DESERT NEAR THE END – interview for KICK ASS FOREVER via Angels PR Music Promotion #desertneartheend

This interview was conducted and submitted by Marian Nicolaou via Angels PR Music Promotion

1. Please introduce DESERT NEAR THE END to our readers. When was the band formed? Who are the members? How did you decide to form a band? Did you have any previous experience?

Hello from Desert near the end! The band was formed back in 1998 by me (Akis/ bass guitar) and Alexandros (Vocals) during our final school year. People came and left and at the moment the band is a 3 piece with the two of us still in our place and Panos at the guitar. Drums and second guitar are filled by sessions musicians. It was an easy decision back then, to form a band, we loved the same Metal bands and we wanted to try and make our own songs.. that’s all! and of course we had no experience at all!!

2. Your music style is non-conventional. Are you also non-compromised in your personal lives?

Actually no.. except if you count the fact that we still use our free time and (not only) our extra money to keep the band and our childhood dreams alive and have nothing back except the joy when a new song see the light and we can share it with our friends! I think that gives us a few non-compromised points, right?

3. What motivated you to mix power metal with thrash metal in DESERT NEAR THE END?
I can also hear heavy metal and black metal influences in your music. Is that correct?

Of course it’s correct! We want all these mixed together. When we started the band we never discussed what “type” of metal we would play. Our favourite bands were Iced Earth and Blind Guardian and we still consider “Burnt Offerings” and “Imaginations from the other side” the main reasons behind our decision to play music. Of course throughout the years the bands that we like and the influences from the whole spectrum of Metal keep piling up, but always on the foundation of mid 90’s Power/Thrash. So that’s how the Desert near the end “mix” came to be.

4. “Of Fire and Stars” is your 4th album in nearly a decade of existence. How do you keep being so productive and how do you balance the band with your personal lives?

Actually it’s not very hard! We can’t afford to be a normal touring band so we use that extra time to be productive. Also it helps that we still “like” music and the process of creating a song from scratch it’s one of the best things in our lives. As long as life and it’s difficulties allows us to do that we will continue.

5. Where was “Of Fire and Stars” written, recorded and produced?

We recorded the vocals in our own studio but the rest of the production, recordings and mixing, took place at incorporated m. Studios in Athens. The mastering was done in Viking lounge studios in Australia.

6. It has already been a year since the album was released. What reviews have you gotten so far and how did the fans react?

Mostly positive!! It’s not easy to have everyone pleased and it’s also not the point! But most of the people, reviewers and fans, seem to agree with us that “Of Fire and Stars” is our most balanced and complete work so far. It’s not a constant bombardment as “Theater of War” (our previous album) was, it’s more “analogue” if can use this term for our music, but that’s a good thing, and I have to mention here that our first three albums formed a thematic trilogy and the music had to follow the story to a degree.. So without the pressure that a concept album brings, especially when it comes to the final chapter of a trilogy where everything must be intense and escalating, it was a very pleasant change of pace. Just to be able to write without wanting to go to a specific place and let the songs guide you!

7. Did you have the chance to play the “Of Fire and Stars” album live?

Yes but not  as much as we would like though.. we had some problems with our lineup immediately after the recordings and then this whole pandemic thing happened all around the world and all our plans went on hold.

8. Your first three albums were part of a trilogy. Please let us know about its concept and if your new album is also part of something bigger.

What the concept was.. it’s very personal and quite abstract and so very hard to explain in a few words but let’s say that it’s about a person who wakes in a world without time and without memories of his former life and the only thing he sees is a burning sun that never sets above his head. And so we follow him as he roams this world searching for a different sun whose light will guide and not only blinds, as the absolute light usually does! As for the new one, when we started discussing about the album that turned out to be “Of Fire and Stars” we were certain that we didn’t want it to be a concept album and strictly speaking it’s not. What happened is that half way through the writing period we realized that most of the songs shared the same theme, viewed from different angles sure, but the same nonetheless. So the album’s theme is how fire and stars, literally and metaphorically, have fuelled human imagination through the ages and how all these found their way in our lives through religion, science and art. So it is a part of a bigger concept but not part of any trilogy!

9. Please let us know more about how do you write your music and lyrics for DESERT NEAR THE END.

Usually I say that we write the music first. There had been some exceptions during the “trilogy” where some of the lyrics pre-existed the music but thankfully that’s not normally the case. Our method at this moment is that I write the music, then presented it to Alexandros to write his vocal lines then we go back and make changes if they are needed and finally after we are pleased with everything he writes the final lyrics. During our first three albums I also wrote most of the lyrics because the story was mine but thankfully that’s also not the case anymore!! It was really difficult and stressful and I’m very happy with the situation right now.

10. How did the pandemic affect Desert Near the End and what are your next plans?

It affected all our plans for live shows but as I mentioned before there are ways to make this work. Our next album, the successor of “Of Fire and Stars” is almost ready. We are at the final stage of the mixing process and we can’t wait to share it with our friends! It’s going to be a concept album (again!) but the story it’s not of our own making, it’s based on a science fiction series of books that we love very much. We don’t have a release date yet of course but what I can say is, and I don’t care how much of a cliché it sounds, that it will be our finest album!

Thank you for the interview and best of luck with your plans.

Thank you very much and as we always say.. follow the path across the desert.

Band Links –

https://www.facebook.com/DesertNearTheEnd/
https://www.instagram.com/desertneartheend
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCllY-sWWC2fLe-83tHAxQPA