Phoenix Spell: 'In all our songs, the lyrics are personal!'

The band, following the arrival of their album titled 'Almost In Tune / Never On The Beat', open up exclusively to Fuzzy Hound!

Today we welcome Phoenix Spell to Fuzzy Hound! Your first album titled 'Almost In Tune / Never On The Beat' has just been released. What are your current feelings about the album? Are you happy with this release? Did it achieve its purpose?

'We all feel great satisfaction and pride that we managed to create 'Almost In Tune / Never On The Beat'! It's something we all worked hard for, so it could become reality and stop being just an idea, a dream. It still doesn't feel real to us that our songs are out there now, and not just inside the studio, in our rooms, in our heads. The purpose of our music is to accompany the moments and feelings of those who listen to it – maybe someday it'll inspire a few people too.'

Tell us a bit about this record and what prompted it. When did you compose the tracks and by what criteria did you choose them for the album? Also, where did the title 'Almost In Tune / Never On The Beat' come from?

'From the very beginning, from the founding of Phoenix Spell, our goal was to create and record our own music. From our very first live show we already had our own tracks in the setlist, since they expressed and represented us better than any cover. We'd performed early versions of some of the record's tracks in the past, in the first era of Phoenix Spell. We could say that the first lyric, chronologically, that was written and eventually ended up on 'Almost in Tune / Never on the Beat' is the opening of 'On the Stairs'. That happened several years ago, under a school desk.

Recording a demo in Cardiff, though, was the reason we got back together and started working on our first record. As for the title, it was originally born in a moment of clarity. As an objective, self-deprecating and brief description of the music we were recording. In the end, we thought it was also a fitting title for the record, and definitely a less expected one.'

What style would you classify your music as? What's your view more broadly on the contemporary music scene in Greece? Since you have a view of the UK music scene, tell us your opinion. Could you compare the two scenes?

'In one word, our music is Rock. Beyond that, depending on each person's listening background, it might get classified into more specific genres. For instance, the ones we've heard most often are (Progressive) Blues Rock, Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, Grunge, even Neo-Grunge.

If we focus on this musical space, and try to compare the Greek scene with the British one, the biggest and most important differences are definitely found in the area of opportunities given to artists to showcase their work. Also in the infrastructure that exists, so they can have the chance to be employed on a semi-professional and professional level. This, of course, we can attribute — beyond any difference in meritocratic culture between the two countries — to the fact that Rock, and consequently its offshoots like Indie and Pop-Rock, have traditionally been popular music genres in the UK, with a large audience backing that scene.'

We talked about influences and the diversity of your musical sources. What are your influences in general? Which artists or bands do you "owe" the creation of 'Almost In Tune / Never On The Beat' to?

'As a whole, but also individually, our musical influences span many decades – from American Blues to British Rock. We're influenced by bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, progressive acts like Rush, 80s metal and hard rock bands. We go as far as bands from the Seattle scene, the wave of 00s pop-punk artists and bands, up to and including music releases that have come out in the last few months. So we couldn't point to one specific artist or record as our main source of inspiration.

It's certain that subconsciously, a lot of what we did during the composition and production of the record had references to some of our listening habits. These references might be in the backing vocals, in a guitar effect, in the balance of intensities, in a small turn... Our main criterion wasn't so much to get close to the sound of some other favourite record of ours, as to create something we'd want to and would enjoy listening to, even if we hadn't made it ourselves.'

Lyrically speaking, tell us about the stories your songs describe. What was the inspiration that drove you to write these songs?

'In all our songs the lyrics are personal. We've looked inward to bring out some of what makes us doubt, reminisce, get angry, feel afraid, love. Starting from the present, but also our past. Every song is distinct and speaks to something of its own, without there being a common theme between them. For example, 'Gray'Gray' refers to diversity within society and the family. 'Somewhere Else'Somewhere Else' could also be described as a personal letter. Overall, though, we've made heavy use of allegory. So even if various points might seem abstract or even random, the truth is that behind it all, everything has meaning and refers to something more specific.'

In general, you're a band whose members live in different countries. Did you have trouble composing? Do you follow any specific method when you write?

'Distance isn't an obstacle as long as there's the appetite to create and good organisation among the members of a group. Both of these are necessary for such a project to succeed. Luckily, using the technology available, we managed to stay in touch very often. There's also almost immediate listening to the material we were working on during pre-production. Strict scheduling was also something all of us had to stick to, and it required planning months in advance. Finally, our collaboration with Petros Petropoulos (Polyphoniki Studio) definitely helped too — the communication with him, as well as his appetite for getting the best possible result, played a decisive role.'

'In our case there was one main creative core, which was Jimmy. On top of these compositions we all added our own ideas, in such a way that in the end, all of us had put elements of our own musical character into each track. We managed to work on each person's individual parts while we were at a distance. For the bigger tests and changes, whether in melodies or lyrics, we scheduled time for when we were all together in the same place. This definitely helped us work calmly and stick to our plan, without any creative pressure.'

All music and the artists who represent it have suffered, more or less, during this pandemic period. How did you handle this situation and what do you expect to happen from here on?

'It was (and to some extent still is) a difficult period in many respects for everyone. We were lucky, at least, in the most important area, that of health. So we managed, in the midst of the pandemic, to go ahead with the preparation and production of our record. It wasn't easy, because besides the stressful situation prevailing, there were also plenty of restrictions in the way — restrictions on travel, on curfew hours, on international flights, etc.

The pandemic certainly didn't make things easier for us, except for the fact that we had more time at home to work more intensively on the composition and production of the record. There will always be obstacles, and art will always find a way to come out. We do hope, though, that situations like pandemics, wars and the effects of climate change will be reduced as much as possible (if they can't be eliminated entirely).'

Do you have plans for any live shows in the coming months?

'Touring and composing are very different things, and they affect a band's day-to-day life differently depending on the case. Given the current circumstances, including the distance that's kept us apart for most of the time, we find composing and producing our own music more sensible, creative and expressive for us right now. So we don't have any live show marked on the calendar. That doesn't mean we don't miss the feeling of being up on stage, especially at a festival, playing in front of a crowd.'

Are you working on anything creatively at the moment? Even though it's early, when should we expect the follow-up album to 'Almost In Tune / Never On The Beat'?

'To start with, luckily there's plenty of musical material and things we want to write about, so we can already be thinking about the follow-up to 'Almost in Tune / Never on the Beat'! At this stage we're focused on promoting the record, so it reaches as many ears as possible. Still, we're working in parallel on melodic and lyrical ideas we have, and each of us is currently letting our own Muse do her job without pressure.'

Guys, thank you so much for being here and we wish you all the best with everything you do! Feel free to close out our conversation however you'd like!

'Many thanks to Fuzzy Hound for hosting us and giving us the space to say a few things about ourselves and our record! To wrap up, we'd like to thank everyone who helped us, directly or indirectly, throughout the whole production of 'Almost in Tune / Never on the Beat'. Lastly, we hope more musicians and artists chase after and find a way to put their art out there, without compromises.'