T he Greek hardcore band My Turn played last year a big Europe tour. Right after the tour they have released their second album. We could talk to My Turn singer Apostolis about the new release, the tour, the hardcore scene in Greece and the future plans of the band.
AFL: Hey guys how are you? You released in October 2015 your s/t LP. How satisfied you are with the record and how is the feedback so far?
MT: Hello, we are fine, thanks for your interest in our band. We released in digital format (bandcamp / youtube) our second full length almost 3 months ago. We are still not sure about the physical format, even though we are talking with a couple of labels, we need to make the best result out of it, so the release of a CD / LP or tape is still uncertain. I’m pretty sure we’ll have something in the next months, but let’s see. So watch out for it, it’s gonna hit the streets sooner or later, we just need to find the right label, hehe! You can download or stream the record via our bandcamp page (www.myturn.bandcamp.com).
So, we are definitely satisfied with the new record since we did our best and tried to give our 100%. Money was a huge problem, though, that’s why we decided to record the album in Greece and just send the mastering in the States. So, depending on our kinda small budget, the result is the best we could get. I personally love all their songs and I’m happy that the majority of the people listening to them love ‘em too.
AFL: How distinguish the new LP from your older releases in your opinion?
MT: The new record is heavier than everything we have ever released in the past, the riffs are more metallic but we also maintain our old school / melodic hardcore roots. The songs are more mature but still typical My Turn stuff.
AFL: With which labels you worked so far?
MT: Till now we have worked with a bunch of greek and european labels, including Anchored Records from Germany, Goodwill Records (originally from Italy, now based in Germany), Scarecrow Records from Greece, Liquid Bass Records from Greece, plus our vocalist’s and ex-guitarist’s labels World’s Appreciated Kitsch & Night Owl X. We always work with labels that are paying the right attention to us, labels run by friends or long time scenesters, people we know & trust.
AFL: You took part on the AWAY FROM LIFE Vol. III with the song “Angel”. What’s the song about?
MT: The song is about personal relationships; it’s about being blessed for having a person to take care of and love you, despite any daily fights that may occur or any disagreements you may have. I wrote this song having a special person in mind, but I think anyone could interpret this the way he wants; an angel can be your best friend, your girl / boyfriend or even the hardcore scene.
AFL: In the song Lessons Learned you have a guest part of Dave from Wolf Down. How came it? You know each other from a show together in Germany or Greece?
MT: We have played with Wolf Down a couple of times in the past (like Fluff Fest or the after – Fluff matinee), when Dave wasn’t in the band, but we have also played with them after Dave entered the band; we did a mini Greek tour together last year and we have also played together in Hannover during the last summer. Since we’ve toured together in Greece we have built a nice friendly relationship, so when we were thinking of some guest features for the new album Dave got in naturally. Dave has a great voice and Wolf Down is one of the biggest and most hardworking bands of Europe nowadays. Don’t miss em if they play your city.
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AFL: You was on Europe tour last summer. What experience you could make while the tour? How was the tour? Were there any special highlights?
MT: It was our longest tour till now. We were on the road for 35 days, playing shows literally everywhere in mid / west Europe. Some shows were insane, some others were not that well attended, we played some festivals with amazing bands, but we also played a couple of not so good shows. In total, I think this was our best tour ever concerning the people’s feedback and the amount of good shows we played. We were glad to share the stage with lots of nice bands including Naysayer, First Blood, Risk It!, A Traitor Like Judas, Questions, Wolf Down, Deathrite, Giver, City To City & more. On the contrary, this was our hardest tour ever; being in a van or in a house with 3 other people for 5 weeks sometimes cause fights or misunderstandings, hehe! After all, we survived and we took the best out of it! I’m glad we had the chance to travel to so many places and play so many cool shows, spreading out our music & message!
AFL: What would you say if you must compare hardcore/punk in Germany/Europe with the scene in Greece? Can you tell us a little bit more about hardcore in Greece?
MT: The scene in Greece has its ups and downs. Some periods it’s amazing while some others is stagnant. Right now I think it’s not the best time for the greek hardcore scene, but there’s still a bunch of great bands and individuals that trying to do their best. The fucking crisis we suffer since 2009 is a big obstacle for the scene, since lots of people are unemployed or work for a ridiculous minimum wage and as you can imagine their priority is to survive and not to form the best hardcore band in the world. But I strongly believe and have hope that the scene will grow stronger in the near future.
Germany and Western Europe is the place to be if you want to see all the cool bands and attend the best festivals. Ideals like vegetarianism / veganism and straight edge are also very widespread, while in Greece sometimes this is not an option.
One thing I don’t like about this scene is that kids sometimes are so ultra spoiled and seem to undermine smaller bands’ efforts and only care about the latest trend in hardcore. But I think this is just the minority.
AFL: Have you plans to touring through Europe this year again? Or what are you near future plans with My Turn?
MT: The future is uncertain. It seems that we suffer from lineup changes once again, so we have to pick up the pieces and see what we can do. Last months were hectic because of lack of time & money, but I think now it’s the time we’ll take care of it. I’d love to tour Europe as soon as possible, and of course to release our second full length in a physical format. I definitely hope we’ll solve the problems soon.
AFL: What are your favorite bands right now?
MT: Cold World, Backtrack, Drug Church, Risk It, The Story So Far, Wolf Down, Violent Reaction, Pure Disgust, Bishops Green, No Turning Back, Bitter End, Give and Blistered, plus of course Gorilla Biscuits, Cro-Mags, Shelter, Turning Point, Youth Of Today, Suicidal Tendencies, old Agnostic Front, Blitz and the likes.
AFL: Thanks for the interview! Have you any last words?
MT: Thanks a lot. Stay gold.
