It’s pretty rare we get to hear new music from Greece, so I was very excited to discover Athens band Black Stone Machine. They’ve just released a fantastic new EP called The Guild of Black, mixing together a number of different hard rock and metal styles into one glorious package. Check out the EP at the end of this interview if you like what you read here!
By Jane Howkins
You recently released a new EP titled The Guild of Black. What can you tell us about the track?
The Guild of Black is a song we enjoy listening to. We believe you get that heavy feeling of the hot deserted godforsaken land where the strongest gunman made the rules.
How has the reception to The Guild of Black been so far, and where can it be purchased?
We believe in creating music for the exchange of feelings between the songwriter and the listener. So it made us feel great to receive feedback that such a thing has been accomplished in a satisfying percentage. The Guild of Black is available for streaming by all digital platforms as well as for purchasing. Visit our website for more – www.blackstonemachine.com
Jaguar Fever was released as the first single from the EP. What can you tell us about the track? Why did you pick that song as the main single release?
Jaguar Fever! Well, this is a song with a live feeling… It has all the stuff needed for a live rock song, and we are very happy to have had the opportunity to film a video clip while playing it live. It was the best way for us to visually accompany the audio!!
Do you have any more singles planned for release from the record soon?
No, we have no plans for any single release in the near future as we prefer to focus on the making of a full-length album and give it our full concentration.
Are there any plans to release a full-length album near future?
As we said, we are currently in the making of a new full-length album which we hope will reflect our emotions and the atmosphere we as a band had in the studio in the process!! So stay tuned on the Black Stone Machine social media for backstage stories as the recordings are currently happening!!
Your music mixes together elements of metal, hard rock, country and the blues. What/who are you most influenced by? What have you been listening to recently?
Every member of the band has his own preferences for a band or genre of music he loves!! And it’s great that everyone was listening to different styles at the time of the songwriting of the forthcoming album. From rock ‘n’ roll legends to black metal bands and traditional music to the sounds of traditional musical instruments that are strange for our culture, yet we get caught by them!!
You’re based in Athens. What is the local music scene like in your part of the world?
In Athens nowadays, there is a great number of bands making or playing music live in a blend of genres. This also is happening across Greece. There are bands in all genres but it happens that we are mostly in contact with the bands of the heavy rock sound!! It’s also good to see that every band doesn’t want to be a copy of a fixed style of music, and Black Stone Machine too!
Do you have anything else exciting coming up over the next few months?
We are very excited as the recording phase is still ongoing, but we keep our minds on when the time will come so to share our music with our friends from the stage!! So be prepared for when it comes!!
Do you have any tour dates lined up for the UK?
Playing in the UK is something we are really looking forward to doing and for sure we will do our best to have a live performance on the upcoming album live tour!!
Any last words for the fans?
Keep yourselves strong and your engines running!!!