Artistic Echoes Recently had the pleasure of interviewing Phase
Could you tell us a bit about the story behind Phase how did you get started?
Phase was based on an idea I had back in 2004, when I started gathering sonic and lyrical ideas which evolved into songs that were put on shows and record only 4 years later, when the first fully functional instance of Phase was put together. Line up changed for good in 2011 when real old friends joined, rather than people that hanged out with me seasonally and made the band their own.
Who influences you, who inspired you to get up on stage and perform?
Ghosts of rockstars past are a good platform to form our trojan horse into the audience’s consciousness. We are influenced by beautiful conversations, drama, philosophy and our own genuine way of thinking. It was 80’s metal bands that inspired us to pick up instruments and perform, but we’re keeping on being influenced, and influence significant artists we encounter with… And it’s a real blessing, we wouldn’t be able to predict that we’d be in such a position during our teens.
What is the most interesting venue that you have played at?
Every single one has a great significance to us, but I’ll say Zodiac in the old city of Damascus is the most important. It’s closed indefinitely, and I don’t even know if it’s bombed or not nowadays…
What has been your most memorable moment as a performer so far?
Each moment we have felt genuine connection with the audience is etched upon our memory. It’s really an honour when you feel embraced by people’s appreciation and/or love after some particularly intense sets.
Your videos have quite distinct imagery, who creates them?
You are most likely reffered to the beautiful work done on “A Void” by an amazing artist called Afsoon Shahriari, after she fell in love with our output and she really added up in enchansing it with monumental artworks.
What do you have planned for the rest of the year? Anything big coming up next year?
We are planning to record at least a new album and an “EP”. We have already material, working titles and everything. Hopefully, if everything goes well, it won’t take us as long as it took us for the previous one… Eventhough its title was a great alibi for its big delay.
Where can people catch you live next?
On January the 22nd we are in Newcastle, UK. Some dates for the continental Europe are being cooked, as well as a small UK tour that’s on talks for quite a while now, but we are not planning to kill ourselves in order to get dates booked.
Where can people find out more about you?
On www.phase.gr they can find links to the most important social sites we are maintaining a profile on; Wikipedia I guess, and of course our interview and review archive at www.phaseship.com.
Michael Chisholm
January 2015
Aristic Echoes