Founded in Athens in 2004, the progressive metal band NEED achieved greater reach with their latest album, Norchestrion: A Song for the End, released in 2021. Throughout their career, the band has shared the stage with big names like IRON MAIDEN, SLIPKNOT, and SYMPHONY X. In our interview with NEED’s vocalist, Jon Vogiatzis, we discussed the band’s music career and the music industry.

Since the moment I listened to you, I say “why is this band not known any more?”. Do you think you are too late to announce and introduce yourself?

Jon Vogiatzis: I am happy for every new person that comes on board and enjoys our music so I try not to be discouraged about the past. We have worked very hard for the past 15 years and with every new album we learn something new and we get more and more new fans along the way so all is well. We have always worked with a DIY method without a big label support so perhaps this is why we never had more exposure but word of mouth is doing an excellent job the last few years!

We briefly consider your music as a progressive metal. But how would you describe the music that you typically create?

Jon Vogiatzis: Well in order to describe our music with an easy way to a new listener I’d say prog metal would be my term of choice I guess. But the good thing about prog is that is can include so many different forms and styles in it and that’s what drew me to it since the beginning.

Nowadays, I see that many musicians focus only on the music they perform and reduce their listening to music in their daily life. Do you often listen to music in your daily life?

Jon Vogiatzis: If you are listening, what kind of music do you prefer to listen to? Are there particular bands or musicians that you could mention? I don’t think I can imagine my life without music to be honest. I listen to music for the most part of the day. The last few years I listen to a lot of pop/rock with artists like John Mayer or Dave Matthews but I enjoy A LOT of different stuff so I’ll say some of the stuff that I’ve mostly listened to the last few weeks. That would include artists from Neil Young, Kansas or the Beatles to Elton John, Talk Talk or metal stuff like Gojira, Katatonia or the Ocean.

Were there any bands that you impressed when creating the NEED sound?

Jon Vogiatzis: Who were the bands and musicians that impressed you the most? There’s a lot of different influences that surface while we are creating but I’d say I’ve heavily influenced by my favorite singers like Warrel Dane, Ray Alder, James Hetfield…stuff like that.

The quality of your albums is getting higher, and Norchestrion seems to be the peak of your 17 years of experience. Can you talk about the production process and other details of the album?

Jon Vogiatzis: Thank you very much for that, really appreciate it! Well for the last few albums we’ve found that team work is the way to move forward so we try to play all together as much as possible while we are on the composition stage. Trading off ideas etc. Of course as the years go by we learn more and more stuff for our instruments, music, production tricks etc so this helps too. And we’re also lucky to work with a very talented person in the production/mix/master area, Hector D. who also brings a lot of his technical wisdom to the table. So I guess the combination of all those elements is what makes Norchestrion good.

In an interview you gave in 2017, you said “If it’s done we imagine, it will be something very different and special for us” for your Norchestrion album. So, is this an album like you imagined?

Jon Vogiatzis: I think it is. I mean we spent a lot of time to work on things as much as we could and I think it’s a step forward both musically and sonically so I’d say I’m pretty satisfied with the final result. There’s always small changes and twitches you can do but we always learn new things and I hope we can use them in the next album.

Most of the world-famous production companies have bought high-follower playlists on digital platforms and by adding only contracted musicians to these playlists, they make them famous. Does this situation irritate you?

Jon Vogiatzis: It sure does. Although the vast use of the net and social media (facebook, youtube and Instagram for example) has helped less known artists like us to find their audiences, it still saddens me to see that some situations never change although the platforms want to convince you otherwise. Spotify claims they pick carefully their playlist placements and that these can’t be bought but some artists always find their new songs on the top of those lists so this is not a coincidence of course.

If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?

Jon Vogiatzis: Hmmm…that’s a tough one. I’d like streaming platforms to pay artists for the income they bring to the platform and not divide their shares mainly to the big names out there. Also I’d wish that the concept of ‘buy in’ for shows etc would cease to exist finally.

Although our countries are close to each other, you did not hold a concert in Turkey? Have you ever had the possibility to do a concert in Turkey in the past?

Jon Vogiatzis: Well most of the times that we have really traveled around has been as a support act to a more known artist so those times we’ve been on tour in the past Turkey hasn’t been in the routing. I hope this changes in the future because we’d really like to visit Turkey for a gig or two. Fun fact: both me and Ravaya (Need’s guitar player) have actually performed in Turkey in the past but not as members of Need but as actors in a theater production of ancient Greek play ‘Lysistrata’ that was performed in the ancient theater of Bodrum. We had a wonderful time!

What would you do if your audience looked tired or bored during your performance?

Jon Vogiatzis: We always to try to engage the audience and make them have a good time with us but truth is that when we go on stage we give 100% and we try to have as much fun ourselves first and foremost. So if the audience is not in our music that’s their loss I guess hehe

You like to insert dialogues and monologues in your albums. Your “V.a.d.i.s” track has a text written by your guitarist and your “Hegaiamas” album ends with a quote from a play. Is there any particular reason for placing these texts in your music?

Jon Vogiatzis: We have always drawn inspiration from different forms of art so in a way it is a way to incorporate them in our music as well. I mean an album is a chance to express different artforms (music, poetry albeit in the form of lyrics and paint as well in the cover, artworks etc) so these pieces are a wink to theater as well. Also Ravaya who writes those one acts/spoken tracks is an actor too so he brings a lot of those influences to the table.

What’s the best piece of advice another musician ever gave you?

Jon Vogiatzis: I remember when we were on tour with Jon Oliva’s Pain back in 2010 we had finished our set and I was hanging out in the dressing room and Oliva comes over and told me ‘what the hell are you doing here? You should be at the merch table meeting people who enjoyed your set and building your relationship with them’. That was a pretty good advice and I’ve followed it ever since and truth is that I’ve met and talked with lots and lots of wonderful people after our shows who come to show their appreciation and this connection in one of the most special feelings when you’re in a band and share your music with the world.

Thank you very much for your time. Finally, Is there anything you want to tell your fans?

Jon Vogiatzis: Thank you very much as well! This is the first time we’d had the opportunity to present the band to the Turkish music fans and we really appreciate the time you took to prepare this interview. I hope that we can soon put the covid bullshit behind us and finally come to perform to Turkey and meet you guys. Stay safe and keep enjoying good music!

Click here to read the interview in Turkish.