Achilleas Diamantis: talks in detail about his new album Loaded

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Fans of Achilleas Diamantis will be aware of his work with the fusion orientated band Confusion. I the latest release Achilleas Diamantis goes for a more melodic rock metal approach, highlighting his rock influences Gary Moore, Jeff Beck , Joe Satriani.

 Achilleas Diamantis: Loaded

Achilleas Diamantis: " Loaded" is more rock sounded than my previous ones with Confusion.
If you like rock guitar sound, you will find it very interesting.


Achilleas Diamantis: Loaded
1. Fake Face 4:34
2. Give Me a Sign 6:12
3. Heavy Weapon 3:18
4. Big Hearted Love 5:00
5. It Hurts to Want You 5:10
6. Blue Stone 5:09
7. Just for You 5:29
8. Leave Me Alone 4:35
9. Diastims 4:15

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/achilleasdiamantis


How did you know when you had finished the album? 

I had all the songs as a demo first and then when I chose the songs that I want to include on the album. At that point I started the recording process.  

Collecting songs for the album took a while because I wanted to have songs with strong melodies.

How do you know when a track is finished? 

To know if a track is finished is easy.The difficulty is to making the mix sound big and to have a sound that you are happy with.

I love to spend time to get a great tone not only in the guitars but in bass and drums also.

How do you decide what is going into a track and how do you name it?

I am writing music every day .I don't care if this going to be a guitar song or a vocal song.  I just care that whatever I write is melodic. A lot of the songs on this CD started life as vocal songs, but when I played the melody lines on the guitar,  then  I thought these are great songs for guitar in their own right!!

I think that if the melody is good, then it will be good with guitar or vocals.  When I compose a song I have no idea about the title of the piece. After I am done and I am sitting on my couch listening to each song I then I name it.

What equipment did you use in the studio?
I have a lot of toys in the studio.

For the riffs I mostly use the good old Mesa Rectifier 100 head (two channels) with a 4x12 Mesa Recto Cab.
For my Themes and melodies I use my Lee Jackson Perfect connection preamp with my recto 2 100 power amp in two 2 -12 rectifier cabinets.

My lead sound is a Carvin X series amp through my custom load box and then into my mixer and at the end into my stereo power amp.

For all the sounds I have the TC Electronics G Force for all the effects,delays chorus etc .

I use the Rc booster before my amps for the lead parts .I also use the Whammy, Moogerfooger (Ring Modulator), Budda Wah
The guitars I use currently are the Jackson Sl 2 with Suhr pickups and my Steinberger.
For the acoustic parts I use my Martin
How did you record the drums for the album?

When I composed the songs I used midi drums and at that point I decide what beats I want for each song. I do midi programming for all parts! So my drummer will not hate me !!!
When I have my ideas down, I have the real drummer in the studio who then listens my demo and then puts in his own ideas.
I use 12 mics for the drum set and 2 for the room .

On this CD Takis Intas played the drum parts. He knows exactly what I want, because we played many years together in my fusion band Confusion.

Do you approach an album as though it is you meister work?

I believe that each project must be the best I can do at that time.

If you work a lot on a project then the only way to make it sound the best for you and the best for your listeners too is to approach it in that wa.

When the album is done how do you feel about it?

When the album was finished I was tired but at the same time felt very happy and proud.

Did you have a budget for the album? 

Since I own the recording studio, I invest the money on the equipment for the recordings process. So mics , monitors etc. The guitar gear is exactly the same I used with my band Confusion. So I did not have any new money for new guitars and amps.
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How did you go about your promotion strategy? 

As part of the launch I created a video clip for the "Fake Face" song. I think creating a video is very important because most people I know will listen to music on Youtube .

Achilleas Diamantis - Fake Face from the album Loaded (2013)


What were your musical influences on this album? 

If you listen the themes of the songs you will hear my rock influences.  Gary Moore, Jeff Beck , Joe Satriani.
But in the soloing parts you will hear my fusion side of playing with influences by Scott Henderson , Allan Holdsworth, Frank Gambale mixed with the Rock power of the other guys I have mentioned before.


How did you decide what the album title and design would be?

Since this CD is more rock, metal, rather than the fusion sound of Confusion, I thought that "Loaded " would be a fitting title, with power and strength. 

Important links 


Those looking for Confusion featuring Achilleas Diamantis

Enter AloneConfusion
GenesisConfusion

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