9+1 Q&A with Present Paradox

What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

The whole project started in 2011 and I spent many evenings tinkering with samples and short song sketches. I used kitchen utensils as drum samples for example. Later I invited friend who played a guitar over some of the sketches. It took two years before I decided to release something on my Bandcamp profile. I would say it started as an electronic influenced project, but as time went on it turned into a full band sound.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

The new album “A Trace To Keep Control” somehow picks up where the last one (Caesura, released in 2022) left off. So if you listen closely, the first song of the new album begins with a reversed sound of the end of Caesura. But then I takes a completely different direction. There’s more krautrock and post-punk on this record and I decided to incorporate more brass instruments played by fantastic musicians like Michael A. Grant from the UK.

I started the writing and recording process before the release of Caesura, but the main part was completed after a few gigs I played with Danny Elevator in Germany. So the recording span was quite long, from April 2022 to September 2023, and I’m sure that long period of writing and recording influenced the many themes that I deal with on this record, post-pandemic themes, personal things and so on. I mean, a lot of things have changed after the pandemic, and not for the better. The new “normal” gives me and us even more to do, with a spot on the “do”.

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

During the recording, in the first few months, I got really into some of the later tracks by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds. I also listened a lot to some selected tracks by Black Country New Road and a few songs by Fountains DC that were on Heavy Roation. And of course my all-time heroes like Radiohead, the side project The Smile…. just to name a few. And yes, I can’t deny that I was influenced by King Crimson’s Starless on one track on the album.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

Well, every detail of the tracks is at least handmade. For example, most of the echoes you hear here were created using the technique recreating the sound and echo behavior of a real tunnel close to my former home. So I try to avoid a generic sound. I think these things, these little details give the album a personality. I mean, even if I use some of Jonny Greenwood’s delay guitar techniques – and I’m pretty sure there’s a Robert Fripp influence – I’ve made them my own.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Puhh, hard to choose: A Moon Shaped Pool by Radiohead, The Mirror by Tarkowsky, The Last Night by Emanuel Bove.

Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

It’s hard to compare these things. For me, there’s a difference between writing a song, writing a sketch and working in the studio. The latter really requires concentration and hours of work, sometimes I end a day with serious neck pain from staring at my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). And live, there are hours of practice, but there is also that great moment when you get an immediate reaction from the audience.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

During the caesura tour, my guitar just got mad during the soundcheck and didn’t work. What a shocking moment. I could find the problem. Me neither Danny (the bassist) got a second one. But he calmed me down, told the location crew what has happened and they came up with a guitar, that has been the locations wall decoration, with a big Jack Daniels logo. It sounded pretty good, even fantastic on a track, gaving it a bit of a Neil Youngish vibe.

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

I mean, I’m really proud of these tracks like “A Lense To Finde The Trace”, “Gurus Circel”, “We Need To Take Control”. The latter is quite unusual by Present Paradox standards because it has this long post-rock drum intro. I’ve never done anything like that before, nor did I expect to be able to play on the cymbals and toms like that. But overall I think “Ephemeral Ghosts” has a very unusual sound, with these eastern-sounding guitar riffs and the fantastic saxophone of Antonio Necchi.

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

More live music and more new music, for sure.

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

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Curated by: Christos Doukakis

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