Interview with Thomas Petrou from No Brain Cell
THOMAS, PLEASE TELL US AND THE READERS A BIT ABOUT YOU AND YOUR BAND NO BRAIN CELL AND THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE OF MUSIC?
- The story begun four years ago. The group’s core was formed by founding members Thomas Petrou (myself), composer & keyboardist, and Nikos Efthimiadis, bass player. Later on, Ilias Papadopoulos (guitar) was added to the group; with his acute perceptive capabilities and close aesthetic affinities with us, he sensed the sound we were looking for and gave it form reaching the desired result. The last member of the group is Dimitris Skouras (drums), who also gave us the name No Brain Cell. The lyrics are written by myself, Despina Hatziagelidou and verse writer Mirto Pertsinidou.
The group’s name (No Brain Cell) implies a sociopolitical sarcastic comment, which in accordance to our approach references the average spectator’s addiction and entrapment in the plethora of digestible and superficial, crude sounds and images that flood the media.
One definition is not sufficient to describe the style of our music. We are influenced by a variety of different genres: progressive rock, experimental rock, progressive metal, psychedelic rock, alternative rock, krautrock, ambient, post-rock, Canterbury scene, neo-progressive, art rock, zeuhl, space rock.... The list is endless!
“NO BRAIN CELL” YOUR SELF-TITLED DEBUT EP IS NOW AVAILABLE ON EVERY DOWNLOAD- OR STREAMING-SITE VIA BACILLUS RECORDS . PLEASE TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE SONGS AND THE LYRICS. WHAT INSPIRED YOU? WHAT ARE THE LYRICS ABOUT?
- Listening to our songs and lyrics carefully, one will realize that we are not afraid of the journey and where it will lead us. Our music knows no restrictions. It is composed by different layers of sounds that comprise a whole, an atmosphere of equal elements, which converse in order to form the desired result. So, the goal is the harmonious synergy of all individual elements towards a seductive and complete musical entity. Against all flamboyant mastery and skill of the separate individualities. The collective and democratic character of the final result as a whole is emphatically underlined. It is freed from the I and transformed into a We.
The sounds, the melody, the harmony, the lyrics – everything composes an atmosphere as if these were comprising a fragmented representation of life itself, bearing the emphatical underlinings and tensions of the elements we choose to activate or address, in order to create a path of communication with the public. The co-existence and alternation of silences, tensions and flares, the alternations and co-existence of the sound’s harshness and the voice’s depth, together with the unrestricted evolution of melody – everything leads to an unexpected end, that leaves you hanging and therefore vulnerable, in order to sense the entire work and its meaning. In other words, we create the circumstances appropriate to perceive the work. Rhythm functions as an antidote to entropy and chaos. Melody acquires a narrative that liberates the listener from his/her personal impulses. Melodies become detectors of sentiments, memories, traumas, realizations and redefinitions, containing all the influences that have left their mark on us.
We might be inspired by a chord, a melody, a rhythm or a motif that contains the sperm that will later become inseminated collaboratively, by everyone, leading to the final work. The next step might come up either automatically, with great ease, or tantalizingly, after a long period during which it takes the form that will finally satisfy us. The common aesthetics and aesthetic affinities that run through our work are the distilled essence of working together for years. The time of gestation necessary for each song is unique and depends on many factors. The resulting sound succeeds in activating memories. It transforms them and shapes them into something new that comes into being and acquires substance – this is the fascinating part. It is catered by a feeling and in turn feeds into new feelings, each one of which is something different.
The lyrics dress the music following a course reverse to that usually followed to write music for lyrics. Music always comes before Speech. The feelings generated by the music – love, sadness, anger – trigger the creation of lyrics by Despina Hatziagelidou and Mirto Pertsinidou, so that images emerge through lyrics and music, as an introversion that has to be externalized and communicated. All with measure and balance beyond mannerisms, through freedom of expression. They compose the imagery of the self-entrapped contemporary man, an agonizing search for escape routes from the grey, the shadows and our demons, from emptiness. They sense the agony, the sensibilities and the fears, sneering at contemporary man’s complacency, entrapment and illusion of fake self-sufficiency, suggesting escape routes through reevaluations and redefinitions. They attempt to escape the past catering for endurance for the present and resistance for the future.
WHERE DID YOU RECORD THEM? WHO WAS THE RECORDING ENGINEER? DID HE TAKE PART ON HOW THE SONGS ENDED ON TAPE FINALLY?
- We recorded our debut EP in our studio, due to lack of funds adequate for the kind of production we would obviously desire (unfortunately the “renowned” Greek crisis has not left us unaffected). Therefore, our debut EP is the result of an experimental collective effort, with the poor means we had in our disposal. Myself, Dani Joss, Othon Kokkinos, Antonis Fanaras and Vangelis Haholos worked as recording engineers. With my guidance and supervision, we moved through specific paths to achieve the formation of the style we were looking for.
We have worked with a number of well-known bands and groups of the Greek music scene.
HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO SING ONE OF YOUR SONGS IN GREEK?
- No. It’s a matter of aesthetics. In the past I created other, completely different projects, that used Greek verse. The specific project has been created for English verse. Obviously also for communicational reasons, but (mainly) aesthetics.
YOU ARE LIVING IN GREECE WHICH IS EXPERIENCING PROBABLY THE WORST CRISIS IN HISTORY RIGHT NOW. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOU AS A BAND? OR OTHER BANDS YOU KNOW? HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT?
- The financial crisis causes chain reactions. No one is left outside. Let alone art! Art is the first victim, in a society that is now governed exclusively by bank interests and superficial values.
The issue however is not to give in, considering all our efforts pointless. Creativity is never constrained by financial crisis. On the contrary, in times of crisis art often flourishes. According to Baudelaire, art is the flower that blooms within the daily decay we experience.
YOU MET PORCUPINE TREE AT A SHOW IN GREECE IN 2010, WHERE YOU WERE ASKED TO PERFORM A COVER OF THEIR “FEAR OF A BLANK PLANET” DURING YOUR OPENING SLOT. HOW DID THE WHOLE THING COME ABOUT?
- The experience has given us stimulus and courage to go on. Being the surprise support band on Steven Wilson’s birthday and later becoming news on Porcupine Tree’s official YouTube channel has been one of our happiest moments and expanded our horizons for the future. Even Steven Wilson himself enjoyed it and this gave us hope and impetus.
WHAT IS YOUR GOAL FOR 2013? WHERE DO YOU WANNA BE 2014?
- Our ultimate goal was, is and will be an international tour.
