If we feature any more Greek acts, we’ll start getting addicted to Mythos (which isn’t a bad thing as it’s a nice beer)…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re from the northern part of Greece – the city of Thessaloniki. The second largest city of Greece. A place with a great tradition of producing rock bands, songwriters and music in general.
How did you meet?
Well, we used to know each other for a long time before we made the decision to share our passion for music and eventually create a band which started back in 2014 when the three of us (not including a bass player yet), started rehearsing just for fun. Well, it didn’t take too long for our very own first riff to come up and then… the rest is history.
How long have you been playing as a band?
It’s been almost 6 years now. We have released two studio albums (Aggressive Illusions in 2016 and Rebel Day in 2020) and recently updated the line up since our long-time friend Johnny K. joined our band as bass player.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Bend For Eleven is a key phrase we used while practicing, referring to the last bending of the guitar string we did to end the rehearsals, which was always scheduled at 11pm. Initially, it started out as a joke, but ended up defining the band’s name.
What are your influences?
Mainly, American and British rock artists/ bands of the 90s era. Add to that a dose of 80s metal and some 60s-70s blues/rock and you’ve got all there is to it.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
The band, with this second album, has transitioned from a heavier/ stoner repertoire to a somewhat more alternative rock style. Easier to listen rock n’ roll. A lighter vibe if you will. Purer sound, less effects.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
It could be anything. It all depends on the feelings and the mood that a melody brings to you.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
We’re just an upcoming rock band. We have played five gigs so far as opening acts plus a couple on our own at local pubs. Our main interest was to finalise the recordings of all our tracks for both of our records, in order to be able to perform live as headliners. Now we are ready to hit the road.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
The wildest thing we’ve done so far, was to perform and record live in front of more than a thousand people just on our second ever performance, as an opening act for 1000MODS’s concert in Thessaloniki, Greece, three years ago. It was a time to remember, hopefully more will come.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
We own two Epiphone Les Paul and a Gibson 2017 SG Special T guitars. We’ve been using these since the beginning, both for the recording of the albums as well as the live performances. As for the effect pedals a boss delay custom overdrive & custom fuzz, over crazy drive & spring reverb custom Made and a MXR Carbon copy Delay. Boss DD-7 Digital Delay.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
The only thing we’re promoting at the moment is solely the band, and it’s music. That’s all actually.
What are your plans for 2020?
Our top of the list was, of course, live performances to promote the album, for as long as we could. However, this coronavirus thing that’s plagued the planet has caused things to slow down to a halt. Right now, the only thing we can do is wait for the world to recover from the consequences of the pandemic.
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!
We can’t think of just one band that we’d love to support, there are many. It could be any band, from the early 90’s up to now, that we grew up listening to their songs and got influenced by their music.
As for who we’d love to tour with, it should be definitely a band that shares the same passion that we have to perform live. Since we have a lot of mates playing in bands, it wouldn’t be fair for them just to pick one out and it wouldn’t be proper for us too.
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