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 you to the audience? Whatever you feel comfortable with, but name, age, and where you live would be pretty standard?
Hello and thanks for the invite to make this interview. I am Anton from Droid Sector Decay and i come from Greece.
How do you enjoy where you live? Is there a vibrant music community where you are? Would you say you find that your local scene influences your attitude and/or creativity?
There is no local scene where i live but it is a beautiful place, an island with warm climate most of the year and people here prefer to listen to Greek pop or folk/traditional music. Mostly in Athens & Thessaloniki (the two biggest cities) you can find record stores, clubs and some bands that are relevant with the industrial scene. There are also bands from smaler cities but very few. Greek people support more the metal scene here and not the industrial scene.
So my influences come mostly from the american and european industrial/gothic/darkwave scene. What do you feel separates your music from the rest of the music in the Industrial music scene?
I listen to different music genres...metal, rock, pop, industrial, gothic, soundtracks, electronic dance music...so i have wide range of influences which lead to endless inspiration and make me try various ideas into my songs. I believe DSD is a project based on diversity and away from trends. So every release ends up to sound different but still having the DSD features.
Interview continues after this video and any other pictures or streaming content!
What would you say are your favorite themes and topics that inspire you to compose? What draws you to those themes?
Inspiration comes from movies, books, real stories of the world we live in...i like horror & sci-fi themes.
Industrial and Attitude seem to go hand in hand. With global war, civil unrest, injustice, and political revolution being primary musical themes that dominate your music, how do you feel nowadays about the current state of world affairs?
The world today seems to get more and more crazy...there is so much hate and stupidity...i don't like this, it is also people's fault for the current situation, everybody have their share not just politicians, governments or the church. I hope for the best though. Otherwise we will get what we deserve in the end.
What do you see in the near, and far, future for your creative output?
I just want to make music and enjoy it. If people like what we do then this will be a good thing of course. When you first started making music, was there a particular sound or artistic/musical influence that you would say was your biggest inspiration to start pursuing the creative path yourself?
The first demo i did was in 1994 with my brother, inspired by bands like Burzum, Mortiis, Equimanthorn, Celtic Frost, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Summoning etc. Of course this demo sounds to me today very bad haha but it was my first effort. After that i started listening to more industrial and gothic bands and wanted to learn more about how industrial electronic music is created. Front 242 was my biggest influence along with bands like Project Pitchfork, Leæther Strip, Numb, Velvet Acid Christ, Apoptygma Berzerk, Wumpscut, Skinny Puppy, Frontline Assembly, Die Krupps, Ministry, Godflesh and others.
When it comes to your musical self and your real-world self, would you say that there is a separation? Do you find yourself getting into a character or mindset when you create, or do you find your music is a representation of your day to day self?
I am just the same person, creating or not creating music. I do as i like and be myself always. Music is art and sometimes i will have to think out of the box but that it's.
Are you musically self-taught? Or have you had mentors along the way to help you develop?
I am musically self-taught. When it comes to composing music, do you approach things with a clear vision in mind, or do you prefer to let songs feel themselves out? Do you have any particular techniques or tricks you use to keep yourself creative and consistent?
Sometimes i create a concept for the song first, sometimes an idea for a song comes out of nowhere. There are no tricks, only have an open mind, let your imagination free and love what you do. Music is passion.
When it comes to making music it can be difficult to balance atmosphere, song progression, musicality, and excitement. Do you have any tricks, techniques, or methods that you commonly use to help your music sound coherent and engaging?
I just do what i feel is best for each song. I cannot think of any technique or method i use in particular. 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' your relationships with presets? When you make music are you primarily a hardware or software oriented musician? Or do you do a fusion of both? Are there any particular instruments, programs, or effects that you would say are vital to you making music?
I rarely use any presets, i like making my own sounds. I use software mostly, but i like hardware also. Just not enough money & space for hardware equipment.
There are some songs i have done with hardware synths or guitar played by friends. Do you ever find it difficult to balance the creative and technical aspects of musical creation? How do you strike the balance for the need to craft and tweak your effects and sounds, in contrast to actually just getting the song itself created with structure and melody? What sort of element of creation do you prefer, the sonic shaping or the song creation?
For me is like a game when you create music, you can do and try so many different things in electronic music and industrial, use various effects that can alter a sound and make it sound different. Arrangement & mixing is very important also. In the end what matters for me most is the song creation.
Do you find that when you are working on projects where you ended up learning new techniques during the process?
Yes of course, it can happen. 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?
I have plenty of time after work to create music and focus on it. Droid Sector Decay has never performed live. The only time i performed live was with my brother's band Resistance Of Independent Music, first time was in March 2012.
If you could play any anywhere, with anyone, in the world, dead or alive, who and where would it be?
I would love to play with Front 242...it could be anywhere, i would not mind haha. But i would love also to perform live one day with my two partners Aubrey & Betty on stage and give a DSD show. Have you had any particular moment(s) that you would like to share, that you would consider to be a crowning achievement in your musical career so far, or moments that you would say truly continue to inspire you to pursue your artistic path?
Every release so far with Droid Sector Decay is an important moment for me. Also working with Aubrey & Betty from a distance makes it more challenging and fun when we start a new song.
Outside of Industrial music, what other genres could you see yourself composing music in? Or should I say, do you see yourself inspired by? Do you have any other musical projects that you are involved with, or do you have any other musicians or artists that you collaborate with in some capacity?
I have some side projects i am involved with that are focused more on the extreme side of music and inspired by rock, death/black metal, noise. Also i have done a few collaboration tracks with some other artists and some remixes.
If you could collaborate with any musician or artist, dead or alive, who would it be? And what in particular draws you to want to collaborate with them? What sort of new bands have come out in recent years that have caught your attention? Is there any bands out there you see yourself, or would like to, remix or collaborate with in the future?
I would love to collaborate with my fav metal band Megadeth. There are many new bands that came out recently and became a fan of them. To name a few: Youth Code, Dead When I Found Her, Chrome Corpse, Blut Reaktor, Datacode Division, Kangarot...the list is so long...i listen a lot to new bands and try to discover new things...so many to mention here. Promotion can be one of the most difficult things in the music industry. Do you have an agent that helps book shows and manage your online presence, or have you decided to trek it out without and mantle the reigns of the social media apparatus yourself? Is it difficult engaging the online world consistently and originally, or do you find it easy?
It is not easy at all to promote your work nowdays with so many artists in the world and so many new releases everyday. I do all the promotion by myself and it takes a lot of my free time. I run also a small independent label Underground Industrial Records that concentrates primarily on EBM / industrial bands.
With your band becoming increasingly popular have you had any insider attention regarding label support? What's your thoughts regarding being independent music scene versus being part of a record label?
I don't think Droid Sector Decay are popular haha...and no, we never got any attention from other labels. One of the reasons i started Underground Industrial Records was to have full freedom and do as i like, not just for me but also for the other bands that are part of UIR. In an industry that is driven by sales, and consumerism, what are your thoughts on digital downloads (legal and illegal)? Do you feel that streaming and digital download stores aid the accessibility of music? How bout music piracy? It obviously hurts sales in some regards, but it also boosts the access and distribution of the release which could lead to potential fans who do come to shows, buy physical copies of music, and get merchandise? Do you feel there would be enough turn around in that sort of system or are you firmly against file sharing?
I am a big fan of physical stuff, i prefer to buy cds and vinyls but sometimes i also download music to check some bands.I don't have a problem with downloading music but i think people should support the artists by buying the physical editions / merchandise and not just downloading mp3.
Outside of music, what are some of your favorite past times and emotional engagements?
I am a big sports fan haha.
Thank you so much for participating in this episode of Infidel Interview. Any parting words for your fans, or my audience?
Thank you for this interview and your interest. A big thanks also to the people who support us and to the people who have helped us so far with one way or another. Stay true, dedicate a lot of time to what you do, be passionate about it and do it because you really like it!
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