Noiz Ritual emerged from the aftermath of the pandemic, blending 90s grunge with 2000s alternative rock and nu-metal. Their debut EP, Embrace The Noiz, showcases introspective themes and dynamic creativity.
1. Can
you tell us about the origins of Noiz Ritual and how the band came together?
What sparked your shared passion for 90s grunge and 2000s alternative
rock/nu-metal?
Hello, and
thanks for having us for this chat! In a nutshell, the band came together
slowly in the empty space left by the Covid quarantine years, which obliterated
the majority of the music scene. We were sitting around without any active
band, and there’s nothing better that jamming some music with talented people,
and if the chemistry is that good, then making it a band is a one-way street.
It all comes down to three things: what you want to play, what you can play,
and what you sound good when playing it, so our music is kind of where all
these points met!
2. Your
debut EP, Embrace The Noiz, showcases a mix of heavy and melodic
influences. What was your creative process like during the writing and
recording of the EP?
It mostly
started out with material that Nick had written already, stuff that was carried
over from previous his projects that failed, or ideas written while he was
flying solo. But then it was mandatory that all this material would become Noiz
Ritualized! Every song was reworked, with special care to achieve balance
between the different genres we wanted to splice in the music, we didn’t want
it to sound like we were just throwing stuff in there. We like heavy music, we
like melody, we like prog, we like old school, we like modern. We tried to walk
a path where all these elements would meet without overthrowing each other, and
we jammed everything in the studio, and played it live many times to make sure
it would resonate correctly with the audience, before moving on the record it.
Just to be sure it would not be another sterile studio album.
3. The
video for your single "I Wanna Know" takes inspiration from 80s cult
B-horror movies. How did you come up with the concept, and what was it like
filming it in the heart of Athens?
Actually,
the inspiration for the story came from the skeleton that stars in the video.
It was a cheap skeleton, we had bought from Amazon to have it in our merch
stand as a prop at a merch bazar. It attracted a lot of attention there, I mean
really a lot! So at some point we were on vacation and thinking about what the
video of I Wanna Know would be, and Mantalena had the idea to make a sort of
Tales from the Crypt horror story with this skeleton. Ideas starting flowing
and it came together pretty quickly. Earlier that year we had seen a concert
that was performed at an old neoclassical manor in Athens called To Pano Spiti.
The place was perfect, both majestic and spooky, it really fit the concept of
the video perfectly.
4.
You’ve included a cover of Deftones' "My Own Summer" in your
discography. Why did you choose this track, and how has it influenced your
sound?
What can we
say about the Deftones? It’s a one of a kind band, they are one of the bands
that shaped modern 00s sound, they have influenced us deeply. We cover a couple
of their songs in our shows, it’s one of the bands that we all love, plus
Giannis makes an immaculate Chino Moreno impression, so we thought it would be
a nice idea to make this video as a teaser before we started releasing our own
material. We shot this video the same day we shot the video for Abuse Me, it
was literally added last minute!
5. The
lineup of Noiz Ritual features a unique element with Ilias Xirogiannis making
guest appearances on distorted bass. How does this setup shape the dynamic of
your live performances and recordings?
It’s a
really interesting idea! It’s not 2nd a guitar, which would
complicate the sound, as distorted guitars tend to fight everything else in the
mix. But it’s also not a bass, it sits somewhere in the middle, like a baritone
guitar tuned lower. It adds a dimension that brings more girth to the mix,
without giving the sound engineer a headache.
6. Your
music seems to balance nostalgia with modern elements. How do you approach
blending those influences while maintaining originality?
Well to
tell you the truth, it just comes out that way! Maybe it’s because we’re not
ripping off ideas from the genres that we like. Other bands like doing that, we
don’t mind if they like sounding the same as everyone else. We want Noiz Ritual
to sound like us though, we have grown out of the phase that we would do
anything just to fit in, now we just wanna use the sounds that we like but it’s
more important to build our identity, to find our own voice inside the cosmic
sonic chaos out there.
7. The
themes in Embrace The Noiz touch on introspection and emotional
struggles. What messages or feelings do you hope listeners take away from the
EP?
It all
revolves around stuff that we’ve all experienced or have seen happening around
us. Sometimes when you look on the inside it helps you understand the outside
world better, and sometimes when you observe the world around you, it makes you
realize things about yourself that you didn’t know. There are metaphors that a
lot of listeners can apply in their own reality, art is where life meets
fiction and transcends into a personal out of body experience, and hopefully we
can offer a glimpse of that.
8.
Athens has a rich cultural history and a vibrant music scene. How has your city
influenced your music, both in terms of style and opportunities?
Athens and
Greece in general is one of the countries that have one of the biggest
percentages of metal and rock bands in relation to its population. It’s nice
for a rock musician, because it is easy to find bands to play with, a lot of
venues that you can put on a live show. But let’s face it, rock and metal music
are not trendy though, so it’s not really easy to build a career, but maybe
that’s a good thing too, because opportunists and sell-outs that only care
about making money and being famous do not stick around and poison the music
scene.
9. With
your debut EP out and several videos released, what are Noiz Ritual’s plans
moving forward? Are there any upcoming tours, collaborations, or projects you
can share?
We have one more video for the last song of the EP, Robocop. The plan is already laid out and we are shooting it soon. This will complete the Embrace The Noiz arc, that was intended to be an audio-visual experience, with a unique video for every song of the EP. We got some more songs planned for the year and we are working on new material to follow up the EP with a full album this time!
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