By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Greek Hard Rock Band Leftover Bullets have been known to be “wild boys” since their Summer 2013 formation, heavily inspired by the attitude of 80’s and 90’s rock. The quintet’s sound is a keen mix of heavy rock with some elements of punk – all rock, all right. No fancy sound effects needed.
In Summer 2015, they recorded their first song, the fittingly titled “80’s Child,” along with a lyric video which came out in May 2016. It was the first single of their debut album ‘Virtue & Vice,’ which came out in November that year via Final Touch. They followed up with singles “While I’m On The Round.” “Might Be Miles Away,” “Virgin Queen” and “Feeding The Flame.”
They recorded their second album in the studio in Summer 2018. The music video for “Confused” was unveiled a few months later from their upcoming album ‘Tell Mama We’re Doing Ok,’ set for release April 27, 2020 via Soldout Music Records.
Leftover Bullet’s current lineup is Yiannis Vogiatzis (Vocals), George Karathanasis (Lead Guitar), Vasilis Mpagas (Rhythm Guitar), Dimitris Argiropoulos (Bass) and George Dimitriadis (Drums).
The Music Bugle recently had the chance to talk to Dimitriadis about their music and other recent happenings.
Music Bugle – What was your biggest challenge at the time you guys formed the band?
George Dimitriadis – We believe that we were aware of all the difficulties from the beginning. We knew that this kind of hard rock music that we wanted to play was “out of date,” so our greatest challenge was and still is to win as much time as possible for people to listen and for them to understand what we are exactly doing. When we achieve this, our listeners easily become fans of LoB. We have seen this!
Music Bugle – What was the process of putting together your debut album ‘Virtue & Vice’ like?
George Dimitriadis – At that time, we actually had no experience how an LP was done, so we had lots of curious things happening – some helped us and others not so much. We started out with a single (“80’s Child”), then our aim was to make an EP with four to five tracks. Immediately after finishing recordings, a record company found us, with which we signed. They urged us into going for a whole complete album, so we went back to the studio and recorded another five tracks. Anyway we gave our 100 percent strength – at least what we knew and could do back then – and we are very proud of the result. You know, musicians always look back and ask themselves, “Why did I do that that way when I could have done it better?” but that’s a trap that you could easily fall into and never get out. You have to know when to stop and in our opinion, the boundary is just when you feel you are being real. If you begin to exagerate or pretend, you lose the heart of it.
Music Bugle – What do you feel is the group’s most meaningful song/set of lyrics?
George Dimitriadis – This is a difficult question. George Karathanasis, who signs most of the lyrics, is very strict to the meaning of each song. He writes about various things and really puts himself in each of his heroes’ shoes. At times, he has referred to the “Teen Spirit’s Gone” from the first album, though in the second album, we have two strong deals, as far as lyrics are concerned. The first is called “It’s Alright,” referring to human feelings of people who are going to bring a new life into the world and nearly didn’t make it. The second refers to a very – for us – certain and special issue which we would like to emphasize. It is our answer to those conservatives who think that our sacrifices and the immense amount of time that we steal from our work and families to do what we love, as if it is something useless and meaningless. Believe me, lots of people don’t admit it, but that’s how they feel. The track is called “Till Next Time,” and we took a verse from this to name our second album, “Tell Mama We’re Doing OK.”
Music Bugle – Favorite moment onstage?
George Dimitriadis – When you realize that you have won the audience, you are finally set free. Magical things happen from there on!
Music Bugle – What are your future plans?
George Dimitriadis – We have in front of us the release of ‘Tell Mama We ‘re Doing OK,’ a new video clip that we have just finished and all the promotion of the new album, with live presentations, etc.. We have something else on the way, but it is too early to say.
Music Bugle – What’s your dream place to play?
George Dimitriadis – Our goal is to cross the Atlantic towards America. You have put the word “dream” in the question, so there is no limit in dreaming. Let’s say the biggest live arenas in the world!
Music Bugle – What inspired the band name?
George Dimitriadis – We formed our band six years ago. At that time, many young people were emigrating to other countries because of the economic crisis in Greece. We stayed here in our country feeling like we were the “leftovers,” but feeling quite active, hence our name, Leftover Bullets.
Music Bugle – What has been your favorite music video to shoot?
George Dimitriadis – Undoubtedly the newest! There are things we are doing for the first time. The conditions were so difficult, but we enjoyed ourselves immensely. It’s the most theatrical thing we have done up ’till now. The name of the track is “Wasted Silence” and it is out in the next few weeks!
Music Bugle – Has social media made it easier or harder to stand out musically?
George Dimitriadis – We don’t believe that it has to do with how easy or not the social media treats you. Yes, if you write a song or an album and you want your family and 1000 others to hear it, then it’s quite easy to be done, but if you need that something more and think that you will make it through the social media, then you are at least naive.
Music Bugle – In your view, what hasn’t Leftover Bullets accomplished yet?
George Dimitriadis – In front of what we have in mind to do, we haven’t done anything yet. Just a very good start.
