Q: “In Consequence” is a very varied album soundwise, and undoubtedly it is an album worth listening to. What’s behind the creative process of this material, the recording process of it, the composition of lyrics, etc? Are you satisfied with the result?
Thank you again so much for your kind words. The album was based on ideas that had piled up from long ago and were repurposed and adapted for who we were at the time, or better say what he had discovered of us at the time. Everything starts with an idea and anyone that feels like they have something to add to it, is doing so, so they help it grow. Just like a conversation starter can evolve into an amazingly interesting and constructive conversation that helps you feel your interlocutor’s position and lets you extend the boundaries of your inevitably limited view. We are satisfied so much with the result and we do love it for what it is. If we re-recorded it today we’d surely do a lot of things differently, but it would be something else. In any case, I think it was a great place to start off our musical journey.
– Another feature of “In Consequence” is the album cover, what does it represent? And who was/were the responsible for the design?
It’s exactly like we wanted it. Aris Liapis has done an amazing job on this one. It manages to blend all these notions together and dresses the overall atmosphere of the album in the most matching manner. Lots of ideas can be brought to mind by staring at it; from desire to human loneliness and alienation, emotional fall, and at the same time none of those things as those are just me really because that’s the beauty of the wonderful tool that it is. It allows you to project your own self into it and lets you face and evaluate your own psyche.
– “In Consequence” has the participation of Duncan Patterson (ex-Anathema / ex Antimatter / Íon), who plays keys in the song “Ibidem”, How did this collaboration come from? And how important is it for you that this great musician has collaborated with Phase?
First and foremost it’s a great honour for us Duncan to find our work really interesting and to be able to have him on our record. He used to live in Greece you know, and following an endless chat/rant about the situation with the music scene here including the lack of enough listeners and gig-goers who really love discovering interesting sounds, and not just following trends; we established there was so much common ground between us in terms of intersubjectivity and rapport, and that led to this artistic marriage.
– Regarding the reviews from the press and fans, how has the response of people to “In Consequence” been?
Everybody absolutely loves it! Something that was a pleasant surprise for us! I mean we loved the material ourselves and I think the songs are really good as they are honest, but we initially thought it was much of an acquired taste and felt that this fact could alienate listeners. Maybe I had a lesser belief in people’s taste, which is an arrogant thing to assume, but establishing a new sound is a hard thing to do in any event. Acquiring a new taste is never easy, due to inertia and our inherent preference for the familiar.
Interviewer: Hermanas Muerte
Publication: Mutilador (MX)
Period: October 2012
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