Mother Of Millions is one of the most quality bands that our country has the privilege to have with three amazing albums in their journey so far. A few days before their shows in Athens and Thessaloniki, Kostas Konstantinidis, guitarist of the prog heroes, talks to us about their first headline tour abroad, the new album and various other topics. Interview: George Terzakis
Rockpages.gr: Kostas, I will start with a difficult question, since it has to do with the death of your friend and fellow musician Makis Tsamkosoglou. When you overcame the initial shock and sat down as a band to discuss it, what were the chances to stop?
Kostas Konstantinidis: Zero chances. It was on everyone’s mind that it would be particularly difficult to keep meeting regularly, so a big gap followed. Then along came Covid blew, so that made things even more difficult, but the idea of breaking up was never tabled. No one thought about it.
Rockpages.gr: And you decided that you wouldn’t get another member? In the studio I think the keyboards are played by your drummer, George Boukaouris, and on stage they are pre-recorded, right?
Kostas Konstantinidis: On stage some keyboard parts are taken by the guitar, some others are shared with the bass, some others are pre-recorded but have less of the characteristic piano sound while some others are played by George with the drums. For another member, the answer is no. Especially in the beginning it was very difficult to do something like that and as time went by it didn’t get easier to do a new collaboration within the band. I think we are still not ready to that idea. Given that George is coping or at least not complaining yet, we continue as we are.
Rockpages.gr: About the new music you are preparing. “Artifacts” came out in 2019 and so far it’s the longest time between your two full length releases, since last year’s EP “Orbit” has basically one new song. What is the reason for this delay and when will the new work be ready?
Kostas Konstantinidis: We started to rediscover the dynamics between us and redefine the band’s relationship when we started working on “Orbit”, which we did purposefully. I mean that it’s a good reason to work on something together, so let’s put out this EP. We met with a number of people again in that process, like our record label, so we got out of the creative part and into the organizational part. Once that’s done, it’s practically a year in which we’ve been working non-stop on the new album. Now we’re in the final phase. By the end of the year we will have the master, right now we are finishing the artwork and by the new year we will have announcements and maybe the first single. The release is probably going to be next spring.
Rockpages.gr: Will you continue with ViciSolum Productions?
Kostas Konstantinidis: Yes, we will be with the same label.
Rockpages.gr: Where will it be in terms of sound? Will you continue in the pattern of “Sigma” and “Artifacts” or will you present something different?
Kostas Konstantinidis: We will keep the atmospheric and cinematic elements but it will be a lot heavier. In riffs, in guitars, in production. Nobody knows how that came about. So somehow it will marry with “Human” as well.
Rockpages.gr: Since you mentioned guitars, how come George Prokopiou never played guitar in the band, something that he does in Poem? You never felt the need for that?
Kostas Konstantinidis: No, to tell you the truth. In the beginning there was this idea, in the early years before “Human”, but because it was the keyboards and because the guitar doesn’t have a traditional metal position in the band we didn’t think about having a second one. We weren’t writing parts that needed that. I don’t think it ever crossed George’s mind, I don’t think he even wants to, he prefers to be free on stage.
Rockpages.gr: Something like Poem, in their shows he doesn’t play a lot.
Kostas Konstantinidis: Yeah, sometimes he struggles a little bit. He wants to express himself vocally, he’s a little bit hindered by the guitar, it’s something between him and the microphone. And since we mentioned them, let me tell you that they are also working on new material.
Rockpages.gr: That’s great news. Going back to the new album, how long did it take you to compose it and how long did it take to record it?
Kostas Konstantinidis: The composition took about a year. We had some older ideas that we revisited and a lot of material that had been left behind. The recordings were done in sections. Now we have some things pending but it took about three days each.
Rockpages.gr: Only that little?
Kostas Konstantinidis: Yeah, it’s around a fortnight in total. And a little bit more if some guests come. It wasn’t a long process because it was everything for sure. We wanted to go in, be ready and work the extra elements with the producer. Which is again Hector Tsolakis who produced our previous three releases. We have great communication, he knows our vision, he’s like a member of the band and that really helps the process. That is to come up with a clear proposal which still serves the original idea and is not something completely different.
Rockpages.gr: Let’s go to your tour. It was the first extended one you’re doing abroad, right?
Kostas Konstantinidis: Yeah, it was our first extended and headline tour. It was a very interesting experience. We had done some shows, which were no more than five in a row. So we tried our hand at something bigger. This planning continues for next year. It will definitely happen again with the release of the new album.
Rockpages.gr: So you went to Cyprus, Romania, Poland, Austria, Bulgaria and Hungary. How did the whole planning process start? Did you organize it yourself or were you given proposals?
Kostas Konstantinidis: It’s extremely difficult to impossible to do a tour like this with our own resources. You will lose your mind, you won’t know what to focus on first. We are working with a company for this part, Cavalleria Events. They believe in us and they are very helpful.
Rockpages.gr: You had made some appearances in prog festivals abroad, so you had already built a name for yourself? What kind of feedback did you get on this tour?
Costas Konstantinidis: Since you say that, there were people who had seen us at those festivals. In Vienna for example there were people who had seen us at ProgPower Europe. It’s a sum of parameters like how good the promotion has been or what time is it when you visit a place. You will have bad days, which can be compounded by not being close to the weekend. That is, a Tuesday is not a good day for a show. Monday is a no-no. We’ve had our bad days, we’ve had the good ones which were also very pleasant surprises like the last date in Cluj. It was our third visit there, we had played the Way Too Far Festival which was near the city as well as last year in April. So, it’s a sum of factors. The more you perform, the more you work, the more the audience grows.
Rockpages.gr: Was the result above or below your expectations?
Kostas Konstantinidis: Our expectations tend to go against our action. Our action corresponds to optimism, our expectations are usually pessimistic which is a paradox we are not going to solve. My own expectations were pessimistic, especially for places we were going for the first time, but things were much better. I mean even on the bad days, it went very well for merch. The final balance is much more positive than we expected. Not in the sense that the goal was completed, it never ends and is constantly renewed, but there was nothing that took us off course. Even the arrangements with the venues were organized, we didn’t have any unfortunate moments. We had to deal purely with setting up our equipment and playing.
Rockpages.gr: I wanted to ask that about the goal you said. You started in 2008. What goals did you set back then and to what extent have you achieved them?
Kostas Konstantinidis: At that time there was no clear target. We didn’t know what we wanted to do, it showed in the music. It took a long time until we came up with “Human” and it was more drastic to get to “Sigma”, where I think the band was introduced with its most complete identity. So if we can define it in terms of time, from the release of “Human” in 2014 onwards we started working more systematically with a vague focus. And now to tell you the truth, vague it remains. We give our best in everything we do and wherever it takes us.
Rockpages.gr: What was that moment when you felt that the band started to grow? I remember for example that the release party for “Sigma” was held at Temple and two years later, the release party for “Artifacts” was held at Gagarin. A big step-up in terms of venue capacity.
Kostas Konstantinidis: I’ll say “Sigma”. Back then, Temple was almost sold-out and we didn’t expect so many people. We didn’t even have the pre-sale figures. We were backstage at the venue and we were told to delay starting because there were too many people waiting outside. They even showed us a picture and we couldn’t believe it, we wondered how it happened, if we were entitled to it. So, I think that was the first decisive step. At least with the Greek audience.
Rockpages.gr: Let’s go to the concerts that you will give on Greek soil, on December 8th at Gagarin and on December 9th at WE Concert Hall. Will you play any new songs?
Kostas Konstantinidis: Yes, we are talking about it. I don’t know if there will be more than one, but at least one will be at the concerts in Athens and Thessaloniki.
Rockpages.gr: What can we expect in the setlist of these shows?
Kostas Konstantinidis: We try to make it as complete as possible. It’s still being worked on, it will move in the broader context of the tour but we want to enrich it with new songs and older ones as well.
Rockpages.gr: Did you choose the support acts, we.own.the.sky and Allen’s Hand?
Kostas Konstantinidis: Yes, we chose them. We were with Allen’s Hand on the tour as well. It turned out to be a very nice choice despite the difference in style. Not for the communication between us but for the communication of the genres. They have some progressive characteristics towards funk and math and we are more atmospheric, so it makes a nice whole. And I think with we.own.the.sky it will be a richer night.
