OUTLOUD (Eng.)
– Hello, lots of thanks for answering our interview. What are you currently up to? How is everything going with OUTLOUD with the release of your new album?
Bob: Hello and thanx for this interview! Right now we are in the process of finalizing artwork,videoclip and all the necessary stuff! It’s been a hell of a work but we feel extremely proud of what we have done! Our label AOR heaven is doing excellent job and we enjoy working with them. They are Germans..they are serious,haha!
– This new album is entitled «Let’s get Serious» so, first of all; what’s the idea behind such title?
Bob:Mostly it was my idea and refers to being more serious about our music. Different influences come to the table,our sound is less 80’s and more..unique and we are experimenting setting the bar even higher. It was about time…
– And how is its feedback going? First reviews seem to be really good.
Bob:The reviews are simply outstanding.I mean,we know that we have done a good album but it’s the people who can tell you this,not yourself. But the most important thing is that all reviewers are not talking about the album but they are kinda «forced» to comment on every song separately…This means that there is an interesting diversity on it and that the songs themselves are what I like to call «important»,not just one more song in the album.
– This new opus has seen some line-up changes, as he departure of Tony and Mark and drummer Kostas Milonas joining you. What were the reasons behind these changes to happen?
Bob:Mark had to go to England to continue with his life and music adventures. We wish him the best,especially now helping out Scorpions! Tony,even if he was the founder,at some point we all felt that he was left behind mostly technically. His level was not enough anymore and his ideas were not as fresh as ours. He was a very close friend of mine,we all love him and thank him for starting this fire and we all feel really sad that we had to take this step. But the new guys are here for good!
– Anyway on the album was George Kollias who took drum duties. How did you hook up with him and how was working with George like?
Bob: George is a very good friend of mine and lives 5 minutes away from my home. We used to be bandmates back in 2001-4 in a death metal band called Nightfall. I always knew that he can play different stuff,too. One day he asked me who’s gonna do the drumming on the new album and I didn’t know…and then he just told me: «leave it to me Bob we are gonna have a blast»! And he did an amazing job,pushing our sound to higher levels!
– On «Let’s get Serious» you aren’t breaking new ground, instead you remain loyal to your trademark sound. How easy is to retain this trademark sound without copying yourself?
Bob:To be honest…I think we are kinda breaking new grounds…For example it’s the first time you get to listen blast beats,skunk beats and ultra fast double bass drum beats on an AOR album! Then have a technical instrumental in there..how often is that? We also did our first official cover ever and then we have different songs like «A While To Go» or «Like A Dream». And we also worked on one song (One More Time) with the very top selling song writer in Greece,mr Phoebus! I think thats the most important in a band: to keep your identity but without being the same over and over again,like let’s say Motorhead do. It’s not bad but it’s not what we like.
– But you are still improving your musicianship so, how do you think have you personally and the band evolved since your previous «Love Catastrophe» came out?
Bob:The Musicianship was always there. Everybody in the band is very experienced and we all play our instruments for more than 2 decades! But it was Tony mostly keeping things down to a more «simple» level. I don’t blame him for that,people loved us for playing «simple» hard rock music but then again…it’s hundreds of bands out there doing it. And we wanted to showcase something more this time and see if we can fit it into nice and catchy songs. And i think we did it!
– You have always had big choruses and really catchy melodies. Is this something you strive for or rather something that just comes out naturally when playing this music style?
Bob: To be honest again…this is the easiest part of the job :-)When me and Chandler jam with my guitar,we can write tons of great melodies and hooks,it’s so funny! 
Maybe it’s because we are very experienced playing with so many bands over the years,and me producing and writing material for other artists that we now know the..»secrets»!
– This music style is Hard Rock/Melodic Rock with an 80’s approach that sometimes also cross the borders of Metal so, how could you define your sound? And what are some of the bands that you could mention as the most influential ones for the OUTLOUD’s sound?
Bob:I wish I could! But only a few people can really spot our real influences. For example I think that OUTLOUD now are a mix between Mr Big,Skid Row, TNT,Hardline and such bands played with the technique and feeling of bands like Annihilator,Dream Theater and such!
– On the album there are a few guest artists, like ADRENALINE MOB’s Mike Orlando on «Toy Soldiers». What could you comment on this?
Bob: Mike Orlando is one of my favorite guitar players of our times. He is simply amazing. Both his riffing and lead skills are out of this world. And he happened to be a friend of Chandler from NYC! And the solo he contributed with…is really amazing!
– And what’s the story behind this song? I’d dare say is probably the heaviest track on the opus.
Bob: Haha..theres no story. I just pressed «REC» and played all this song AT ONCE. One take. Really. I’m not bullshiting you. I made the demo in 10 minutes and sent it over to Chandler. He had this lyrical idea on the «Toy Soldiers» thing and we made this song in one day!
– There’s also an interesting cover for «Enola Gay» (OMD) which has, obviously, suffered several twists, as change the characteristic main key melody for a guitar riff. How did you come up with the idea and how was the process of turning this tune into an OUTLOUD’s song?
Bob: I always enjoyed this song since I was a kid. It has this sweet melancholy in it and maybe it was one of the first songs I paid attention to the synth sound. Making it an OUTLOUD song was very easy and a very enjoyable process too!
– And what other songs would you like to cover someday?
Bob: The other one I was working on was «Somebody Told Me» by the Killers. But this was difficult. The original arranging was just..perfect! I really don’t know our next one! But I love doing this kind of covers! Like I did with Firewind on «Maniac»!
– You also did a video for «I Was so Blind». How was the experience like?
Bob: It was really fun but stressful too. The power on the club turned down so we only had like 2 hours to do it! Some fans showed up,we dancedmwe had fun and we were rocking out on the song in DOUBLE SPEED as this is often used to make the «slow motion» effect in videos. I still haven’t seen the final result. We were also sponsored by AMSTEL beer for this.This made things more easier as they also brought us 5 cases of Bock beer!
– And all this about «Let’s get Serious» being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
Bob: Melodic,Dynamic and Sexy!
– Finally, what are your near-future plans?
Bob: Music industry now is a labyrinth. You need a lot of money to make it out there. We only now that we want to do good music mostly for ourselves and then the fans around the world. And then hope for something better.
– That’s all, thank you once more for answering our questions. If you want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Bob: Thank you for the support,we hope you listen to our album and give it some time to grow in you. But don’t play it too loud on the car,it’s dangerous!
