– What’s new in the world of Kyriakos “Charlie” Tsiolis? Spending time working on projects?
We just released a cover version of John Lennon’s Give Peace a Chance, or what we refer to as our re-imagined version. We made it a little more aggressive. We put it out on February 13th. We did it as follow up to our last record that came out in 2019. The title of that record (There is Something Wrong) should have been a warning to everyone. It was a concept record about all the crazy shit that is wrong with this world. It was meant to be a wakeup call. It dealt with issues from the Fed to Bohemian Grove to what the elite have planned for us.
We covered Give Peace a Chance because we wanted to send out a positive message coming off the dark one on the album. Little did we know that the enemy we would be facing would be not the conventional one with soldiers and nations. The message has morphed in the last two weeks to peace among us if this shit lasts much longer and paranoia and hysteria begins to lead to outrage and violence among citizens.
– Let’s talk about a day in the life of a musician in the studio. How do you spend your time in the studio?
On a lighter note: I actually think that most bands act really similar in the studio. You have the guys that get their tracks done and want to leave right away. You also have the other guys that stay in the studio from start to finish because they want to be there for the entire recording. I fall somewhere in the middle. If you watch any studio footage from bands its basically the same for all of them. In the old days when smoking was allowed in the control room, we did a lot of it. Now you need to leave the room to smoke, which sucks.
The long days blend one into the other. Usually the early takes are keepers. But, you always think you can do it better so you do multiple ones and most of the time the early ones make the record. Obviously, there are exceptions to that rule. Sometimes it takes a few takes to warm up and get into the groove. Back in the early days when it was all analog, and tape was the way you recorded, it was more challenging to add tracks. You would be limited to 24 or 48 tracks and that was it usually. Now it’s endless you can just keep adding tracks. The thing that makes it great is when you come up with something totally cool and new for a given track in the studio and it takes the song to a different place. Otherwise, it is hurry up and wait as the old saying goes.
– How important is artwork for singles or albums?
When I first got into music the artwork and overall image of a band was really important. The band logo was vital. The great covers could actually help create a fan base and sell records. Think of the great album covers of all time: usually also incredible records. While the music was key a great cover was vital. It needed to be the complete package. This is especially true in rock and metal. I don’t think covers are as important today. With downloads and streaming being so big compared to physical sales the covers have become less important. But, for us, we believe it’s still the entire package that is important.
– When writing a song, is there such a thing as investing too much time?
Some songs come out quickly with a great riff and you can crank it out pretty fast. We have written a ton of our songs that way. There are also those songs that take longer to come together. If you are spending a ton of time working on it and constantly changing it, then it most likely isn’t that great. I am talking about the extreme here like a song that you spend weeks on trying to make it work. Maybe put that one away.
What’s the shortest time you ever took to write one? What was your strangest inspiration?
We wrote a few of our songs in one sitting or rehearsal. The strangest inspiration or more accurately idea came for a song called When Will You Die? I wrote the lyrics for that track when I was a teen. During the early days of the band, we were a crossover thrash band (one of the pioneers or so we have been called). The topics I wrote about were about politics and society; nothing about the typical metal theme about dragons, warlords, etc. I had a friend that hated his uncle and wanted him to die so he could get his money. He would always talk about how much he would get when the man kicked the bucket. The uncle lived for like another 30 years, I don’t think he left him anything.
– Do you follow a formula when you write?
In the very beginning Steve and I would get together at my house with his acoustic and we would write the track like that before bringing it to rehearsal. Later we added a second guitar player and he also wrote. So the process changed and we would work on tracks at rehearsal. We are back to a four-piece now and it’s a actually a combination of ways. My lyrics and melodies fit Steve’s parts even without sitting together to make a song. What I mean is that I have lyrics and he has a riff that for some reason work well together even though they were written separately.
– How important is merchandising? Could artists survive without?
If you rely on your band to make a living today I think merch is an extremely important part of it. The big record deals and the advances that came with them are basically gone. Album sales are drastically down so waiting to make cash off of sales is basically wasting your time. So selling merch is important.
– What would be some of your main musical influences today?
I never had influences. That is especially true about anyone from today. I love music, but I can’t say anyone has inspired me in a way where you can hear in. I think Eddie Van Halen is the greatest, but obviously he hasn’t inspired me since I don’t play guitar. Freddie Mercury was amazing but he didn’t inspire me. The early thrash scene I guess would be the closest to an inspiration. Not a particular artist, but the scene as a whole.
– What would we be surprised to find in your music collection at home?
I have thousands of CDs and a ton of vinyl. I have no downloads. The collection of music is really eclectic – I use that word because that’s probably the best way to describe it. It ranges from Coltrane to Diamanda Galas to a Jonny Cash record (not into country music) to VoiVod.
– How important is it for a musician in this generation to spend time on social media?
It is vital. For old or new bands. Social media is the only real way to get out there for 99% of the bands. If you do it right it can help establish you.
– With the music industry shutting down presently. How are you dealing with these issues?
We are writing some new music currently and not on the road. So the current closures and cancellations have not impacted us as a band at all.
– Thank you for taking the time in doing this interview. Wish you all the best.
Thank you for the interview. https://aftermathchicago.com