Everybody knows your bands, Reaper and Frozen Plasma, but who is Vasi Vallis, how would you describe yourself?
As a music-addicted maniac. 80% of my life was and still is music. I used to be a successful banker but in 2002 I left everything behind to live for my passion only. With lots of negative causes (money) but much more positives (people....).
What does music means to you and to what music do you listen when you are not working on your own music?
Music means everything. Ok this sounds cliché but it’s true. I spend most of my time thinking about music, doing music or listening to music. It is my real passion and it dominates my life and sometimes in a negative way the people around me (time.....) I listen to a variety of music, at the moment my favorite band is iliketrains. I love alternative rock with pathos-sounding music.
You are a Greek, you have lived in Switzerland and Austria and now live in Germany, do you feel at home everywhere or just nowhere?
Nowhere. I don’t care that much where I live when there are the people around me that I like. I can easily just leave tomorrow to another country. I am not that sentimental when it comes to the town or even country I live in. And I am not scared to leave places - the past is not interesting for me only the next day and the future.
After the end of NamNamBulu you started with Reaper, the first EP was an instrumental one. What made you change it into a project with vocals as well?
Reaper was planned as a "fun" project. In fact I planned to have vocals on the "angst" EP but I was not sure what kind of. I did not like the idea to have distorted vocals like Suicide Commando or other bands so I left it just instrumental. For the first album I asked Johan from Suicide Commando and Mark Jackson from VNV to do some vocals for me. First time I put my own vocals was on "she is a devil a devil and a whore”. In fact, this is the only track I have my voice on :) but live I perform also some vocals on tracks which are instrumental only on the CD’s. Some people like it some hate it :) I like it :)
What is more important to you? What the people like, or what you like to do yourself?
I do what I like but I think that my taste is mass-oriented. I am not that kind of musician who likes only those very strange songs or bands called which are not really commerce. So I guess I am lucky that the songs or sounds I like, are in the same taste most people have. So, when I write songs I don’t think about "will the people like it, is this commercial, is this clubby...." but I need this special feeling. For Reaper it is a different one than for Frozen Plasma of course. But compare: “she is a devil and a”....to ”ancient tragedy”...completely different sound styles or song styles. Or “Totengräber” with “0190”. They have nothing in common....so :) I do what I like and I am lucky that some people like it too.
Reaper is the first band in which you have the role of front man, was this hard at the beginning, what things did you have to learn to become a front man?
It was weird indeed....at the beginning I used a soft distortion unit for the live vocals and I worn a mask. So my voice and my face were hidden :) but during the CombiChrist tour 2007 I put both away.....raw voice and no mask. It wasn’t that difficult for me I have to say as it is a nice feeling to get a direct feedback from the audience. And I like to talk (lots of people hate it) and I do it on stage too. Even if some people think or aspect a dark evil monster show, I like to put some "comedy" on top. I don’t take myself that seriously and if I have fun on stage, I show it and don’t put an evil face on. But I learned that some people really hate it because they want to have this evil cliché for the whole show.
Crowd participation - do you find the energy of the crowd vital to a performance?
Yes, of course. But if there is no energy a band or performer must try to get them to a certain point. The energy is really different in different countries. In the east - Russia, Poland.....it is immense.....in UK it is cool but powerful, in Mexico it is absolutely MAD :) this is very interesting. But yes, it is much harder to perform such energetic music in front of a crowd who does not participate.
Originally you did your gigs with a mask but these days you are not wearing it anymore, what is the reason for this?
During the CC tour I found out that there was no contact with the audience because of the mask. The mask I had showed a bit of my face so it was better than the original at the beginning and of course it was part of the whole reaper "design" but in Sheffield I tried a gig without a mask and it was a huge difference when it comes to the contact with the audience. AND: I had 4 masks and all were stolen backstage....one in Frankfurt, one in London, one Brighton and one was destroyed during the tour.
What role suits you better, being an keyboard player or being a front man?
Oh....as a keyboarder, I have more "time" to see the reaction of the crowd. It is a passive way to get the energy back. But a nice one. The FP songs are my songs and I like to watch what feelings the people have. I can see it in their faces. As front man u got a much more intense feedback and it feels like being part of the party but a show as front man is over very fast and when I watch a video on YouTube sometimes I see something I can’t remember.
On the Reaper profile on myspace is a banner of Peta, why do you support them?
Because I am vegetarian since almost 10 years. I love animals - all kind of animals. To be honest I don’t think that humans should not eat animals at all but I don’t like that we treat them like a product. So I am not a militant vegetarian :) but my decision is - I don’t want to eat meat but I don’t try to convince others to do the same. (www.peta.org)
The other band member of Reaper is Greg, how did you meet him and what is his role in Reaper? Over the years it seems his role has changed?
He was a frozen plasma fan. I met him at a FP gig in Bochum/matrix. Before the CombiChrist tour started, I had a keyboarder planed. Another guy. 4 days before the start he told me that he won’t be able to do the tour.....so....I was fucked up! It was 2 am...I was online and I saw Gregor in ICQ...I asked him...hey...what is your plan for the next 4 weeks....he had no plans....so I asked him...do u want to be part of this tour? And he was freaaaaaking out. Then I send him the songs and he learned 80% within the 4 days the rest during the tour. And he is really a very important part of the band when it comes to the live shows. He is so energetic.....I am very happy to have him in my band.
The CD of Reaper “Hell starts with an H” did really well, where you expecting this? How do you look back at the making of the album?
Honestly I did not expect this. I was under a huge pressure to finish this album as the tour was organized before I had even one song.......I made the whole album in 8 weeks so there was no time for thinking...just an creative marathon day and night - but maybe this was the reason - I always write the best tracks under pressure.
When will there be a new reaper CD, what can people expect of it, will it have some collaborations again?
Uuuuuh I plan the new album for autumn 2009. First of all I will write the songs for the new FP album (April end May) and will do an EP for my new band X-Divide (summer 2009) then I will go for the Reaper album. But we plan a single of a Reaper track for May. There will be much more collaborations with vocalists other bands and musicians (guitar player) I will test lots of ideas I have in mind since years. Can’t wait to start this project.
Are you now a full member of X-Divide? And what can you tell us about this band?
No I won’t appear on stage or something like this. But I write and produce the songs for the band. Jens and Eric are close friends of mine and Eric has a amazing voice. So I decided to write songs for them and brought them to Infacted Recordings. I have more ideas than bands hahahaha :) so I need more!!!! They are great guys and I am sure they will be quite successful.
Frozen Plasma is the band you have together with Felix Marc (Diorama), how did you meet him and how did you get him to join you in Frozen Plasma?
I met him during the VNV Nation tour 2005 where he played the support slot with Soman. I was keyboarder for VNV. During the sound checks I heard his voice and my first idea was to have him as a guest vocalist for NamNamBulu. 2 months later NamNamBulu was history so I asked him if he wants to be in my follow-up band and he agreed. And I never regret that :) he is a close friend of mine and we really have looooots of fun together on tour.
The music of Reaper and Frozen Plasma is entirely different, how do you create songs for each and do you have to be in a specific mood?
The mood is important. Most Reaper songs were produced after club events, after parties...or Reaper gigs....or on the tourbus....at least the initial idea. For frozen plasma the writing process is much more complex. I write every song for FP as a piano ballad at the beginning. Every song. Then I write the vocal lines and the lyrics and at the end I produce an electro track around it. A song has to work in every way . If a song is beautiful with a piano only it is so with the right production....:) so to write an FP song I need a mood. This can be news I've seen, people I talked to, books I read...lots of influences.
What instruments do you play, did you had lessons or learned it all by yourself?
I had piano and guitar lessons. But just 3 years for each as I am lazy......:) but during the years I learned a lot of course. So I am not a programming guy :) I don’t program tracks I compose them in a old-school way. Piano - voice or guitar – voice.
You are mentioning a frozen plasma DVD for a long time, will it ever be released?
Yes mid this year :) haha..definitely we are almost finished.
You just finished the new Frozen Plasma single, Earthling, what is it about and how did you get the idea for this song?
Ok, at the moment there is a lot going on, crisis all over the world and other things I hate. I personally believe, that humans are the most stupid species existing on this planet. Even if we think we are the most clever ones. But we are not. I thought, if someone from another planet would just watch us - what we are doing what our goals are, what is important for us...what will he see? He would ask: “what is important for you earthlings: what would we say? love, peace? humanity? or....money, power, egoism”....what would he think about us about the earth....would he think "this is a nice place to live" or will he be scared about the things we do, about our hate and our power of self-destruction....
Do you believe in aliens?
no :)
If yes....they should destroy us. We are the HIV virus of the earth.
On the new Frozen Plasma single there is also a version sang by Lis of the Dutch electro band Misery, how did you meet and how was it to work with someone that is still at the beginning of her career? Why is she the right choice to sing this version?
Hmmm...how did we meet? YOU introduced us hahahaha :) I think during Summer Darkness :) I love her voice I think she is blessed with talent and with this "special feeling" in her voice. I heard the Misery songs and some other demos she made and every time I heard the voice it was just beautiful to listen to her again and again. As I told you before, every FP song is written as a piano ballad and I had this plan since years to release this original version of the production process. So I had the choice to release it with Felix voice but it was much more interesting to have a different voice on it. And Lis was my number one on the wish list. So I asked her and Alain from Misery Recorded the vocals. And the result it’s just amazing.
When will the new Frozen Plasma album be released, what progress did you make compared to the first album, why is this one a lot better?
I want to release it by end May before WGT and play it there exclusively. And as a premiere. This album will have lots of tracks full of pathos....but on the production side I will go back to the roots. No overproduced bombastic songs but nice sounds, nice melodies, little details. Of course we will have typical club tracks like “Warmongers” or “Tanz die revolution” but most songs will focus on melancholic beautiful feelings within the songs. And the lyrics will still be critical about the human beings.
We have heard a rumor that you can sing very well with your normal singing voice, why don’t you do that?
This is only a rumor :) I don’t want to sing. I sing the tracks for Felix as demos so he knows what to do but I don’t see my voice as good enough to release something with my voice :).
Why is Hugh Heffner a role model for you, for what does he stand in your mind?
He is not a role model but he achieved every man’s dream didn’t he? Hahahaha:) no but he was a visionair. I really think he was. What he created is amazing - not only because of the fact that he lives with 30 hot girls in his villa...but think about the time he started this playboy thing....he was visionary. When he dies I will be there to continue it.
On facebook there was a question, would you introduce Vasi Vallis to impress your friends? What do you think of such a question, would you do it yourself?
Now I don’t think that I am an impressive person. I think nobody should believe this about himself :) this would be way to arrogant.
What is the funniest thing that ever happened to you while being onstage?
I think it was during the festival in Netherlands (Baroeg Open Air) when Ronan came on stage and Tom from SITD played “Robuste Maschine”. This was really funny. Ronan was sitting on the riser and I had to perform the song :) weird but funny.
What is the last thing you do before going on stage?
Haha. Usually I listen to really heavy metal music and the last thing is I drink a 2dl glass of pure vodka every time.
Any last words for the readers?
Hmmmmmmmm...........no last words sounds so emotional hahahahaha .:)
Will be continued :) 2049 hahahahaha.
Ok so another last question then. Did I forgot to ask you a question if so which one??
About my live appereances this year maybe :)
FP, WGT, Mera Luna, Blackfield festival, and the Depeche Mode fan convention in Berlin in June :) and with Reaper I play at Summer Darkness of course :)
www.reaper-music.de
www.myspace.com/reapermusic
www.frozenplasma.com
www.myspace.com/frozenplasma
www.myspace.com/vasivallis