Well, friends of the Lipeverse Aristocrat.We are now about to start in all your emotions, the forty-fifth interview. This time, the cradle of civilization meets a dense style that knows how to be agitated.Our interviewees make their debut album. For those who haven't noticed. Our interviewees are Greeks and they go by the name of The Same River and show the album Weight Of The World.The band have this formation:Diamond Pr on Vocals/Guitars/Synths Theodore Ntilgeris on Guitars, Dimitris Georgopoulos on Bass Guitar and Fivos Katsifloros on Drums/Percussions.Let´s go a song and start the interview with Diamond PR,he talk with ours a good chat.
A1:Let’s talk about the songwriting in Weight Of The World?
Diamond PR:Most of the songs took their final form one month before entering the studio June 2020. When it comes to songwriting, there's input from the whole band. We liked to keep simple composition forms with strong rhythm section and moving patterns along the way, just to create a landscape for the vocals. A blend of lyricism and aggression that gives to the listener all the needed materials to process what we would like to say.
A2:Why is the absurd something fundamental in the human being?
Diamond PR:For us, it is clear that there’s a thin line between sanity and insanity. Life and Death. Love and Hate. Most of the times is the same thing. Universe is a collection of random moments that bring chaos into order and vice versa. The human mind cannot process those principles, so the most common thing to do is to embrace absurdism as a way to translate the Cosmos.
A3:How are the members' vibes combined with the album's central idea?
Diamond PR:Empathy for each other.That’s the key that opened the door for the four of us to vibrate in complete harmony. When you hold the Weight of the World, which is different for everyone, you need companions in the journey of life to give you strength, love, courage for continuing pushing the rock on the mountain of struggle.
A4:How long will the human race continue in this decadence?
Diamond Pr:How long we will accept people to live in favelas while others going on a vacation to space?
A5:What collection of moments and actions the band is referring in this album?
Diamond PR: From 2019 that the band was formed, we came across many difficult situations both personal,loss of loved ones and global (pandemic, economy etc) which made a huge impact on the record. All the album carries an unconditional energy from those snapshots of life, that even if I cannot tell you details for so personal informations, i hope that you can get the honesty and the vibes of the songs.
A6:What mythological aspects influence the band?
Diamond PR:The myth of Sisyphus and Prometheus are the two main themes that embracing the album mythologically. The first one becomes clear from the title “Weight of the World” as a reference to the big rock that Sisyphus was pushing on the mountain. There’s a double meaning with this one but let it that way. The second one is an unfinished trilogy and contains the songs The Oath and The Bounds of a Fire Bringer. The Promethean way of thinking collapses as we reach the limits of our world. Maybe the western civilization has to reconsider and act differently if we want to live on planet earth for a long time. For me they gave a wrong translation to the myth and that’s what the songs are about.
A7:Why the band have this name?
Diamond PR:“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” - Heraclitus. The idea behind the name, except the obvious, is our vision as a group of people to evolve and constantly change for the better. What is better is something that everyone has his own theory. The achievement is to find the way to progress altogether as a unity.
A8:How is The Same River different from your previous bands?
Diamond PR:We talking about different groups of people, different musical inputs, experiences etc.. Nothing is the same and maybe a big part of this answered to your previous question.
A9:What kind of subject don´t deserve a The Same River song?
Diamond PR:If i understand correctly, i will not use the word deserve, but i could say for sure that you will never hear from us stories about sex, drugs n’ rock n’ roll.
A10:How the band arrived to Electric Talon Records and Sliptrick Records?
Diamond PR:For us, Stephen (Electric Talon Records) is a part of what we call “the same river cult”. The inner circle. The first man who ever believed in us and we will never forget that. Sliptrick is our EU label and the guys there are very helpful and trying for the best. There’s no backstories, we just send a lot of promo stuff to all the labels out there and we came to an agreement with those two.
A11:What´s the idea behind the artwork?
Diamond PR:Let’s give some credits… The reference artwork is a painting from Maurilio Barreto.The art direction and illustration by our friend Dimitrios Schoinarakis. The concept was to picture something that will embody the weight of the world, so we used strong elements like the whale and the mountains. All the symbols, the sea, the moon and the sun, are visualized lyrics that you can find along the way while you listen to the album. We like the idea of everything being a part of the listening experience.
A12:Because of current technologies, can we say that this is the moment in humanity where we lie much more than in the time of our parents and grandparents?
Diamond PR:I don’t believe that at all. I could say that because of the current technologies, the lie is more obvious than before. But at the end of the day the people were and will lie at the same way.
A13:It is clear that this is a concept album and that we take a real bath of philosophy when listening to it, but we have to ask: outside the music environment, is any member of the band a philosophy teacher or did the subject come to the band by instinct?
Diamond PR:Thank you for your compliment. We are just a bunch of guys who like reading books and evolving as personalities. To be honest with you, I dig into philosophy as a way to translate the world and in a way to find my path. It’s a challenging procedure that many times comes to a dead end but I found a way to express it through lyricism and that’s the most satisfying thing.
A14:What are the bands influences?
Diamond PR:There’s a vast territory of sounds that we are exploring as individuals. From acid techno to prog rock and from jazz to folk. Music is one of the great mysteries of the world and we are more than grateful that we are enjoying this gift. As a band we exploring ourselves in the fields of contemporary rock, blues with elements of psychedelia. I could say that the 70’s era is the main influence at this point.
A15:Is the men like specie an experience went wrong?
Diamond PR:Everything in the universe was made by accidental acts. Nothing is wrong and nothing is right at the same time. This way of thinking works only through the religions who are trying to manipulate masses giving them a moral code to follow. We follow our own path and I believe that if everyone did the same, what we call the world, could be a better place.
A16:Is man an animal that carries the corpse on its back all the time?
Diamond PR:In a way yes. That’s what the concept of the album is about. We carry the weight of the world on our shoulders and what’s this? Ourselves and our inner demons.
A17:Based on the songs of album and your own opinion, is it better to think the human being as agony than an animal for health?
Diamond PR:Of course agony plays a critical role. As Camus says: "The struggle itself ... is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy". We feed from our agonies and fear of the unknown.
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