Area -54
One of Britain's heavy metal bands of the moment, Area 54 are out to prove that traditional metal can still be fashionable and contemporary. 1999's debut album No Visable Scars supports their claims, while a quickly developing reputation as a wet suit tight live outfit with a sound that fools you into thinking you being listening to them all your life aids their cause immensely. We quizzed the London quartet's guitarist / vocalist Lakis Kyriacou on on stolen whammy bars, totally original lyrics, being a 'starstruck kid' and Axl Rose...
Seeing the Light: Andy Law
AL - No Visible Scars is a critically acclaimed debut album for Area 54. What pleased you most about what you achieved with the album? In hindsight, is their anything you'd like to improve or rid of?
LK - There aren't any songs on there that I would like to remove as I still like all 10 songs. The things I am displeased about is the fact that the production is not up to a high enough standard for us because we were sent to someone who didn't know his arse from his elbow. Although I thought Simon Efemey fixed it as much as he could, it still doesn't sound as good as I would like it to because he was only given 5 days to fix the entire album. So although it sounds better than the original mix master, it's still not as good as it could be and I don't believe in doing things in half measures. It just hasn't got enough punch to it and the production is still tinny in places. I'm sure a lot of people won't think the production lets it down but when you think that £10,000 was spent on it, it should sound better for that amount of money. However, I do plan to get it re-mixed and re-mastered one day, if we make any money off album 2, it will be spent fixing album 1.
AL - How's the reaction being over the course of the Blaze tour?
LK - Playing with Blaze is amazing! They are the coolest people to talk to and the Blaze fans get what we are about too. Their fans are really cool. Bottom line is, for the first time ever, Area 54 were on the right bill which isn't easy to do as there aren't really many bands that we would be suited to play with.
AL - Has your tour partners album Silicon Messiah made it into your collection recently?
LK - I loved Blaze when I heard Born As A Stranger on Xfm Rock Show before the album was released, so I was a fan from the start and have had their album from the day of release. Asking Blaze to sign it was a weird and cool experience.
AL - Will the two new songs (Personal Gain and Beyond A Pale Existence) that you've played on tour with Blaze feature on your next release? Going on the all out metallic nature of these efforts, can we expect on a more intense second album? When do you plan on releasing the album?
LK - Nothing goes as planned for bands, but we would like to record it in April/May and release it as soon as possible. Those new songs that we play live will be on the next album. The new stuff is amazing! Getting Steve in the band has given me a passion to write the best stuff yet. Steve and I work well together as guitarists, so expect solos. All four of us have written for this album.
AL - Given the nature that your live performances are where the band sound at their best, have you considered recording the next album live in the studio like Iron Maiden recently did with Brave New World?
LK - No, I'm not really into that. I'd rather do everything step by step so that we can make sure as we go along that was is being recorded is the best performance we can do.
AL - Judging by an article in Metal Hammer where you and Laura (Salmon, bassist) spoke about your favourite desert island discs, you love and live metal and music in general to the full. What five records (new, old, borrowed or blue) would you put in your basket now what you haven't got already?
LK - That's hard to say - some Anathema maybe.
AL - What touring plans do you have after your support dates with Blaze have finished? Any festival appearances, such as at the metal festival in Derby?
LK - We will be playing at the Bloodstock Festival on May 28th and The Bulldog Bash in August. But all we are trying to do for now is to get all the material for the next album complete, and then we can think about touring again.
AL - Does the lack of media exposure (e.g. features, articles etc.) for bands such as yourselves, Dirty Deeds and Blaze prove frustrating?
LK - Yes. I haven't heard any Dirty Deeds yet but it fucks me off that bands like Blaze don't get enough exposure (in the UK at least) 'cos they are far better than most of the shit out there these days and Blaze are one of the last real metal bands around. Area 54 don't get much exposure but I think that will change in time.
AL - Any crazy tour experiences or memorable moments?
LK - I suppose the most memorable moment was the first time were were playing with Blaze and I walked in and saw Steve (Wray, Blaze guitarist) and just thought 'shit, so this is what a gig should feel like'. The first time I spoke to them, I was determined to not turn into a starstruck kid, but when they started soundcheck I had the biggest grin you have ever seen. Another time was when we played at the Camden Underworld and I met Steve Harris - I was so nervous. Rob Naylor (Blaze bassist) found it funny and was kind enough to introduce me to him.
AL - The guitar solo's on the album offer a bit of everything - high speed widdling, two handed tapping, pinched harmonics, arpeggios, hammer ons, pull offs etc, all very impressively done. On purely the solo front, who do you and Steve take your cues from most?
LK - Neither myself nor Steve have had a guitar lesson, so for me, I would have to say Slash (Guns and Roses) and Marty Friedman (Megadeth) have taught me a lot. Steve is into John Petrucci from Dream Theater and Marty Friedman.
AL - There's a lot of melody in your metal, something that's missing in the sound of a lot of metal acts today. Was this a conscious decision from the beginning?
LK - I just wrote stuff really. I didn't even realise how melodic it was until people pointed it out to us. We got told a lot how nice it was to hear a new young band play melodic stuff.
AL - The guitar harmonies / melody lines on the album seemed very Iron Maiden / Megadeth inspired, while the guitar sound of some of the bands chords at times are comparable to the sound of Cradle Of Filth and Metallica (particularly ...And Justice For All era).Who are some of your other influences, and where would you say these shine through on the record, if at all?
LK - The main influences on No Visible Scars were Megadeth on Where To Hide (Suicide), Iron Maiden (take your pick), At The Gates on Thirteen Shades of Insanity, Guns N' Roses on You See The Light' and Cradle of Filth on ...And The Last Embrace, but there are many others who played a small part.
AL - There's a pleasant flurry of keyboards throughout the album, thankfully avoiding any cringe-worthy hammond organs. Was this largely influenced through the sound of black metal groups?
LK - I'm into the band Dissection and also Anathema so the piano influence comes from all different types of bands.
AL - Your voice sometimes brings to mind the vocal tattoo of Dave Mustaine (Megadeth singer), particularly in your emphasis of the word 'You'. Similarly, The Face Of All Your Fears latter voices bring to mind Dani Filth (frontman, Cradle Of Filth.)
LK - I know a lot of people hate Dave Mustaine's voice, but if anyone else sang on Megadeth I think it would be boring. Dave and Axl Rose influence me all the time vocally. Laura's part on ...And The Last Embrace is totally influenced from the female narration parts in Cradle... songs. I love Dani Filth's voice too, but I can't do that style of vocals so when we wrote The Face of All Your Fears I got the old Area 54 guitarist (Jeremy Gray) to do it.
AL - On ...And The Last Embrace, Laura (Salmon, bassist) makes a guest vocal appearance later into the song. Can we expect a duet from her with yourself or a full singing appearance from Laura in the future?
LK - Perhaps, I have some ideas but it's too early to tell. I like that kind of thing but only if it's in small doses.
AL - Sticking to ...And The Last Embrace, congratulations - you pulled off the "Huh" line with a genuine roughness, unlike the embarrassing efforts of Biily Ocean and Def Leppard. Must have being a bit of gamble though...
LK - That's just something I picked up off Axl. There was this song that Guns And Roses used to do live called It Tastes Good, Don't It and I've been annoying people with it ever since I heard it, and when it came to that part in ...Last Embrace, it just felt right and came naturally.
AL -Was it a purposeful decision to wear your influences on your sleeves as well as creating a sound of Area 54's own?
LK - No. We just play what we like and if it happens to sound like Maiden or something, it's because they are one of my biggest influences. People seem to think that I should hide this, but why? That's just dumb. I thanked Steve Harris amongst others on our album, because I felt I owed him a lot as a musician so what sort of ungrateful sod would I be if I tried to hide it.
AL - On the slower front, its difficult to touch a ballad from a heavy metal band - Time Takes No Pain very nearly fits into that mould. Can we expect any similar style efforts or full on ballads in time?
LK - There is stuff on this new album that is a lot lighter than anything on our debut, but there is also stuff on there that is a lot heavier. It's a very diverse album but it's not too detached from the style of No Visible Scars.
AL - After Missing Time, can we expect any future '54 instrumentals?
LK - I have written a lot of instrumentals, but whether they get used soon remains to be seen.
AL - Futile Dream offers an acoustic guitar intro. Any plans to open things up a bit in the future and give the acoustic a more dominant role on one or two numbers?
LK - There will probably be more than 30 seconds of acoustic this time around, but not too much more.
AL - Time Takes No Pain / And The Last Embrace calls the whammy bars into action, yet Live, your BC Rich guitar doesn't have a tremelo arm present. Does Steve (Martin, guitarist), play these bits on No Visible Scars as he does live?
LK - The reason my BC Rich doen't have a whammy is because some git nicked it!! There isn't much tremelo stuff on the album, if we bother with it live, it'll be me who will do it 'cos Steve hates those things. I gotta buy another one first though 'eh?
AL - Besides the likes of BC Rich's and Les Pauls, what other guitars, electric and acoustic, are the preferred axes of your and Steve's (Martin, fellow guitarist) choice?
LK - I love Gibson, BC Rich, Ibanez and Jackson. Steve seems to only be into Jackson's.
And Finally... A daft question to finish on, I believe that you own Iron Maiden's Fear Of The Dark. On Chain's Of Misery, some of the lyrics are "He won't be still, he holds the key, he's got your chains of misery". On The Face Of All Your Fears, you write, "I'm the one who holds the key, to your chains of misery." I assume you were influenced by those words...
LK - Nobody will believe me, but I wrote those lines before I even knew that song. I think that particular Maiden song is pretty poor anyway so I never even noticed it.
Andy Law
One of Britain's heavy metal bands of the moment, Area 54 are out to prove that traditional metal can still be fashionable and contemporary. 1999's debut album No Visable Scars supports their claims, while a quickly developing reputation as a wet suit tight live outfit with a sound that fools you into thinking you being listening to them all your life aids their cause immensely. We quizzed the London quartet's guitarist / vocalist Lakis Kyriacou on on stolen whammy bars, totally original lyrics, being a 'starstruck kid' and Axl Rose...
Seeing the Light: Andy Law
AL - No Visible Scars is a critically acclaimed debut album for Area 54. What pleased you most about what you achieved with the album? In hindsight, is their anything you'd like to improve or rid of?
LK - There aren't any songs on there that I would like to remove as I still like all 10 songs. The things I am displeased about is the fact that the production is not up to a high enough standard for us because we were sent to someone who didn't know his arse from his elbow. Although I thought Simon Efemey fixed it as much as he could, it still doesn't sound as good as I would like it to because he was only given 5 days to fix the entire album. So although it sounds better than the original mix master, it's still not as good as it could be and I don't believe in doing things in half measures. It just hasn't got enough punch to it and the production is still tinny in places. I'm sure a lot of people won't think the production lets it down but when you think that £10,000 was spent on it, it should sound better for that amount of money. However, I do plan to get it re-mixed and re-mastered one day, if we make any money off album 2, it will be spent fixing album 1.
AL - How's the reaction being over the course of the Blaze tour?
LK - Playing with Blaze is amazing! They are the coolest people to talk to and the Blaze fans get what we are about too. Their fans are really cool. Bottom line is, for the first time ever, Area 54 were on the right bill which isn't easy to do as there aren't really many bands that we would be suited to play with.
AL - Has your tour partners album Silicon Messiah made it into your collection recently?
LK - I loved Blaze when I heard Born As A Stranger on Xfm Rock Show before the album was released, so I was a fan from the start and have had their album from the day of release. Asking Blaze to sign it was a weird and cool experience.
AL - Will the two new songs (Personal Gain and Beyond A Pale Existence) that you've played on tour with Blaze feature on your next release? Going on the all out metallic nature of these efforts, can we expect on a more intense second album? When do you plan on releasing the album?
LK - Nothing goes as planned for bands, but we would like to record it in April/May and release it as soon as possible. Those new songs that we play live will be on the next album. The new stuff is amazing! Getting Steve in the band has given me a passion to write the best stuff yet. Steve and I work well together as guitarists, so expect solos. All four of us have written for this album.
AL - Given the nature that your live performances are where the band sound at their best, have you considered recording the next album live in the studio like Iron Maiden recently did with Brave New World?
LK - No, I'm not really into that. I'd rather do everything step by step so that we can make sure as we go along that was is being recorded is the best performance we can do.
AL - Judging by an article in Metal Hammer where you and Laura (Salmon, bassist) spoke about your favourite desert island discs, you love and live metal and music in general to the full. What five records (new, old, borrowed or blue) would you put in your basket now what you haven't got already?
LK - That's hard to say - some Anathema maybe.
AL - What touring plans do you have after your support dates with Blaze have finished? Any festival appearances, such as at the metal festival in Derby?
LK - We will be playing at the Bloodstock Festival on May 28th and The Bulldog Bash in August. But all we are trying to do for now is to get all the material for the next album complete, and then we can think about touring again.
AL - Does the lack of media exposure (e.g. features, articles etc.) for bands such as yourselves, Dirty Deeds and Blaze prove frustrating?
LK - Yes. I haven't heard any Dirty Deeds yet but it fucks me off that bands like Blaze don't get enough exposure (in the UK at least) 'cos they are far better than most of the shit out there these days and Blaze are one of the last real metal bands around. Area 54 don't get much exposure but I think that will change in time.
AL - Any crazy tour experiences or memorable moments?
LK - I suppose the most memorable moment was the first time were were playing with Blaze and I walked in and saw Steve (Wray, Blaze guitarist) and just thought 'shit, so this is what a gig should feel like'. The first time I spoke to them, I was determined to not turn into a starstruck kid, but when they started soundcheck I had the biggest grin you have ever seen. Another time was when we played at the Camden Underworld and I met Steve Harris - I was so nervous. Rob Naylor (Blaze bassist) found it funny and was kind enough to introduce me to him.
AL - The guitar solo's on the album offer a bit of everything - high speed widdling, two handed tapping, pinched harmonics, arpeggios, hammer ons, pull offs etc, all very impressively done. On purely the solo front, who do you and Steve take your cues from most?
LK - Neither myself nor Steve have had a guitar lesson, so for me, I would have to say Slash (Guns and Roses) and Marty Friedman (Megadeth) have taught me a lot. Steve is into John Petrucci from Dream Theater and Marty Friedman.
AL - There's a lot of melody in your metal, something that's missing in the sound of a lot of metal acts today. Was this a conscious decision from the beginning?
LK - I just wrote stuff really. I didn't even realise how melodic it was until people pointed it out to us. We got told a lot how nice it was to hear a new young band play melodic stuff.
AL - The guitar harmonies / melody lines on the album seemed very Iron Maiden / Megadeth inspired, while the guitar sound of some of the bands chords at times are comparable to the sound of Cradle Of Filth and Metallica (particularly ...And Justice For All era).Who are some of your other influences, and where would you say these shine through on the record, if at all?
LK - The main influences on No Visible Scars were Megadeth on Where To Hide (Suicide), Iron Maiden (take your pick), At The Gates on Thirteen Shades of Insanity, Guns N' Roses on You See The Light' and Cradle of Filth on ...And The Last Embrace, but there are many others who played a small part.
AL - There's a pleasant flurry of keyboards throughout the album, thankfully avoiding any cringe-worthy hammond organs. Was this largely influenced through the sound of black metal groups?
LK - I'm into the band Dissection and also Anathema so the piano influence comes from all different types of bands.
AL - Your voice sometimes brings to mind the vocal tattoo of Dave Mustaine (Megadeth singer), particularly in your emphasis of the word 'You'. Similarly, The Face Of All Your Fears latter voices bring to mind Dani Filth (frontman, Cradle Of Filth.)
LK - I know a lot of people hate Dave Mustaine's voice, but if anyone else sang on Megadeth I think it would be boring. Dave and Axl Rose influence me all the time vocally. Laura's part on ...And The Last Embrace is totally influenced from the female narration parts in Cradle... songs. I love Dani Filth's voice too, but I can't do that style of vocals so when we wrote The Face of All Your Fears I got the old Area 54 guitarist (Jeremy Gray) to do it.
AL - On ...And The Last Embrace, Laura (Salmon, bassist) makes a guest vocal appearance later into the song. Can we expect a duet from her with yourself or a full singing appearance from Laura in the future?
LK - Perhaps, I have some ideas but it's too early to tell. I like that kind of thing but only if it's in small doses.
AL - Sticking to ...And The Last Embrace, congratulations - you pulled off the "Huh" line with a genuine roughness, unlike the embarrassing efforts of Biily Ocean and Def Leppard. Must have being a bit of gamble though...
LK - That's just something I picked up off Axl. There was this song that Guns And Roses used to do live called It Tastes Good, Don't It and I've been annoying people with it ever since I heard it, and when it came to that part in ...Last Embrace, it just felt right and came naturally.
AL -Was it a purposeful decision to wear your influences on your sleeves as well as creating a sound of Area 54's own?
LK - No. We just play what we like and if it happens to sound like Maiden or something, it's because they are one of my biggest influences. People seem to think that I should hide this, but why? That's just dumb. I thanked Steve Harris amongst others on our album, because I felt I owed him a lot as a musician so what sort of ungrateful sod would I be if I tried to hide it.
AL - On the slower front, its difficult to touch a ballad from a heavy metal band - Time Takes No Pain very nearly fits into that mould. Can we expect any similar style efforts or full on ballads in time?
LK - There is stuff on this new album that is a lot lighter than anything on our debut, but there is also stuff on there that is a lot heavier. It's a very diverse album but it's not too detached from the style of No Visible Scars.
AL - After Missing Time, can we expect any future '54 instrumentals?
LK - I have written a lot of instrumentals, but whether they get used soon remains to be seen.
AL - Futile Dream offers an acoustic guitar intro. Any plans to open things up a bit in the future and give the acoustic a more dominant role on one or two numbers?
LK - There will probably be more than 30 seconds of acoustic this time around, but not too much more.
AL - Time Takes No Pain / And The Last Embrace calls the whammy bars into action, yet Live, your BC Rich guitar doesn't have a tremelo arm present. Does Steve (Martin, guitarist), play these bits on No Visible Scars as he does live?
LK - The reason my BC Rich doen't have a whammy is because some git nicked it!! There isn't much tremelo stuff on the album, if we bother with it live, it'll be me who will do it 'cos Steve hates those things. I gotta buy another one first though 'eh?
AL - Besides the likes of BC Rich's and Les Pauls, what other guitars, electric and acoustic, are the preferred axes of your and Steve's (Martin, fellow guitarist) choice?
LK - I love Gibson, BC Rich, Ibanez and Jackson. Steve seems to only be into Jackson's.
And Finally... A daft question to finish on, I believe that you own Iron Maiden's Fear Of The Dark. On Chain's Of Misery, some of the lyrics are "He won't be still, he holds the key, he's got your chains of misery". On The Face Of All Your Fears, you write, "I'm the one who holds the key, to your chains of misery." I assume you were influenced by those words...
LK - Nobody will believe me, but I wrote those lines before I even knew that song. I think that particular Maiden song is pretty poor anyway so I never even noticed it.
Andy Law
