Just before the end of 2017, on December 29th, iota will be one of the 4 bands that will be appearing at [In Plexus] event at ILION Plus. Despite these “holy” days, we managed to ‘grab’ some words from the experimental/electronic/jazz quartet, that you may find more than interesting!
Why do iota “deconstruct music”? Please introduce the band to our readers…
The main idea behind this project was to get to the fundamental elements of music, let go of all preconceived notions of what a band should sound like, or what an instrument is supposed to do and make ourselves available to whatever the music needed. Which is a pretty ego-less state to be in and quite a liberating process actually.
On December 29th you are about to participate in the In Plexus event, at ILION Plus, sharing the stage with 3 other cool bands. Any hints about this upcoming gig from you?
We are really looking forward to this. All of the bands sound amazing. A couple of hints. We will be playing some unreleased material, and it’s going to be a visual experience as well.
Listening to your excellent ‘Part Of Something’ album cannot resist in asking which were the main influences music-wise and non-music wise? A lot of jazz element too.. Please discuss.
Thank you so much for your kind words. Oh man… music wise there’s so much stuff, it’s hard to narrow it down. Flying Lotus, Robert Glasper, Thudercat, Kneebody and Daedalus, BadBadNotGood, Portico Quartet, Lorn, Cinematic Orchestra, Madlib, J Dilla just to name a few.
Would you like to talk about the video for ‘Work’? What was the main idea behind this?
Much like our music, the main idea behind the video was the deconstruction of certain aspects of what we know as life. Recomposing them into something visually stimulating and beautiful at times, Something transcendent hopefully. It was directed and edited by Bacterria (aka Theodore Pirpiroglou), cinematography by Square Pixel (Stergios Milios, Vaggelis Kokkalis, Giorgos Vargemtzoglou), drone footage was done by Skyward. Breaking stuff was done by us, which was really fun.
Sound design (collage) is a characteristic element of your music. Are you listening to sound collage recordings and which are among the most distinctive ones?
The amazing “soundclouds” by Iannis Xenakis, Per Schaeffer, Luc Ferrari, Amon Tobin -‘ISAM‘.
End of the year so list-mania for everybody! Which are iota’s 3 best releases for 2017?
Thundercat- ‘Drunk‘, BadBadNotGood – ‘IV‘, Bonobo – ‘Migration‘.
Before iota, -or in parallel-, have you served in any other bands and (if yes) how have these helped you with the current project?
Chewing Gun, Tomcat A Beat, Annoying Sound System, are some of the projects we’ve been or still are involved with. Everything helps. Everything is a learning experience.
Which are your goals for 2018?
Playing our music live everywhere. We re also working on our second release and are really psyched about it.
Last words belong to you…
Best wishes for the new year to everyone! Peace and love.
Photo credits: Valergakis Akis Photography
Christos Doukakis