Crimson Moon: How did the band get started?
Ilias: The band got started during the Winter of 2005.It was a decision between me and Angel Paul. We liked that kind of music and he wanted to leave our mark on the Gothic-rock scene!
Crimson Moon: What kind of music do you play?
Ilias: We play Gothic rock with industrial elements. Some people claim that we play Gothic metal. But it doesn’t matter, we don’t care about the ‘tabs/labels’ since they like our music… No hard feelings! 😉
Crimson Moon: How has the band response been?
Ilias: Very well if you think that the fans of this kind in Greece are very few, but every day we earn more fans!
Crimson Moon: Where did the band name come from?
Ilias: It’s the phrase in vain, but we put an ‘e’ in the place of ‘a’ so that it means ‘through the vein’ or something! 😛 Like our music…it touches you fast (we hope) like coming through the listeners veins!
Combining the meaning of the phrase ‘in vain’ with our lyrics that talk about love and human relations…because after all many things in life are happening in vain!
Crimson Moon: Introduce the band members
Ilias: Vocals
Angel Paul: Bass and back vocals
Nick: Lead Guitars
Manos: Rhythm guitar
our new members:
George Sofianos: Keyboards
George Tzitzifas: Drums
Crimson Moon: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Ilias: Most of the songs are written by me and nearly all the lyrics. Sometimes I join forces with the other members to complete a song,like ‘Die Again’ for example which was written by Nick and I wrote the lyrics after he wrote the music.
Crimson Moon: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Ilias: From the amazing capability of people to deeply wound other people. Our lyrics refer to the sentimental wars between people…Except our personal relations and life,we also get inspired by friends and people we know or…we used to know!
Crimson Moon: How many albums/CD’s have you released?
Ilias: Unofficially 3,officially one: Veiled in Pain E.P. released on 2016 by the Greek label X-Records
Crimson Moon: Tell me about some the songs on the latest CD?
Ilias: All of the songs were written in the same period and they express our feelings in the best way we could. The lyrics talk about love, hate and other strange feelings that make the hearts bleed. I think that each person listening to our songs may find a different feeling hidden in the lyrics…and of course discover his/her favorite track.
Crimson Moon: Do you have any side projects?
Ilias: I also play the drums in a rock band with Greek lyrics called ‘Astiko Syndromo’ (Urban Syndrome). Angel Paul is also the bassist in that band!
Crimson Moon: Who are some of your musical influences?
Ilias: The 69 Eyes, The Sisters of Mercy, HIM, Type O Negative Sentenced, Dope Stars, Marilyn Manson, Deathstars
Crimson Moon: Which current bands?
Ilias: From the bands that still play gigs…I definitely adore The 69 Eyes, I’ve seen them a few times and also met them. I also love HIM but unfortunately read an announcement that they are going to brake up and that made me sad…I’ve spent many hours listening of their work, especially when I was younger.
And of course Rammstein is a great band and their concert in Athens was one of the best gig’s ever! I forgot to mention London after Midnight, they are a huge band!
Crimson Moon: What is the band like when you play live?
Ilias: It depends on the mood of each person, you can’t be in a good mood all the time. But we always try our best and try not to disappoint our fans! Sometimes the venue of the concert may affect our playing, especially when the sound is not good.
Crimson Moon: What was the best band you played with?
Ilias: In my opinion it was with Elusive on 2007.We were too young and really excited to open their show in Athens. They had an amazing performance and they were also amazing people!
Crimson Moon: Have you guys ever played in another country?
Ilias: Not yet. We had a proposal a few years ago to visit Spain for two shows, but about a month before the shows they had to cancel our arrival because of the expenses…we had asked them to cover our transport and they finally couldn’t.
Crimson Moon: How big of crowd shows up at shows usually?
Ilias: It depends…we have played in front of 500 people while participating in a festival…When we play in Athens, depending on the venue and it’s location, we usually have 60 to 120 people. But in Patras and Volos which are cities where concerts rarely take place, we had 260 and 320 people who came to our show!
Crimson Moon: How is the crowd response when you play?
Ilias: People usually get very excited, especially the ones who don’t know our band! At first, they may look at us strangely, because we get dressed in leather, wearing make-up etc… But after 2-3 songs they move their heads to the rhythm and enjoy our performance!
Crimson Moon: What is the scene like over in your country?
Ilias: Unfortunately, since the crisis begun many bands have broken up…also many venues have closed so the bands don’t have so many opportunities to give a concert. Also, they give less money and sometimes they don’t even pay the musicians! But many musicians try to overcome these problems and keep playing, giving concerts etc.
Crimson Moon: What made you want to be in this band? And if you weren’t in this band what would you being doing now?
Ilias: I would have been dead/hanged or something like that… Hahaha. No, I would have another project with the same type of music. I love Gothic rock, I believe that it may be ‘simple’ music to play, but it speaks straight to the Heart!
Crimson Moon: What does the future hold for the band??
Ilias: We hope that soon our album will be released and distributed by a serious company that will give us the opportunity to share our music with even more people around the globe!
Contact them at:
https://www.facebook.com/InVeinGreece/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/138800869466016/?fref=ts
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_R8qA9UqHNndu_scv3EViQ
https://twitter.com/invein_greece
