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‘#grief’ is an excellent example of great musicianship. The Greek diy, underground scene is alive & kicking and like Oscar Wilde’s famous quote (‘I can resist to anything but temptation’), the same applies for Last Day Deaf. Questions for Mr. Made By Grey Antonis Hatzimichalis, about his magnificent cinematic offering & the local diy scene, among others. And don’t forget tomorrow, Friday 23rd Made By Grey live at Death Disco! Catch them if you can…You should!

#grief’ your latest offering was released last month! As far as I can say this is a less ‘personal’ release than your debut one three years ago. Would you like to discuss about the recording procedure and the people involved with this?

Actually, it’s a far more personal release than my debut album. I conceived the ideas during a period of constant anxiety and insomnia. Due to that fact it was called lack of sleep at first. The title ‘#grief’ came later. When I was sure about the structure of the tracks, I gathered a team of musicians to record the album with. This time I chose a new drummer, (Vangelis Tsimplakis) because he can adjust his technique easily between different styles of drumming and we’ve worked together in almost all Made By Grey‘s gigs so far! At first the baselines were played by me just like the first album. George Constantinou though, a bassist with a large bio and great skills offered to visit my studio and try to play exactly what I did. The outcome was great and his sound was huge. The baseline in “bargaining” is his inspiration! Violins were played by Charalampos Paritsis the man who I trust all violin parts. He knows exactly what I want and he delivers fast!! Trumpets were played by Sofia Siora (I wish we ‘ll work again soon!). To my great surprise I had the honor of having the trombone parts played by Antonis Andreou a well-known musician who I respect. During the mixing process I always want a sound engineer other than me when I mix my tracks, usually I am too tired at that stage. a pair of fresh ears is always welcome. This time it was Kyriakos Kyriakou who helped (thx man!).

A part of your description regarding the Made By Grey project is: A d.i.y project of Antonis Hatzimichalis, accomplished with any available equipment and the help of friends, helpful individuals and the minimum budget…’. First, do you belong to the so-called DIY scene and why? And secondly, judging by the superb result of #grief’ this ‘minimal budget’ is not heard at all. Would you like to discuss?

Practically I belong to the diy movement of course, because I do exactly what every diy artist does in terms of making and also promoting their art. Thank you! I am also a sound engineer and owner of a recording studio, so I have the privilege of professional recordings.

Since your music is defined by the cinematic element, combined by the absence of lyrics, I dare ask which movies have you mostly been inspired by? Would you consider undertaking a soundtrack for a movie in the future?

I’d love to compose a soundtrack for a movie, not necessarily as Made By Grey. Though I don’t think that cinema was responsible for the lack of lyrics, two movies i ‘ll always remember are “Waking Life” and “12 Angry Men“.

Which other d.i.y. Greek acts/projects would you suggest we should pay attention to?

Definitely check One Hour Before The Trip and I Am No Hero!

madebygrey

Which is your musical background? Musical studies, previous bands etc? Do you sometimes feel as a loner running actually the project on your own?

I studied piano and music theory at my childhood. Then I quit and started experimenting with all sorts of rock instruments including the drums. I am not good at playing any of them but I am good enough to play and compose my music in any of them. My first band was Autumn Leaf Science; we recorded an album which we released online for free. It was a magical period of my life. The band ended when I quit it to focus on Made By Grey project

23rd December is fast approaching for your live performance at Death Disco! Are you going to appear full-band? What should we expect?

Yes! We are going to be all and you should expect, I don’t know exactly what, but you expect something! (lol)

Which are your goals regarding Made By Grey? Any dreams you’d like to share with our readers?

Dreams have no importance at all, my goal, is to tour full band and make a movie soundtrack in the near future.

Again, congrats for your solid latest release! You can close this interview the way you wish….

Thank you for the interview. Respect to those who still feel.

Christos Doukakis