Interview Time with Labros of 1000mods
If you're a fan of Stoner rock then you have probably heard the name 1000mods listed on a compilation or two. If you're unlucky enough not to know of them here's the basics, 1000mods is a psychedelic Stoner rock band from Chiliomodi, Greece. Formed in the summer of 2006 the band has played well over 100 shows with legends of the genre such as Brant Bjork, Color Haze, Karma to Burn and many others. Labros, the drummer was nice enough to take time away from his studies to sit down and answer a couple of questions for us. Read it after the jump!
Listen to 'Super Van Vacation' in its entirety as you read the interview!
1. Who are you?
We are 1000mods.
2. What do you do?
We play psychedelic/stoner rock.
3. Why do you do this?
To have fun and express our feelings and thoughts through music, but also because it’s a great way for us to escape from everyday life.
4. What influenced you to play the classic psychedelic/stoner rock style?
At first, it was Black Sabbath. Then it was Kyuss. We really like the laid-back feeling of this music and of course the psychedelic sounds that make you trip, think, feel, etc.
5. Speaking of Kyuss your sound is often compared to them and other American desert rock bands, but Greece is getting pretty renowned for this style too is it not?
For the past 5 years, Greek underground stoner/heavy/southern rock etc. scene is getting bigger and bigger. Many new bands have been formed and have recorded awesome and professional albums. The band that has influenced us all is Nightstalker, the Greek stoner rock legends that started playing in the early 90’s and have so far released 6, really cool albums.
6. Any upcoming bands you are mighty interested in that you think others should know about?
Our very good Greek friends, Routes have just released their second album. It’s pure psychedelic stoner rock. Check it out!
7. You guys have played hundreds of shows and opened for many great acts, some legends of the scene. What are some of the best touring moments you have experienced?
Jamming with Radio Moscow on stage and watching Colour Haze practicing in an empty Club before the show. Also, driving for 23 hours, from Holland to Italy, last Halloween in order to play a gig. The place was packed with “vampires” and “skeletons” that were crowd surfing.
Hah, we came up with the name Liquid Sleep by accident. This release was supposed to be a 7”split with another Greek band. Unfortunately, that band split up at that moment. So we had to release it by ourselves, but we only had one song already recorded, Burnt Sleep. Liquid Sleep was an unnamed jam that we used to play during our gigs. We decided to name it that way in order to create a hypnotic kind of effect with two songs that were strongly influenced by SLEEP!
Super Van Vacation is the title of the last song of our debut album. We came up with that title because we feel that it best describes the whole mood during the recordings.
9. While we're at it, how did the name 1000mods come to be?
We did a funny “translation” of the village’s name that our band comes from, Chilomodi. We turned Chilio (which comes from the word chilia which in Greek means a thousand) into 1000 and then modi into mods. So, here you have it, 1000mods.
10. There is no denying, the artwork of the Stoner rock scene is out of this world, do you guys have any favorite artists?
We really like the psychedelic artwork that has been inspired by the 70’s artists. We think that a band should really have to care about the artwork. It completes the whole “package”. We’ve been huge fans of Malleus’ work for many years and we’ve always wanted them to design out debut album. We are extremely happy that the cover of “Super Van Vacation” is theirs. Another artist that we really admire is, Arik Ropper.
11. Let's talk about the genre. Do you call yourselves a 'Stoner' rock band? Are you guys even into that?
The term has always thrown me off, at its roots it is psychedelic classic rock.
We don’t really like the whole genre thing. As you said, our music is based on the 70’s psychedelic rock. The term stoner rock was invented, I think, after Kyuss split up, in order to capture the laid back and psychedelic feeling that this band had, compared to the other heavy rock bands during that period. We do call ourselves a stoner rock band, but we also call ourselves a psychedelic and a heavy rock band.
12. What does the future have in store for 1000mods? Any secrets you can share? Maybe an upcoming release or tour?
At the moment we are kind of inactive regarding the live shows, as our guitarist John had to join the Greek army (unfortunately it is obligatory in Greece). Nevertheless, we are playing in Aquamaria festival on the 18th of August in Germany along with My Sleeping Karma, Sungrazer, Rotor etc. Also, we are planning a mini tour in Germany during that week. We practice a lot and compose new stuff for an upcoming release. We have an already recorded, mixed and mastered 20min. jam that there is a chance that we are gonna release as a special edition vinyl.
13. Piracy, what is your stance on it? Not the sea faring kind though if you have an opinion on them feel free!
We really want people to have the opportunity to listen to our music without having to pay. That’s why we sent all of our releases to many blogspots and have them available for free download. We do download most of the music we are listening to, but we also try to support the underground bands by buying their merch and of course their vinyls! For the underground bands, piracy works more as an easy way to promote their work rather than a way of losing money.
14. On the topic of the sea, picture yourself stranded on an island with only 3 albums to listen to for the rest of time, what would they be?
Black Sabbath–Black Sabbath, Kyuss–Blues for the Red Sun, Colour Haze–Colour Haze.
That seems to be it for now, I'm still learning the ropes of question asking. I really appreciate you giving the time to do this and well any last words to your fans?
Thanks a lot for the support and the interest! Keep up the good work on supporting the underground scene. We hope that we’ll meet sometime in the near future! Cheers!
Want more 1000mods?
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/1000mods/217284101582
Bandcamp:
http://1000mods.bandcamp.com/
No comments: