The "fathers" of Greek stoner rock and "children of the sun" themselves, Nightstalker spoke to HeartbeatInk about the new tattoos they got after their recent trip to Cyprus, how "Children of the Sun" took its final form and became a song and about the longstanding development of the X-Mass Explode Festival.
Argy: vocals
Andreas: bass
Tolis: guitar
Dinos: drums
What is your relationship with tattoos?
Argy: As you can see it’s very good! Personally, I have been getting tattoos since 1983. This is my first tattoo (shows a relatively faded small question mark on his elbow) and my last is the Thai prayer that Christ (Endangered Species Tattoo) gave me. I’m not exactly sure what it says…
So Christ chose the design?
Argy: Yes. He said “I’m gonna give you a prayer, old man”. It took him ten minutes.
Andreas, you got your first tattoo a few weeks ago. How did you finally come to that decision?
Basically I wanted to do my daughter’s name (Danae). I told Christ, chose a design to “frame” it and we did it. The fact that I hadn’t gotten a tattoo all these years is just coincidence.
Dinos, if I’m not mistaken you were also tattoo-free until recently?
Like Andreas, it just never occurred for me. We went to Cyprus a few weeks ago for a gig and we stayed over at Christ’s for a few days. Apart from the hospitality he also gave us tattoos. He took a pen, drew on my hand and then did it.
Andreas, you got your first tattoo a few weeks ago. How did you finally come to that decision?
Basically I wanted to do my daughter’s name (Danae). I told Christ, chose a design to “frame” it and we did it. The fact that I hadn’t gotten a tattoo all these years is just coincidence.
Dinos, if I’m not mistaken you were also tattoo-free until recently?
Like Andreas, it just never occurred for me. We went to Cyprus a few weeks ago for a gig and we stayed over at Christ’s for a few days. Apart from the hospitality he also gave us tattoos. He took a pen, drew on my hand and then did it.
How did he manage to “persuade” all four of you?
Andreas: We stayed at his place for a week and he said that one day he was going to tattoo us. That day arrived one afternoon…
Dinos: He did it! He put us all in line.
Argy: And we “exploited” his hospitality.
Tolis: I personally had already asked him to tattoo me. I got my first one, seven years ago by Kostas Pliakas (Prive Tattoo) and I generally like tattoos. The only “tang” I have is that I like big pieces. To be continued…
So you were the only one “prepared”?
Tolis: Argy wanted one also. He’d said so. Our sound engineer got one too.
Argy: He got Buddha’s face in real size (laughs).
Tolis: What’s important for me is to really like the artist as a person too, which is the case with Christ and Kostas.
Where are you at the moment regarding your music?
Tolis: We completed the big cycle.
Andreas: We still do concerts though.
Tolis: We are in the process of gradually beginning something new.
“Children of the Sun” is an anthem. What is the idea behind the track and how did its video-clip occur?
Dinos: It’s all his fault. (points to Andreas).
Andreas: (laughs) It’s an old track. It’s a recording that Argy did about twelve - fifteen years ago. It wasn’t a properly completed track.
Argy: It was an idea…
Andreas: I liked it a lot and it gave me a certain “feeling”. I really insisted we make it into a proper track and after we did, we decided to make the video with our friends.
Argy: Andreas said we should include everyone except us. I liked the idea. We are all children of the sun.
Tolis: It’s also a song that has a significant meaning for us, because it carries the old times of Nightstalker but also the new times, which is when we completed it. To be specific, we had the beginning of the song and some lyrics and then some more things were added. The chorus is from now.
Argy: We didn’t aim for it, it just sort of happened.
Andreas: Did you get emotional when you saw the video?
HeartbeatInk / Ino: I got goosebumps!
Andreas: That was the point. Because the track is the way it is…
Tolis: What do you like more about the track?
HeartbeatInk / Ino: From the moment I heard it I didn’t just single out, I love it! The intro is dreamlike and then when it “enters” it just ‘takes off’…
Tolis: You hear that Argy? She likes the beginning and then when it “enters”!
How has the music industry treated you so far?
Argy: The what?
Tolis: Anything we do we do alone. We are the “music industry”.
Andreas: Some things have happened in the past…
Argy: Basically, at this point we are exporting “culture”. The “big” industry is now behind us. It’s trying to catch up (laughs).
Tolis: Things are simple. We make music and we release it. We’ve had the chance to work with two American companies over the past years. We have no manager.
Argy: We export Nightstalker.
How do you see the Greek stoner scene these past years?
Dinos: It’s at high level.
Tolis: Not only the stoner scene but also metal and the Greek music scene in general. These last ten years have been really good.
Andreas: Good players. Nice music.
Tolis: It seems that kids are more inclined to that sort of music nowadays. I don’t see mane forty year olds coming to our concerts, it’s mostly twenty somethings.
So your audience is “young”?
Argy: Didn’t you see all the children in the “Children of the Sun” video (laughs)?
Andreas: We are talking of five year olds.
Argy: Third generation Nightstalkers.
Guys, do you manage to live off your music?
Tolis: What do you mean?
Andreas: We try.
Tolis: It’s very difficult. You must have very few demands.
Argy: We don’t do anything else. Just this. Music.
How did the X-Mass Explode Festival come to be and how many years has being going exactly?
Andreas: Rather randomly actually (laughs).
Tolis: This is the tenth year the X-Mass Fest is at AN. The first was in 2003 at Gagarin 205, we had played with Earthbound and Lord 13 and it was organized by Psychograndmammas. All the other times were organized by AN. Three more groups usually take part too.
Judging by people’s reaction and attendance, it’s now an established event. Specifically, how has it evolved these past years?
Tolis: The last three - four years, attendance seems to be increasing.
Dinos: There’s an increase regarding X-Mass Fest, which may have to do with the rise of stoner rock in general.
*Nightstalker are performing live at AN Club on Tuesday 24 December at X-Mass Explode Festival. Alongside them as special acts Mahakala, Potergeist & Drunk Motherfuckers will perform.
Photos & interview by Ino Mei.
