INTERVIEW: John Rousvanis – AlithiA

Taking a relentless attitude toward touring, a passionate disposition for emotional playing and a solid foundation of playing over fourteen years to hone their sound, progressive rock outfit ALITHIA have been busy of late on their second full length album, The Moon Has Fallen. After two EP releases and their LP debut back in 2014, the band have been on stage none stop from then until hitting the studio in Athens. With more creative ideas and some surprising revelations, we spoke with guitarist and lead vocalist John Rousvanis about what the band have been up to in the build up to this new release.

This is your second full length record, do you feel that you’re still experimenting with sounds, or more expanding upon the foundations you’ve created in your first releases?

John: I think we will always be experimenting with new sounds and directions of how we approach a song as each song is an individual entity on its own and therefore requires us to step out of our comfort zones to give the song what it needs to become its own. I think people who listen to our music will see the song writing has expanded, but that it has come from the experience of playing music together and writing music with Jeff [Ortiz Raul Castro – Percussion, Keyboards, Backing Vocals] for the first time.

How are you looking forward to the response to this album, and what can people expect to experience on this record?

John: We had so many set backs on this album so the fact that it’s coming out and already had an amazing response from people who listen to it and get it, is humbling, people can expect the unpredictability of us while opening doorways of their imagination and emotions to each track. There is lots and lots going in each song so the listener can trip out if they listen carefully to each instrument or vocal layer, so there’s lots to explore in it.

How was it to be recording in Athens on The Moon Has Fallen?

John: It was incredible, just the fact we made it that far was something we didn’t take for granted and highly appreciative of the opportunity, however we had a lot of intense experiences and got into some really dark situations which mixed into the music, the old saying of “real rock n roll is dangerous”, you got to put yourself out there and not play it safe.

You take your name from the Greek for truth, and having recorded in Greece, does the theology of the place itself have a resonance in this record?

John: Yes ALITHIA stands for truth and wisdom two things we’ve strive and struggle to live for and find within ourselves on this journey, Athens holds the foundations of what western civilisation is today and so to be in such an enchanting land full of ancient mythology and landmarks was awe inspiring, I remember when we went to the Acropolis, it was a special moment to think of all those great minds that were here in the past, all that their work still influences millions of minds today. So yes of course we submerged ourselves in the culture, we were living in a very dangerous part full of druggies shooting up on the street, prostitution, gangs, stabbing, robberies were all around us daily.

As a band ALITHIA has very expansive ideas and deep scope; you’re also sighted as quite a nomadic band. Would you say your collective outlook on the world, not staying in one place, has an effect on your music?

John: Yes certainly the travelling and being out of your comfort zone always shows you what your made of and where your true intentions lie, it’s experiencing life each day, being aware of your surroundings and how they affect you, even the weather affects you. make what you can out of it, appreciate the simple things along the way, meeting all sorts of people and destinations evoke feelings that you can’t get when you are in a routine situation.

Each member takes the limelight on certain tracks on this album, from the rhythm section to the more expansive melodies on keys and, of course, the vocals. Is this showcasing a case of letting each other have creative control equally or more to allow different dynamics to display themselves?

John: The show case you referred to was not intentional, the song comes first, not us, so we strive to be as true to the conception of the song and respect its being and it coming into this world as its own, so we are just doing what the song asks of us to the best of our ability. Also, timing and the universe how things might full into place or coincide like getting our hands on gear that creates the exact sound it needs or an inspiration that gives direction?

The thematic centre of your songs resonates from the name, into the lyrics and into the music itself; how did you get to the point on each song where you thought that the you were satisfied that you’d completed the sonic experience of that track?

John: I think you can go into an never ending rabbit hole with some songs and others just come very naturally as a complete package such as Empress, it’s good not to overthink things but again you want to do justice for the song, so it’s a balancing process that we are still learning.

The balance between emotional and psychedelic songs is often hard to walk. Would you consider your writing more technical or emotional to attain that balance?

John:My self and most of the band don’t know anything about music, I played all the guitars on the album and I don’t know anything about music theory or how to play chords and notes, it’s just whatever sound evokes the most pure emotion, so there really wasn’t much of a balance, it’s just what sounds good to us, our newest member Nguyen (Phambam, guitar) who joined after the album was completed is the only one who knows music theory so it will be interesting writing music with him in the future.

 You’ve been on tour this year with THE CONTORTIONIST, SIKTH and LEPROUS, after touring with the latter last year. How does it feel having such a prestigious name with such esteemed bands?

John: We are really grateful and respect all those amazing bands who gave us a chance to tour and add us as a band to their world class shows, but to be honest at the end of the day we all have our personal lives and don’t think we are in a status, we play music just like any other band the only way we know how, if we play in front on 12 people or 12000 people the energy is still the same for us because it’s about us reaching that point of feeling true to giving everything we’ve got. It’s all in experience.

You’re also about to embark on a tour with SHINING. How are you preparing for that, and how are you looking forward to being back on the road?

John: We are all building an anticipation for this tour with SHINING and genuinely appreciating this opportunity from the guys, each tour is different and we don’t know what to expect, we’ve done the hard yards of sleeping in bars, on floors, in dusty addicts, and practically anywhere, eating whenever we get an opportunity, so to have a night liner for the first time is a gigantic THANK YOU to SHINING for sharing, we haven’t done much preparation, actually our new guitarist Nguyen has got the band into in ear monitors, so they are busy trying to work them out, I’m taking a pass on that and just warming up my voice over the next two weeks. It’s good for us not to be too polished so to have an element of danger where it can all just fall apart at any moment as that’s what creates and makes the show individually unique and special each time. Actually our new guitarist Nguyen has got the band into in ear monitors, so they are busy trying to work them out, I’m taking a pass on that and just warming up my voice over the next two weeks. It’s good for us not to be too polished so to have an element of danger where it can all just fall apart at any moment as that’s what creates and makes the show individually unique and special each time for us and the audience, it’s never the same, because that’s life, you don’t know what each day can bring, yet we take things for granted like we will live forever, it’s what we have today that matters most. So a huge respect to SHINING for giving us a chance.

Finally, is there anything you’re looking forward to going into 2019?

John: Yes, being alive!!! we want to do an Australian headline tour on the new album, release a book of poetry, continue making music in our side projects, begin work on new songs For ALITHIA and any opportunities that arise to tour Europe again jump on that, just keep building the community of prog and open the gateways a bit more for bands who are astral space core, that are similar to our mindset of not approaching musical genres or styles in the norm of what you would expect to hear.

The Moon Has Fallen is set for release on October 26th via Wild Thing Records. 

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