Erascor
1) We have on eraskor.com Luna Obscura’s singer, Gogo Melone! Thanks for accepting our interview! Congratulations on your voice and on the band! Tell us the band’s story and descrive the line up, please…
Thank you Marco! The line up is Dimitris Papachristos (songwriter , orchestrals, programming), Aris Potonos (male vocals, words), and me! The band formed in 2000, couple of friends who wanted to experiment with their musical preference! From the beginning it was so obvious that we wanted to compose music and not just play our favorites songs from other bands as a start. But we didn’t have a plan to create a gothic character or doom or death! I met Aris and Dimitris few years ago, when they already had some songs ready and I joined them in the first recordings for the demo “Darcanda”. Having two singers it was only an idea but we’ve noticed that some of the songs were sound so beautiful and atmospheric and we wanted to keep it in this way. Came and passed few members, we had many session musicians and we still have for the gigs and recordings and even if we have faced many difficulties we still have the same passion and the same feeling for the things that we want to do and represent us as a band. Until now we have released one demo in 2004 named “Darcanda” which took and still take many great reviews. The EP “Evilyn” with 2 songs in 2007 and this year came out our first full length album called “Feltia”.
2) Listening the tracks of “Feltia” I remembered bands like Theatre of Tragedy, Tristania and Draconian! Are you inspired by these band? What are your influences and your favorite bands at moment?
I like those bands and sometimes one song, a good album or a melody can be the trigger to create your own song, your own album, your own melody in music and life too. But I also like Katatonia, My Dying Bride, Swallow the Sun, Daylight Dies, Trail of Tears, Paradise Lost, Moonspell, Graveworm, Amorphis, A Perfect Circle, Dead Can Dance and many others.
3) Gogo I’ve been bewitched by your voice, really amazing, that stands out in contrast to growl! In some parts You remember me (although your timbre is personal) Cristina Scabbia,singer of Italian band Lacuna Coil! Is she a your vocal influence? What do you think about Lacuna Coil?
Thank you very much for your kind words, I’m glad that you liked my voice! Well I guess is too easy to remember someone else, because there are not so many popular female singers in metal and sometimes you can’t avoid the comparisons. But so far I don’t think that I’ve been influenced by Cristina’s Scabbia voice but I respect her as a musician and performer, she is really good into this and Lacuna Coil too.
4) Always talking about your voice, How long have you been starting to sing? Who or what inspired yourself to begin in this field?
I’ve started to sing when I was 10 years old, the most times in chorus. As a kid I was always active in everything.The first metal album I bought was “The Black Album” of Metallica, I guess that everything starts then! Then I started to listen bands from every genre, I’ve made some vocal lessons but I left it soon because of my bad teacher. In high school I started to sing in different bands…I guess that all my moves were the usual for my age.
5) How You give birth to your composition? Who is involved in writing of lyrics and music? Especially, which are inspirations for your lyrics?
Our guitarist Dimitris is responsible for the most musical parts, I’m also writing some orchestral parts and Aris the lyrics. Our inspirations came from the human suffering, the fear, the pain of blasted hearts, the misery, the anger, the dreams and nightmares, sometimes from poetry and our personal stories in life.
6) My favorite chapter of your recording is “The ancient one” but I love whole recording!!!It is amazing : very flowing, not boring, mix of death doom and gothic and great melodies with great voices!!!These are all things that, lovers of these sonorousness, surely appreciate them! But..for who don’t listen your album yet, how would you introduce it?
Thank you! Well, “Feltia” is not a concept album, is a mixture of the words feel, fall and fault and defines the human psychic situation when a person is melancholically and emotionally charged. The album has 11 songs with beautiful balance between male and female vocals but it’s not the usual gothic metal style that we all know from the past…all the songs are very strong and powerful. Our sound has been enriched with many stuff but we tried to keep enough elements from the oldest works of the band. We respect the audience so in this album is really obvious that we’re acting in a more professional way. “Feltia” is a really good option for those who love the atmospheric – death – gothic – metal genre.
7) I read on your myspace You have worked with Stamos Koliousis(Funeral) and that the mastering has been done by a great professional, Mika Jussila ( Nightwish, Children of Bodom, Sonata Artica, Amorphis) How was the work with these two professional like? Are you proud and satisfied?
Absolutely!!! Of course there are times that wish you could have more time but we’re musicians and the insecure feeling is always in our minds !!! We’ve spend a year to finish everything. Dimitris and Stamos have worked many months for the mix of the album, it was the most difficult period but we did it well. Steve Dickins from STV Studios who was our producer in the past helped us a lot with the vocal recordings but we didn’t spend more than month because Aris and me were ready for this. Mika Jussila did a great job with the mastering and we couldn’t except less than this…he is really talented and adept person.
8) Luna Obscura comes from Greece: how is musical situation there? (promotion, support and live)! what is your opinion about Greek underground, are there bands you love in particular way?
Well I’m working as a graphic designer so the last years I’ve met many artists from my country and surely everything looks better from the past. I always like On Thorns I Lay and Septic Flesh but there are many good bands spreading metal around Greece, we have also good winter and summer festivals and this is really great!
9) The cover album is very great, very articuled and full of figures! Who is the creator of this work? Has it any meanings or recalls to Feltia’s lyrics?
Zilas made the album artworks. As I said the album is not a concept album so there is no any concept behind the cover. We wanted something dark with those colors and Zilas used to make dark artworks from a greek metal magazine and we thought that would be great to collaborate with him.
10) Are you planning a tour or any lives? Have you ever played in Italy? Which italian bands would you to play with?
We feel that now is the right time to make some lives again and we’re planning to do some stuff in winter. We have never played in Italy and it’s too bad because we all love your country very much … we hope to play as soon as possible. Novembre are Graveworm are good bands, would be great to play with!
11) Well Gogo, we thank heartily for this interview on ERASKOR.COM and for time granted! Congratulations for you and yours LUNA OBSCURA and I wish a great success you! We wait your band in Italy…
Thank you very much too!!! All the best on Eraskor.com and to you!!!
Interview by Marco Squillino