Catching up with Vicky Psarakis: The Voice of The Agonist
It’s been a busy year and a half for The Agonist. Since hiring their new vocalist, Vicky Psarakis, in 2014, the band has released a stunning new album (“The Eye of Providence”), multiple music videos, and has toured extensively in Europe and North America. We were fortunate enough to catch up with Vicky on the last day of their current North America tour in support of Epica and Eluveitie. It was a cold and rainy day in New York City, and the interview almost ended before it began. The show was at Irving Plaza and the front door of the venue still had its security gate down and locked when I arrived… so Vicky had to come out of a side door to let me inside. Unfortunately, the side door locked behind her and we were both briefly locked outside in the rain. Fortunately, someone came to let us back in after a minute or so, and the interview commenced as planned… with the exception of both of us being a little colder and damper than we had envisioned. There was no quiet room at the venue, so we sat down on the stairs leading up to the concert floor to discuss the tour, the new album, and future plans. Here is how it went:
This is Joe Prostredny with Afternoiz and I’m here with Vicky Psarakis of the metal band, The Agonist! How are you doing this afternoon?
Fantastic.
Enjoying the frigid weather in New York?
(laughs) Well it’s the last show of the tour so, you know what, it’s gonna be a blast regardless of the weather!
Well, we are on the final day of the Revolver tour, as you said. The tour started out really well. I was at the first show and all the bands killed it on stage. The fans were crazy and it looked like a great start to a great tour. But… about four shows into it, one of your headliners, Epica, had to drop out of the tour due to a family emergency.
Yes
How have things gone since that happened?
Well we were a little worried about the fans and if there would still be good turn outs and all that because Epica, they’re a big band and they have big crowds… and Montreal was actually sold out. It was the only show of the tour that was sold out. It was the last show Epica played on, but fortunately it went very well. Yes, there could have been maybe a couple more people but, Eluveitie… they’re great and they have a fantastic audience. A lot of people coming to the shows didn’t even know about The Agonist so we had the opportunity to gain new fans which is…
Always good!
Yeah! It’s the reason you go on tour, to promote your music, to play live, and to build a fan base. So, so far so good.
Headliner cancellations have, unfortunately been a theme for you guys this year. This happened in Europe too?
(laughs) Yep! Otep canceled…
What happened there?
I don’t really know. I just know it was a week before getting to Europe. We had all our flights booked, we had our support set rehearsed and all that… and it’s a week before and we learned that Otep canceled. We were faced with the decision to, basically, cancel the tour and lose all our money for the flights and all that… or just do it anyways and headline instead… which is what we did.
Are you guys doing an expanded set tonight, since Epica’s departure? Did they let you do more songs?
Yeah, we’re doing 45 minutes instead of 30.
Well that’s great! Any favorite moments from the tour? Anything that stands out?
Well, like I said, Montreal being sold out was pretty amazing. It’s the hometown for The Agonist. It felt fantastic to play in our city to a sold out crowd and venue. L.A. was fantastic as well. It was my first ever visit to the west coast. The guys have been there in the past, I haven’t. I don’t know, there were a lot of great moments on the tour, it’s hard to pick a couple out.
So this being the last day, are you gonna get any time to spend in New York or are you zipping right out again?
I’m not sure. I think we might have to leave as soon as possible because New York is pretty crazy. The parking situation is very difficult (laughs) and we might get kicked out right after the show. I really don’t know! (laughs)
Well, I hope you have some time to see it. If not, it’ll be here when you get back.
Yeah. It’s the second time to New York this year for us.
So, you’ve been with The Agonist for about a year and a half now. I never saw the band perform live before this year, before this tour. But you seem like a perfect fit.
Thank you!
You’ve got a great stage presence, and you look like you’ve been playing with the band for years.
Thank you so much!
Where did they dig you up?
They found me on YouTube (laughs). I was doing vocal covers at that point and when they knew that Alissa was leaving to join Arch Enemy they just went online and tried to find a potential new vocalist. They saw a couple of my videos. It was Danny who reached out to me… and just basically we got to know each other before he actually proposed that I become the new singer.
So you didn’t see that coming even though he was talking to you? I guess it was a secret that the previous singer had left.
Yeah, because Arch Enemy obviously couldn’t announce that they had a new vocalist. They had to prepare the new album and all that so it was all very hush-hush. So I had no idea (laughs).
And you were living in Greece when they found you?
Yes.
So you were born here, and then moved to Greece?
Yes, I was born in Chicago and lived there for ten years and then I moved to Greece.
Internet sites… some say you’re American, some say you’re Greek. What do you consider yourself?
Well my origins are Greek, but I was born in the States, so I have a dual citizenship. I guess I’m a little bit of both (laughs).
So the outlet that I work for, Afternoiz, is actually Greek. It’s based in Athens and a large percentage of the readers are Greek. I assume you speak Greek.
Yes, I haven’t spoken it for a while.
Would you like to say something to some of our Greek readers?
I guess what I would say is: Ευχαριστώ για τη στήριξη, ευχαριστώ τα άτομα που ήρθαν και μας είδαν live όταν παίξαμε στην Αθήνα και στη Θεσσαλονίκη και ελπίζω να έρθουμε ξανά σύντομα. (Thanks for the support, thanks to the people that saw us live in Athens and Thessaloniki and I hope to visit you again soon.)
So, what is your musical background? Have you had a lot of training, or is it more self-taught? Is it somewhere in between?
I had about a year and a half of classical training, like opera style vocals which was very helpful.
It shows in the power of your voice, I think.
Vicky: Oh really? I would say that it’s not what I do anymore (laughs).
Well, yeah, I know, but there’s a power that goes behind, which you project…
It helped me learn the basics like how to breathe and all that. But, I just, after a year and a half I decided that I didn’t want to go down that road. So I just stopped and tried to figure out new vocal techniques on my own… which I’ve been doing for a couple years now.
The band released a great new album this year, “Eye of Providence”… your first album with the band. Fans seem to really love it and most people think it’s the best one yet! How did it turn out from your perspective?
Well, it’s my best work to date. (laughs)
(laughing)
There was quite a bit of stress for this album because… I joined the band and we had a specific time frame. The album had to be done, basically, three months after I joined the band. So it was a little stressful knowing that you have thirteen songs that you have to write lyrics for, write vocal melodies, just get it all done in three months, and obviously it has to be good too… (laughs)!
Well I think you succeeded there!
I think so, I mean, I love the album we put out. The guys love it, they think it’s their best album to date, as well. I’m proud of it, but I’m also looking forward to the next one (laughs).
I’ve heard Danny say that there is already song writing in process? Can you tell us anything about the new album, or is it too early?
It’s still in the riff building section, building the music and once that’s done we’ll start doing all the vocals and all the lyrics. So… can’t really say much… (laughs).
It’s been a really busy year and a half. You guys have put out a great new album, multiple videos, at least four that I’ve seen…
Five actually. We just released one like a week ago.
The live one?
Yeah…
…and you’ve been touring extensively. This is your first big band. What is it like being thrown into the middle of all that?
I guess I was kind of expecting it. It is my first experience like this, but I’d kind of been hoping that it would happen and preparing, at least, my mindset to it so… that if it did occur I would be ready for it. I’m happy to say that it’s, it was a bit scary at first, but mostly emotionally. Once we did the first couple of shows… the guys are fantastic, they’re my best friends. We’re a family and we have fun on the road. We don’t take life too seriously, apart from the show, obviously, because that’s our job. But it’s a lot easier when it feels like you’re with your friends and your family and you’re doing shows every night. The shows are like, that one hour on stage, it’s the best time of the day, that’s why you do it. Overall it’s fantastic!
Good.. glad it’s fun!
Yeah! (laughs)
Is there any rest for the weary coming up? Or are you guys hitting it just as hard in 2016?
Well, I know we want to… that’s for sure! (laughs).
You want to rest, or…?
No.. we want to hit it as hard as we can. There are talks about certain tours overseas, but nothing has been confirmed yet. So we’re just… this tour will be over and then we have a couple dates in Canada, weekends here and there. But nothing else has been confirmed yet, and we’re hoping, starting in January, to be able to go out on the road again.
Well we’re certainly hoping to see you again.
Yes, hope so!
Any place you’d like to visit that you haven’t… tour-wise yet?
Yes. There’s tons of places… Japan. We were supposed to go there, and…
They’re supposed to be pretty crazy there…
I’ve heard the best. The guys have been there twice already and I’ve always wanted to visit Japan. Australia… we’ve never been to Australia. I’ve never been to South America with the guys. It’s just been, basically, the States, Canada… Europe. Mexico… we did one show. So yeah, I just want to visit the whole world, eventually! (laughs).
Do you have a favorite place so far? Either audience-wise or just the place itself?
Well Montreal is always fun… like I said, our hometown. Playing in Greece was also fantastic. I got to speak to the crowd in Greek (laughs).
Is your family still there?
My mom and my brother are, and my dad is in the States. Playing in Chicago was great on this tour. I got to see my family as well. I guess… yeah… Mexico was fantastic. They’re wild, you get treated like a rockstar basically, it’s fantastic.
Which you are!
(laughs) …yeah, I don’t know, am I (laughs)?
I think so! The fans think so!
It’s just good treatment, five star hotels and good food… and crowds insane… moshing and headbanging and crowd surfing… and all that…
Hopefully we’ll get that tonight!
Hopefully! We got that last night, so… I hope it continues! (laughs)
Well I can’t wait to see you on stage again tonight!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for talking with us today.
My pleasure!
Is there anything else you’d like to say to your fans before we leave you.
I would just like to thank our fans because without you guys we have no reason to do what we do. We don’t create the music to sit at home and listen to it… just for us. So thank you to fans that have come to our shows on the tour or to fans that maybe we’ll see down the road later on. We love you guys and we’re always there to talk to you after our show, to take photos with you and all that, because like I said, without you guys we have no reason to do what we’re doing! So thank you!
