WINTER’S VERGE – interview for KICK ASS FOREVER via Angels PR Music Promotion #wintersverge
Interview conducted & submitted by Marian Nicolaou via Angels PR Music Promotion

OFFICIAL LINKS

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpVvSTeqlY7YEqXc1b7BFlg
https://www.facebook.com/WintersVerge/

– You guys have a cool background but fans needs reminders! Please tell us where do you come from and what your name stands for!

Hello there! Miguel here. We are from the island of Cyprus, and our name stems from that special time at the end of autumn, when the leaves have fallen and you can feel the first hints of ice in the air, the coldness coming. That is the type of vibe we feel our music has. Naturally in Cyprus the winters aren’t icy and frozen, just kind of damp and miserable, but we were heavily influenced by Scandinavian metal bands so maybe it was just us wishing we had that environment!

– As I said you have a long background, so please let’s make a quick throwback and go back to day one! How everything started?

George started the band with our previous keyboardist Stefanos back in 2004. I joined in 2005, and we put out our first demo album ‘Another Life, Another End’ in 2006. We shuffled the lineup a bit, where Harrys Pari joined on guitar. The demo album got some attention from labels, and we were invited by RD Liapakis of Mystic Prophecy to produce a full length album in 2007, where we basically re-recorded it at a proper studio in Germany and released it as ‘Eternal Damnation’. It was a big learning experience for us and opened our eyes for sure! We were exposed to the proper professional way of making albums, which many bands in Cyprus did not know about at the time. From then on, we made our second album in 2010, ‘Tales of Tragedy’, and went on a European tour with Stratovarius which was an amazing experience. We followed that up with ‘Beyond Vengeance’ in 2012. Stefanos left the band and as we couldn’t find another keyboard player, we brought in a second guitarist, Andy Kopriva, and put out ‘IV’ in 2015 with a more straightforward, guitar-driven sound. 2017 saw us release the ‘Wolves of Tiberon’ EP which was a lot of fun to make, and we really got deeper into the world of our songs and music. Harrys and Andy both left the band in early 2019, which meant we had to find new guitar players and fast. We brought Deniel Pavlovsky and Savvas Parperi in, who we knew from the local scene and who were students of my old music teacher here who gave them a great recommendation. We then brought in Stavry Michael late last year to complete our full lineup – with a keyboardist again, finally.

– What inspires you to compose music? Other bands, movies, books or all that together plus more?

I am a strong believer that music is a language, a means of communication. Depending on what you read, think, consume, you produce accordingly. A child raised by people speaking Italian will of course speak Italian. If you spend months living in Glasgow you will begin to speak with a Scottish accent. Therefore our music is a reproduction of our influences, the music and sounds that move us. Musically, the famous Scandinavian bands like Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica, Hammerfall and so forth were big influences on me and George from the outset, with other German power metal bands like Blind Guardian, Edguy, Gamma Ray bringing their flavor to the pot. As almost all of us in the band studied music at university, we all have a lot of influence from classical music, and deeply appreciate it and understand its structures, nuances, and origins. It is very cool to be able to apply that to metal in a non-superficial way. Of course, some of the finest orchestral music you will hear these days is in movie soundtracks – the works of Goldsmith, Hans Zimmer, Trevor Jones, and of course the late great Ennio Morricone affect us all deeply, many times without us even noticing it because their works are so pervasive and have embedded themselves into mainstream culture.

With all of that as a basis, the rest of the icing on the cake comes in – we have our extreme metal influences, like death/black metal, as well as us being versed in jazz and improvisation. These are small details you might only hear a tiny bit of throughout our music, much like a few chocolate chips thrown into the cake mix as a surprise, but these skills aid greatly when coming up with ideas for songs and for building a strong live chemistry. So while the specific sounds of certain influences may not be immediately obvious to the listener, they help build the foundation for it.

– How about your lyrical concept?

We are very strongly influenced by fantasy literature and stories. We have been from the start. European legends like vampires, warewolves and local myths have all played a part in our stories. Fantasy literature is an allegory of real life, after all, providing a way to explore themes within a context where the creator can make up their own set of rules, and this appeals not only to us but to many people around the world. So if we get a chance to do something similar we take it. Every song of ours is a story with a character, a plot, and a theme. We are very much a storytelling band.

– The Ballad of James Tig, your new full length album will be out in September! So, hype us, tells us everything we need to know!

Well this album originally came as a solo project for George – he was talking about this with local author and playwright Frixos Masouras. Frixos had written a novel and there was an idea to make an album with one song for each chapter of the novel. The idea grew and eventually became the album. George then talked with the rest of us and we all decided together that it would be cool to make this a Winter’s Verge album instead of a solo project. 

The story is based on Frixos’ novel of the same title. It is a tale of disaster, loss, redemption and acceptance. It is an epic tale of the sea. 

Musically, the sound is much more symphonic than other albums. The guitar work takes a back seat, and we really go into the orchestral direction. There are intense parts of the album, but overall it is more atmospheric than our previous ones. It’s definitely different than our previous albums, but I think at the same time we manage to still sound like ourselves which is really important, probably the most important thing! We’re very proud of it.

– The cover reminds me of Savatage’s Wake of Magellan! Was there a glimpse of inspiration that you draw from the legendary band?

Oh, we are all very big Savatage fans, and Wake of Magellan is one of my favourite albums of theirs, certainly of the post-Edge of Thorns era. Since the ocean and the sea plays a big part in our music and themes, it is natural that an album by Savatage that is based so heavily on the sea and has an intricate storyline involving things that go to sea and are brought by the sea would have a similar vibe to our albums and especially this one. In terms of storytelling Savatage are really up there – from Streets to Dead Winter Dead and Poets and Madmen, all great stories told through music. If we achieve even a fraction of what they manage with their method of storytelling through music, I consider it a success.

– You released a really cool lyric video that I personally enjoyed for the song “I Accept”! (***see the above at the top of the post please***) Are we going to see any video clips as well from the new album?

Thanks! We have also released ‘Blood on the Foam’ as a full music video, which we filmed and edited ourselves, given the current situation.

– Covid-19 and quarantine gave a new shape to our reality and daily lives…In what ways it affected you, your music and probably your future live plans?

Of course, our plans like the plans of all other musicians around the world have been thrown into confusion with this whole pandemic. It had a major effect on all of us, from our jobs to our daily lives. Musically it made things difficult because we had to arrange photoshoots, video shoots, and other press-related things for this release, but at the same time gave us the opportunity to get started on working with songs for the next album. Ideally we’d have a big release show for the album but that is not going to happen now, of course.

– Any plans for live shows after the album release and the end of the lockdown?

Absolutely. Every band and project will be going for live shows as soon as they are able, and we will be no exception.

– What 3 advices would you like to give to anyone out there that plans to start a new band?

Tricky question! Off the top of my head, here are the first 3 I can think of. There are of course many, many more, possibly equally important things to keep in mind.  

• Play the music you feel, not just what you think will sell. This is the most important thing of all. Don’t just play stuff you think will be popular, it will not make you happy.
• Make sure you are all on the same page. Have an idea of what your goals are and how much you are all willing to put into the band, both time-wise and financially.
• Be professional and polite. Come to rehearsals prepared, practice the songs intensively before you record, be on time for all rehearsals and sound checks, be courteous to other musicians, sound crew, venue staff. Play every show like it’s your last – the audience paid money to see you, and you have a duty to give them their money’s worth. Nobody will think you are a rock star or a musical genius if you act like a diva, they will just think you’re a joke and won’t want to work with you. Connections and relationships matter more in this business than most others.

– Where do you see yourselves and your music in 5 years from now?

Hopefully we will have another 2 albums out, and we will be on tour in Europe and play some big festivals! Musically I think we will go in a more technical and diverse direction.

– Thank you for your time! Please hype us and your fans for your upcoming album with only 3 words!

Epic Fuckin’ Metal!