Interview with the Band Risabov
Cosmick View: Hello, and welcome to The Cosmick View! Thanks for taking some time out of your day to speak with us. It's greatly appreciated.
Risabov: Sure thing! Pleasure to be received.
CV: Over the past several years, the music industry has essentially changed multiple times. How have you navigated these changes and what positives have you taken away that keeps you moving forward?
Mark(Bass-Vocals): Well, for an artist it's always a challenge, we all know that, and it's been no different for us over the years. Since 2009 when we were still in school, at first it was pure craziness and enthusiasm for good old Heavy Metal. Max was extremely talented from a very young age, ran wild on his guitar and pretty much everyone else caught up with his compositions and advanced style.
Going through our 20s, though we did play on a few major gigs, among plenty of others around Athens city and various places around Greece, there was definitely periods of inertia for the band, because of college and mandatory military services in 2013 and 2020. Of course Covid hit us around that time as well, just like everyone else. But our love for what we do keeps us going no matter what. We believe a lot in our work, remain ambitious and aim for the absolute top.
CV: Artists everywhere seem to be struggling to find out not only an audience but a stage to perform on. Do you feel this is more of a temporary trend or more of a signal that music has lost its impact?
RBV: Music will never lose its impact. Music is probably the reason we haven't completely killed each other as a species yet, so fuck no, we don't think it's going anywhere any time soon. It may be true for other music genres, but definitely not for Rock 'n' Roll. Now that said, like the greats say: It's a long way to the top.
It definitely can be hard in this prosperous, perhaps over-accessible, digital era to stand out, even if you are great at what you do like us (hehe), but we firmly believe that you must find the courage inside of you to keep yourself and your band going. It may include inner warfares, it may include calling out on each other's stupidity, and believe us, that shit has happened a lot in our case in the past. You know, Lemmy said it too once: You have to learn how to forgive, and move on. We stand behind that mentality, and carry on to implement our vision for the future. We still have a lot to say, and even though it's been a while, we feel like we're just getting started.
CV: Genre classification has essentially altered listener perspective and has redefined music categories. Has these perceptions changed the way you write music? Is songwriting more of a "fitting into a niche" than writing from the heart nowadays?
RBV: No, man! Writing from the heart needs to be a constant factor to write great music. Let's not ever forget that! Genre categories.. Well, we are no strangers to struggling to place ourselves in a specific one of those boxes. If you ask us, that's trivial. What we play has elements of Thrash, Death, Progressive Metal, a touch of Fusion too. What the hell do you even call that? We don't know, and it doesn't matter at all! What matters is that we are a branch of the tree of Rock 'n' Roll and Heavy Metal, and are unapologetically proud of it.
CV: Tell us a little bit about what you have going on right now.
RBV: We stopped playing for a while back in 2023. About a year later we started playing again, as we released our second work "Light Years Towards Impact" on digital platforms, and now are at the process of looking for new concerts, to build up some momentum and get back on our feet. We just played another gig a few days ago in Piraeus city, which went well and got us pretty excited. There's more to come for July. We'll also be supporting a pretty heavy band that's coming from Italy, "Demidead", right here in Athens, pretty excited for that too. There's some plans for a gig in October as well.
Οtherwise we're also at the midst of preparing a new, third album! It will be a nine or ten-song, two-sided release, each one consisting of four or five songs. That's also something we look forward to and are very excited about as well!
CV: How do you stay inspired as an artist?
RBV: Well, not to get too pessimistic, it's all the trouble of being this finite existence. We are born, we live, we will die. That's a morbid fact that we tend to think about when it comes to the lyrics, at least.
As of the compositions, it's probably inspiration from many different things in life. It may be views and landscapes of nature, animal behaviors, the urban structure, a road trip, even anime shows, some series and video games. We guess that all these are sources of inspiration that eventually end up in our fretboards. It could also be feelings of resentment and self reflection, hope to find the courage to self-improve and be a better person, or it can be a general disappointment in humanity as a whole. The world is still fucked, peace in all of Earth's corners has not been achieved.
Some naively wish the darkness away and hope it vanishes, but maybe some need to point out the negativity and yell about it in hope of shedding some light, maybe that's what our job is about.
CV: Is there ever the fear of possibly repeating yourself musically over time?
RBV: Not really. Repetition is not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, if we hopefully write great music and the people enjoy it, why not repeat it?
CV: Many critics believe music has lost its touch... Its connection with the audience. Is that really the case on some level, or has music found itself competing for attention in a sea of over stimuli?
RBV: It could be the case that maybe there is too much stuff out there. We like to think that the audience will be the perfect judge, though. If a piece of music truly resonates with you, then it's for you, and no one should tell you otherwise. No, music hasn't lost its touch. People can get confused in these times for sure, but there is still a lot of heart out there.
CV: What do you believe music has given you that nothing else would have?
RBV: We'll have to get back to you on that, it's a complicated one... Oh wait... Everything!
CV: What more can fans expect coming from you this year and beyond?
RBV: More high-quality Metal, more gigs, more Hell!
CV: Thanks again for taking the time to share with our readers. We wish you all the best, and continued success.
RBV: Appreciate it, thank you very much and Stay Clean!
Check out Risabov at:
SPOTIFY Second Release "Light Years Towards Impact(2024)":
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@Risabovband
YOUTUBE First Release "Rise(2013)":
The Cosmick View
Where the stars always shine bright
www.thecosmickview.com
www.facebook.com/TheCosmickView
www.thecosmickvoice.com
www.anchor.fm/the-cosmick-voice
My name is Mick Michaels...I'm an artist, music fan, songwriter, producer, author, show host, big dreamer & guitarist for the traditional Heavy Metal band Corners of Sanctuary. Writing has always been a creative outlet for me; what I couldn't say in speech, I was able to do with the written word. Writing has given me a voice & a way for me to create on a multitude of platforms including music and song, articles, independent screenplays, books & now, artist interviews. The Cosmick View is an opportunity to raise the bar & showcase artists in a positive and inspirational light. For me, it's another out-of-this-world adventure.
The Story of the Philadelphia Rock Music Scene from 1978-1992
Pamela Aloia: Author, Energy Healer, Teacher
Spiritual Counseling and Sessions Available
Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
"a Martial Arts History Chronicle"
Want to see your logo here? Contact The Cosmick View for details and rates.
Comments
Post a Comment