Mechanimal were born in the summer of 2011 and remain a continuing experiment, an audiovisual project. The a living organism, remaining faithful to the strength of an electrically charged sound, while assimilating techno, poetry and spoken word. Like the parasite of an audio microcosm, Mechanimal take you to a surrealist world, a mystical and magical place.
Who are Mechanimal and how were they born?
Mechanimal were born in the summer of 2011 and remain a continuing experiment, an audiovisual project. It is a living organism, remaining faithful to the strength of an electrically charged sound, while assimilating techno, poetry and spoken word. Like the parasite of an audio microcosm, Mechanimal take you to a surrealist world, a mystical and magical place
You describe your sound as drone ‘n’ roll. How did you end up with that description?
It’s an inside joke. If someone wants to seriously categorize our sound, they can follow the example set by Rough Trade, who is distributing the album in Europe. They place us under Dark Wave/Post Punk.
Your lyrics are highly political and talk about alienation in these times of crisis. But somewhere in there is love, emotion, sometimes harsh and often in quite depressing tones.
Whatever someone does has political connotations. Art is political. Our lyrics talk about the current reality that Greek society faces. We write about it, looking at images that makes you feel like a bystander, like the visitor of a restless scene, who is constantly wandering with no home to call his own.
What kind of music do you listen to? You seem to come from completely different backgrounds as individuals.
We listen to a lot of music and don’t really discriminate between genres or trends. Music is music. If there is a common element binding us together however, then that would be punk.
Do you listen to any other new bands in Greece or abroad?
We’re not going to play a public relations game, especially in a scene as negative and as petty as the Greek independent scene. Like we said, we listen to a lot of music. Those bands that we like know that we like them and that we respect what they do.
What’s the message you want to send to the people?
That they have to be creative. These last years especially, the situation in this country is desperate. If there is something here that can make you really feel again, then that has to be the need to create.
Your videos are quite harsh. They are the work of Aggeliki Vrettou. You’re all heavily involved in the image of the band, besides the musical and lyrical aspect. What inspires you as a team?
Innovation and the margins of all the aspects of human creation.
Do you think that the current climate makes it easy for a new band to survive?
Irrespective of the times, anything connected with the arts will always find it tough to survive. If we’re talking about Greece specifically, it has never been easy for an independent band to survive.
You’ve been receiving highly positive reviews for both your work and your debut album “Mechanimal”. How does that make you feel?
Good. And it’s the same when we hear negative remarks as well.
The band is spreading its wings. What can you tell us about future projects?
Our first album is already out and being distributed in Europe by Rough Trade Germany. We don’t know if this will make us famous or “successful”, but the first reviews to come from Germany have been very favorable. It makes us happy and more focused on what we are doing. It’s through something like this that the longevity of the band can be achieved. It’s through something like this that can keep creating music and songs that touch us and our audience.
Where would Mechanimal be in five years from now, ideally?
The future that we envision, involves us continuing to do what we have started.
http://www.facebook.com/Mechanimal.Official
