Steelianos, Royal Time Machine, Spy Das | Guitar Experience 2024

On Thursday, November 28th 2024 Mr. Steelianos, Spy Das and the killer trio going by the name Royal Time Machine take to the stage of Piraeus Club Academy (Facebook).  Guitar Experience 2024: if you couldn't believe it last year, this year you have no idea what's coming for you! The Fuzzy Hound talked to the people behind it and brings you their impressions!

Event Link

Ahead of Guitar Experience 2024, tell us a bit about your involvement in the event. How did it come about?

Steelianos:’Eirini, Phoivos and Fotis, who organize the concert and basically run the whole thing, proposed it to me a few months ago. I'd seen them at last year's edition, which I thought was a fantastic idea and setup right from the start, so I happily said yes!‘

Spy Das: ‘Pretty simple, I'd say. Since Eirini and I have been meeting up with a bunch of guitarist friends at some "guitar-ish" café lately, we'd talk about the 1st Guitar Experience and I kept telling her how much I loved what they did last year, so she proposed it to me and I said yes with great pleasure!'

Royal Time Machine: ‘I have the joy and honor of having Eirini and Phoivos as colleagues. I've known Eirini for many years, same with Phoivos. Eirini and I have played together a lot, and we're bonded by the love and respect we have for each other. I think that because of the "guitar-centric" nature of the project (Royal Time Machine), it fits perfectly with the concept of Guitar Experience!‘

What should we expect from you that night?

Steelianos: ‘Personally I've been playing for many years mainly with my main band, Enemy Of Reality, putting my instrumental guitar existential problems and their solutions on the back burner, but I still write from time to time. Some I've released, some not. So we'll be playing together with Thanasis Sioulas, Matthaios Petropoulos and Filippos Farres. Old and new instrumental compositions of mine that I hope will make people have a good time. Ideally, if they happen to be musicians themselves, I hope they draw some inspiration and energy from it, and pick up their instruments the next day to play or write something!‘

Spy Das: ‘I'll be playing my EP titled ''Plot Twist'' together with Christos Vigos, Kostas Antoniou, Katerina Liaki, who I consider excellent musicians and above all very good friends for years. The EP consists of six tracks with a fairly rock, psycho blues/funk and metal character, with a lot of groove but also melody. I wish I could define it better hahaha. I'm really happy that I'll be playing this EP live for the first time, and I hope to pass along, together with my band, this joy and enthusiasm to all of you!‘

Royal Time Machine: 'We'll be playing tracks from our album. We won't have time to play them all, but most of them will be heard.‘

Tell us a bit about your compositions and your sources of inspiration.

Steelianos: ‘My main influences are the broad spectrum of metal & rock music, especially during my teenage years, with quite a few doses of Greek music (mostly up to the '60s), but growing up I also had the joy of discovering and being influenced by tons of music from around the world - jazz, funk, disco, pop. I don't know if it makes sense to mention composers. As for guitarists now, if I have to name some must-mention influences, I'd say Guthrie Govan, Andy Timmons, Steve Vai, Jeff Waters!‘

Spy Das: ‘Hmm, where do we even start here? hahaha. My main influences, I'd say, are deeply rooted in the Rock/Metal sound. That said, over the years I started listening to a lot of different stuff like pop, funk, blues, gypsy jazz, neo soul, hip hop. Some guitarists who influenced me quite a bit are: Slash, Paul Gilbert, James Hetfield, Dimebag Darrell, Marty Friedman, Andy Timmons. So my compositions are a mix of all that, I'd say. When writing, I always try to revive that same craziness and enthusiasm a little kid has playing with their toys. There are of course times when ideas spring from something deeper and more personal, and they shape a track's sound all on their own.‘

I try to revive that same craziness and enthusiasm a little kid has playing with their toys.

Royal Time Machine: ‘Our compositions came out of teamwork. Each of us took on the job of bringing three basic ideas, and then we all worked on them together to give them flesh and bone. The goal was for the final result to come from a blend of ideas, aesthetics, tendencies and listening habits from all three of us. To be the ultimate marriage of three different worlds. Giorgos from extreme metal, Giannis from rock, and me from jazz. What would that marriage look like, in perfect balance, with no one overpowering the others? Everything shared equally. And what finally came out of it, what Royal Time Machine actually is, is that "fair" mix. The source of inspiration is the project itself and the "agony" of achieving that creative balance.‘

What message do you want to get across with your participation in Guitar Experience?

Steelianos: ‘I believe that music, and orchestral music especially, serves its own purposes and carries its own messages, regardless of the intentions of the player or the composer. A concert usually also conveys something mysterious- magical to the listener (when they're into it, that is), it civilizes them, educates them, stirs their emotions, and ideally they leave with a smile, inspired and hungry to hear more or even to play themselves. If I have to give one message, it's this: the electric guitar, which in the 70s-80s-90s was perhaps the king of modern instruments in the sense that it played a very important role in mainstream music, is still here, alive, it's not a trend, it has an audience and representatives who have things to offer musically!‘

Spy Das: ‘I don't think I have any particular message, because music gives different messages to each person. What I'd like to pass on to people is the joy of being yourself, of doing things your own way so you can express yourself and feel happy.‘

The notes in the West were and always will be twelve, and their combinations number about 750,000, and Bach has done them all.

Royal Time Machine: ‘The notes in the West were and always will be twelve, and their combinations number about 750,000, and Bach has done them all. So what's left for us to achieve? So it's not the notes themselves, but the people who play them. The whole point is human relationships, and music is the vehicle for three people to collaborate and communicate around something they share. It's neither "small" nor "easy." I think our love for sound is what unites us all and brings us together to communicate. If we manage that, then we'll have had a successful night.‘

Describe an unforgettable moment you've experienced at one of your live shows.

Steelianos: ‘I'd probably say my experience at Release Athens Festival in 2022, as support for Sabaton, Blind Guardian and Epica (alongside Silent Rage), where it was our biggest show yet in terms of crowd and stage on Greek soil. We've played to comparable and even numerically bigger crowds abroad several times. But hearing and seeing people in your own country, in your own city, applauding you and actively taking part in the music you're playing live — that's an indescribable experience. It'll also stay unforgettable because I'd just recovered from Covid and we played at around 18:30 if I remember correctly, sun right in our faces at the highest summer temperatures, with the guitar (wood and frets) scorching hot, to the point you could barely hold it, wearing the costumes from our concept album at the time (so, liters of sweat, factoring in all the running around and headbanging on stage).‘

Hearing people in your own city actively taking part in the music you're playing live is an indescribable experience.

Spy Das: ‘I think what'll stay pretty unforgettable for me is the honor we had, along with Michalis Efdemon and Fay Karastergiou, to play alongside monster drummers at Lab Drum Camp. Drummers like Gergo Borlai, Eric Moore, Dave DiCenso, George Kollias, Horacio "El Negro" Hernández, Richard Spaven. The experience and the playing we went through was terrifying. ‘

Royal Time Machine: ‘We have the joy of this being our first ever appearance as Royal Time Machine. But what I can say is that at every rehearsal I watch in awe at the ease, the comfort, and the musicality with which Giannis and Giorgos deliver the music we wrote. I admire them, and every time we play I feel it very strongly and it's a one-of-a-kind feeling.‘

To wrap up, give us one reason that will make us come to the event.

Steelianos: ‘Speaking personally, whoever already knows me and is interested in me has definitely not seen me live with a band playing my own orchestral material. It's something a lot of people have asked me about and suggested over the years I've been playing music. So here's the chance!‘

Spy Das: ‘THESE GO TO ELEVEN! and one more thing… COME AND GET 'EM!‘

Royal Time Machine: ‘The guitar is my favorite instrument. I may play bass, but I have a special love for guitarists. In fact, right now, as I'm answering your questions, I'm listening to classical guitarists playing Bach, hahahaha, seriously! So a meeting like this, with Stylianos, Spyros and Giannis, would be something I'd want to hear and experience. Because it's unique and rare. Guitar Experience has all the right philosophy and practice: we love music, the guitar, and we share an experience where artists present their compositions. Clear message, and spot on. I also believe all guitar fans will leave with the best impressions, just like last time. The term "experience" is no accident, it's very fitting. It'll be a night, an experience, of guitar and musical bliss!‘