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the masses one day in the future? How<br />
have the reactions of the media and fans<br />
been so far?<br />
Thank you for your kind remarks, I am honoured<br />
that you feel this way about my music!<br />
It's true that although I try to create something<br />
really different and experimental, at the<br />
same time I don't want to end up with music<br />
that is inaudible and would only serve as an<br />
experimental salad in a museum :-P I don't<br />
know however if Electronica Art <strong>Metal</strong> will<br />
ever be music for "the masses" but that<br />
doesn't really concern me as I rarely seem to<br />
agree or act in conjunction with what "the<br />
masses” think and do. I make music basically<br />
for my own pleasure and for other adventurous<br />
co-travellers that I discover along the<br />
way! Only with these devoted friends is this<br />
journey of music discovery worthwhile and<br />
doesn’t end up being just some shallow music<br />
with lifestyle-strings attached.<br />
Can you tell us more about the lyrical<br />
concept of "Ocean Dynamics”? In her<br />
review Katja speculated that it could be<br />
a Journey from outer space into our solar<br />
system and finally descending into<br />
the oceans of planet earth. In other articles<br />
I’ve read that it’s a science-fiction<br />
concept about a water planet. What’s<br />
really the story behind? Is it somehow<br />
connected to the concept of your debut<br />
"Star Tales”?<br />
Yes, just as in "Star Tales”, the lyrics of<br />
"Ocean Dynamics” are science fiction stories<br />
but this time theme-based around the liquid<br />
element, the power of the seas. I live in a<br />
sea-dominated country and city so the liquid<br />
element is vital for my life. I really can’t<br />
imagine myself living away from the sea. The<br />
"Thalassa Dominion” story that mainly dominates<br />
the album is about an aquatic race<br />
living in a water planet. They are the spores<br />
45<br />
of an ancient space tribe whose actions resulted<br />
in the devastation and corruption of<br />
the liquid element through the eras. This time<br />
I worked together with a good friend who<br />
writes these kinds of short-stories and we<br />
had a great time <strong>com</strong>ing up with aquatic<br />
space themes! I like to have a different<br />
"theme” for each album although I must confess<br />
that I am not such a fan of lyrics in general.<br />
I rarely read the lyrics in bands’ booklets;<br />
I always focus on the music no matter if<br />
the band speaks about cosmic epic battles or<br />
how to make a cheesecake ;-P However, I<br />
am a sucker for all things sci-fi related so I<br />
think that my music will always have a space<br />
flavour.<br />
DOL AMMAD is a huge collective consisting<br />
of a 14 member classical choir, 2<br />
session members on vocals and drums, 2<br />
band members on guitars and bass and<br />
finally Thanasis Lightbridge, yourself, as<br />
the mastermind. To what extent would<br />
you call DOL AMMAD a band? How much<br />
are the others involved in the creative<br />
process? Are you doing all the songwriting<br />
and arrangements alone or do the<br />
others take part in that?<br />
Dol Ammad is not a band in the typical form.<br />
I don’t distinguish members as "session” or<br />
"band” members. It is true that I <strong>com</strong>pose all<br />
the music and control everything in the creative<br />
process but this doesn’t diminish the role<br />
of any of the participants. I like to think of<br />
Dol Ammad’s albums as movies where I am<br />
the director and the rest of the guys and girls<br />
are actors and technical crew! I have a personal<br />
dream and vision with my music, but<br />
you need people to make the dream <strong>com</strong>e<br />
true. I am grateful that I work with such talented<br />
personalities.<br />
Is it difficult to work with so many musicians?<br />
You have to do lots of coordination<br />
and motivation work. Is this something<br />
that goes easy for you?<br />
It can be difficult to coordinate all those people<br />
and arrange all the parts but I like the<br />
challenge. Through this process I have<br />
learned a lot and already in "Ocean Dynamics”<br />
I used experience I had gained in "Star<br />
Tales” to make the job better and easier.<br />
However I do plan to user a more <strong>com</strong>pact<br />
group of people for the third Dol Ammad album.<br />
The choir consists of 7 women and 7<br />
men. Do they sing exclusively for DOL<br />
AMMAD? Or are they a professional choir<br />
that also does other performances?<br />
Most of them are professional choristers and<br />
soloists in various choirs and solo acts in
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