The Mighty N is an alternative progressive rock band from Athens, Greece. Formed in 2012, they have released two albums ‘Songs For The X Generation’ (2013) and ‘Retribution’ (2016). On April 21st they will make a guest appearance at KYTTARO Live club with Need as headliners.
You mention on your profile that with ‘Retribution’ you made a comeback. Can you tell us a brief biography of the band and what happened between the two releases?
The band originally started as a personal project and still is in a sense. The name The Mighty N is essentially a nickname (N stands for Natasha) that some close friends of mine gave me a long time ago and got stuck to this day. When the time came to name the band, it was a no brainer really and came as no surprise to the people that know me.
The original line up of the band was handpicked by me personally. Some of them are professional musicians that became and are friends on the way and some were friends from the past that were semiprofessional musicians and became world class players after that whole ordeal of the recordings for the first album was done (laughter)….
Unfortunately, a lot of things change as time goes by and right after the completion of the recordings for the second album, various changes were made within the band. Some people voluntarily left the band in order to focus on other music projects more suitable to their taste and capabilities. The band-or at least what remained of the band-went through a rough period. We kinda lost our faith a little. The current lineup was formed soon thereafter and hopefully it will be the final lineup for the band. ‘Retribution’ is a personal statement of all the feelings we went through with the all the changes within the band. Changes that proved to be necessary and cathartic.
You combine various music styles in your compositions. One can recognize jazz, grunge, classic and alternative rock influences among others. Is this a result of the different music preferences of the members or an experimentation of your general musical influences?
The latter basically… I am a nineties child and those influences played a huge part on how I write and compose my music. On the other hand, jazz is a big love of mine as well. I incorporate all the jazz elements I can, only if the song dictates it. Other than that, I stay away from rock norm, formulas and categories. That is the reason why both albums are so versatile and musically incoherent in a way.
Could you say that because of your particularity your audience varies or is it from the 90s era and therefor familiar with the sounds you mix?
I believe that both…Our audience is actually as versatile as our music. However, I am sure that the majority likes the various music references of the nineties though …
Regarding ‘Retribution’, Natasha Tsirou is responsible for the music, lyrics and production. Reading a small bio about Natasha, she is into music since childhood. If it is true that Natasha is the mastermind of The Mighty N, how difficult it was to incarnate her musical vision?
Yes it is true!!!(laughter). I t can be and it has proven to be very difficult at times to be a woman and be on the forefront of a rock band and have to deal with the rest of the guys in the group (especially when you have a very clear idea of the music direction you want to go into). Even though with the current line up, I have to say that they take it easy on me. There is a lot of respect and love between us and that makes it very easy to materialize all the music ideas that I might have.
‘Retribution’ was released in December 2016. Do you already work on new material?
Music ideas are always flowing in my head. Always….It is only a matter of time until I start recording them to my cellphone.
On April 21st you will share the stage of KYTTARO Live Club with Need. Will this be your first live since your second release?
No. We already had our release party back in December and oh boy..did we have a blast! We couldn’t wait to get on the stage after a year of absence due to the recordings of ‘Retribution’. I can assure you that we feel the exact same way right now that we did back then.
Are there more live shows after that and maybe appearances in other cities except Athens?
We will be playing in Volos and Patras on the 28th and 29th of April respectively. After that, we are discussing some dates in Athens and some other places as well. We’re definitely going to play in certain festivals but we’re scheduling at the time.
Thank you for your time! Add anything you want to close this interview.
I’d like to say that I feel the NEED to burn-the-place-down! Friday is just a breath away…
Photo credits: Fotis Siokos
Mary Kalaitzidou