Today, we sat down with Mike Sagiannis from Electro Charge to talk about his start in music, news of new music from the band, and more! Be sure to check out the social media pages and music of Electro Charge below after the interview!
Interview:
How did you get started in music?
What really drove me grabbing a guitar and begin to learn how to play and how to sing at High school, is the connection I was feeling as a teenager, seeing all those metal artists performing on stage, the attitude of the music itself, and of course my idol James Hetfield! I got a summer job back then, just to raise the proper money so I could buy my first guitar and amp.
For the first years I was self taught, get learning from friends here and there. Somewhere near, some other friends suggested me to join their band as their singer and pretty much that was it for me. Playing some lives in our local scene and the crowd liking us was an awesome experience.
But after that, most of us had to split to continue our education in Universities, and this whole thing stopped. I continued playing the guitar and trying to find some other guys to form a new band in the city I was studying without much success, so I abandoned what I had in my mind at the time.
Some years later, after I graduated, getting a proper job that I could afford guitar lessons and better music gear, I started all over again, finally starting learning the instrument as it should, and a couple of years later I decided to start this old dream of mine again. The dream that one day I could release my own music.
So here we are now, alongside with Chris Dempegiotis and Thanos Karalis under the instructions of my producer, the mighty Bob Katsionis, this dream is coming alive!
What type of music did you listen to while growing up?
The three of us grew up listening mostly hard rock and Heavy Metal, as it’s obvious, but for me this came at a later stage of my youth, as my first influences came from genres like pop, some hip hop or different styles of Greek traditional music.
By that time I have listened to some Red Hot Chilly Peppers and stuff like that, playing all the time in my uncle’s car, as he was picking me and my cousin from school, but at the age of 14, I first listened to some Scorpions, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple as my father found some old vinyls and decided to remember his youth with me and I enjoyed it a lot.
Then more bands came on the way, until one day, one friend of mine, gave me some cd’s to listen to and then it was the time I really caught on metal music. One of them, was opening up with the very well known ‘Enter Sandman’ from Metallica and before the song was finished, I knew that something has happened inside me.
The aggressiveness of guitars, the voice, all of them was so exciting to me, so from then I started exploring the metal realm in a lot of directions, with Metallica remaining my favourite band till this day.
What are fun stories you can share while you’re in the studio recording music?
In a more general sense, it’s always fun and exciting entering the studio to do some recordings.
Time stops, forgetting your daily problems or anything that has to do with routine.
You interact with musicians, but most important you are finally embodying every idea that you have composed, giving it some “flesh and bones”.
Now, as it comes down to funny things, there are a lot of that I can remember, as Bob Katsionis is a super cool guy, with great sense of humor and a lot of positive energy.
One of the things that I’ve always finding it funny is that when it was about time to take a break and order something to eat, Bob was always looking for some healthy and light, but with me, most of the time he ended up ordering what it was more in my liking, such as burgers or some big, traditional Greek gyro and then after an hour that we’ve finished our meals, he was like “Ahh, I think my stomach is a little bit heavy, but we have to keep working I guess…ha ha.
What is your latest song or album you can share with us?
Our latest single is also our brand new video clip that has a few days published on YouTube and it’s called “Lord of Sickness”, taken from our upcoming debut album, echoes in the name “Reign of Deception, that hits the market on February, 16th.
Lord of Sickness, is clearly a personal song, that has been written about a month after I exited the hospital, because of a health problem of mine. All of a sudden, I got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.
So the song speaks about the inner demons and every fear that gets underneath the skin of a person that learns something like that, all the struggle that has to put working with this new life ahead and all the things that are changing for him, but leaving a message, all the solutions are found only in the Light.As for the album, it’s a mixture of old school Thrash / Heavy Metal, having its roots back to the 80’s & 90’s, yet with a modern sound.
Riffing, drumming and everything in between, are big and loud as they can get, but always in balance with harmony and melodies.
Last but not least, the lyric concept of the album is an introspection of the human psyche, bringing to the surface the illusions, the fears and the deceit that we experience on a personal level, but also as a part of the society’s pestilence.
Where can our fans find you on social media for any music updates?
Your fans and all the listeners of metal music, old school or not, they can find us and follow us on
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/electrocharged
and of course on our Bandcamp page: https://electrocharged.bandcamp.com/album/reign-of-deception, where they can listen and download two available singles, including Lord of Sickness and support us if they like our work by preordering our debut album.
Music:
