Backbone Interview

Q1: For readers discovering Backbone for the very first time, who are Backbone, and how did the project evolve from Peter Krk’s solo vision into the band it is today?

Peter Hantzis: Backbone started as my solo project, indeed, and ended up being my brainchild, along with Eleni Nota and Dimitri Tsabros. It’s a sonic haven, where we express ourselves by putting our mark on musical styles we love.

It actually started from my personal need to record my ideas. I got in touch with Eleni, through mutual friends in the scene, and she was positive in being part of this journey, straight away. That’s when we started working on our first EP ‘Vertex’. Also, having Dimitri with us, was an old promise being fulfilled, since I always wanted to collaborate with him, in this creative attempt of mine. From that moment, songs started coming one after the other, and here we are now…

Backbone is a creative space, where heavy music can evolve freely, beyond the repetition and complacency that can sometimes shape the modern music scene. The band exists as a return to the heart of why music was created in the first place: the freedom to build something deeply personal.

Q2: Backbone brings together musicians from different corners of the metal world. How has that combination of backgrounds shaped the band’s identity and creative direction?

Peter Hantzis: This has affected us in a positive way, I believe… It’s a relatively free creative process and I like this to be honest! Eleni is a metalcore fan but has deep knowledge of all the traditional metal subgenres from every era. Dimitri as well, but he has a lot more influences, from rock, funk, jazz….he even listens to Japanese classical music!!! Of course, they know, as experienced musicians, how to enhance the material that I bring and build around it, creating their own musical boundaries. I’m always curious about the kind of ideas that my bandmates come up with, and this keeps things interesting.

Q3: Your music draws inspiration from styles you clearly admire while striving to leave your own mark. How do you balance paying homage to those influences with creating something uniquely Backbone?

Peter Hantzis: I believe it has to do with different factors. It certainly has to do with us, as musicians, how deep our knowledge and our ability related to these specific styles are and how far we want / can go from there. In my opinion, the most important thing is the personal filter that each musician creates, subconsciously, as a listener, player and songwriter, depending on his perception. Our way of extracting elements from something or combining them to create something, is an ongoing process that can be cultivated in various ways, in order to explore new artistic paths.

Q4: Eleni Nota has built an impressive reputation through her work with bands such as Nervosa and Ankor. How has her approach to drumming influenced Backbone’s songwriting and overall sound?

Peter Hantzis: I think we clicked almost instantly. She has the ability to come up with demanding drum parts, to support difficult or eccentric riffs, she can overplay if needed but she always maintains a musical, song – driven approach. Actually, she’s quite flexible, she has a strong work ethic and she’s a beast of a metal drummer, as we all know, delivering the goods both on stage and in the studio. So I know I’m in safe hands, and this allows me to write the material I want without cutting any corners, while letting her come up with imaginative drum parts that add this, let’s say, extra spice on top. Drums, as an instrument, often define the song’s atmosphere, so as you can imagine, her role is…instrumental….

Q5: Dimitri Tsabros joined the band on bass. What has his contribution brought to Backbone’s chemistry, both musically and personally?

Peter Hantzis: Well, Dimitri is a monster player with a quite diverse background. He has deep knowledge of different genres as a listener and musician (metal, alternative, funk/fusion, jazz, etc.). His basslines are the rock that the tracks can lean on, and he’s in charge of the harmonic content that glues everything together. A hell of a performer live or in the studio (one-take kind of guy, almost always). On a personal level, we are friends for a very long time, so asking him to join and collaborate, was very natural, without a doubt.

Q6: Every band develops its own creative process. How do ideas typically evolve within Backbone, from the earliest spark of inspiration to a finished composition?

Peter Hantzis: To be honest, the initial creative force is me. Usually, I come up with ideas and as soon as I have a coherent musical piece, I sent it to Eleni. We go a little bit back and forth, discussing ideas on parts, the general direction and rhythmic vibe and I try to explain to her how the song sounds in my head. That’s when she takes over and she comes back to me with the drum parts. Then we make some last changes, if needed, and we’re done.

Everyone is free to add what’s needed because we’re on the same page. In the meantime, I finish writing the lyrics and vocal lines, and then Dimitri comes to record his parts. Vocals come last, and most of the times, slight changes can be made even during the last minute, depending on the production or sound signature of each song, as I like to experiment a little bit.

Q7: Your latest single, Encounter, has just been released. What story or themes does the song explore, and what made it the right choice to introduce this chapter of the band’s journey?

Peter Hantzis: All the lyrical concepts are based on personal experience and thoughts. It can be depression (Post-entrapment), personal perspective (Iconoclast), people I know that coming back from two Afghanistan tours, with severe PTSD, ended up being homeless (Captagon), being next to cancer patients (Lifeline), etc.

‘Encounter’ is about anger that’s derived from personal relationships, of any kind. It describes the mindset of the main character/stakeholder, and usually these things end in a certain way. It represents my life recently, more or less.

Q8: From a musical perspective, what aspects of Encounter best represent where Backbone stands today, and are there any details listeners should pay particular attention to?

Peter Hantzis: This time the song was almost written by itself, in one go, as a whole, concrete piece of work. Music and lyrics, vocal lines and the whole structure came out as one entity.

I think this has to do with me having a slightly more mature songwriting approach, I guess. And then of course, it’s the fact that we are more familiar with the way we work and how we achieve the sound that’s needed, to support each song. It came out so naturally. The structure, the parts, the guitar sounds, lyrics/vox, everything. We moved fast but with focus, as a more coherent creative team (me, Dimitri, Eleni and our producer Alex). So, I would say that’s where we stand at the moment.

An element that listeners should probably pay attention to, is the cinematic element that’s been introduced, as part of the whole story. Two of my all time favourite speeches which are relevant to the main concept, adding meaning and creating a certain atmosphere at the same time.

Q9: Production often plays a vital role in translating a band’s vision into sound. How did you approach the recording and production of Encounter, and what atmosphere were you aiming to capture?

Peter Hantzis: We are lucky enough to have Alex Kyrlis (Bigfoot Sound studios, Athens, Greece) with us, walking the extra mile every single time, in order to achieve the desirable result. We try to have a different sound every time. ‘Vertex’ ep sounded great but darker, ‘Lifeline’ sounded bigger and more open. This time, I wanted ‘Encounter’ to sound punchy, massively wide, while clinical at the same time (almost claustrophobic in terms of atmosphere), with an aggressive vortex-like feeling. We tried some new things this time in terms of songwriting/ production as well, like using riffs based on inverted fifths and sub bass tracks, adding weight and punch, without sounding artificial.

Q10: Live performance often reveals another side of a band. What kind of experience do you hope audiences take away after witnessing Backbone on stage?

Peter Hantzis: Well, we don’t do any live gigs, at least for now, as our common schedule doesn’t leave any time for that, unfortunately. We just enjoy and share the creative process.

Q11: As Backbone continues to establish its own identity, what qualities or values do you hope listeners will come to associate with the band?

Peter Hantzis: Backbone is a creatively autonomous project, putting out 100% genuine music, that’s related to real life experience and recorded with passion and effort, aiming for the best possible sonic result. There is no creative compromise, we try not to repeat ourselves, and we put our soul, mind, body, and time on this, each time. It doesn’t get more honest than that.

Q12: Looking ahead, does Encounter offer a glimpse of a larger project currently taking shape, and what can listeners expect from Backbone in the months ahead?

Peter Hantzis: Actually, yes! We have started working on new material already and there is a collaboration in the works with a great, very flexible, female vocalist!!! It’s gonna be massive and different, as we are not afraid to try different things. Stay tuned!

Q13: Finally, if someone could experience only one Backbone release before exploring the rest of your catalogue, which would you recommend, and why does it best represent the band today?

Peter Hantzis: I would definitely suggest our latest single ‘Encounter’, for all the reasons I explained previously. It represents the faster, focused, smoother, more organic way we create music lately.