Formed in 2015 Youth In Outer Space is an instrumental noise rock/shoegaze band from Athens. On January 27th they will appear live at ILION Plus with Birthday Kicks and The Snails. Let’s meet the band…
Can you share with us more information about Youth In Outer Space? How did the band occurr and are (or were) you part of other projects as well?
Elias Michael: Youth In Outer Space was practically a side project of mine. I was also playing the bass in Wonky Doll And The Echo, which disbanded in 2014. I originally began the project in mid-2015, finalizing the first tracks, which had a more minimal style back then, using a drum machine, guitars and bass filtered through computer effects.
That summer I met again, after a long time, with John Boulis, who had been playing the drums on W.D.A.T.E. We decided to try to use a normal drum set, noticing that the result was beyond satisfying. This is when Elias Kostakopoulos, the frontman of Dead Buildings, joined the project as well. All three of us started rehearsing in November 2015, evolving to an instrumental noise rock band and bringing our sound to what you can hear today.
So far you have released a series of promo videos, three in total, in your YouTube channel, and a demo track ‘We Were Born Explorers’. How did you come up with the idea of the promo videos (shot at the University of Athens’ Iris cinema, directed by Photis Michael)?
Elias Kostakopoulos: Once we were done with demo recordings and while listening to the final tracks we shared the idea of arraying them with the appropriate visual atmosphere, with the band performing in a special location. We were lucky enough to get the authorization for a shooting at Iris Cinema theatre, an almost 100 years old neoclassical venue that belongs to the University of Athens. With the help of film director Photis Michael, we felt very content with the final result, which is fully compatible to the aesthetics of the band.
Is the demo track ‘We Were Born Explorers’ a sign of a full-length album, and when can we expect it?
Elias Kostakopoulos: Definitely, we have plenty of songs that could make it to a full-length album. Our plan is to get into the recording studio by the end of this year.
Listening to the samples of your work I get a cinematic feeling. Are you inspired by movies? Since there are no lyrics, can we say there are images or feelings behind the tracks when you compose them?
John Boulis: Yes, it is true that you get that cinematic feeling in all of our tracks. Sometimes we get inspired by a movie and then we come up with a tune that has a common feeling. Other times the tunes emerge first but they might link back to a certain movie. You could probably call our music genre post-soundtrack.
Are you going to remain instrumental? If so, is it harder for a track and even more for an album to stand when there are no lyrics?
Elias Michael: Playing as an instrumental band can sometimes be tricky. At the moment we believe that our sound speaks for itself. Nonetheless this doesn’t mean we would exclude the usage of lyrics in the future.
Which are your main musical influences?
Elias Michael: Sci Fi soundtracks, the 70’s punk scene, the 80’s post-punk, new wave and brit pop scene and today’s post-punk revival and noise rock scene.
You will perform at ILION Plus in Athens on January 27th. If I am correct, this will be your second live show as Y.I.O.S.?
Elias Michael: Yes, this will be the second time we will be performing live, supporting Birthday Kicks and we feel very glad about it. We are willing to share our “Wall of Sound” with the crowd, like we did a few weeks ago at MODU Club in Athens.
Are there more live shows in the near future?
John Boulis: One of our main goals is to perform live, so yes, we are currently planning new appearances in the next spring and summer. More details will be announced on our Facebook page.
Thank you for your time! Add anything you want to close this interview
It was an honor, thank you for the interview.
Photo credits: Photis Michael
Mary Kalaitzidou