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DOL AMMAD The Kings Of Space Metal Opera Story online since: 23.12.2007 / 10:26:44 ......................................................................................................................................................... Did you ever wonder how it would sound if epic progressive metal unified with exquisite synthesizers and electro sounds in the vein of 1970ies pioneers like Jean Michel Jarre or Vangelis? And instead of a lead singer there was a whole classical choir performing the lyrics? Then DOL AMMAD definitely will become one of your greatest favourites ever. When I first listened to them one year ago I was totally blown to another dimension somewhere in the mighty depths of space. DOL AMMAD create unique, innovative music, epic landscapes of crystallizing sound. At the same time they manage the legerdemain of writing very catchy songs with big hit potential. The 21st century of metal has begun now. And DOL AMMAD show how the future may look like. So enter the intergalactic spaceship and beam to the planet of Thanasis Lightbridge, creative head and visionary of these mighty towers reaching up to the stars… Thanasis, you‘ve just returned from military service two months ago. Despite being at the army you found your own label Electronicartmetal Records and released your second masterpiece "Ocean Dynamics". How did you manage these musical activities during this whole year as a soldier? Was it difficult for you to promote "Ocean Dynamics"? Has military been an important experience for you personally or just a waste of time? How short is your hair now? The last year has been hard for me, both with the problems with our previous record label going bankrupt and with my imminent army duties. I am afraid the military service is still obligatory here in Greece and although now it lasts 12 months (it used to be 3 years in my father’s days), it is still a distracting factor in a man’s career and life, an obstacle that if you aren’t willing to take your chances by wearing a blonde wig and act gay, you have to go through the hard way;-P As an experience it makes you test yourself under strange situations, living without your comforts, away from your music, sleeping in a room with 60 unknown smelly guys, etc. It basically forces you to respect and appreciate all the tiny things in your everyday life that you take for granted. Thankfully throughout my service I met a lot of new friends and this for me is the only thing that made this time worthwhile. I hope Greece will start investing more money on education and social welfare than the military. I miss my hair, I was long-haired for about 10 years and cutting it short after all this time was a strange experience! I scare myself every time I look in the mirror ;-P Thankfully my hair grows back quickly, it is all over my eyes now already! Through all this craziness of the last 12 months I had prepared our second album with Dol Ammad and was very anxious how and what to do to promote it. I suppose forming a personal record label was always in the back of my mind since this music is so unique and "different”, it requires total artistic freedom and an innovative vision that very few labels display today. So once again I chose the hard way, formed "Electronicartmetal Records” and never looked back! It may be TONS of more work to do but it is really worth it. I have direct contact with the fans, the distros and the media and it is a very satisfying experience. Due to the limited free time I had in the army I couldn’t explore my new label to its full potential, but now I am back, I am psyched and working as hard as possible to expand its capabilities. "Ocean Dynamics" is one of the most visionary albums I’ve ever been able to enjoy. On one hand it’s very innovative and independent. On the other hand it’s extremely catchy and has got a big hit potential. Can you imagine that Electronic Art Metal could become music for the masses one day in the future? How have the reactions of the media and fans been so far? Thank you for your kind remarks, I am honoured that you feel this way about my music! It's true that although I try to create something really different and experimental, at the same time I don't want to end up with music that is inaudible and would only serve as an experimental salad in a museum :-P I don't know however if Electronica Art Metal will ever be music for "the masses" but that doesn't really concern me as I rarely seem to agree or act in conjunction with what "the masses” think and do. I make music basically for my own pleasure and for other adventurous co-travellers that I discover along the way! Only with these devoted friends is this journey of music discovery worthwhile and doesn’t end up being just some shallow music with lifestyle-strings attached. Yes, just as in "Star Tales”, the lyrics of "Ocean Dynamics” are science fiction stories but this time theme-based around the liquid element, the power of the seas. I live in a sea-dominated country and city so the liquid element is vital for my life. I really can’t imagine myself living away from the sea. The "Thalassa Dominion” story that mainly dominates the album is about an aquatic race living in a water planet. They are the spores of an ancient space tribe whose actions resulted in the devastation and corruption of the liquid element through the eras. This time I worked together with a good friend who writes these kinds of short-stories and we had a great time coming up with aquatic space themes! I like to have a different "theme” for each album although I must confess that I am not such a fan of lyrics in general. I rarely read the lyrics in bands’ booklets; I always focus on the music no matter if the band speaks about cosmic epic battles or how to make a cheesecake ;-P However, I am a sucker for all things sci-fi related so I think that my music will always have a space flavour. DOL AMMAD is a huge collective consisting of a 14 member classical choir, 2 session members on vocals and drums, 2 band members on guitars and bass and finally Thanasis Lightbridge, yourself, as the mastermind. To what extent would you call DOL AMMAD a band? How much are the others involved in the creative process? Are you doing all the songwriting and arrangements alone or do the others take part in that? Dol Ammad is not a band in the typical form. I don’t distinguish members as "session” or "band” members. It is true that I compose all the music and control everything in the creative process but this doesn’t diminish the role of any of the participants. I like to think of Dol Ammad’s albums as movies where I am the director and the rest of the guys and girls are actors and technical crew! I have a personal dream and vision with my music, but you need people to make the dream come true. I am grateful that I work with such talented personalities. Is it difficult to work with so many musicians? You have to do lots of coordination and motivation work. Is this something that goes easy for you? It can be difficult to coordinate all those people and arrange all the parts but I like the challenge. Through this process I have learned a lot and already in "Ocean Dynamics” I used experience I had gained in "Star Tales” to make the job better and easier. However I do plan to user a more compact group of people for the third Dol Ammad album. Most of them are professional choristers and soloists in various choirs and solo acts in Greece. Some are even teachers of solo and choral singing and most have participated in the biggest opera and symphonic events in Greece. I am privileged to be surrounded by such great musicians. Great musicians and also very good looking, at least when it comes to the women. Did the optical aspect play a certain role in your choices? Or did you spice up the band picture with some photo models ;-P? Or is it just that Greek women look very beautiful in general for the eyes of North Europeans? Hehe, of course Greece has very beautiful women and the band picture actually depicts the singers and not some models! LOL! But I understand your point of view since when I visit Northern Europe I think that all the women are amazingly beautiful there! You see we are more used to brunette – brown eyed beauties and feel that blue eyes – blonde hair are more "exotic” , so this must have the vice-versa effect on you ;-P But to get back to the music, beauty has and should have nothing to do with singing skills and music nature of a person and a band. I am totally against the countless bands seeking pretty faces to front their band. I mean why should I buy a musically shallow CD just because they have a great looking girl on the covers, videos etc? This is targeted to brain-less listeners and shares the same principles as all those advertisements that display babes and sexual innuendos in everything from yoghurt to car tyres! I want nothing to do with that and I wish the same for our listeners too. Especially since I am also a drummer and drums are my second biggest passion after synthesizers, I wanted the best possible drums for my music. Alex Holzwarth was a hero to me for many years and didn’t think twice when I had the chance to get in contact with him. It wasn’t difficult to convince him; he just requested to check the music first. I was honoured by his participation and I hope to work again with him in the future as he is a great person and phenomenal drummer! Some people see similarities between DOL AMMAD and Rhapsody, because the drumming of Alex is so characteristic. What do you think about that? It is true that in the power metal songs of Dol Ammad there are similarities in the playing style of the drums but this can be said for any power metal band. We are also often told that Dol Ammad have similarities with Therion due to the use of a choir. I am a fan and respect both of these bands but I think that Dol Ammad are doing something totally different. What will always distinguish us are the use of electronics and the adventurous compositions, things that I don’t ever plan to compromise. For "Star Tales” the drums of Alex Holzwarth have been produced in Germany’s Gate Studio. In the photo album on your webpage you are drinking a Kakao in Porschestrasse 1 in Wolfsburg and also have some fun with the bears of Berlin. How did you like Germany? So the next DOL AMMAD album probably will become a concept album about a milk planet ;-)? LOL! Great idea! In fact I always look for something to honour the great existence of milk. Maybe I should write a song like "Calcium” or "Dominion of the Holy Cows” (In 14 parts) ;-P Can you tell us how you manage the whole recording process? For "Star Tales” you’ve recorded some parts in Germany. For "Ocean Dynamics” did you do everything in your own studio – recording, mixing and mastering? Has the choir been recorded as a whole with some stereo microphones or each singer separately? Yes, in "Ocean Dynamics” all the production took place in my studio in Thessaloniki, Greece. I used various techniques for the choir and for this album I think it is easy to notice that the recording quality is better than the debut. I like to record both the whole and each voice separately (3 to 4 people at a time). For the third album I plan to use some new techniques I have come up with. The sound of "Ocean Dynamics” is marvellous. Do you have lots of high-end technique in your studio? Or are you one of those clever producers who manage to create excellent sound with small and cost-effective technical means? How does your studio look like? You are influenced by the great synthesizer pioneers of the 1970ies like Jean Michel Jarre or Vangelis. Do you use some original analog gear from those times like Arp or Moog? Or do you mostly work with software plugins? What do you think about all the new software emulations of analog gear? I have analog and virtual-analog synthesizers which I love! I am not a big fan of plugins and soft-synths although I do use them a lot also. I think in the recent years the quality of soft synths has been greatly improved but I believe more in the power of software libraries than just software for analog emulations. If you’ve grown up with MIDI and hands on control of a synthesizer I don’t think you’ll ever be fully satisfied by a plugin and a mouse or even with a controller having to map everything and create scenes etc. Although I do use all the latest technologies and stay up to date with the music tech progress, I witness that I tend to go back to simpler and older techniques the last years. I think that it is easy to lose control with technology and to miss the whole point of music making. Yes, that’s absolutely true. Many musicians are loosing themselves in gearslutting and drown in the new possibilities that modern technology offers them. But even if you are using your gear wisely it can rob you much time. You told me that you had a computer crash in your studio that blocked your work for weeks. Do you sometimes wish to make music purely without having to dig between countless cables, plugs, knobs and electronic labyrinths? Maybe like in the past when composers had a piano, some sheets of paper and then gave the scores to an orchestra? Or like in the future when the head-to-midi-converter (a vision of TT/Abigor) makes the music stream directly from your head out of the loudspeakers? LOL! Head-to-midi?! I would prefer Head-to-CD-Factory but we’ll have to start from somewhere ;-P Seriously though we as mankind are really in our very early baby-steps in technology and have a lot way to go. Yes, I had an unfortunate and simultaneous crash in 2 of the 3 computers in the studio and I had some difficult 3 weeks trying to save the work and bring back order into chaos. Thankfully nothing was lost except for the time delay and some thousands nerve-cells in my brain. It is true that I push these machines to their extremes but you should never count and rely 100% on them. I think back-up and restoration plans should be top priorities in computer environments. I am not sure if the composers of the past were always fully satisfied by the way their "tools” performed their music, a "crash” in an orchestra would be maybe a drunken violinist ;-P I do sometimes wish I could make music more easily and every time I play on a classical piano I am amazed by its purity and natural form. However I am afraid I am trapped forever in my electronic labyrinths and there is no turning back now… You also like Mike Oldfield. I think you both share this peaceful, positive mood in your songs and also the catchy melodies. Did you ever think about experimenting with folk or classical instruments like him? Maybe not for DOL AMMAD, but for other projects? Oh yes, in Dol Theeta! There is a lot of experimentation with ethnic instruments, mainly bagpipes, violins, flutes. I love the sound of bagpipes it is the most captivating folk instrument in the world. I also plan to make a sample library of a great Greek folk instrument when I have the time. It is an instrument that few people know in the world and of course there are no libraries for it. I have found a great player of this instrument and when I have time we will meet in the studio to construct a virtual instrument for it! Can you tell us more about DOL THEETA? You will also play drums for it. And your homepage says that it will concentrate on your meditative and atmospheric sides. When can we expect the debut album? And what can we expect? Yes I also play the drums in Dol Theeta and it is turning out a HUGE album! I thought it would be an easier production compared to Dol Ammad and everyone was like "ok, now you are 3 people only, this production will be shorter” but the songs are very lengthy, deep in emotions and feelings and have tricky orchestrations. I am not even sure what to expect of the debut album… Just like with "Star Tales” we will start from somewhere to try to find ourselves through it. The plan for Dol Theeta was conceived when I started infusing lots of meditative and softer/ambient parts in Dol Ammad and didn’t feel satisfied with it… I mean I want Dol Ammad to be in one word "EPIC”! So I decided that electronica-art-metal must be portrayed by more than one band and thus Dol Theeta was born. I am really happy with the result and also very anxious to see what the final outcome will be. The music is so narcotic, you dive into the songs and sometimes you dive too deep it gets scary…It is an electrifying inner journey that defies limits and structures. You are going to do a video clip for it. Can you reveal anything about it? Yes I think I can now reveal the first steps of the Dol Theeta world. I have decided to release a single before the full album. The single will be for a song called "Goddess” and it will also include our first ever video clip! We are currently working on the Graphics for the video with the help of my greatest friend who is an expert in Computer Programming. I am really excited to see the final result! And did you ever think about creating a "negative twin” of DOL AMMAD with a dark and dissonant basic mood? I mean you already had some dramatic, furious and dissonant parts on "Ocean Dynamics”. But in general the mood is very positive and makes you feel good and optimistic even in dark hours. Of course! It is the third "Dol” in the world of Electronica – art- metal, a third project that will appear in the near future! There was an innuendo about it in my message on our website when I announce Dol Theeta but few people noticed it ;-P Anyway, yes I have a VERY darker side which I can’t wait to express and share with our friends. It is when this third "Dol” project comes out that our listeners will finally have the total picture of my music and understand my vision. All I can say now is that it will be something really extreme, an audio-violence experience that will amaze and shock you! Will this probably go a bit into the direction of "Thalassa Dominion IV”? There are several very dramatic and dissonant parts in this song and also some hyperspeed blastbeats? Yes there will be inhuman blastbeats in this darker project but it will be nothing like Thalassa Dominion IV, you really haven’t heard anything like this before… If Dol Ammad sound unique, then this is ages more alien to the ears. It is an audio violence that scares the hell out of all my friends when they visit me while I work on this stuff ;-P Imagine the cruellest grind-gore death metal band but with an electronica speedcore instrumentation! But that’s for the future to come… ;) You seem to be a very spiritual man. I read somewhere that you are practising Yoga and also have a certain interest in topics like astrology. What do you think about so called esotericism? Of course you can also choose another word for it, since "esotericism” has been misused a lot within the past decades. I am a man that thinks a lot, in every second of my life my brain is in constant thoughts and ideas and in day-dream-imaginations. I often suffer from insomnia, megalomania and lack of concentration into what is known as "real life”. I always compare everything that happens to mega-cosmic and micro-cosmic scales and this can be very tiring sometimes especially when you try to relax. I am very interested in Yoga but not so much in astrology. Maybe you confused it with astronomy which is a fascinating science. Regarding esotericism, as in knowledge that few can grasp and remember, I think we are heading towards ages of esotericism since the huge clueless masses are undereducated in a world where knowledge is so freely and easily available. You can see it in all aspects of life, music – art – politics – society. An elite-few in a world of zombies… With mega-cosmic and micro-cosmic scales to you mean thinking in fateful analogies? Like e.g. bears escape from the zoo in several American cities and at the same time a bear market arises at the New York Stock Exchange? And you think there may be a secret relationship between those coincidences, an analogical relationship between microsphere and macrosphere? Yes and no at the same time. Even the words "Yes” and "No” which often carry the result of a decision can be a microsphere and macrosphere respectively. My mind drifts helplessly through thoughts like when I make a cup of coffee at the same time a supernova blasts a star into shock waves of energy. This fusion was the result of years of the star’s aging under which star a centipede on earth is devouring a rat or a mother scorpion is carrying its first scorplings on her back. It’s this constant zoom-ins and outs that go on inside me…I can’t know if they mean anything or if there is a secret relationship between them… It would be scary if there was. Can insomnia be an inspiring state of mind for you? Do you often create music while being sleepless and overtired? Or is it more a state of mind where you cannot concentrate on proper musical work anymore? Yes I am creative when I am tired and stressed. But it starts to have an impact on my health, I can’t remember the last time I was relaxed mentally… You said you aren’t a big fan of song lyrics. What about books? Do you have any favourite authors? Or do you prefer sound over word in general? Oh no, I love books! My favourite authors are Douglas Adams and Phillip Pullman. I just don’t pay that much attention to words when I listen to music. It is a whole different experience. I do prefer to listen to music in my free time but I often try to steal some time for a good book also. Yes I love South Park! Our good friend Ntennis Papakostas had this idea to do a South Park version of Dol Ammad using online software that someone has created. Ntennis sent me an email asking for my permission and for some details of the members! Like who have blue eyes etc! I think he did an amazing work and reproduction of the entire band but I can’t stop laughing with Alex Holzwarth and his bongos! I also like my lightsaber ;-P Okay, Thanasis, thank you a lot for the very pleasurable conversation. I am sure we’ll talk again soon on your forthcoming works in 2008. The last words belong to you. Thank you Chrystof and the rest of the AGM crew for the amazing support and pure friendship! It was an honour and one of the best interviews I’ve experienced. I would also like to thank all our fellow music travellers and to ask their patience for the upcoming Dol Theeta releases. Various reasons beyond my powers made it impossible for me to make a 2007 release. What I can promise is that in the first months of 2008 you will be presented with a massive album. A huge music adventure of space melodies and inner emotions that I am sure you’ll love. To my ears it feels like the best music I’ve written so far in my life. I wish you all the best for the New Year, may you live free and happy and may you never stop dreaming! Space on! =) Chrystof |
