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This Friday night a party will take place at An Club! A rock n’ roll one! The Dark Rags, one of the most important names in the Athenian (if not European) rn’r scene will be present in this “Diggin’ Out Fest Vol.2”. So, we found the right time to have this Q&A, which is spot on for this occasion. There it is then…

The Dark Rags are not newcomers in the Athenian garage/rock n’ roll scene unlike The Dead Dranks, The Cyclothymics & Blue Night Trip, with whom you are to participate in the upcoming “Diggin’ Out Fest Vol.2“, on January 6th at An Club. How do you feel about this intercourse then?

It’s always great to share the stage with fellow bands – especially when you share a similar musical background. We also happen to be friends with the bands we will play with and that’s even better, we are really looking forward to it.

You know, it’s not a matter of who is the oldest or the newest in the scene as long as the music itself and the bands are good. Besides, thinking about it The Dead Dranks are together since 2005 and members of Blue Night Trip (editor’s note: the band won’t make it to the ‘fest’ due to unfortunate events) used to play in bands such as The Psykicks or The Lizardz so one way or another all bands are experienced.

Since forming back in 2010, you have offered us and EP (‘Drunken Angel EP’) the 2-track ‘The Underground’ & two full lengths (‘The Dark Rags’ & ‘Paranoia Blues’). What’s next for the band? Probably recording your 3rd full-length?

We will definitely enter the studio to record new material in the coming months. We are currently working on new songs but we have not decided yet whether it will be an E.P. or a full length album, we’ll see.

How did the collaboration with the almost mythic French label Closer Records come along for your 2nd full-length release? How did they discover you? Are you satisfied with this cooperation?

Closer Records was defunct until they released an anniversary edition of Barracudas‘ ‘Meantime‘ back in 2013 I think. We were all fans of its releases so we thought of giving it a go and contact them. As soon as we finished recording ‘Paranoia Blues‘ we sent them the rough mixes, they liked it and they released the album. We are very happy about it.

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A tricky one now! Do you believe that the garage/rn’r lifestyle should be followed by endless smoking & booze? Or is it just marketing?

The lifestyle has to do with the way you think and act not the way you look or the amount of cigarettes and alcohol you consume. There’s a huge difference between doing things because you believe in them and doing them just for the image and the look. Everyone has their own vices and whether they choose to indulge in excess or self destruction or not is a personal choice and has nothing to do with the music itself.

How would you describe The Dark Rags’ sound? In what way does it differ from the other garage bands?

In what way we differ? The answer is simple; we are not just some sort of revival band – we never had this intention. We just do our own thing. It might be difficult to categorize us, we might be too garage for punk or too punk for garage, maybe too rock ‘n’ roll for either garage or punk. The bottom line is that we are just a rock ‘n’ roll band, that’s the best way to describe our sound.

Which bands would you consider as your biggest influences and why?

Well, this list can be endless – let’s just say that we draw our influences from the r’n’r / garage underground scene of the 80’s, 70’s punk and even country music.

Listening again to your latest ‘Paranoia Blues’ what I like most, is the 100% straightforward approach to all compositions. A very solid recording, showing a very tight band, indeed! What do you recollect from these days? Was it hard to record?

Exactly, ‘Paranoia Blues‘ captures 100% what this band is all about and it’s definitely our finest moment so far. By the time we released our debut album we had already started working on songs for ‘Paranoia Blues‘ – so when the time came to enter the studio it was pretty easy to lay them down on tape.

Apart from The Dark Rags, are involved in any other bands/projects, or in any form of art in general?

Our main focus and priority is The Dark Rags but we also participate in other bands playing a gig here and there when we get the chance. Me and L.A. formed the Love & Suicide Death Club a few years ago, Tolis sometimes plays with the Electric Bulbs Of Death and Sid is also in the street punks Sonderkommando.

Last June you appeared along with The Dubrovniks at Rockwave Festival. How was the experience like?

It was a good experience. We got the opportunity to play together with a band as important as The Dubrovniks in a big venue where everything works and sounds professionally – the way it should. James Baker sat on the side of the stage and watched our entire set, he later told us how much he’d enjoyed it and that r’n’r is in good hands as long as there are bands like us around. And these words were coming from a guy who is like a living legend of the Australian underground scene, it was a great feeling.

Close this “thing” the way you wish…A message to our readers maybe?

We wish a happy and healthy new year to everyone.

Photo credits: Dimitris Milonas (1st one), Houdini (2nd one)

Christos Doukakis