BARE INFINITY - Thomas

\r\nBare Infinity was formed in 2003 by Thomas and Christiana, and resides in Athens. They started as a simple project but soon they developed to a group that extracts permanently positive criticisms up to date. Christiana’s impressive vocals combined with the atmospheric dark metal and the addition of power or even gothic elements, surely give a very particular result. Thomas spoke to Metalzone for the history of the group, their current activities, for their scheduled live appearances and shared with us thoughts regarding their next steps.
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\r\nWho are Bare Infinity and how does your history begin?
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\r\nThomas: Bare Infinity began in 2003 by Thomas and Christiana as a project. Our aim at the time was neither to perform live nor to exist as a full-time group. We wanted just to write songs and if something would happen later with a record label it would continue thus as a project, nothing more. A demo with 4 songs was recorded in 2003-2004 and it was sent to few parts but it received very good reviews and it was then when the thought came out for Bare Infinity to become something more professional and serious. It was decided then another demo to be recorded with more songs which had been written during summertime a little more professionally. Just before this procedure begins through a mutual acquaintance to us we were proposed of a bassist who was added in the lineup of the band and a little later while he was doing at the same time his military service in Mitilini, Jiggly got into the group who took authorization to play initially as a session drummer in the demo. After a little time we decided to become a full-time group and we found a keyboardist (Vincent) and we talked about making preparations for any accidental Live. With the completion of the recordings, we were invited to play in some lives starting from Athens and then Alexandroupoli, Thessalonici, Xanthi, Komotini, and plenty of them in Athens and recently in Crete. After our Live in Xanthi our bassist departed from the band and his replacement is Sverd who I believe he is also the person that stamps our final lineup.
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\r\nYour first demo received very good reviews while recently you uploaded new material in your my space page. Tell us about the tracks.
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\r\nThomas: The first demo had 4 tracks. “Bear Infinity”, “Always forever Part 1”, “Always Forever Part 2” and a ballad “I dream of you”. The music in the songs is written by Thomas and the vocal lines and lyrics by Christiana except “I dream of you”, where the music and lyrics are made by Thomas. Those tracks were written in a very particular and odd phase of our life, and basically they are a story settled to music of everything that happened in that period so much lyrically as also musically.
\r\nRecently we recorded a Promo CD clearly in order to send it for reviews and to record labels, which is constituted from the new versions of the tracks above and with a lot of new ideas and in addition with one more song which is called “Lost again”. And this track in a paradoxical manner was also written through a difficult time. The tracks speak about love or rather the lack of love but also about the difficulties one faces when for some reason loses individuals from his life and the battle the human brain struggles until it finds the way to face and to exceed them.
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\r\nDo all members contribute in the writing process?
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\r\nThomas: Until now all the songs musically and all instruments are written by Thomas. From that point on everyone puts also its own idea and the song is being developed through rehearsals until we are all satisfied with the result. Between some new tracks that we are preparing, there are a few ones that are fully written by the other members and through the above process we work on them and together we lead them exactly where we want to.
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\r\nHas any record label made any approach to you?
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\r\nThomas: So far we had a few contacts with some Greek labels and from abroad as well. We haven’t wrapped up yet to something definite because we are also having some explicit requirements.
\r\nWe endured many things as a band and after a recent collaboration with someone who treated us exceptionally unprofessionally and counted us out on a critical point of the recordings we are very careful with our movements. Thus we will not proceed to any collaboration until we are absolutely satisfied and sure about the result.
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\r\nWould you prefer a deal with a Greek label or with one from a foreign country and what will be the standards for your choice?
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\r\nThomas: Because the style of our music possesses certain distinctness, I believe that in our own case it would be better if we would collaborate exclusively with a foreign label. In Greece there wasn’t any Greek metal band preexisting with female vocals so the people who listen to that kind of music aren’t too many and the music also itself is not as mush widespread as it is at this moment abroad.
\r\nThere are some Greek labels that currently are making a driving emergence in the scene and this is very hopeful for the future but for now I believe that we might achieve what we want only outside Greece.
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\r\nThe female vocals in metal scene are a tendency over the last years. Do you believe that in the case of Bare Infinity this particular element has helped even more in the promotion of the band?
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\r\nThomas: When we started with the female vocals, they were less far-flung than they are now and this was also one of the first obstacles, to prove that we can stand with the same equivalence towards bands from other branches of metal which were and still are the most widespread styles in Greece. From the Lives that we have played, we have seen that there are actually people that like a lot the kind of music that we play as our songs too but they never had the motivation to enter into the process of hearing them. In all our Lives the acceptance of the audience has been really incredible even when we played in festivals among bands that were playing death, thrash etc.
\r\nSo in the beginning the fact that we were a group with female vocals was something against us. What I believe that had a catalytic role in the promotion of the band was Christiana’s undeniable talent in the vocals as well as the fact that we all had and still do an endless appetence and energy to go after all the opportunities that come along, and that we play with disposal and that all of us have the same aim and the same dream and we want to achieve those together, and this is something that I believe we manage to send also to people. It was surely helpful that the female vocals have become a tendency, but I believe that Bare Infinity have something special to show and this is the reason why we gained people’s support and respect who don’t follow tendencies and this gives us the force to fly over any possible difficulties concerning our style of music.
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\r\nSome members participate also in other groups. Who are they?
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\r\nThomas: Vincent (keys) when he joined the group he had already a project of his own, Sapremic Plasma in which our drummer jiggly is also a member, who has his own project Craniectomy. Our bassist as well at first he was at the same time in 2-3 groups, but henceforth he is only in Bare Infinity and Crimson Fire and he has his own clearly project Nebelwald.
\r\nPrimarily all of us have completely different hearings but the particular style that we play is what has linked us together and we are all into it and the good thing is that we can emanate from all these different hearings a lot of things into the songs.
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\r\nHow easy or difficult is for a Greek band to survive and even more to be engaged in full-time work in the genre?
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\r\nThomas: For a band to be activated I believe it’s quite easy. There are a lot of companies today that really help so much in organizing lives as much as promoting and there are also specific magazines that make a huge work either online or offline and they offer a crucial contribution too in the effort to the uprising of the Greek metal scene. Of course the survival is difficult and sometimes unachievable and surely the bands themselves have got a great deal of responsibility upon them for not having the same goal and the eagerness from all the members in order to become certain sacrifices, but I believe a big share of the responsibility is loaded upon the lack of initiative and gravity from individuals who have the possibility of making decisive changes so that we can go up a level musically as a country. Some do what they do just for profit and some others as hobby while in other countries we witness that musical industry is giving opportunities to new bands and supporting them is a top priority and something which is taken very seriously. I believe that all those few people who fight today with their own expenses and resources soon they will be vindicated because Greece has some really good bands, musically we are much more mature than ever and we have the possibilities, the will and the risk are what is missing.
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\r\nAre there any thoughts about lives or collaborations from abroad?
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\r\nThomas: After 2008 I think that we will enter in a brand new chapter in our history. We’ve already confirmed our participation in an international festival in Italy in February and there are even proposals to play in Cyprus and a series of live in Belgium and elsewhere that will be announced as soon as some details will be regulated. Also in the sector of collaborations we have already begun certain things with companies and foreign artists, which also will be announced when the time is right.
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\r\nWhat is your opinion for the modern Greek metal scene? What groups would you tell apart?
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\r\nThomas: I believe the Greek scene currently owns the most hopeful and appreciable groups in Europe that have something very distinguish and different to offer because right now there is a structure and a bigger comfort in order that the groups to experiment and find their sound and their musical identity. I will not separate specific groups because I believe that the discriminations are always unfair and I will certainly forget to mention some of them because there are so many. I believe that some of those groups are Firewind, Mystic Prophecy, certain Greek bands which will be an inspiration for a lot of new groups and this a very positive thing.
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\r\nHow would you describe your musical style?
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\r\nThomas: I have heard many characterizations about our music, some say gothic some say purely atmospheric, some others melodic power. I will not mark out the band putting a tag on what we play because all of us have different hearings and other backgrounds and you never know in what way the sound of the band will develop. I prefer each one to define our musical style with what he or she thinks right.
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\r\nWhich are your influences?
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\r\nThomas: Basically there are no certain influences. When we started they didn’t exist many groups of our type that we could be identified with and aspirate ideas or influences from. I can’t think anything in particular to mention therefore I will simply say that the time I was writing these songs I used to listen to bands like Nightwish, Entwine, Evergrey up to Kreator, Fear factory, Iced Earth, Brainstorm, even Roxette.
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\r\nRecently you participated in METAL HEALING FESTIVAL, with lots of other names. What are the feelings and the experience that you acquired playing in a big organization?
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\r\nThomas: There were good feelings… and bad ones … unfortunately I think that the bad things outdid up to one point the good ones due to the organization and the hardship too. It was a really fascinating experience to play from one hand in front of such a big audience but also playing along with bands that some of them were our personal favorites as well. Our acceptance by the people was very good and this experience is something that it will be difficult to be forgotten. Of course some basic shortages as well as the lack of organization in certain levels was a nettlesome not only to us but to other bands as well, in combination with some organizers of the festival that even to date we have some kind of bitterness when we remember everything that happened. I hope that if this festival takes place again, something I really wish for, and we happen to play there again, that some people will have been taught from the mistakes and next time we will have in our country one of the best festivals in Europe.
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\r\nYou are already confirmed for the upcoming Lives with Epica and Sirenia. Which are the objectives and what are your next movements?
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\r\nThomas: Right now we are preparing for the live with Epica to make it our best live so far in all levels and to vindicate those that support us in all our decisions and movements. After this we will continue playing in the semifinals for a participation in Waken 2008 and afterwards we have a live in Italy where we want to give the best of ourselves and to represent Greece in the best possible way. And then I believe that we will have already come to a decision for a label for a next year release of the album, a fact that is our main priority.\r\n

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\r\nNikoleta Sarantou \r\n

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\r\nTranslation:Vaso Prassa \r\n

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