EMQ’s With Electro Charged
EMQ’s With Electro Charged
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Greek Heavy/ Thrash Metal band, Electro Charged. Huge thanks to their founder member, Michael Sigiannis, 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 there Ever Metal! I’m Michael Sagiannis from Electro Charged and we are a Thrash / Heavy Metal band. It all began in 2021, when me on (vocals / guitar), also being the founding member, had decided by then to start over writing and composing my own music, after many years passing by from my unfulfilled teenage dream that has been stuck somewhere in time. Having already enough material and my passion for metal music as my driving force, I ended up reaching out to the doorsteps of Sound Symmetry Studio of the great Bob Katsionis, in Athens. There, under the significant help and guidance of the very talented and experienced music producer, every riff and composing idea got settled in the most proper way.
After that, some extra cavalry arrived to join forces. Christos Dempegiotis (guitars MYST) for the bass guitar and 2 guest solos and the exceptional drummer Thanos Karalis (Hard Disk Drive), all together we’ve forged an “omnium gatherum” that echoes in the name “Reign Of Deception”, a standalone release that comes both in a digital and physical copy, hitting the market on February 16th 2024, already available for pre-order via their Bandcamp. From a music perspective the album emphasizes on aggressive riffs, with huge sounding electric and bass guitars, blasting drumming that tightens up things and of course more than enough memorable melodies.
Now, when it comes down to the main influences, it couldn’t be missing some big names such as the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Black Sabbath, Godsmack, trying to revive that golden era of metal music with a modern approach and our personal touch, finding here and there across the songs, elements from other genres of the ‘hard sound’ spectrum.
How did you come up with your band name?
As starting on my own this music journey in the very beginning, I had to come up with a name that could represent the dynamics and the identity of this thrash / heavy blend I would like to bring on the table. Other than that, I was looking for something catchy, but also something that has to do with me as a personality. After some thinking, I decided to include something from my studies and my main occupation which is electrical engineer. So here we are, a name that’s bold and electric… ha ha!
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We are hailing from Livadia and the mighty Greece. Except our culture and history, we are very, very proud of our metal music scene there, because we wave plenty of great musicians and bands that are famous, playing in a lot of big festivals around the globe. Don’t forget that our producer Bob Katsionis is an exceptional musician to say at least and for many, many years was playing for Firewind, side by side with the great Gus G. So, all of these is an extra motivation for young people to start playing an instrument or begin making their own music, as we did.
What is your latest release?
Our latest single / videoclip is called Lord of Sickness and it’s taken from our upcoming album Reign of Deception. You can find it on Youtube via this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImU3lW9oLaI. If you ask me, it’s a very unique song because it comes from a personal experience. Both the music and the lyrics. It’s a song that focuses on the thoughts and deep fears that are undergoing when a person is struggling with the idea that he has to live the rest of his life with an autoimmune disease and the difficulties he may face, after this bad news. This whole point is emphasized in the chorus section, ending with the message that the Light is the only solution and by saying light, I mean to open up, talk to your family, to your friends, listen to the doctors and most important, FIGHT BACK!
Who have been your greatest influences?
Hmm, there are a lot of bands I choose to listen to through the day and they come from the hard rock scene like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Lynyrd Skynard, till a wide range of the metal music such as Slayer, Testament, In Flames, Lamb of God and of course some great greek bands like Rotting Christ, Firewind, Nightrage, Flames, Suicidal Angels and Enemy of Reality. My biggest influence nonetheless is Metallica.
What first got you into music?
What really drove me grabbing a guitar and begin to learn how to play and how to sing along the way at High school era, is the connection I was feeling as a teenager, seeing all those metal artists performing on stage from videocassettes and live DVD’s, the attitude of the music itself, and of course my idol James Hetfield. I remember me getting a summer job back then, just to raise the proper money so I could buy my first guitar and amp. For the first years I was self-taught, get learning from friends here and there. Somewhere near, some other friends suggested me to join their band as their singer and pretty much that was it for me.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
I already had the opportunity to collaborate with Bob Katsionis in the making of the album which is a great honor for me, as a teenager I was listening those great keyboards in Firewind and performing live holding at the same time the guitar one the other hand, was something that blew up my mind. But if I had to choose one band or artist it was going to be without doubt Metallica and James Hetfield, because I thing I owe them the very beginning of my music journey, they were my main inspiration till this very day and it was going to be a wild dream that got fulfilled.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
We were going to be very, very happy just to play any festival at some point as for now or the near future it’s not an option. But of all the many big festivals around the world, I’m going to choose the Wacken Open air, because of its attendance and the participation of a lot of heavy names at the same time.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
It’s from my woman. Does it count? Ha ha! We don’t have any fans yet apart from some friends, but we really hope we get some after the release of our debut album. The gift I received is nowhere near as weird, as it’s pretty romantic I would say. It’s a silver guitar pick with an inscription on it, that I always carry with me.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
In this huge world of music, there are a lot of different genres, for specific listening hours or mood and of course to express some particular feelings. One of the things that caught me in metal music was the purity, the aggression and the truth that some sub genres had in their lyric writing.
That’s why I choose to go down this path when it comes to mine. You have the power to awaken the listeners for some situations and give them some food for thought.
So, my message is: Seek the truth wherever it lies, my friends!
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
What a hell of a question is this? Ha ha, a very difficult one, because there are plenty enough on this list. I don’t know where to start? Singers, guitarists, bassists, drummers? But I’m going to make it a little easier for me, bringing Metallica at the table once more. I would say Cliff Burton because apart from his very young age and his very tragic death, I’m pretty confident that with him onboard, the band was going to make way more huge albums like “Master of Puppets”, even when “And Justice for All” is one of my all-time favourites.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
The freedom and the ability to express yourself and create something of your own, I think it’s something amazing. Other than that, it’s a total pleasure that you get to know new and very interesting people, to share experiences and some sort of tips. For the second part of this question, I am not going to say that is something that we hate, but when you are in the place that you already have or you want to have an audience and you must offer them a worthy product for buying and listening, you must be as much as a professional as you can get. So to keep up, you must always trying to improve your playing and your writing and sometimes it can add some sort of pressure.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
The main thing that has to change and I strongly recommend, is to significantly raise the profits for all the artists from the big digital music platforms. The share that the artists receive isn’t fair nowhere near at all.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
I’ve mentioned enough times Metallica, so this time I’ll choose something totally different for an answer. I will pick some Led Zeppelin as they were my father’s favourite band and my hard rock favourites. I’ll go with the “Physical Graffiti”, as I own it as double vinyl.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
With the tremendous increasing of technology and the fast pace rhythms of our daily lives, surely downloads coming more handy. A lot more. I belong in the dawn of the 90’s generation and I had the privilege to listen to music from of all the above. But, in the end of the day, putting some bourbon, lighting up a cigar and grabbing a vinyl is something unmatched. You listen to the whole product without the ability to hit the next button, so you really dig into every album.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
As I said and before, we are not a live stage band yet, so I am gonna mention one live, in a rock pub of my local town with my high school cover band somewhere near 2008. It was a sold out and I can recall us closing this live act with Seek and Destroy from Metallica. At the end of the song, the crowd gone wild, screaming one more time, one more time…so we did. It was a great feeling and experience!
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
I do not consider myself being a professional musician at all. Besides that, my main occupation at this point is being an electrical engineer in a power plant. If I could turn back time, this is exactly what I was going to chase after. Make my passion for music my main job!
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
1. Keanu Reeves, 2. Mohamed Ali 3. James Hetfield, 4. Jurgen Klopp and last but not least Monica Belluci.
What’s next for the band?
We are very excited that the release date of debut album is getting closer and closer and we are waiting to see the reaction of the metal fans and get some feedback. In the meantime, we are already working on some new material, trying to bring some new elements, improve in different aspects but stay true to our core.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
You can find us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/electrocharged
and of course on our Bandcamp page here: https://electrocharged.bandcamp.com, where everyone can get a pre-order of our album.
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?
I haven’t managed to visit UK yet, but honestly is on my future plans. So, keep that in mind, I don’t have the appropriate knowledge for all the above. I am not very sure, but I will say a Roll.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
First of all, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to present ourselves across the audience and give them some info about who we are and what we are doing. Secondly, I wanna tell you to keep up the great work that you are already doing. It’s very supportive and important for all the underground bands trying their best out there.
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
