Chris Babalis- Acid Mammoth
When and where were you born? Are you originally from Athens, Greece? What was growing up like for you? Do you have any siblings? When did you first begin to have a fascination with music and wanted to play? What was your first instrument of choice and why?
So, I was born in 1992, in Athens, Greece. I don’t have any siblings. Growing up was lots of fun for me, as I spent my entire childhood obsessing over movies and as I came closer to my teens I started obsessing over music. My fascination with music started from an early age when I’d listen to whatever record my parents were spinning, and as a result I was exposed to the sounds of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Eloy, Deep Purple and others. However, my real obsession with music as well as the beginning of my desire to play music started the moment my father had me listen to Black Sabbath for the first time.
It was a mesmerizing experience that introduced me to a world of music I previously didn’t know that existed. There was something magical about “Sabotage” that captivated me from the first note and I have wanted to play music ever since. The first musical instrument I ever played was the piano, which I started learning from a very early age. However, after being introduced to rock and metal, I’d say my interest in piano diminished slightly and my focus shifted to the guitar and bass. My father already had lots of guitars at home as he had been playing since the 70s, therefore it didn’t take a lot of thinking, or effort for me to pick up a guitar and try to play.
What groups left a huge impression on you early on? What would you and your friends do for fun in the early days? Did you participate in any groups prior to Acid Mammoth? How did you initially meet Dimosthenis Varikos? What were your first impressions of him? What led to the decision to start Acid Mammoth in 2005?
There were a lot of bands that left a huge impression on me from early on. For starters, as I mentioned previously, Black Sabbath, who were my main introduction to heavier, cooler sounds. At the same time, as a 12 year old kid I developed a huge fascination for bands such as Judas Priest, Blind Guardian, Candlemass as well as more “extreme” metal bands such as Celtic Frost and Death. Some years later I was introduced to Stoner Doom after listening to “Witchcult Today” by Electric Wizard and I was totally enchanted by it. We had lots of fun with friends in the early days. Basically, we were total nerds who did totally nerdy things. We spent lots of time at school playing nerdy card games while listening to bands such as Black Sabbath, My Dying Bride and Darkthrone and we’d secretly without our parents’ knowledge we’d go to record stores and buy CDs.
We would also do movie nights where we would gather and do Lord of the Rings marathons or watch cool movies like Highlander, Conan the Barbarian, Alien, the 1984 Dune, etc. I met Dimosthenis Varikos back in 2007, when I played with another band and we were in need of a bassist for a gig we had coming up. Originally he was only meant to help us for this one gig, but we connected so well that we have been great pals and have been playing music together ever since. We started Acid Mammoth back in 2015 when we both came to the realization that we had some really cool riffs that could be implemented in a doom metal band, therefore we formed Acid Mammoth. It was the beginning of an awesome journey.
What did you want to express and achieve with this group that was different from a lot of the other bands coming out of Greece at the time? What did you want your sound to be? What was the chemistry like between everyone upon first meeting/jamming together? How did the rest of the members come to join the band and when was that exactly?
Ever since day one, our major goal has been to have fun jamming Sabbath-y tunes together. I’m not sure I can say what we were doing differently from other bands coming out of Greece at that point in time because we didn’t pay too much attention to what the other bands were doing, we’ve always wanted to do our own thing. From the get go we wanted our sound to resemble the horror of a gigantic horde of mammoths coming towards you. We set out to add crushing, fuzzy guitars, big fat bass, heavy drumming and mesmerizing vocals. We wanted to employ a heaviness to our sound that would shake the earth beneath our feet, with the fuzz spreading through the whole thing and crafting a witchy atmosphere.
After forming the band, in early 2016 my dad joined the band on guitar duty, and a few months later, Marios joined to play the drums. Our chemistry together was perfect during our first jam. An important aspect of this was the fact that we knew each other from before. We had been great friends with Dimosthenis already and we had played together lots of times before then, my dad and I have always had great chemistry together as we’d jam regularly, and Marios was another great friend of ours with whom we connected excellently from the first song we played together. We are great friends outside of the band as well, and that has helped us bond well as musicians too and develop great chemistry between us.
Tell me about writing and recording the band’s 2017 s/t debut album? What was the process and approach to this record like? How long did this take to record this from start to finish? Did you guys hit the road once it was finished?
The recordings of our self-titled debut album differed in many ways to the albums that followed. It was our first ever attempt at recording something doomy and we had limited experience in what was right sound-wise, but to make up for that we shared a tremendous excitement about it. All we did was turn our amps up and take the fuzz to 666% and start jamming together, write riffs and merge them together, write witchy lyrics and eventually record the whole thing. We took our sweet time recording it, as we started the recording in late 2016 and it was ready and done sometime in 2017. The result was 60 minutes of swampy evil doom, an album which we would characterize as spontaneous in its essence and a lot more monolithic than the albums that followed.
We didn’t hit the road after our album was finished however. The main reason for that was that we were a brand-new, completely unknown band at the time, and to be honest there were very few people in the local scene who were interested in having us! We did some gigs in our hometown though. We were very excited to be invited to play in an amazing local DIY venue in Athens where we had an amazing time both times we played there. Afterwards, instead of searching for more gigs or attempting to book a tour, we decided to shift our focus to the writing and recordings of our second full-length album “Under Acid Hoof” instead.
Can you tell me about the band’s third release ‘1782 - Doom Sessions Vol. 2’ was released on Heavy Pysch Sounds? How did the deal with them come about? Walk me through the writing and recording process for this project and how you guys approached this that differed from the previous debut Do you usually have an idea for how a song will sound? What comes first for you, music, or the lyrics?
Sometime after the release of “Under Acid Hoof”, our label Heavy Psych Sounds started releasing a series of splits called “The Doom Sessions”. They invited us to take part in the second volume, alongside our mates from Sardinia, 1782, an amazing band which we are really proud to share a release with. Athens was in a state of total lockdown due to the first wave of the pandemic at that point in time, so the three Acid Mammoth songs were written at home, during lockdown instead of the studio. As soon as the lockdown was lifted we entered the studio and recorded the songs. It was a very uncomplicated process because we had spent so much time indoors due to the lockdown that as soon as we were able to go outside and do something creative it was ecstatic for us and a breath of fresh air. Plus, we were really excited about those three songs.
The recording process was very similar to how we recorded “Under Acid Hoof”, and even its mixing and mastering treaded on similar waters. Therefore, everything related to that release happened smoothly and quickly and the split was released in September. Usually every song we write starts with the conception of a main riff, and then we work on building the song from there. Sometimes we already have an idea of how a song will sound, other times we let ourselves loose and let the song be crafted in a spontaneous manner, without too much planning or extensive thought put into it. It all depends on the occasion, but we’ve never had one single recipe on how to write a song.
For us the music always comes first, whether it is a single riff or an entire song structure which has been written. We’ve always written the lyrics afterwards, after the basic structure of a song has been completed. As for what comes first for us in terms of importance, I’d say we hold both in high regard, but we always give more focus as well as time to the music, as it requires a lot more of our energy and thought to be properly written and conducted. Writing lyrics has always been very straightforward for us, as when the music of a song is complete, it is more than enough to put us in the right mindset and vibe to write lyrics for it. Our inspiration for the lyrics comes primarily from horror movies which we love and appreciate, along with works of literature and horror stories we have read over the years.
You guys have kept pretty close to the HPS guys as of late. Can you tell me about recording ‘Under Aicd Hoof’? How has the pandemic affected you both as an individual as well as a musician? Did you guys get the chance to play any shows to support this release during that time? When and where did recording begin for that project and about how long did that particular process take from start to finish?
The recordings of “Under Acid Hoof” took place in 2019, thus we were able to complete the entire production process of the album stress-free and of course, lockdown-free! The album was recorded in Descent Studio, where we had previously recorded our debut. We recorded the drums for the album a bit earlier, in January of 2019, and in May we recorded the rest of the instruments. Everything in “Under Acid Hoof” was bigger and better than our self-titled debut before it. A lot more attention was put into the songwriting as well as the recording of every song. We opted for a big level-up to our sound in every regard. We updated our gear and our instruments, and that time around we were more experienced as musicians. The end result was a far fuzzier, heavier, doomier album than its predecessor, more aggressive and with a much more compelling production. Our sound engineer Dionysis did a stunning job with the album.
He made it sound huge and exactly how we wanted it to sound. This is also the album that led to us signing with Heavy Psych Sounds Records. It was a dream come true for us, and we were absolutely mind-blown when it happened. We are very happy with HPS, before we knew it fast forward today and we have released 3 full-length albums and a split together, as well as a lot of repressing, it’s surreal! When it came to gigs after the release of “Under Acid Hoof”, unfortunately as soon as “Under Acid Hoof” was released and we were getting ready to plan shows and tours, covid hit, and it hit hard. Before we could do anything, the entire world closed and we were set to be stuck inside our homes for a long time, and as a result any plans we made had to be put on ice.
2020 was a big year for you guys! The band also released ‘Caravan.’ What led to the decision to release these records so close together? At this point, you guys have a few records under your belt. What has changed about the group and what direction do you find yourselves gravitating towards at this point in the band’s career? Were you guys touring/playing on this album when Covid hit? How have you managed to stay positive during this pandemic?
Indeed, we released an album and a split, and we were properly introduced to the doom scene! 2021 was even bigger for the band! We recorded and released our third full-length album “Caravan”, which was also followed by the release of our self-titled debut for the first time ever on vinyl! The decision to release “Caravan” a year after “Under Acid Hoof” was a result of the ongoing pandemic and the fact that we weren’t able to tour. If covid had never hit, we would probably spend the rest of 2020 playing shows. However, because all live music was put on ice, we decided to spend the rest of 2020 by entering the studio to record a new album. So, we entered the studio in October to record the new album.
However, before we could finish the mixing of the album, Athens fell into lockdown once again during the second wave of covid, and we had to mix the album from afar. We managed to stay positive during the pandemic thanks to this band, as it gave us something creative to do, and most importantly something to look forward to every time. The direction that we are gravitating towards at this point in the band’s journey is one of live shows and touring. After releasing “Under Acid Hoof” and “Caravan”, we are looking forward to hitting the road and playing shows all over Europe, and eventually, we also hope to cross the Atlantic in the near future! Something that happened to a lot of bands across the world was the silence of live music.
How did you guys handle that? Have you guys continued to write music and work on things in the ways you could during this time? What has it been like to be able to play shows again?
It wasn’t easy. Covid hit at the moment that we were the hungriest to play live, right after the release of “Under Acid Hoof”, so it put all gigging plans on ice and there was an overall uncertainty about everything. We handled it by focusing on the band. It wasn’t easy during the pandemic, and being creative and writing music was one of the few things that kept us sane! Playing shows again was absolutely amazing, and we couldn’t be more stoked about it! 2021 ended on a high note, as we were lucky and graced with the opportunity to play 4 shows in various parts of Greece, as well as a killer show in Desertfest Belgium. In all of these shows we had an amazing time, and we were also incredibly humbled and happy to see people so excited for our music.
How have you wanted to approach this year now that things are kinda shifting back to ‘normal’?What are you most eager to express and explore with your music? Can we expect a new record/project/tour in the near future? What do you think you’ve learned the most about yourself and the world since this pandemic? What have you been able to take from all this? Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
We want to approach this year by playing as many cool shows abroad as possible! At the moment we are getting ready for our European Tour with 1782 which is set to take place mid-April, as well as for our upcoming shows in Summer festivals across Europe. What we learned the most about ourselves and the world since the pandemic is a bittersweet mix of both positives and negatives. To cherish the people and moments that make us happy, and at the same time not to take anything for granted because sometimes you make all these plans but the world has different plans for you.
We don’t regret a single thing across our journey as a band, and despite the horror of the ongoing pandemic we have been very fortunate to have stayed safe and healthy, and to have the opportunity to write music and play the shows that we did. Most importantly, we are very appreciative of the tremendous support from our fans across the world. We are truly honored and it gives us all the energy and motivation to put our heart and soul into this band! To anyone reading this, thanks for the support and we really hope we will see you in one of our shows down the line! Thank you so much for this interview Dakota, wishing the best to you and Primitive Man Soundz!!!
