Blind Myself
Blind Myself is one of the few bands from the Eastern Europe that have (more or less) established themselves within a short time with an own style. The new album "Ancient Scream Therapy" is out now (November 2006) and it's a killer!!! It became album of the month in the Hungarian Metal Hammer, besides that the band won the Hungarian Metal Award for the most important Hungarian Metal website and the best live band 2005! I was in contact with Greg (vocals) since I've ordered some CDs from BPRNR (Budapestrocknroll), and I wanted to seize the chance for making an interview...
Arcana Noctis: Salut! How are you? First of all tell us the most important things about your band and the members. How old are you and what are you doing besides the music? Have there been changes in the line-up since the beginning?
Greg: Hey, I'm Greg from Blind Myself. The band was established in 1994. Long time ago :) We had a few member changes (like almost every band on Earth). The line-up is now: Peter – on bass guitar (he's also produced and mixed the new Blind release), Tibi – on guitars (he was in Dawncore and Newborn back in the day) and Laci – on drums. I'm the oldest member of the band, I'm 33 years old. About Blind Myself in general: Back in the day we decided not to cover bands and find our own style. We have a lot of influences that you can hear when you listen to Blind Myself. From Rock to Metal, from Hardcore to Classical music. It may sound too much but I think we found a special way between all these styles. We played shitload of shows here and there and made 4 full length releases already.
Arcana Noctis: Which one of you is responsible for BPRNR? How's business?
Greg: From the band I'm the only one who working for BPRNR. Budapestrocknroll is sort of a management and booking agency – and of course a lot more. The business is fine, it's getting better year by year. The founder of BPRNR is Andras Vörös of Superbutt, he's responsible for almost everything. We're very good friends, we have the same ideas about Rock and roll.
Arcana Noctis: Is it hard to find a distributor for a wider space? The sound of Blind Myself is pretty perfect and I can't understand why you shouldn't have the same possibilites as the bands on Nuclear Blast for example... Have you tried to get a deal with a bigger label, or are you even satisfied with the current situation?
Greg: It's hard to find a label. I mean it's almost impossible to find a label. We spent 12 years of searching and nothing really happened until now. You know we're from Hungary and honestly who gives a fuck about a band from here. It's very hard to make good shows in Europe from here. We had to find our ways. It took time. Fortunately, it's getting better for us now, as we're signing a contract with Tiefdruck Musik in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and Dirty8 in France. So, I'm very optimistic right now.
Arcana Noctis: You've lived for 3 years in the U.S.A. some time ago. All of you? Tell us something about that if you like, what have you done exactly there and how did it come to this? What are the differences compared to Europe?
Greg: We were really unsatisfied with how the things were going in Hungary. So we decided to move to the States to see what's going over there. We almost sold everything here to make some money for the airfare and for the instruments. We had an invitation from Zoli (Ignite). We had an American tour with them back in 2000. From L.A. to Philly. Then we settled down in New York City. We tried to play as much as we could. It was really hard as well. So many things going on in New York. There are so many clubs, so many live shows. We tried to contact record labels and stuff. At the end we made a deal with a radio promotion company called McGathy. They tried to hook us up with some labels. They even released a compilation called "Brutal Comp", with 3 different bands on it. Unfortunately nothing really happened. We had so much bad luck.
There are a lot of differences. There are so many good bands I cannot tell you. At the end we had to come back home after 3 years of living there because our visas expired. And we realized that we can make a better life here in Hungary. The situation is not that bad now as it was in 2000.
Arcana Noctis: What's the song "Wise Men Of The West" (from the album "Worst Case Scenario") about? What do you mean by "west"? The current Iraq war, and things like that?
Greg: It's about these internet "forum guys" who know everything better than you and saying just stupid things about you. Wise men of the east equals wisdom, so we decided to change east to west which means the other way around. Wise men of the west are the guys who think that they're wise but are not :)
Arcana Noctis: Are you interested in politics? Which side are you on, if I may ask this way? What do you think about the EU? Do you think it's positive for Hungary and all the eastern countries?
Greg: I'm interested in politics but I try to avoid it. I don't like to write lyrics about politics. I try to not take a side. I think the EU for us is really important. The most important thing is that we have to control our own life. I think it's really cool. Now we don't have to stop at the border, it makes touring lot, lot easier then before.
Arcana Noctis: How's life in Hungary in general? I was born in Timișoara/Romania (you've played there already with Stone Fixion) but I live in Austria for many years now... Anyway, I'm often there so I know the situation of a (ex?) Eastern European country...
Greg: It's getting better year by year, really. I don't complain now. Not at all.
Arcana Noctis: "Ancient Scream Therapy" became album of the month (or something like that?) in the Hungarian Metal Hammer, does it mean something to you?
Greg: Absolutely. For me it's a big success. We never made it to the first place until now. It has some sort of influence on the readers as well. So, it's amazing...
Arcana Noctis: I love the clean vocal parts on the new album! Was it a natural evolution, or was it for reaching a bigger audience?
Greg: If you wanna reach a bigger audience you have to forget about screaming at all. So, it wasn't all about that. To sing is a real challenge, a peak that I have to climb. It's an amazing adventure. I wanted to do more colourful vocal parts on the album. I went to a singing teacher. She helped me a lot. I'm not a professional singer but I'm getting better slowly. :)
Arcana Noctis: What are the lyrics in general about? What bothers you? What do you love most? And what would you never write/sing about?
Greg: 1. "Wax" – this is a remake of the ancient Greek myth, the story of Icarus. But the song is also about the natural environment protection. Or about getting famous too quick: you fly to the sun, but your wings are made of wax and you start falling down... There are many different meanings of our songs I hope.
2. "Lost In Time" – it's about how sad it is to lose things in life. My Grandmother had Alzheimer's disease and that inspired me to write this song. This lyrics go a bit further: "Will I leave my mark on this life? / But I tell you man, who cares..."
3. "Go Get A Life!" – it's about all these timekillers, robbing your time in vain.
4. "Ancient Scream Therapy" – is pure psyciatry, you need to read and understand the hidden meaning of lyrics.
5. "The Agony Of My Nice Side" – self explanatory title, I think ;o)
Arcana Noctis: What was the biggest audience you've played for? What kind of people are coming to your shows? I suppose there are a lot of different attitudes in the crowd due to your diverse sound... How would you categorize Blind Myself?
Greg: We played to 5000 people on Sziget Festival or the show with Slayer in Budapest was great, too. Our audience is pretty good. We're not a Hardcore band, we're not Metal or Rock either but we have influences from all these styles. Our audience is a very open minded interesting audience. I'm really proud that most of the people in our audience are doing something special in their lives.
Arcana Noctis: I have compared Blind Myself with Dillinger Escape Plan and Neurosis. Am I right? Are you influenced by this kind of bands? Do you like the "simple" Rock'n'Roll sound as well?
Greg: Yeah, you can compare us with these bands. I like them both. These 2 bands are trying to create a special sound they are pioneers in the genre. I hope that we can open other doors as well. I'm fine with the old school sound as well, but we're trying to create something new.
Arcana Noctis: What has changed since you've released your first EP? What's your status in the Metal scene today?
Greg: We became lot better musicians and we're writing better songs, I think. We're well known in Hungary, we're playing most of the big festivals here like Sziget.
Arcana Noctis: What is your favourite Blind Myself release, what's the most important one?
Greg: The most important one is always the last one. I don't have a favourite Blind release, every release was very important the time we released it. I like them all.
Arcana Noctis: Will you re-release your old albums?
Greg: If our German record label wants it. Yes.
Arcana Noctis: What does the band name mean to you?
Greg: It means my life :) When I was in the U.S.A. I heard that Blind Myself means masturbation in the catholic girl schools :)
Arcana Noctis: What could be the changes in the future? What would you like to try most on the next album? With whom would you like to work with/collaborate?
Greg: It would be great to do a concept album, something that no one did before. I have some plans already. We'll see. The album is just released in Hungary and it will release in GAS countries in February so I focus on these things right now.
Arcana Noctis: Do you like those Electro/Industrial remixes of Metal songs?
Greg: Not really, but there are some really good ones.
Arcana Noctis: Tell us something about your influences... bands, movies, books...
Greg: I really like Sci-Fi. My favourite writer is Philip K. Dick and my favourite movie is Blade Runner. My first big influence was Biohazard. Their music really changed my life forever!
Arcana Noctis: Which bands do you recommend (from Hungary and in general)? Are there still those small Metal stores, where they sell the underground stuff? In Austria for example there are only "music supermarkets" where they have dozens of Metallica CDs but nothing special and underground can only be found in mailorders, but most of them are focused on extreme Metal like Death or Black Metal... You can give me some adresses if you like in case I'm in Budapest and have the time to look for them :)
Greg: Check out www.bprnr.com there are lots of amazing Rock/Metal bands from Hungary. There are also a few Metal stores like CD Pince, Headbanger, Hammer Zenebarlang. You can find on them on Google.
Arcana Noctis: Thank you very much for this Interview, I hope you get much bigger soon, you definitely deserve it!
Arcana Noctis: Salut! How are you? First of all tell us the most important things about your band and the members. How old are you and what are you doing besides the music? Have there been changes in the line-up since the beginning?
Greg: Hey, I'm Greg from Blind Myself. The band was established in 1994. Long time ago :) We had a few member changes (like almost every band on Earth). The line-up is now: Peter – on bass guitar (he's also produced and mixed the new Blind release), Tibi – on guitars (he was in Dawncore and Newborn back in the day) and Laci – on drums. I'm the oldest member of the band, I'm 33 years old. About Blind Myself in general: Back in the day we decided not to cover bands and find our own style. We have a lot of influences that you can hear when you listen to Blind Myself. From Rock to Metal, from Hardcore to Classical music. It may sound too much but I think we found a special way between all these styles. We played shitload of shows here and there and made 4 full length releases already.Arcana Noctis: Which one of you is responsible for BPRNR? How's business?
Greg: From the band I'm the only one who working for BPRNR. Budapestrocknroll is sort of a management and booking agency – and of course a lot more. The business is fine, it's getting better year by year. The founder of BPRNR is Andras Vörös of Superbutt, he's responsible for almost everything. We're very good friends, we have the same ideas about Rock and roll.
Arcana Noctis: Is it hard to find a distributor for a wider space? The sound of Blind Myself is pretty perfect and I can't understand why you shouldn't have the same possibilites as the bands on Nuclear Blast for example... Have you tried to get a deal with a bigger label, or are you even satisfied with the current situation?
Greg: It's hard to find a label. I mean it's almost impossible to find a label. We spent 12 years of searching and nothing really happened until now. You know we're from Hungary and honestly who gives a fuck about a band from here. It's very hard to make good shows in Europe from here. We had to find our ways. It took time. Fortunately, it's getting better for us now, as we're signing a contract with Tiefdruck Musik in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and Dirty8 in France. So, I'm very optimistic right now.
Arcana Noctis: You've lived for 3 years in the U.S.A. some time ago. All of you? Tell us something about that if you like, what have you done exactly there and how did it come to this? What are the differences compared to Europe?
Greg: We were really unsatisfied with how the things were going in Hungary. So we decided to move to the States to see what's going over there. We almost sold everything here to make some money for the airfare and for the instruments. We had an invitation from Zoli (Ignite). We had an American tour with them back in 2000. From L.A. to Philly. Then we settled down in New York City. We tried to play as much as we could. It was really hard as well. So many things going on in New York. There are so many clubs, so many live shows. We tried to contact record labels and stuff. At the end we made a deal with a radio promotion company called McGathy. They tried to hook us up with some labels. They even released a compilation called "Brutal Comp", with 3 different bands on it. Unfortunately nothing really happened. We had so much bad luck.
There are a lot of differences. There are so many good bands I cannot tell you. At the end we had to come back home after 3 years of living there because our visas expired. And we realized that we can make a better life here in Hungary. The situation is not that bad now as it was in 2000.
Arcana Noctis: What's the song "Wise Men Of The West" (from the album "Worst Case Scenario") about? What do you mean by "west"? The current Iraq war, and things like that?
Greg: It's about these internet "forum guys" who know everything better than you and saying just stupid things about you. Wise men of the east equals wisdom, so we decided to change east to west which means the other way around. Wise men of the west are the guys who think that they're wise but are not :)
Arcana Noctis: Are you interested in politics? Which side are you on, if I may ask this way? What do you think about the EU? Do you think it's positive for Hungary and all the eastern countries?
Greg: I'm interested in politics but I try to avoid it. I don't like to write lyrics about politics. I try to not take a side. I think the EU for us is really important. The most important thing is that we have to control our own life. I think it's really cool. Now we don't have to stop at the border, it makes touring lot, lot easier then before.
Arcana Noctis: How's life in Hungary in general? I was born in Timișoara/Romania (you've played there already with Stone Fixion) but I live in Austria for many years now... Anyway, I'm often there so I know the situation of a (ex?) Eastern European country...
Greg: It's getting better year by year, really. I don't complain now. Not at all.
Arcana Noctis: "Ancient Scream Therapy" became album of the month (or something like that?) in the Hungarian Metal Hammer, does it mean something to you?
Greg: Absolutely. For me it's a big success. We never made it to the first place until now. It has some sort of influence on the readers as well. So, it's amazing...
Arcana Noctis: I love the clean vocal parts on the new album! Was it a natural evolution, or was it for reaching a bigger audience?
Greg: If you wanna reach a bigger audience you have to forget about screaming at all. So, it wasn't all about that. To sing is a real challenge, a peak that I have to climb. It's an amazing adventure. I wanted to do more colourful vocal parts on the album. I went to a singing teacher. She helped me a lot. I'm not a professional singer but I'm getting better slowly. :)Arcana Noctis: What are the lyrics in general about? What bothers you? What do you love most? And what would you never write/sing about?
Greg: 1. "Wax" – this is a remake of the ancient Greek myth, the story of Icarus. But the song is also about the natural environment protection. Or about getting famous too quick: you fly to the sun, but your wings are made of wax and you start falling down... There are many different meanings of our songs I hope.
2. "Lost In Time" – it's about how sad it is to lose things in life. My Grandmother had Alzheimer's disease and that inspired me to write this song. This lyrics go a bit further: "Will I leave my mark on this life? / But I tell you man, who cares..."
3. "Go Get A Life!" – it's about all these timekillers, robbing your time in vain.
4. "Ancient Scream Therapy" – is pure psyciatry, you need to read and understand the hidden meaning of lyrics.
5. "The Agony Of My Nice Side" – self explanatory title, I think ;o)
Arcana Noctis: What was the biggest audience you've played for? What kind of people are coming to your shows? I suppose there are a lot of different attitudes in the crowd due to your diverse sound... How would you categorize Blind Myself?
Greg: We played to 5000 people on Sziget Festival or the show with Slayer in Budapest was great, too. Our audience is pretty good. We're not a Hardcore band, we're not Metal or Rock either but we have influences from all these styles. Our audience is a very open minded interesting audience. I'm really proud that most of the people in our audience are doing something special in their lives.
Arcana Noctis: I have compared Blind Myself with Dillinger Escape Plan and Neurosis. Am I right? Are you influenced by this kind of bands? Do you like the "simple" Rock'n'Roll sound as well?
Greg: Yeah, you can compare us with these bands. I like them both. These 2 bands are trying to create a special sound they are pioneers in the genre. I hope that we can open other doors as well. I'm fine with the old school sound as well, but we're trying to create something new.
Arcana Noctis: What has changed since you've released your first EP? What's your status in the Metal scene today?
Greg: We became lot better musicians and we're writing better songs, I think. We're well known in Hungary, we're playing most of the big festivals here like Sziget.
Arcana Noctis: What is your favourite Blind Myself release, what's the most important one?
Greg: The most important one is always the last one. I don't have a favourite Blind release, every release was very important the time we released it. I like them all.
Arcana Noctis: Will you re-release your old albums?
Greg: If our German record label wants it. Yes.
Arcana Noctis: What does the band name mean to you?
Greg: It means my life :) When I was in the U.S.A. I heard that Blind Myself means masturbation in the catholic girl schools :)
Arcana Noctis: What could be the changes in the future? What would you like to try most on the next album? With whom would you like to work with/collaborate?
Greg: It would be great to do a concept album, something that no one did before. I have some plans already. We'll see. The album is just released in Hungary and it will release in GAS countries in February so I focus on these things right now.
Arcana Noctis: Do you like those Electro/Industrial remixes of Metal songs?
Greg: Not really, but there are some really good ones.
Arcana Noctis: Tell us something about your influences... bands, movies, books...
Greg: I really like Sci-Fi. My favourite writer is Philip K. Dick and my favourite movie is Blade Runner. My first big influence was Biohazard. Their music really changed my life forever!
Arcana Noctis: Which bands do you recommend (from Hungary and in general)? Are there still those small Metal stores, where they sell the underground stuff? In Austria for example there are only "music supermarkets" where they have dozens of Metallica CDs but nothing special and underground can only be found in mailorders, but most of them are focused on extreme Metal like Death or Black Metal... You can give me some adresses if you like in case I'm in Budapest and have the time to look for them :)
Greg: Check out www.bprnr.com there are lots of amazing Rock/Metal bands from Hungary. There are also a few Metal stores like CD Pince, Headbanger, Hammer Zenebarlang. You can find on them on Google.
Arcana Noctis: Thank you very much for this Interview, I hope you get much bigger soon, you definitely deserve it!