9+1 Q&A with Reflection Black

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.

As an individual, I started writing music from the first moment I got my hands on a guitar in junior high and I also started experimenting with vocals soon after. Since then, I have been involved in many extreme metal musical projects, namely Ravencult, Exarsis and Blasteroid where I handled vocals in all of them and also Nigredo where I did all songwriting and most instruments performance as well. However, musical taste and sources of inspiration change by the years. After being exposed to a lot of Goth and Post-Punk classics as well as witnessing a big wave of new and successful Darkwave bands, I felt the need to express myself in this spectrum of music too. This led to the creation of Reflection Black, originally conceived in 2020, in order to explore the Post-Punk and Darkwave genres through my own perspective. The first material to see the light of the world was the Call My Name single, leading up to the release of the EP Entering Dreamtime in 2022 through Razorbleed Productions.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

Last Stop To Nowhere, the first full-length album of Reflection Black is now officially out, in collaboration with renowned label Swiss Dark Nights, after a few creative and tough years in the making. Lots of effort and passion have been put into the creation of the album, which kept me busy throughout the quarantine years of 2020-2022. Musically, the album showcases an imaginative synthesis of multiple and diverse elements from the Goth, Post-Punk and Darkwave genres. I consider it to be a very consistent offering but still with each track having its own distinct personality and packing many surprises, from upbeat songs to some very slow ones and from guitar riffs, to heavily layered synths and even a saxophone solo. Regarding the lyrical content of Last Stop To Nowhere themes such as sleep, death, dreams and the occult are being explored extensively. In the end, most of the lyrical themes come down to a general context of mental and spiritual escapism with the questioning of current realities of all forms.

With Last Stop To Nowhere, after making music for many years, I can say that it is the first time that I have made something entirely by myself that I am truly happy with and having no second thoughts at all. Of course I also have to thank the people that I closely worked with and which played an important role for the final result. So, significant contributions came from George Emmanuel of Pentagram Studio that handled the production as well as Sokratis Bebis that handled the vocal recordings and provided very useful musical insights in general.

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

As I am becoming more mature musically, influences become a rather abstract thing. Music, movies, art, simple experiences and daily mood can have a significant impact on my creative output. To keep the answer to the point I will at least mention a few artists from which I happened to draw influences directly while I was writing music for the Last Stop To Nowhere album. These are Killing Joke, The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, Drab Majesty, The Cult and Danzig among others. When it comes to non-music influences, art and movies exploring sci-fi, esotericism and the occult played an important role in the aesthetics and lyrical content of 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?

I believe that the sound of Reflection Black in Last Stop To Nowhere actually stands out in the genre. The reason for this is that I bring to the table all the influences accumulated from my background in metal music and particularly its more extreme and darker sub-genres. Even though the metal influences don’t show directly, they surely play a significant role since they make me approach the Post-Punk & Darkwave genres from a wider perspective. Finally, I actively avoid making Reflection Black sound retro in any way and I try to come up with genuinely modern ideas, hoping that I can push the boundaries of the genre even a little bit.

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

Hard to answer this as I am not particularly attached to any album, movie or book in such a way. Especially when it comes to music, my favorites can change even on a monthly basis so it wouldn’t make sense to pick an album or artist as an once and for all favorite. I will try to cover this by at least mentioning three albums that I have been obsessed with over the last few months. First comes New Wave of Fear from Horror Vacui, possibly the best Post-Punk/Deathrock albums of our current times. This is followed by Sister from In Solitude and Where the Gloom Becomes Sound from Tribulation, both beautifully crafted records showcasing different aspects of Swedish Gothic Metal darkness.

Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

Hard to choose one since each process offers a different kind of pleasure. Coming up with new music and enjoying the complete final result of your creation after endless studio hours is one of the things I appreciate most in life. Performing live is an entirely different beast, a really intense feeling that I miss a lot since I have only played very few lives with other bands in recent years.

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

Not really a particularly funny story, but we had some really good laughs along with Sokratis Bebis during the vocal recordings of the album. The amount of vocal “bloopers” was so large that it was impossible to resist the urge to construct entire verses with them and then laugh at ourselves.

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

I would say that Yet Unseen Colours is the most diverse track of the album and something that I would not expect myself to come up with. In contrast to the rest of the album, Yet Unseen Colours has a very slow tempo and no guitar work for most of its duration. It focuses mostly on layered synths, heavy reverb and delay effects as well as commanding vocal lines, to create a dreamlike atmosphere since dreams are the main theme it focuses on.

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

These days we are busy preparing for our debut live show! People will have the chance to witness Reflection Black playing live for the first time as a full-band on Saturday October 14th in Athens, supporting Swedish post-punk captains Then Comes Silence. Also, even though Last Stop To Nowhere has seen the light of the world some months ago, there is already plenty of music that we are currently working on. By now it is safe to say that the result is much darker and more organic, with human drums rather than a sampler or drum machine and more guitar-oriented sound.

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

Instead of a question, I will take the opportunity to thank each and every one that has contributed to the musical vision of Reflection Black, has supported the project and has followed along in this journey so far. I express my deepest gratitude to all of you! Hope to see you Saturday October 14th in Death Disco, Athens!

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

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