NEED - K.K.

\r\nMETALZONE.GR: Hi K.K.! First of all congratulations on the great brand new album of yours! Tell us a few words about it and the recording process. 
\r\nThank you for your kind words!The recording and mixing process of "Siamese God" took place at the Soundflakes Studios in Athens and it was held by the band and that weird guy called Callmelazy!Nick Papadopoulos also helped us reaching closer to the sound we had in our heads,especially guitar-wise and the whole package was finally wrapped up by Alan Douches at West West Side Music in New York who brought the whole thing up a notch or two!   
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\r\nMETALZONE.GR: Truth is that it has been a long wait. Why is that? I assume that the great sound of the album took a little longer. 
\r\nWell,first of all we had no obligations with any labels or any deadlines whatsoever.Moreover,the Soundflakes Studios are owned by good friends of ours who really enjoyed working with the band and I can say that all of us together as a team,were determined to reach the best possible outcome and push our strength and creativity to its limits.The mood of the recordings was really friendly and layed back and we wouldn ’t stop changing and re-arranging every little part we thought it could be improved until we really felt happy with it!To be honest,when the whole project kicked off,we expected it would cost us less time and money than it actually did,but ultimately everyone is really satisfied with the final result!   
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\r\nMETALZONE.GR: Tell us about the artwork now. Who is responsible for this great work of art? Does it symbolize anything? 
\r\nThe artwork is among my favorite parts of the "Siamese God" universe!It was created by Nick "Eyejacker" Panagiotopoulos,this amazingly talented artist who actually worked so hard and met the highest of our expectations!Eyejacker didn ’t compromise the quality and integrity of his art for a "fast food",watch-once-and-forget album cover.On the contrary his artwork is a sheer masterpiece,a classic work of art and for unconditionally putting his heart and soul into his work I consider him to be a part of NEED.The whole idea behind "Siamese God" deals with duality,bipolarity and the constant collision of  different thoughts,emotions and forces within or around every individual.I personally believe there is no such thing as one great truth which contains and explains every little,meaningless aspect of our every day lives but,alas,everything would seem so fucking dull if life worked that way!The truth can be found anywhere or it could never be found at all and that ’s the interesting part of it all in my opinion.So fuck what I ’m saying and find your own bloody truth!   
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\r\nMETALZONE.GR: Allow me to tell you that the second album of yours reveals tons of hard work and determination. Where does the inspiration come from?   Inspiration could come from pretty much anything actually!The high octane fuel that makes us deal with all the shit coming up every single day and feeds us with the strength to overcome is the passion we all share about music,especially when making our own.Inspiritation hits without warning and it sure has its way with Ravaya,but they know each other for years and he knows how to deal with it!He stores it up in his brain boxes and then he releases it when we rehearse.Then all of us together manipulate and craft it carefully until it reaches a point where it meets everyone ’s personal standards and likes!  
\r\nMETALZONE.GR: “Siamese God” revealed a fusion of sounds and made us understand that you really like a variety of sounds. Could you tell us anything about your influences? 
\r\nNone in the band really likes barriers and we all listen to very diverse stuff,trying to keep our ears and minds open!From the monolithic,primitive and genre-defining sounds of Black Sabbath all the way to the high-tech,deep space,polyrythmic multiverse of Meshuggah,we have all been seeking,discovering and enjoying different aspects of mostly heavy metal/hard rock music,but I ’m sure none of us would say no to a great trip-hop/ambient/soundtrack/whatever music album as long as it sounds inspired and with a purpose!Bands like Nevermore,Metallica,Tool,Fates Warning,Pantera or Queensryche are such a great bond to us though...   
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\r\nMETALZONE.GR: There is a rant by Doug Stanhope on the title track. This was a surprise to me and I would really like to know how it happened.
\r\nJon and Ravaya are big fans of Bill Hicks and George Carlin and I clearly remember Ravaya saying time and again that since those two great stand-up comedians passed away,Doug Stanhope is the most important one alive and that he ’d love to include one of his rants in our album.He sent Doug an e-mail explaining who we are and what we do,asking him permission to use this part of his rant,which really matched the lyrics after all.Doug immediately got back to Ravaya telling him there was no problem for us using anything we wanted without any hesitation!I say,this is so fucking true of him!I ’m not really into this whole stand-up comedy thing to be honest,but I have to admit Doug really practices what he preaches and that ’s why he has forever my respect!    
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\r\nMETALZONE.GR: You already got the second album out. Any plans for a tour or local live performance? 
\r\nWell,we have already announced three shows around Greece!On the 29th of March we are playing with 81db and Common I in An club,Athens,on the 31st of March we are playing in Dewars club,Agrinio with Inactive Messiah and on the 9th of April we are playing in Thessaloniki,in Eightball club,with Until Rain.A day before,on the 8th of April,we are going to perform live on Radio Arvyla,Ant1 TV and we are still trying to book some more shows around Greece,so if anyone ’s interested don ’t you hesitate partner!    
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\r\nMETALZONE.GR: After the release of your debut you are pretty well known in the metal circles of your country and abroad, having shared the stage with some really famous artists. Has a dream come true? 
\r\nShit dude,I think we still have such a long and difficult way ahead and I ’m kinda surprised you think we are well known... In my opinion,if an imaginary popularity scale goes up to ten,NEED haven ’t even reached one yet.We try to keep our minds clear of self-deceit and try not to lie to ourselves about the status the band has on a local or worldwide basis.Of course sharing the stage with some of our favorite musicians and heroes of our childhood was a great feeling I wouldn ’t want to have missed,but overall NEED dreams big and will never settle for less.   
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\r\nMETALZONE.GR: Is there a really great moment you had being in Need you would like to share with us? How about the most embarrassing one (if there is any)? 
\r\nThroughout these last 4 years we have gotten ourselves into many hilarious or absurd situations I would actually need to write a book in order to narrate all of them!Jon ’s way better at this than I am,but I clearly remember that one night we were in London for a live show in Camden town ’s Bar Monsta.It was an all-dayer festival,people would come and go all day long and we were already kinda drunk and fired up for the show.The show finally started and things were looking kinda ugly from the beginning but we didn ’t really give a shit about anything because we were a bit blurry and so happy being there and meeting all those new people!The place where Pete had set up his drum set was kinda slippery and its pieces were moving back and forth the whole time and the funniest part was when the bass head I was using at the time fell off the 6x10 bass cabinet because of the strong vibrations!All of its cables were ripped and destroyed and I actually didn’t understand a thing of what happened but continued performing and headbanging instead until one of the sound guys came up to me and went like "Dude,cut the crap!Nobody hears you,you fucking ruined everything!" Cool thing is that the guys didn ’t stop performing and I continued headbanging with them and singing with Jon until they finally plugged me straight to the P.A. of the club!Ok,the sound wasn ’t the best we could possibly have,but the show went on,the beer was drank dry and that night will remain unforgettable!   
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\r\nMETALZONE.GR: You are part of the Greek metal scene. Do you really think there is a “scene”? 
\r\nThere are many bands trying to put their music out to the masses and I assume the overall level of the scene has improved during the last 3 to 5 years.The problem in my opinion is that many of these bands try to play like their favorite band.Most of them copy their idols at will,they never try to get something fresh and maybe more personal out of their system and ultimately their music is devoid of soul.Of course there are some great bands around with which I ’d love to or have already shared the stage with,but they mostly come from the more extreme genres of metal.To make a long story short,NEED doesn ’t really feel part of a Greek metal scene,we just appreciate and support the work of a bunch of great bands which work their asses off to engrave their soul into their music and achieve their best without any help from pompous statements and false impressions.   
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\r\nMETALZONE.GR: “Need” is a weird name for a band. What does it mean for you and why did you all chose it for the band? Should we blame At The Gates and their track from Slaughter Of The Soul? 
\r\nHaha!Well,Psychotic Waltz also have a song called "Need" on their "Bleeding" album and I ’m dead sure Ravaya is a biggest P.W. fan than a fan of A.T.G.’s music!NEED was the name of the band even before the rest of us joined the band and when we finally did,we were thinking of changing it to SIAMESE GOD!After all the discussions we had back then,we decided it would be wiser to keep the original name of the band since there already was an 8-track album recorded with the previous members of the band that we could actually use as away to draw attention until we had something new to offer.Moreover,NEED is a name easy to remember and it can relate to everyone and everything without much struggle.To me personally,it represents my NEED for music,creativity,expression and good times with my pals!   
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\r\nMETALZONE.GR: Conclude this interview any way you want!
\r\nThank you very much!  Thanks a lot for your time and interview,NEED really appreciates your support.Keep on checking www.myspace.com/needband for band info and latest news,visit  www.youtube.com/needband to watch our latest video for our song "War/ning" and listen to the entire "Siamese God" album @ www.myspace.com/siamesegod.This pretty much sums it all up,remember that music is mightier than words!\r\n

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\r\niNTERVIEW Dimitris Spoonman Karatzinis \r\n

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