Better known for being the home of the ancient Gods, Greece has produced another addition to that legacy in the form of rock/metal outfit 1000Mods.
More cut from the heavy psych rock cloth than the ones fabricated in ancient times, 1000Mods have put Greece on the map musically with a blending of ferocious and energetic live performances coupled with a hypnotically rock centred sound that cuts deep into the soul of your musical psyche.
1000Mods are set to return to Australia for the first time since 2019 when they hit this country for a run of shows starting in Wollongong on February 15. This time the band are extending that run to include New Zealand for the first time and recently sat down with HEAVY to share their excitement.
“We are really excited to be back Down Under,” enthused drummer Labros. “We had a great time back in 2019 and to be honest we were supposed to be back earlier, but you know Covid happened. We are extremely stoked to visit NZ for first time as well!”
All up 1000Mods are playing eleven shows in almost as many days, a feat that may seem exorbitant to people out here, but as Labros explains that is pretty much the standard schedule for international bands.
“It has become actually our usual touring mode,” he affirmed, “as we prefer to have less days off and more consecutive gigs in order to stay on tour mode and in the zone. Days off are amazing but usually instead of using them to take some rest we prefer going sightseeing and for some local drinks which doesn’t help so much with taking a rest. (laughs). Before the tour we rehearse a lot and practice as well individually to be ready for all the physical and mental challenges that we can face during a tour.”
As mentioned, this will be 1000Mods first visit to New Zealand, with Labros giving them a small taste of what to expect.
“We are really excited to visit New Zealand,” he smiled. “We know from socials/Spotify etc that we
have a solid fanbase there and cannot wait to play for them. Furthermore, we really want to visit this
fantastic place and travel around the amazing nature. Expect volume, energy, sweat, more volume, headbanging, moshpits, more volume (laughs).”
It has been four years since 1000Mods last toured this side of the world, with Labros admitting there have been a few significant developments in that period.
“After our Australian tour we actually started the preproduction for our latest album Youth of Dissent,” he began, “and we travelled to Seattle to record it. Of course, no one was expecting the pandemic, and we were booking hundreds of shows for promoting it. The pandemic came, and we found ourselves -after many years of being constantly on the road – sitting at home and cannot play music and tour the world as we used to. That of course fucked with our psychology but also helped us reflect what we like the most in our lives.”
Youth Of Dissent came out in 2020 and despite suffering early hardships due to the current state of the world at the time has finally had a chance to digest with fans.
“YoD was released during the first quarantine and actually didn’t have its chance to be communicated with the world as it should – live on stage,” Labros said of the initial reaction. “So for us the actual reactions came last year when we started touring again and saw our fans have the time of their lives with the new songs on stage, singing, crowd-surfing and welcoming to the setlists.
Youth Of Dissent also saw 1000Mods explore fresh musical territory in parts, particularly on the track Lucid which was featured as an acoustic version complete with strings.
“During the quarantine, we broke the law to have some rehearsals and play some music after many months,” Labros smiled cheekily. “We were chilling at the studio while George was playing with his acoustic guitar and jamming the riff from Lucid. Everyone enjoyed a lot this interpretation of the song, and we discussed recording it in the future. We reached out to Nikos Veliotis, who is a legend in the Greek underground scene in order to add some cello to the song and of course our friend Akis from Villagers of Ioannina City that played the double bass.”
Although the experiment was met warmly by fans, Labros shakes his head when asked if that is something 1000Mods will explore further on future releases.
“We never say never to these ideas,” he smiled, “but at the moment there is nothing planned.”
It has been more than two years now since the release of Youth Of Dissent, so we question Labros on how far advanced the next album is.
“We have a lot of ideas, songs etc,” he measured. “We maybe will release some as an individual release or EP or something. And some will be stored for the upcoming album. But still we cannot tell for sure about the exact time of recording the new album.”
What he could commit to was the next album will once again see 1000Mods pushing their section of the musical envelope.
“As with YoD, every time we record a new album the direction comes spontaneously and instantly,” he offered. “So every other record is influenced by the exact mood and momentum of the band. We always try to add some elements that we like to jam the given period and of course, we always try to be better players with our instruments.”
So does that mean we might hear a new track or two on the upcoming tour?
“We do have a couple of new songs ready to play,” he smiled coyly, “but every time it depends on the available stage time, setlist etc.”
1000Mods have a distinctly recognizable sound, allowing them to stand out proudly amongst the current emerging wave of rock outfits. Part of that sonic adaption, Labros admits, is courtesy of where the band threw down their roots in the small village of Chiliomodi in Greece.
“Of course, it helped a lot bring different influences,” he nodded, “as back then and before the internet era we would listen to music from older siblings, cousins etc. So, at the same time, we could listen to Black Sabbath’s first album, Nirvana’s Bleach but also Offspring’s Smash. Also, the possibility of being close to nature and get inspired by it opened our minds and maybe gave us some different perspectives.”
