First of, just want to thank you for participating in this edition of Infidel Interviews. Could you start off by giving a little information about yourself to the audience? Whatever you feel comfortable with, but name, age, what instruments you can play, and where you live would be pretty standard?
Thank you very much first for the essential interview ! You are keeping the flame of the underground feeling alive! My name is Nick, my nationality is Greek and i am passionate for composing music! At the moment apart from God In A Cone band (Keyboard Player/Vocalist/Drum Machine Programmer/Controller ) i am doing vocals for the following bands :
a) Madleaf
b) Slitherum
c) Iola 11
Interview continues past video, the video is a music video for his song "DWN"
How do you enjoy where you live? Is there a vibrant industrial community where you are? Would you say you find that your local scene influences your attitude and/or creativity?
Athens is a great place to be, experiment and enhance my musical knowledge ! Various artists can influence my style ! I don't belong to a specific community though but on the other hand I belong to everything that can arouse my creativity without suppressing my expression.
What would you say are your favorite themes and topics to write about? What draws you to those themes? What sort of inspirations do you draw upon to help you achieve the atmosphere you present in your music? Do you have any themes or sounds that you would consider core to your sound/image?
Reasoning in general is the main idea behind my musical expression! I am searching topics that entail elements of Philosophy , Metaphysics , Personal Experiences and Ethics . The specific combination can create something fruitful to my vision in order to help me expressing something unique as well as attractive at the same time.
You have recently your debut album, "Agrypnia". How long did the album take to compose, and were most of the songs composed with the album in mind, or is the album a compilation of your best creative work to date?
The album took 30 days for completion, its a concept album and as a result each song is responsible for the homogeneity of the whole album. It was a personal experience of epiphany and need for merging the 8 songs together.
What does the name "God In A Cone" mean to you? Is their a deeper philosophical symbolism to the name? How big of a role does symbolism and metaphor play into the imagery and lyrics of the project?
God In A Cone concept entail elements of psychology and metaphysics! it describes the way each person can handle his/her inner abilities towards something fruitful or self destructive. You can have your god as friend or you can become a god-killer !
Would you say that your choice to pursue music has changed your life since you started? Would you say that creativity has evolved you spiritually, emotionally, or logically? What are some of the biggest challenges you have had to overcome in your musical career?
Each day is a life lesson ,mission and vision each day distorts . But your daily experience can help you to distinguish which are you threats and weakness and thus can enhance your strengths and opportunities in a way you experiment as a musician or band. The music industry is massive and chaotic! You have to acquire the appropriate filters to point out which elements can be adopted and which elements can be eradicated. Challenges that i used to overcome on my musical carrier were various like a) overhead cost b) musical/social chemistry with other members.
What sort of processes do you go through when making music? Do you have a formula(s) that you follow, or do you feel it out as you go along? Or is it more of a mixture of the two?
I don't follow rules , plans and strategies! Everything is a free flow of musical expression with the infinite degree of liberty that can help me express my true / honest self!
What are your thoughts on genres in general? Do you find them creatively helpful as a template to work with? Or do you find them restricting? Or possibly somewhere in between? Now that the internet has caused so much crossover in music, would you even say genre labels are relevant any more?
I love all kinds of music and genres! The coalition of various musical styles can be very attractive to me and as a result can arouse my taste for exploring new stuff. Each kind of music have its special flavor or taste!
Interview continues past video, the video is a lyric video for his song "Cold Feeder"
What are your favorite pieces of hardware to use? How about software? Do you find a blend between the two easy or find yourself leaning on one more then the other?
I am a Mac user and thus my pre-production process is done with mac oriented software and midi hardware. At the final process of production though i do a blend along with my producer with a professional hardware and software concept and thus we are working with windows based techniques.
Do you spend a lot of time crafting your own sounds? Or do you value song crafting and effects tweaking more? Or do you find it's a balance between the two? What's your relationships with presets?
I love blending song-sound-effect crafting with the same degree of devotion! I love creating samples from scratch!
What would you say would be you short term, and long term, goals for the band?
My mission, vission, short - long terms can lead under one wish! The dream to make as much music as I can and keep the flame of the underground movement alive!
Playing live shows, recording new tracks, attempting to go live the life that gives you the experiences that inspires it all... it can be difficult to balance the time. Do you have any particular methods that you use to keep yourself focused or balanced in your direction?
Everything can be accomplished , each person must refresh his/her stamina and psychological state to perform / compose and have a normal daily life! i don't have a specific method of maintaining apart from the philosophy which i follow and is the following "Stay True to your self"
What sort of influences outside of your primary artistic expression help move or guide your artistic expression? I've often heard from musicians that their mundane jobs or family lives often provide a unexpected platform for inspiration.
Everything can influence the way I am composing music (life in general is the key)
Thank you so much for participating in this episode of Infidel Interview. Any parting words for your fans, or my audience?
Thank you again for the opportunity that you gave me to express my ideas and theories! Peace!!!
Best regards,
Nikos Follow God In A Cone on their official Facebook for all the latest information on the project: