I get the feeling we’ve been to Greece a fair bit recently, but that’s hardly a bad thing when it’s chucking out bands as good as Dreamlord…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Greetings! Thank you for having us! We are from Athens, Greece!
How did you meet?
Babis (rhythm guitar, vocals) and Yiannis (lead guitar) met in their teenage years in highschool, Christos (bass) met with Babis through mutual friends right at the time when both parties were looking for musicians to play, and Nick (drums) met with the rest of the band through a mutual friend’s recommendation, at the time when the band was looking for a drummer.
How long have you been playing as a band?
Dreamlord started back in the ‘90s, when Babis and Yiannis formed the band, while still in high school. There were many line-up changes and quite a few years of inactivity, because life got in the way, but the spark never left. So in 2011 when Christos joined the band was reactivated and with the entrance of Nick in 2014, the lineup was stabilized and the band became again a full functioning unit.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
The name originates from the story of the Sandman, who in pop culture is often referred to as Dreamlord. On the other hand, “Morpheus (The Dreamlord)” was a song from the famous Greek band Septic Flesh around the time we formed. So seeing the word in two different places back then seemed almost karmic to us, to use as a name for our band.
What are your influences?
I would say old school American style heavy/ thrash, especially from the Bay Area appeals to us the most. Bands like Testament, Sacred Reich, Metallica, Exodus, Slayer were and still are our favourites.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
The genre we play is one that has been played a lot, so I would say we re-invented the wheel. But, what we do is we try to take our influences and make it like a modern evolution of the old school thrash we love.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Our lyrics deal with socio-political problems that arise around us today. Corporate greed, media propaganda, political corruption with a strong anti-war sentiment. Also, exploring the ways this system exploits and destroys the planet we live on.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
We have played many many shows over the 20+ years of the bands existence. We love playing live, so we go out and give it 100% every time. We love to get the crowd involved and basically, make it like a grand party!
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
A Slayer concert moshpit remains the wildest thing by far I have seen to this day.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Babis plays Solar Guitars and Peavey Amps. Yiannis plays ESP Guitars and EVH Amps. Nick plays a TAMA RockStar kit, and Chris plays Warwick Basses and Reidmar Amps.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
Well, we are currently promoting our album Disciples of War, out via No Remorse records. We are immensely proud of this album and we are eager for as many people as possible, to experience and enjoy it.
What are your plans for 2020?
Well, once the coronavirus madness ends, we plan to play as many concerts as possible to promote our album and bring new friends to the band. At the same time, we already have started work on the next album, so hopefully, towards the tail end of 2020 we will be entering the studio.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Wow, amazing question; I would love to support Metallica, and as an opener I would love to have Evile. They are an amazing band I love and would love to meet and hang out with.
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