Getting to Know… SKAGS | Interview 🎤

On the first interview of 2021, and the 158^th overall, The Musical Hype gets the scoop from Greek alternative rock band SKAGS.

“Our songs have the energy and vibe that can bring out every kind of emotion and captivate your soul.” Hmm, definitely sounds like a scintillating musical experience that 🎙 SKAGS serves up. Originally a covers band, they’ve evolved, writing and recording their own originals – pretty cool!  The Greek ‘alternative electronic psychedelic rock’ collective is comprised of 🎙 Spyretta, 🎙 Sotiris, 🎙 Christina, and 🎙 Chris. Enough background – let’s let the band speak for themselves on 🎤 Getting to Know…SKAGS: Interview No. 158, shall we!

Starting things off right, for those who may not be familiar with SKAGS, what would you say makes your band distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off? 

🎤 Listening to SKAGS is not only a musical experience. Our music is a journey, with places to visit, a way to see things in different ways and share your thoughts. Our songs have the energy and vibe that can bring out every kind of emotion and captivate your soul. It’s music for every mood!

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did your SKAGS form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?

🎤 Each and every one of us has a different backstory. We all come from different backgrounds and lead different lifestyles. The one thing uniting us all, though, is the most important one: our passion for music. The band was formed three years ago, as a cover band. At that time, we just wanted to get together, play music and entertain the audience. In the following years, our line-up changed a bit, until, finally, our dream team was formed. It was at that time that we started making original music. Our debut single 🎵 “Screaming in my Bed” was released back in 2019, and from then on, we’ve decided to compose our own music. The last year was a rather creative one, full of rehearsals and recordings, and as a result we’ve just released our first album called 💿 Digital Cage of a Cursed Generation.

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

🎤 There was definitely a shift in our goals, as soon as we realized that merely reproducing other creators’ songs wasn’t going to cut it for us. Now, our first goal is for our music to be heard everywhere around the world. Our dream is to play in all the big festivals and, why not, tour in all the continents. We are also looking forward to writing and recording new songs for our second album. And of course, getting back on stage, and having a huge release party for our album!

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

🎤 There are some obvious influences in our sound but also quite a few background inspirations. You can see much of Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Porcupine Tree in our compositions, as well as Depeche Mode, Archive, The Gathering, etc. All these influences combined, they create a unique mix of guitar and synth sounds, which are joined by solid drum and bass lines and embraced with ethereal vocals- something apparent in the bands mentioned above.

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

🎤 After the end of a concert, a fan followed our singer to the toilet and opened the door, in order to ask for her cellphone number.

Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

🎤 Spyretta: For me, it is 🎵 “Zak.” I’ll never forget the day I recorded those vocals.

🎤 Sotiris: I don’t want to pick one as all of them are small parts of myself translated into music.

🎤 Christina: 🎵 “Put your hands down” means the most to me. It really touches my feelings.

🎤 Chris: “Zak” because of the story behind the song and because it’s the first song I ever recorded in studio.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

🎤 Well, there are a lot! We all have our own talents, such as football, video games and architecture to name some of them. Furthermore, apart from Spyretta, who is currently at her last year in the university, all the others have demanding jobs that keep us busy during the day. So, we don’t have exactly the rock star’s lifestyle, but SKAGS is our way to escape reality for a few hours and express our feelings.

Closing things out, what is SKAGS currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

🎤 Right now, our main priority is to promote our debut album, 💿 Digital Cage of a Cursed Generation. The COVID-19 pandemic has set back any plans for live performances, but we hope that all gets back to normal very soon. We really miss playing our songs live! The band has many plans for the future and only some of them are:

-A release party for our album

-A live videoclip

-A new photography session

-Getting back to the studio in order to record and release our second full album

Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward. 

Follow SKAGS: Bandcamp • FB • IG • YouTube

[📷 : SKAGS, Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype]