about activities/ hobbies… what do you do in your free time?
What will you tell me if I say nothing? I used to play soccer but I broke my leg last summer (laughs). Now, music is taking most of my time.
I try to care of myself… I like to be in a good shape because what I’m doing with the band is very hard. Next year I will be 40 years old so I quit smoking… and drinking… well, I drink maybe just once a month. I like very much what I’m doing and I want to keep on doing it. I respect you, who pay for a ticket and come see our concert so I don’t want to be drunk on stage and say a lot of bullshit. I’ve seen so many bands doing this… and I really hate that because I consider myself as a fan…
Is there anything that you would still like to accomplish with the band?
No. I think I have fulfilled my dreams, I am very satisfied. You know… when I started with the band my first thing was: to play one song, somewhere. And now we have played almost 1000 shows, I have toured the world, I have met interesting people… So, I am satisfied… I don’t want to accomplish any other things, no. I like to live with few things.
Anything you would like to say to the Spirit of Metal readers?
Here is Rotting Christ from US, currently touring with Melechesh and Hate.
Keep the horse rising! Keep the metal spirit alive!
Interview done by Deesse_de_la_nuit
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