Interviews: Athena

In this new occassion we have had the opportunity to interview the Metalcore/Hardcore  band Athena, from Italy. Check out this band and give them a like on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name, did you plan it or it came out just like that?

Alex: We’ve started this band under the name of Athena Shouts Kill Her, as we had very different sound and members back then. Two years after that we’ve realized we’ve progressed a lot as people, our music taste drastically changed as well. Of course, we didn't want to give up from everything that the band produced during the past years, so we’ve just decided to shorten the name in order to make it more direct, hard-hitting and memorable.

2.Why did you want to play this genre?

Luca: Well, lots of bands in this genre have influenced us on personal levels and as a band in the very first place. Every one of us came from a different background and we usually listen to so many different sort of music, when we write our songs we mix all of our ideas together which results in generating quite an unique style and sound. This genre is something that I find genuine, natural and close to us, it feels very relatable.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Andrea: Oh, we definitely did. Some of us were closer friends, but we all got together once we started going skateboarding in the city. When we actually started talking with each other, we thought that it would be a great idea to gather together and start a band, so we began rehearsing every afternoon after school. We were doing pop-punk covers back then, as we used to play in Tommy's basement. There were many time when his mother was angry at us for being noisy, so we often had to play in the laundry room. It felt so fucking weird, haha!

We only had two line-up changes in five years, and I think that this shows the quality and the essence of our brotherhood and harmony in being in this together. It is the best thing for us, to play our songs on the stage but being still the dudes who you can hang out and take a beer together with.

4. Each band member favourite band?

Luca: Definitely Brand New or Linkin Park. 

Ale: While She Sleeps. 

Donnie: I'll go with Deftones and Architects! Andrew: I'm the one appreciating the punk vibes, Descendents and Ramones for sure! 

Tommy: Architects and Linkin Park too. Oh, I also like disco music to party with, hahah.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Luca: It’s all coming from our personal lives and the experiences we face as people. The problems that every person in our generation have to deal with, our everyday lives. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we write only sad songs, we also have party tracks like "Young At Heart", but in general we like to show what the world through our eyes is with our music. Recently, so many things went wrong in the world, it needs a drastic change, otherwise we will find ourseves in a terrible situation sooner rather than later and we want to change that, we want to give a wake-up call to everyone with our music.

Donnie: What we want to put in our songs is a meaning to everyone who doesn't accept to live in such circumstances, we want to create a movement and try to spread a message. To not give up, as only once we all start opening our eyes, we will actually start seeing all the horrendous things that are happening around us and start resolving the issues we experience. Only when this happens the world will experience a positive change.

6. Where was your last gig?

Tommy: It was in our hometown. It was amazing; there were lots of of local bands and good vibes! This is what we truly love - to party all together and have fun on the stage.

7. Where would you like to act?

Andrew: We would like to tour as soon as possible, as much as possible. I personally don't care where, we can even play in people’s houses, backyards or wherever, I just want to play shows in different countries. We simply want to make the world aware of our music and our new album. We actually miss the tour life so much.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Ale: That's easy. While She Sleeps. Not only because they're my favourites, but we all admire and respect these guys as a band, as performers and people as well. We follow them since their debut EP and we've been lucky enough to talk with them a couple of times and they're the best dudes you can meet. The perfect ones to share a stage/tour so far too.

9. Whom not?

Tommy: We don’t really have any negative feelings towards any specific other groups. The most important thing when you are in the situation of sharing a stage with another band is the mutual respect. It’s impossible to create a good working environment if the people you work and play with don’t respect you, so as long as the band we are meant to play alongside with is behaving well – we would never mind sharing a live performance with it.

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?

Luca: I believe we definitely experienced that, especially in the beginning of our career. I think it is quite normal, every artist is going through such moments! But show after show our fear has turned into adrenaline and everything fell into place after that. This is all thanks to the response we got from our fans, of course. I'm not the best one to give some tips, it's all about having fun when you're on stage. Somehow, it's like acting a script. "Dance like nobody's watching" is the perfect cliché I can emphasize on. Just have fun, let the people in front of the stage know that you're having the greatest moment of your life and they will follow your lead and appreciate your performance.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Donnie: There are actually so many of them that it’s hard to pick just a few! We are being influenced by everything between the punk rock of Rancid to the newest wave of the alternative heavy music, like Beartooth or While She Sleeps.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Tommy: We were playing a show in our hometown, it was such a good and fun night. There were these girls in front of the stage that were enjoying our performance more than even, haha. After the show, they all came together to meet us in the backstage asked if it would be possible to rape us all… It is funny now, but we were shocked when we heard that, we definitely didn't expect anything like that to happen. Usually people come to us just to have a drink with us or buy some merch, but this was something else… People are so strange sometimes.

13. What do you think of your fans?

Andrew: They're insane. We know it’s quite a cliché thing to say, but we literally owe everything to them, thanks to our relationship at the shows we've been inspired to write our debut record “Dear/Life” and we wouldn’t have been where we are today without their love and support.

14. What do you think of our site?

Donnie: We are really grateful for being posted on your website. We already knew about you and we’ve been following your activity for a while and to be part of your news’ section was the highlight of our day yesterday! Hopefully there will be more chances for us to work together and we definitely should stay in touch, as there are great things for us in the pipeline! So, thank you guys for this amazing chance and keep on with the good work!

15. Something to add?

Luca: We want to once again thank you for having us and sharing our music! We really hope to have entertained you at our best. To everyone out there, our debut record "Dear/Life" is out everywhere, physical copies are available as well. You can purchase it on every single platform.