The core of what was to become interstellar overdrive was formed around 1998 in Athens, Greece. In 1999's 'Battle of the Bands' contest (held in Athens) the band was awarded with the 1st prize leading to the realisation of the Debut album (Pegasus Records, 2000), which was recorded from May 1999 to June 2000 at Voices Studio. From April 2002 to January 2003 the band recorded its 2nd album titled 'Surface b' again for Pegasus Records. The genre was a lot different than the Debut with influences ranging from indie to post-rock; yet, within this album there was some evidence of a more experimental and less commercial approach to music. From 2003 onwards the band, with a different line-up, recorded a series of pieces for different occasions, releasing music for the ‘Pop+Rock’ Magazine (7/03 & 3/05) and for a painting exhibition (5/03). In November 2005 the band recorded a series of pieces for the painting/engraving exhibition of Stefanos Rokos in Athens held at 'Agathi Hall of Art'. The music was intended to accompany the catalogue of the exhibition titled 'Noise and Useful Objects' and was desposed free on the opening day. In October 2008 the band’s 3rd album was released, titled 'Hibernation', by Studio2 Records. It was produced in 3 countries (Greece, England and Ireland) within the span of 5 years, trying to implement new methods for musical expression and production. The album demonstrated excessive unevenness of style throughout and was never performed live in its entirety by the band which gradually dissolved towards the end of the decade.
Feel free to have a look at some rather old photos !
This album is not available online. Below is a 2020 remastered version of a single song.
Artemis Bogri: voice | Dr.Aris: bass, voice | Aris Oikonomou: electric guitar | Dinos Bourandas: violin | Grigoris Kokkinos | Orestis Karamanlis: guitars, voice.
+ Dimitris Ioannou: voice | Vagelis Gritzalis: double bass | Pepy Kosma: voice
@lek Sakellariou: drums & percusssion | Orestis Karamanlis: guitars, bass, percussion, harmonica, xylophone, piano, vocals | Dr.Aris: bass | + Pepy Kosma: voice | Dinos Bourandas: electric & classical violins, viola.
+ Manolis Angelakis: vocals (courtesy of the band Illegal Operation) | Aris Oikonomou: jaguar guitar | Dimitris Ioannou : vocals (courtesy of the band Bokomolech) | Grigoris Kokkinos: drums | Sofia Labropoulou: harp of Asia Minor | Akis Bogiatzis: vocals (courtesy of the band Sigmatropic) | Artemis Bogri: vocals | Ifigenie Bogiatzaki: vocals | Alan Massie: flute | Alexander Zhibaj: cello | Noam Chomsky’s voice used with his permission.
Below is only half of the album.
| [peps]: voice | [kat]: bass, vocals (4, 5, 7, 9), guitar (7, 8) | [@lek]: drumset, indefinite pitched percussion | [o.k]: marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, xylophone, (prepared/) piano, harmonium, hammond, percussion, guitars, violin (5), turntable, synthesizers, vocals (3, 4, 5, 6, 9), programming.
+ piano, wurlitzer, acoustic guitar, ms20 (korg) and vocals (2) by Stef Kamil Carlens; violins (1, 2, 6, 8) by Dinos Bourandas; guitar (8) by Stefanos Rokos order; trumpet (12) by Berit Janssen; sax (4, 9, 11) by Michalis Erotokritou; cello (11) by Hilde Van der Have; trombone (3) by Jim Yasemides; concertina and harp (1, 5, 6, 9) by Una Monaghan; voice (6) by Virginie Gavinet and her sample on (4, 9, 11); voice (10) by Johana Gloel; irish folk sample on (1) recorded in a Northern Irish pub under kind permission of the local musicians; Anglia Chorus (13) was recorded during a vocal workshop in Cambridge April 2005, (the sample used is from a west African chant); underwater screams and sounds on (1) and (6) were recorded in a small beach somewhere in the Aegean sea with considerate help from the villagers. All of the aforementioned musicians contributed significantly towards the final shape of the songs.
Produced in Cambridge, Department of Music and Performing Arts, ARU (UK); Belfast, Sonic Arts Research Centre, QUB (NI); Athens, Artracks Studios and Matrix Studio (GR) by [o.k], [@lek] and G.P throughout the period of 2003-2007. All the sonic material, except in (5), was engineered and manipulated at the Blochnunga Mobile Studios at various spaces and time.
'Horror & Romance on Another Planet' is a CD compilation featuring 18 bands from different countries writing music for the homonyms art exhibition which took place in 2010 in Athens.