Interview with Noiz Ritual

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

Nick: I just couldn’t resist, the first time I heard an electric distorted guitar it was like an epiphany! I wanted to learn to do that, and I wanted to go all-in! I also had an affinity to drawing, and I can be pretend decent at directing videos and editing them, so If I hadn’t gotten into music I guess I would probably be an artist or a videographer right now, something like that.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Nick: I try to keep my brain stimulated, read a book, watch a movie or a tv series, play a video game, do some research on the web, in general I try to expand my mind. It all eventually finds its way back into the songs or the lyrics that I write, I think that everything that is part of your culture is interconnected, so inspiration for music also draws from the same pool of influences.

How long has your band been around?

Nick:  We’ve been around since 2022, we’re practically a little kid in band years, trying to grow, and looking to find its place in the world.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

Nick:  We’re based in Athens, Greece. The most popular music here is not rock and metal, but there have been some surveys that counted the amount of metal bands in each country and Greece was fifth, so we got a lot of metal bands here, not that successful though. So yeah, there are a lot of local bands around, playing any style you can think of, and there are many small venues to play in, so it’s easy to start a band and don’t have many restrictions on what you can play. Musically I can’t say it has influenced me, the artists that played a part in my musical evolution are mainly from abroad.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

Nick:  We were all together, brainstorming for a name, most ideas were trash, you know how that goes. But at one point we came up with a name that included ritual, and wanted to keep it, so Ilias, our 1st bassplayer suggested the name Noise Ritual, and Mantalena, our drummer, said it would be cooler to spell it Noiz so that it will remind us of the good old 00s nu metal scene. In my mind the name refers to rock music because some people consider it to be just noise, and the ritual part is the way we use music to bring our energy to the world, invite them to have fun with our music.  

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

Nick:  We did a show last year that we went the extra mile, we got a lot of props, we had a gun that Ilias brought from Japan that shot bubbles and two more machines on the side making bubbles as well, we had an Otamatone, a ridiculous instrument that you should check out if you don’t know it yet, and other crazy stuff. The people in the crowd were going crazy, it was good show I tell you.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

Nick: My most favorite venue unfortunately closed, but we had some good shows in two underground local stages, Nomads and BUMS, the vibe was good, and we made some good memories. Of course we’re still a young band, we haven’t player in most of the available venues, and we would like to if we can.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Nick:  I would jump at the chance to play with Breaking Benjamin and Don Brocco anytime!

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Nick:  Make sure to set your ego aside! Learn what you can from your bandmates, be open to constructive criticism, and also acknowledge your mistakes and work on ways to improve. If you find that your bandmates are not benevolent towards you, don’t be afraid to find another band. That’s what I would tell my younger self, but it’s for everyone else too!  

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Nick: I’d surely tell myself to learn audio production as soon as possible, I only got into that later in my life, and it felt like I had lost some time and should have done it earlier. Learning to record myself helped me improve my playing and it also took my songwriting a better level, it was essential for me to evolve.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

Nick: I choose Abuse Me, it’s the first song we started to work on as a band, it embodies the Noiz Ritual spirit, and paved the way on how treated the rest of the songs. Lyrically, it’s about a some people I had the misfortune of knowing, and certain incidents that left their mark on me, so I connect with it in all levels.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

Nick:  Our favorite song to play, I think, is Robocop, it’s a super fun song to play, but people seem to vibe more with Abuse Me, the chorus tends to get stuck in their head and want to hear it again.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

Nick:  Since we are a young band, we haven’t fully developed our process. Till now, I usually bring a song idea on the table and we work the vocals on it. We usually do some freestyle takes using greek lyrics and see what we like the most and build on that. Then we rehearse it in the studio, to see if it has a good vibe when played live. If not, it’s back to the drawing board. Then we build the lyrics in English  based on the ideas we laid in the demo, keeping the parts that make sense. Inspiration for the lyrics can be whatever, it depends if we feel like being serious or want to go crazy with it. Usually we draw from real life experiences, or we create a funny story like Robocop. When everything is in place, we add the final touches, little nuances that make the song more intricate and it’s ready to be presented to the world.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

Nick: Mainly social or political messages, but we add a splash of humor, because we don’t want it to be too serious or too dark.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Nick:  If we cannot agree on something then we do not do it! If not everyone is happy with something then it is not for us. At the same time everyone knows that they don’t always need to have an opinion on something, we don’t like arguing for the sake of arguing. It’s all about setting your ego aside and seeing what is best for the band.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

Nick: Our first EP, Emrace The Noiz, is coming up, it will be released on May 14th alongside a lyric video for the song Feeling Death Inside. It was made by Andy Pilkington / Very Metal Art, he has done lyric videos for bands like Judas Priest, Opeth and Motorhead, and it’s really great! We plan to put on some more shows for the promotion of our EP, and release a couple more videos after the summer. And after that, who knows what the future will bring?