rattlead.hu
Interview with singer Kyriakos „Charlie” Tsiolis on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Aftermath’s Eyes of Tomorrow album.
Charlie, being based in Chicago, do you think that Trouble and Zoetrope were the first original heavy metal bands who were actually really heavy and not hard rock?
I would agree that Trouble and Zoetrope were the first really original heavy bands. Neither were thrash, but they were heavy. It wasn’t until a few years later that Chicago got its truly heavy thrash bands.
Did they immediately manage to put the town on the map of the Heavy Metal/Hard Rock scene?
They definetely got Chicago’s metal scene out there beyond the city. Especially Trouble. They had a pretty large underground following outside the city and even outside the country.
Were they the first to define a sound of heaviness in the scene and maybe everyone kind of took that sound a little?
What is unique about the old Chicago metal scene from the 1980s was that none of the bands sounded like each other. Trouble was this doom metal band that sounded nothing like Zoetrope and Zeotrope sounded nothing like us. That’s what I think made the Chicago scene so different and cool. It wasn’t like the Florida death metal scene where each band sounded like each other in a way. Or even the SF scene back then had a specific sound, but we didn’t have that in Chicago. We just had tons of heavy bands doing their own thing.
They (Zoetrope and Trouble) were the earliest bands that brought everyone together, weren’t they? Both of them were influential…
Was the early Chicago metal scene a traditional heavy metal one?
Those two bands had guys that were older than we were. They were more like men when we were all just a bunch of younger kids mainly. We looked up to them and they were already playing shows to a fanbase. We all wanted to get there. They were important because they were getting popular in the city and beyond and showning metal fans that Chicago had a scene that wasn’t Styx and Chicago. Before the two of them, the city was known for blues and classic rock bandst . It was the first time that metal was gaining fans from our local bands.
Do you think that besides Zoetrope and Trouble, Witchslayer, Slauter Xstroyes (previously Naj, White Which), Hammeron and a little bit later Thrust, Snowhite/Znöwhite, Iron Cross, War Cry (incl. Paul Speckmann), Mayhem Inc. etc. belonged to the first wave of Chicago’s metal?
You really know the Chicago scene. The bands you mention were part of the scene in the early days, but only Trouble and Zeoptrobe got real record deals at the beginning. Hammoron was a cover hard rock band that played some originals – closer to the Scorps and Maiden than the heavier stuff that ultimately put Chicago metal on the map. Znowhite was important in the early days as well. Death Strike – Speckman before Master was the haeviest of the early bands and an influence on the death metal scene around the world. Mayhem was a great band that could have been huge. All of those bands were part of the early metal scene for sure, and like I said, none of them sound like each other.
Were all of the bands different from each other and just sounded completely different from each other? Did everybody just have their own unique sound?
I should have read all the questions before answering them I guess since I already answered this one. Yeah for sure no band sounded like any other band.
Was it a kind of camaraderie among the bands back then?
It was a great scene. Most bands got along and supported each other. There were some bands that were not as cool as the ones you listed. They turned everything into a competition instead of worrying about the music. It was more business for them. But overall the scene was amazing. We were all there at the beginning of something new and all just creating our own music at the forefront of the Chicago metal scene, and for us speficically the Chicago thrash scene.
At which point and how did Aftermath come into being?
Ray our drummer had jammed together before Aftermath but never played a show or recorded anything. I ran into Steve in a parking lot in junior college. We went to high school together the year before. He was this great guitar player and guitar teacher. We decided to jam and we went down to Ray’s basement on Halloween 1985 and Aftermath was born.
What was the line up? Was Aftermath the very first band for all of you, that you were involved in?
The orignal line up was 4 piece that included myself on vocal, Steve Sacco on guitar, Ray Schmidt on drums and Adam on bass. It was our real first band.
Considering the moniker, were you aware of the existence of the Tucson, Boulder, San Francisco and Belle Mead based bands with the same name?
We had no idea there was another Aftermath in Arizona back in the 80’s . If we did we would have never used the name. Remeber this is before Google. Never heard of the other ones you mentioned. We had a long list of band names I came up while working and of all the possible names we all settled on Aftermath.
You released four demos, you were featured on Metal Forces Presents… Demolition – Scream Your Brains Out compilation respectively, can you give us any details about these stuffs?
We recorded a four song demo on 2 tracks in one day just to hear how our songs were sounding. It had a yellow cover and no graphics. It wasn’t meant for the public. Somehow it got out and people liked it – that was in 1986. In 1987, we released Killing the Future – 5 songs of pure fucking speed and energy. Recored on 24 tracks over 2 days in June of 1987. Two of the songs ended up on the Metal Forces comp you mentioned. That was a real honor becuase that magazine was the greatest metal mag at the time for a lot of us. They picked their 5 favorite bands from the entire world and we were one of them. It really helped spread our music to ton of countries.
In 1988, we recorded a way more complicated and slower teachnical progressive demo that got us a ton of new and different fans. The songs on that demo featured our second guitarst John Lovette – he brought a more technical dark style in his song writing. Danny Vega from Hammoron played bass on that demo. Killing and Words had tons of great press and a few record label offered us deals. We turned them all down. In 1989, we recorded a four song demo for Roadrunner Records. We never signed with them but it led to a deal with Big Chief/ Warners.
Did these materials help you to increase your fanbase?
Like I said Killing and Words really got the name of the band out there. We were getting people from over 50 countries sending us cash for those demos. It was crazy.
Is it correct, that the fourth demo was recorded live and solely as a promo for Roadrunner Records? Does it mean, that only Roadrunner showed an interest in signing the band?
Yeah it was recorded for them. After they heard Words they wanted to hear some more music so they paid for us to record four more songs.
How do you view, that in 1989/1990 when the band was at its peak after the fuzz with the Words that Echo Fear demo, RoadRacer Records approached you and offered you a deal, but things didn’t work out and Aftermath signed to Big Chief Records?
Not really sure what happened with Roadrunner and a possible deal. They loved the band then nothing ever happened – I have a theory I won’t go fully into, but if you read my other answer about some bands in the scene not being cool – my theory involves them. A person from Roadrunner passed along our demo to the owner of a new label called Big Chief, we signed with them in 1990 and started recording Eyers of Tomorrow.
If I’m correct, at this point you had some line up changes…
Were you prepared to record your first album, when you entered the Solid Sounds Studios, Hoffman Estates, Illinois?
By the time we entered the studio Danny was gone and we replaced him with Chris Waldren on bass. We were totally ready to record the album. Getting it paid off and releasing it was going to be a nightmare.
How did the recording sessions go?
Phil Bonnet was great to work with. He really loved music and knew how to work with bands to get the best out of them. He would tell us the less studio tricks the better – back then when there were no protools and all the stuff that bands use today he would say that. He wanted the music to speak for itself and not be dated by the effects of the time. He was totally right about that approach.
The album contains tech/prog thrash metal from 1990, the songs were written between 1988-1990, recorded in 1990, but released 4 years later in 1994 due to record company bankcruptcy…
Do you agree with, that you sound like Ron Broder of Coroner?
Over the years people mention us and Coroner together. To be honest I never listened to an entire Coroner record, and neither has Steve. I know John never heard their music either. So I would have to go listen to it to answer this question.
Do you think, that you also came from the same timeline as Coroner and it’s just a case of sharing the same kind of influences?
In 1987, when we recorded Killing the mission was to write and record the fastest thrash songs ever – Slayer on speed basically. It wasn’t progressive or technical at all. When we added John and become a 5 piece I was already into writing slower, darker music and John joined at the right time. With 2 guitar players and a bass player that could really play unlike Adam, we were able to experiment. We wanted to be a thrash version of Pink Floyd, Not sure if we share that view with Coroner – maybe we did.
Is/Was the band organically tight, presented relentless grooving riffs and precise rhythms?
The band was tight from the beginning and got even tighter on Words.
How do you view, that the bass is luckily very audible because Chris Waldron complements the riffs with just the right mixture of simply rounding up headbanging moments and adding more unique lines?
Chris added some funk to the songs – he wasn’t a thrasher so he brought a different style to that album on bass. I really worked well and added a diifferent dimension to it. We did force him to limit the slapping in some parts.
There are quite a few moments of the bass going full on solo, Chris has the confidence and the skill to pull it off, hadn’t he?
He did have the skills and never lacked the confidence.
The songs are entertaining in a way only the best tech-thrash bands get/can present…
Did the longer tunes sound epic, like for example the atmospheric Change Of Mood or the excellent Experience?
When we wrote the album and based it on what a thrash Floyd would do, it really allowed us to experiment with the songs and do things that short songs don’t. The two songs you picked have grown into fan favorites over the years. The drum playing on Change of Mood is out there and totally insane. Steve and I wrote Experience and it still sounds fresh and modern all these years later. We knew the record was special from the beginnng, but when we listened back to the middle of the song Words that Echo Fear we were all blown away.
How do you explain, that the album is technical and progressive and showcases some pretty new ideas and influences with songs like the aptly-titled Experience?
Would you say, that Change Of Mood has a one of a kind feel, it’s amazing how you found the perfect lyrical content to fit the melancholy riffs?
The album doesn’t sound upbeat and happy. It’s dark and the lyrics were dark – not like on the latest two albums dark, but in a different way. When we wrote the album it naturally came out dark sounding. It always came easy to write lyrics for the songs even though the riffs and playing are never straigtforward. I guess it was just meant to work.
Did you manage to do any shows/tours in support of the record?
Between 1985 and 1996 we only did 33 shows total. So we never got a chance to do any touring for the album.
Charlie, thanks a lot for the interview, what are your closing words?
Thanks for the interview and the great questions. And for anyone that hasn’t heard any of our music since Eyes of Tomorrow, then check out our two latest albums There is Something Wrong and No Time to Waste.
