Gus Dibelas and Fiona Creaby went through Fallen Arise’s career highilghts, shared fond memories and gave just a few info about the upcoming album just a few days before their 15th anniversary show at Kyttaro in Athens, Greece. Interview: Yiannis Dolas
Rockpages.gr: What were the biggest highlights of those first 15 years?
Gus: There are too many, for me every moment both in the studio or on stageis a highlight! But to give you a specific answer, I m gonna say the recordings of “Adeline” with all those very special musicians participated in but also the European tour with Fates Warning in 2017 I felt that I m on new passeges.
Fiona: It has been 8 years of great memories for me as I joined in 2016 when the band were just starting to tour the Adeline album, which included my first ever show in Athens. We went from there to a great tour in 2017 with Fates Warning and then with Paradise Lost, with amazing venues, passionate crowds and of course being invited on stage to sing ‘Erased’ with Paradise Lost was a huge highlight for me. The recording of Enigma here in Athens was a great experience for me too, More recently this year, it was wonderful to perform in Romania again at Seawolves Festival, with Stratovarius, Bonfire and Visions of Atlantis. Overall, supporting Nightwish in 2018 at Romexpo was a great moment for us and was one of the biggest highlights for me.
Rockpages.gr: If you were going to give a title to your career so far, what would that be?
Fiona: Determined, optimistic and jubilant.
Gus: Fallen Arise…i cannot think anything else…
Rockpages.gr: You are currently composing songs for your next studio album. Can you tell us about its direction, if there is a concept and when should we expect it?
Fiona: It is a very exciting time for the development of the next album. We are currently on a timeline for late 2025. For the direction, we want to do something that captures the essence of who we are from past albums but also presents something new. There is no central concept like with Adeline, but there is a theme around connection, possibilities and transformation.
Gus: Also, we will give more attention to heavy guitars, which will be more powerful than the previous ones.
Rockpages.gr: Do you have any leftover songs, or unfinished ideas from the past that you consider using, or are you starting from scratch?
Fiona: We are leading with entirely new ideas which have been developing over the last couple of years.
Gus: Yes, maybe some small parts, but basically we are working on brand new ideas.
Rockpages.gr: Symphonic metal seems to be on a high again nowadays with bands like Nightwish, Within Temptation, etc. What would you say that Fallen Arise contribute to the genre that makes them stand out?
Fiona: The musical dynamic between songs and the vocal contrast between melodic vocals and extreme/brutal vocals is often highlighted by fans as a strong part of our appeal. I also think that our diverse back catalogue from heavier songs with extreme vocals like Silent Weeping and The Curse of Adeline, to high energy melodic songs like Reborn, White Crystal Angel and Enigma, as well as a few emotional ballads, helps us to stand out; we get a lot of positive feedback from audiences about this.
Gus: We try to show our personal identity. I really enjoy the dynamic between female and male vocals in our music, it’s a central aspect of Fallen Arise. We try to give something special to the fans, something to make them say “Oh! That’s really great”!
Rockpages.gr: How do you see the Greek symphonic metal scene?
Gus: There’s not too many symphonic metal bands in Greece but some of them are really good. Greek scene has mostly extreme metal, doom metal and progressive metal bands. It’s maybe a sign of the times.
Fiona: Before my time with the band I really only knew the metal scene in Greece from a distance through the popularity of a few bands that have frequented Europe and visited the UK over the last few decades. Since becoming part of Fallen Arise and spending more time in Greece, I have gotten to know more about the history of the Greek scene which is really interesting and there has been a lot of work here over the years to grow the scene with some great bands out there and it is great to be a part of that.
Rockpages.gr: When music is not your main occupation and you need a day job to get by, would you say that it’s easier, or harder to find inspiration and get motivated to be creative?
Gus: Hmmm….nice question…both I could say. Mind that I said before…sign of the times…many artists are influenced by the current social conditions, an example is the punk wave in the U.K. late 70’s or early ’21’s with the worldwide financial crisis when hip hop started to rule the world. I mean working is like fighting, facing all the current hard situation around. At the other hand, if you have a free time you can organise yourself better and be focused on that you create.
Fiona: I think that for many bands the necessities of life can slow the creative process down a bit at times, especially with multiple schedules to align, but the passion for what we do drives us to find ways to make it work and to prioritise the creative process. As I am UK based, it does also add a layer of complexity to things, but technology helps in many ways with that. I think overall, all of us would love more time to focus on our passion but I do find the need to balance time also helps to sharpen the mind and can make me more productive at times.
Rockpages.gr: After being active for 15 years do you have any regrets? Are there anything you think you wish you have done differently?
Fiona: I don’t have any regrets but I have learnt a lot during my 8 years with the band. There are always things to look back on with hindsight, but that is part of the learning curve that comes with band life as you are learning to live with each other as much as you are learning which moves to make as a band musically and professionally. I think we are very lucky as a band to have a strong sense of cohesion with a lot of care and respect for each other at the centre of that.
Gus: I absolutely agree with Fiona, never regret anything. Just to learn from our moves to be better on the next step.
Rockpages.gr: Lately, you played some shows in Europe. Do you prefer playing big festivals, or clubs and why is that?
Fiona: That’s a tough one as both have their different qualities and intricacies which make then equally amazing. With festivals, the stages are huge, and the audiences are vast and very diverse. With clubs, there is more of a proximity effect with the audience who are only there for a short time to focus one or two bands they follow. Overall, although I prefer the festival stages for the performance and visual angle, I prefer the vibe and sound of a club show more.
Gus: That is…everywhere we play we give our best for the above reasons. The club show is the feeling, the festival show is popularity…hmm….and feeling as well but totally fifferent than the club’s one.
Rockpages.gr: What should we expect from the upcoming anniversary show on September 15th? You’ve already announced Jon Soti and Thanos Dimitrogiannis as special guests. What else should we expect?
Gus: Spyla also will join us and maybe one more guest. We have the opportunity to play on our stage a full set and arrange all of that as we prefer, so you will see Fallen Arise as they want to present themselves. A special move is that we present our band’s archive, old items used by the band, soldout old merchandise, promo stuff and more. I think it’s something will be happened for the first time in Greece.
Fiona: Yes, we have an extended set with material spanning all 3 albums, and I am very excited that we also have Spyla as an extra special guest for the first time in 8 years. The set will also feature a track that we will perform live for the first time, but you will only know which if you come to the show! It’s going to be an exciting and dynamic show with a lot of energy and passion in the band’s home city, so I think people can expect to have a great time and enjoy the variety of the material we will present.
Rockpages.gr: How do you imagine the next 15 years of Fallen Arise? Have you set any goals, what are your expectations?
Fiona: Certainly there will be further albums, at least 3 or 4 by 2039. I also believe that we will see many more shows passed by then; given we hit our 50th show on September 13 we are ambitious in wanting to add a third digit to the overall count, to hit at least 250 shows by then. Overall, we wish to be productive, happy and healthy, with new material that continues to both excite and elevate.
Gus: Yes, the goal is to arrange our 30th Anniversary Show in a very big venue and playing a 3 hours set! That means that the best is yet to come for Fallen Arise.
