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Wanderlust will be the band to open the 2nd edition of Future Sonic Festival on March 18th, at Death Disco. This will be their first ever live appearance as Wanderlust, since the group’s members have been serving the Greek underground scene for years. If one word matches best with Wanderlust’s music, then this one should be lyricism. But, let’s get to know them a bit more; What do you think? 

Let’s start with the basics! Since there is barely any information on the web regarding Wanderlust, please tell us about the band. From its early days until today…

Kostas and Thanos were creating music together for a couple of years. Around May 2016 Antonis and Sotiris joined, and voila, we had a band. Around Christmas time of 2016 the line-up was completed with Dionysis on keyboards. We’ve been playing together ever since.

Since all 5 members of the group have served the underground Patras & Athenian scene, I would like to ask you how do you all combine your musical past in the current formation? Is it easy?

Chemistry was easy. Rehearsing and composing music altogether in the studio came smoothly from the beginning. We all had collaborated between us one way or another before. Sotiris and Antonis are friends and had been playing together for years. Kostas and Thanos had created the first incarnation of this band before, with other members, so some of the songs were brought into Wanderlust and gradually took a new form. Sotiris and Antonis had been playing together since high school, with composition that also merged into Wanderlust. Finally, Thanos and Dionysis were both in another band named Over more than 15 years ago. Dionysis was still in high school then 🙂

Listening to your tracks, lyricism is one of the basic elements of your art. Which bands have mostly affected your sound? Do you believe that modern bands/artists invest more on the hype & their image than the real art those days?

This is such a large topic. Firstly we should differentiate between musical influences or favourite artists in general, and the inspiration of certain musicians on each one’s playing of their instrument. We cannot really name specific bands that have influenced our sound. This is down to the people who will listen to the songs to tell. We all have our preferences and bands we love. David Bowie is probably someone all five of us can agree on; but still, in a variable degree. On the second question: hype and image have always been part of popular music and pop culture at large. Let’s not forget that. This is not inherently wrong. The important is whether these attributes are combined with substance and artistry. Again, this depends on the artist. The main difference today is the enormous amount of musicians and groups existing and creating music which is a result of the supporting technology, as well as the ease and speed of access to the audiences via various outlets of communication. These facts have surely changed the landscape, but let’s not pretend that the past was as innocent or musically ‘pure’ as we sometimes like to remember it.

A tricky one! What’s your opinion on social media? Do you think that they ‘promote’ art & music specifically? Do you miss the ‘snail-mail’ days?

Technology is generally beneficial and should bring progress and improvement. It’s down to man to decide how they will use it. We do not miss the ‘snail-mail’ days at all.

‘My Left Hand’ is one of my favourite tracks of yours, with a really memorable melody. Which was the inspiration behind this gem?

Kostas wrote the song. He had the vocals melody and the chords. Then one day he brought the complete set of lyrics to the rehearsal and the song was completed. The song has definitely political overtones.

Your sound lies somewhere in between genres. A blend of wave, indie, brit among others. Do you think that this will help the band meet a specific audience, or you just don’t care about critical & fan reception?

Thank you for this point. We also think our sound is not easily defined or pinned down to one or two specific genres. It is a result of the various musical influences and preferences of each one of us, plus the fact that there is a certain freedom of expression within the band; the creativity of the members and the ideas each one brings to the songs is something we all value. Critical and fan reception we would say is more than welcome.

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On March 18th you will be one of the participating bands of Future Sonic Festival II, performing for the very first time as Wanderlust! What should the audience expect that night?

This will be indeed our first gig as Wanderlust. We would like to thank Boxes Οf Blow and especially Thodoris, as well as Death Disco for organizing this event and inviting us. We will present our songs and hopefully the audience will like them.

Which are the 2018’s plans for Wanderlust? More gigs? Your debut probably?

We would like to do a few more gigs, but not many. Writing more songs is also important to us. We take our time. Playing all those years has taught us it’s not valuable rushing things or pushing the band to the limit. Progress should come smoothly and effortlessly.

Christos Doukakis