Interview with Timoleon Adamopoulos

''Hello Tim, and thank you for doing this interview with Lyrical Spell Magazine! How are you doing today?''

Tim: ''Hey Andrea! You're welcome, and thank you for the invitation!

I'm fine, enjoying the sun that finally is getting warmer these days here in Greece!''

''Tell me a bit about yourself, how did you start making music?''

Tim: ''I started playing guitar at the age of 10 (if I remember well) and actually I am self-taught in music! Had only 1-2 years of practice lessons... Didn't help tho! haha!''

''What band(s) / artist(s) have inspired you to become a musician?''

Tim: ''I'm coming from the world of rock and metal of course, so mainly I'll go with the classics like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Savatage, Whitesnake, Queen, Pink Floyd. All these great bands had a huge impact on me as a musician and also in my writing style! Of course I'm very inspired by Disney soundtracks (I am a big fan of Alan Menken), ethnic, classical and gospel music!''

''We are all influenced by different things as we get older and experience more. For you, what has changed as a songwriter and the way you approach music?''

Tim: ''It might be sound very cliché, but I believe that I actually compose music for the same reasons as in the beginning. Mainly because I cannot think of myself not doing it! Of course we are getting older and the world is changing dramatically from day to day, giving us a bunch of good and bad experiences. But that's the beauty of life, the mystery itself. So, this is the biggest influence on me, and the timeless reason that I want to continue creating more stories.''

''Let’s talk a bit about your main band Forbidden Lore. How was the band formed?''

Tim: ''The basic idea started as my side project back in 2011, when I was starting to compose music in the symphonic metal genre! Some of our tracks on the upcoming album are coming from that period! In November 2013 I invited Georgia [Mavrantza], with whom I am friends from childhood, to sing the first demos and then we invited Argiris [Tsagalidis] to join us too! It came very naturally, because we are best friends and as it happened, we share the same dreams for music and we also have the same taste on it.''

''So far you have released an EP, titled ‘Forbidden Lore’, in October 2016, and recently you released a video for “The Waif of the Faith” right on Christmas Day 2018. What can you tell me about the song and the video in particular?''

Tim: ''Yes! We've released our first baby in 2016, plus one lyric video for the track “Grace in our Fall” and one full production music video for the “Endless Run”. Last Christmas we gave the world our heart! hahaha!! Seriously now! The idea behind the “Waif of the Faith”, was to have something beautiful for the spirit of holidays, and to create something to keep the interest alive until the album release! The lyrics as well the video are based on a little Christmas fairytale, in which a homeless man is going to reunite with his lost family in a dream. I really love these kind of fairytales as a child, so it was really fun for me to create one!''

''In the meantime, you kept busy and started working on a side-project with Italian singer Paier, releasing two singles – “Darkness” and “Light”. How did this collaboration come to be?''

Tim: ''Yes, indeed! I have the pleasure of working with this extremely talented man whom I have met in the socials [social media] actually. Nowadays things are much easier with the Internet, there are tons of pages and groups online that can give you access in so many new music and the chance to meet interesting people around the world. The good part of this collaboration, besides music of course, is that we have develop a nice kind of friendship as well with Paier, because we have found so many similarities in our way of seeing and making things. In some strange way, we speak the same language.''

''What can we expect from the full EP, titled “The Primordial Elements Trilogy”, in terms of musical styles / influences and production?''

Tim: ''I could describe the style of our music as a modern rock opera! The drama is there, also a lot of energy is there, and all these elements are given through a modern rock production blended with some powerful symphonic orchestrations! As a producer/mixing engineer myself, I wanted to make a unique sound for this EP so I have also experimented with more electronic sounds that both me and Paier love, and I wanted the final result to sound punchy and bright!''

''And speaking of the EP, the release date is approaching, so, how are you feeling? Are you relieved, excited, exhausted ...?''

Tim: ''We will release the EP in early April and we are beyond happy for this! Excited is the correct word of course! We haven't rushed anything at the production period! We have scheduled a track per month, so that all processing was very easy, fun and creative for us, so now we are enjoying the feeling of anticipation for your feedback!''

''I know it’s a concept EP, so what can you reveal about the story and who came up with the storyline?''

Tim: ''Yes, indeed it's a concept EP, based in a post-apocalyptic world. The main character is trying to bring back the light to humanity, as technology had fail and everything around is dark. So he abandoned his normal life and started seeking a solution in a remote area, alone. As the years passed, a mysterious force possessed him, and turned him into a very strange creature giving him unnatural powers. So, as the rest of the world still is searching for salvation, a group of explorers, finds his "lair" and approach him, begging him for help. But in exchange they receive an interstellar trip through unknown galaxies and times.

I think we should leave the rest of the plot for the release! And we will happily let you to find the symbolisms in this story by yourselves. hehe! The storyline has written by me as a mini-novel one year ago and I thought this is the perfect opportunity to unveil it through our music with Paier.''

''Would you consider writing songs in your own language?''

Tim: ''I've done it in the past actually, I was in a Greek-speaking band at my beginnings.''

''There have been so many great metal bands coming out of Greece in the past few years (Sunburst, Meden Agan, Bare Infinity, Enemy of Reality, Jaded Star, Wardrum, to name a few), joining the ranks of legendary groups as Rotting Christ, Suicidal Angels, Firewind or Septicflesh. As an insider, how do you see the Greek metal scene evolving? And who so you consider to be the best Greek metal band?''

Tim: ''I'm so happy that I see all these people keep making great music and playing beyond Greek borders. With some of these we are from the same town, or we know each other from the past, so it's a nice thing to see the circle getting bigger.

Hmm.. difficult question it is.. I love Septicflesh, Sunburst, Emerald Sun... so many favorites!''

''How would you continue the sentence “Music is…”?''

Tim: ''Music is a pillow. A pillow on which you can lie when you are feeling emotional or when you want to relax. A pillow with which you can fight when you feel angry, and a pillow you can tell everything you want to.''

''Rock and metal bands generally have lengthy careers, some with more than 20 years doing this. Why do you think that is?''

Tim: ''I think this is because this music has no age. You can still listen and enjoy Led Zeppelin, but who remembers other old-fashioned hits? The rock/metal culture is strong and surviving the changings of time because it brings so much passion for the listener and for the artist as well. So it's a natural thing for rock/metal artists/bands to surviving through time.''

''And finally, the last question is whether you have any kind of life advice for our readers & us?''

Tim:  ''I am Greek but this doesn't mean that I am also a good philosopher! haha! Although, I can give the same piece of advice I gave myself. Keep dreaming, keep trying to make dreams come true, through any form of art. Because this is one of these things that no-one can take away from you! Also have faith in yourself and don't fear to cross the mysterious paths of life! You will find some beauty hiding in there maybe! Cheers!''