Interview: HARD DISK DRIVE

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What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today? Listening all these great records as kids made us wanna grab an instrument and learn how to play them. Each of us has a different backround on how we ended up playing our instruments. For me personally I remember being 3 or 4 years old and banging all the cooking pots with spoons and forks . My mom was furious ! Music helped us go through some very difficult times, I think it's a natural instinct when it comes to art therefore we would all end up playing music one way or another. We all have our day jobs of course. Sad as it is you cannot pay your bills by playing/ creating music, at least in Greece !

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

During the mixing process of our latest release IMMORTAL NIGHTMARES things got a bit dark for a moment, we were all burned out towards the end and the pandemic didn't make things easier. So we took 2 weeks off and, personally, I went hiking and did some nature photography, it helped a lot clearing my head and de-compress all the tension. We all love travelling as well but that was not going to happen ! Also, we always try to expand our musical territories by listening to a lot of music whether it's metal or not.

How long has your band been around?

We started in the fall of 2010, originally as a cover band but we soon found the need to create our own music. Throughout the years we have released a demo cd, two EP's, a single and now our first full length album.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

We are from a small town in SW Greece called "Gargalianoi". There were (and unfortunately still are) very few, if any, people who ascociated with music in the area. That created a lot of issues finding band members but also made us strong as a team, It made us somehow proud of being "the weird band from a weird place". Once we got to play our first show in Athens, we realised that we have to keep going no matter what mainly because of the overwhelming feedback we got from other bands and fans.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

It was basically a guy's idea who was in one of our very first rehearsals. He said "why don't you name your band Hard Disk Drive? " We thought "no one would name their band like that, let's keep it!" And it worked ! We had people coming to shows just because they found the name strange. Of course there were some negative comments about it over the years but we grew out of it. We didn't want to be another band about fire, dragons and steel.

Tell me about your most memorable shows. Our best show was in December 2014 at Remedy club, Athens GR. We were participating in a battle of the bands contest held by Metal Hammer Greece and a lot of the big names from the Greek scene were there. Hell, when I saw George Kollias sitting at the bar with Bob Katsionis I wanted to take a taxi back to the hotel ! Of course they were all super friendly and all but you get the feeling. The place was packed and everyone had a blast, we didn't care for the result nor the prizes. We made a lot of friends and it was the first time our music entered the big scene of Athens.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already? Due to the great memories we have from playing there, it has to be Remedy Club. Of course we want to play everywhere, there a lot of cities in Greece that we haven't yet visited.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Besides our heroes Metallica & Iron Maiden which is everyone's dream, we would love to play with the big three of Greece's metal scene: Rotting Christ, Firewind & Suicidal Angels.

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Keep practicing, always experimenting with your sound, don't listen to anyone but your bandmates and have patience. If your music is good, people will eventually discover it.

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Probably have more patience with everything and be more focused when it comes to decisions of the band's next step. Also, don't spend gig's payment on alcohol, save it for the band !

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

Personally I choose "World" from "Whispers Over The Sky" EP. Recordings of this song were done during a very dark time for me. It hits me different everytime I listen to it. As a band I think we'll go with "Babylon Nephilim" as it is one of our most mature and complete compositions alongside with "Souls Of Self-Destruction".

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

Up until now our most requested songs are "Moonstruck" from "Sadistic Leader" EP and "World" from "Whispers Over The Sky" EP. Our favorites are from our latest release IMMORTAL NIGHTMARES entitled "Ebony Sadness" & "Babylon Nephilim". There are some songs that we haven't yet played live such as "Souls Of Self-Destruction" and

"Long March To Freedom" which we think will be favorites as well !

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

We get inspired from many things, a personal experience, reading a book or watching a documentary. Sometimes we transfer these experiences into a fantasy world that allows us to be even more creative. Dinos has always a new riff in his pocket so we go from there.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

We like to bring the aggresion of heavy music as it helps people to relieve themselves from the daily troubles/nightmares. But we also like to bring some of the goth atmosphere, with melodies and lyrics that flirt with the romantic side of things.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Almost on a daily basis, haha ! We are three members in the band so it's easy, we vote ! It is a good thing to have disagreements, it means that everyone participates and wants the best for the band and the music.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

As of now we want to promote our new release and get as many listeners as we can to discover our music. Once the whole pandemic is over we would love to go out and play live again, hopefully soon !

  https://www.facebook.com/HardDiskDrive https://www.instagram.com/harddiskdrive_band/ https://open.spotify.com/artist/0KC2WwIGsp409EIQ4Lq8BW?si=P8iCG3WsS-6XUfBfzdjPnQ&nd=1 https://harddiskdrive.bandcamp.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM_g8QaI75VCcT9Ne_g82bQ   Hard Disk Drive - Babylon Nephilim (Official Lyric Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2BbQ-reKnY   Hard Disk Drive - Immortal Nightmares (Teaser) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYk0Q0fXdok