EMQ’s With Ganzi Gun
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Greek Modern Hard Rock band, Ganzi Gun. Huge thanks to them for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Hello! We are Ganzi Gun from Athens, Greece. We play modern hard rock, or at least that’s what we tell everyone who asks us.
We first started as a cover band, like most young people’s bands but over the years, we decided it would be best to start writing our own material. We had some urges, let’s say, to express ourselves. And so we did. Some riffs or drum patterns or vocal lines do the trick for us and then we jam along and see what we can keep and what we can store for later.
How did you come up with your band name?
The name is an anagram of the old word ‘’gan-zi-gun-nu’’ which means “The medicine that heals the mind’’. It’s a word that was used back in the ancient Assyrian medical practice. It’s quite interesting to be honest, and music for us has always been the gateway to either feeling relaxed or pumped. So it is a medicine, metaphorically.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We are based in Athens, Greece.The Metal/Rock scene here is very good. We have some great bands that are already doing tours around Europe and some around the world. Also smaller bands, at least the last few years, are being more supportive of other smaller bands like themselves, which is very good for everybody, especially in a country that does not have Metal and/or Rock as it’s primary music.
What is your latest release?
Our latest release is our second full album titled ‘’Time is Now’’. We released it back in June 2020, when Covid started hitting Greece in the face for good.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Regarding music, way too many. I’m going to name a few, as we will need a bigger paper to write all of them down. Metallica, Guns n’ Roses, Black Stone Cherry, Godsmack, Nickelback, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Overkill, Motorhead and I am going to stop there.
Regarding non-musical influences, we would say life itself. Not to be poetic or anything, but it’s true. From big events, good or bad, taking place in all of our lives, to the small moments or details someone is experiencing, from the moment they wake up till they fall asleep.
What first got you into music?
We would say our love for the stage when playing live. Seeing all of those artists or bands that influenced us in the first place or not, performing live. When they were interacting with the crowd and just having fun with it. The feeling when performing live is possibly the best one ever.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
I’m afraid I cannot talk about the other members of the band, as all of us are different when listening to music. So personally, I would love to work with Blind Guardian as they are my favourite band, and Nightwish, Sevendust, Breaking Benjamin, John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr. to name a few.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
We would love to play all festivals that are taking place and share the stage with great bands and share our music with the crowd, if possible. As for picking one, I would go with Wacken, as almost all bands we love play there every year. I’ve never been there myself unfortunately, but I share the enthusiasm of the people there, from YouTube. But when the time is right, I will definitely go at least once in my life.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
That’s an interesting question. Trust me I would love to answer whatever the answer would be however, we are not that big as a band, so no weird gifts I’m afraid. But one of our guitarist’s friends gave him a frame with a picture of our first album, which was a very nice move back in the day. Even something so ‘’small’’, we appreciate it, as it comes from someone who just likes our music. But trust me, once we get one, I will let you know.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Try to do whatever you do and like to the best of your abilities. Never waste a minute, unless it’s for breathing.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
That is a very difficult question, as so many have sadly passed away. Personally, I would bring back Ronnie James Dio, as I’ve never seen him live and whatever song he was singing, no matter the genre, that song would instantly become an epic one.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
As I mentioned above, playing live is possibly the best feeling ever. But also every expression that comes with music. It could be a sad, angry or happy feeling, but that is the best part about it. You can literally have it all. Collaboration with other people, musicians or not, is also a great thing about it, because you can talk about anything regarding music and switch back and forth thoughts, opinions and of course, albums. I hate that we live in a country that does not have that much love or appreciation for the Metal / Rock genres, despite our scene being extremely good with amazing bands. But we cannot change that, so it’s also a ‘’double’’ challenge for us, to become better and be heard.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
More appreciation for music itself and not for the money. Bands and artists spend their whole life, way too much money and work tirelessly to tour around the world, in order for them to be heard. If we could find a way to help each other out on this journey, that would be amazing.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Judas Priest’s “Painkiller”.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Again, it really depends on the individual. For me, the best is Vinyl and Downloads. Nowadays, technology has come so far on how people can hear better, what they can hear and what is the best option for each and every one separately. Headphones now are amazing, nothing compared to the ones we had, even from 5 years ago. So it is very easy to hear even the smallest details on a song or appreciate the full experience of what you are listening has to offer. So yeah, besides Vinyl which for me is the best experience to hear even the smallest crack on the drummer’s toms, the second option is Downloads.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Our most memorable gig was the one back in 2015, when we played at the ‘’Rock on the Beach’’ festival, in Thessaloniki. It was an amazing 2-day festival with great bands, rock ‘n’ roll and lots of beer cans.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Being a drummer. I’m kidding. Probably switching on jobs back and forth until I stay somewhere I really like. What I do like to be honest, is learning more about music’s history. From classical, to the first blues and soul songs, that lead to rock and then to metal. Maybe I’ll create a documentary one day about this, who knows.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Blind Guardian. We would first eat and then, we would lay down our dice for some good ol’ ‘’Dungeons and Dragons’’ game. I am a nerd, I admit it.
On a more serious note, my top 5 drum heroes. John Otto (Limp Bizkit), Morgan Rose (Sevendust), Chad Szeliga (ex-Breaking Benjamin, ex-Black Label Society), Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater, Winery Dogs) and Jukka Nevalainen (ex-Nightwish).
What’s next for the band?
Since it’s not been that long we resurfaced from a three year hiatus, due to Covid and our former singer leaving the band due to health issues, the first thing is do as many rehearsals as we can, since we also now have a new singer. We need to be ready, as on May 26th in ‘’An Club’’ in Athens, we’ll be celebrating 20 years of the ‘’Made In Hell’’ studios, which is also the studio where we rehearse and record our albums. After that, we have the honor of playing in the ‘’Rockwave Festival’’ on July 9th, which is one of the biggest stages in Greece. Aside from those 2, we are looking to do some more shows in Greece, but nothing is sure yet.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ganzigun
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GanziGun
Instagram: http://instagram.com/Ganzi_Gun
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ganzigun4643
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0mMKcKrDii9ldVAyzLmU4t?si=JeAYMdAbR0WKbJhg0z9YdA
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun, a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
To be perfectly honest here, I’ve no clue, even though I googled all the words. But I will say the bun, as this is the word I’ve always known for an alternate sandwich. And you can fill it up with whatever you like so, bacon for the win.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you very much for having us, it’s been a pleasure! Rest assured, you will hear more from us in the near future and we’ll try to come to the UK to eat buns and drink a ton of beers, as soon as we have the resources. Stay safe!
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