Known for their straightforward attitude and emotional openness of their music, OCEANDVST is a pop-punk trio with the mission to bring their passionate feelings to those who struggle to express them in their own way! Their Debut album ‘FLOATING’ out June 15th
Interview conducted February 10, 2021
By Dan Locke
OCEANDVST’s journey begins in the middle of 2017 in Thessaloniki, Greece. They burst onto the scene with their self-released ep called “Escape Rovte” and they started gaining a remarkable fan base from their very beginning. The release of “Escape Rovte” was followed by two music videos and one lyric video which became unexpectedly popular in a very short time, while in 2019 was released the single “Isn’t Love Supposed to Be a Good Thing?” which marked the end of a big chapter. At the end of 2019, the band moved on in a new era with a fresh line-up and more determined than ever to turn their goals and dreams into reality! This new era begins with the release of the single “Nightmare (Halsey cover)”, which reached the number 1 song for four weeks straight on 1055 rock radio.
Unrated Magazine: Your band is from Greece. What is your upbringing?
Jimmy: Hey! We could say that having a band in Greece is pretty fun, until the time you decide to make it professionally.
How did you discover music?
J: My father has been a music lover since forever, so I was always close to good music. It started being an important part of my life at about the age of 10 when I lost contact with my childhood friends and I needed something to keep me company.
How did you start to write music?
J: It came kinda naturally. I started playing the guitar when I was 10-11 years old, and when Ι went on High School I just felt that I wanted to write. Of course, the songs I was writing back then wasn’t something special, but I didn’t seem to care about it and I eventually started getting better
Describe your music.
J: I’d say it’s a storytelling of personal experiences and thoughts, expressed in a pop-punk vibe
How did you get your first guitar, and do you still have it?
J: Oh, it was a surprise gift by my parents on a casual evening in our house. I remember how fascinated I was when I saw it shining, haha. I still play with it sometimes and I remember how hard it seemed to me back then songs that now I’m even bored to play!
What is your guitar of choice now? Year, make, and model?
J: Right now, I’m playing with a Gibson Les Paul Studio 2016 modified with Seymour Duncan pickups. A classic, but the versatile combination
Your journey began in the middle of 2017. How did you form the band?
J: Chrysa and I met in the shooting for a video of the band who were friends of ours, called Astrarot. At first, we didn’t seem to speak a lot, but after a while, we realized that both of us wanted to start a pop-punk band and we couldn’t find the right people. Guess what happened!
How did your band get its name?
J: It was inspired by a song I used to listen to when we were searching for a name, called “ocean dust.” We thought “sounds good, but it doesn’t look how we feel it has to”. So, the idea to do some modifications came immediately and the name became OCEANDVST.
What was your first performance like?
J: It was at Schoolwave Festival, the biggest music festival for students in Greece with more than 5K people every year. We wanted to play at this festival since we were little kids, this was a dream came true!
What makes a good songwriter?
J: Every person in the world has feelings and memories, bad or good. A songwriter is just someone who can translate all these things into sound. To me, it’s a combination of being true to yourself and endless hours of practice.
What is the process of writing your music?
J: There are two kinds of days in songwriting: The first one, which is the most common, are those that I have no inspiration for anything. I make good use of the learning and applying new songwriting techniques. Most of the time, nothing good comes from these days, but here they come the days that I actually have something to write about, and everything I have been learning about just pop up into songs out of nowhere.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI, or ASCAP?
J: Yup! All of us signed up recently to BMI.
What does “A safe space for the broken, floating in a world of outcasts” mean?
J: It’s actually the reason we play music. OCEANDVST is the home we made to feel free anytime we need it, in the way we want it! And of course, this is home is open to EVERYONE who needs some company
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
J: Actually, the first original song that was written for the band, was ‘Set Me Free,’ which coincidentally happened to be our debut single too.
Tell me about the making of your self-released EP “Escape Route”?
J: Well, Chrysa and I wrote the songs of the EP in about 4-5 months, from 2016 until October of the same year. After that, everything happened really quickly. We started practicing with the members of our first lineup and we started recordings before we were really ready. I can’t remember why, but for some reason, we rushed a lot to enter the studio. Even though we still hear a lot of things we could have done better, we are really proud about it.
How was to make the single “Nightmare” and for it to get radio play?
J: Few know that “Nightmare” was not recorded for OCEANDVST at first. Actually, the story starts before Evan joined the band, when he wanted to cover this song for his channel and he suggested to Chrysa and me to do it all together just for fun. While we were rehearsing and jamming before recording it, we realized that we had already made a rare bond and eventually he joined the band and the song was released.
Let’s talk about the latest single “The Risk”? What is the backstory behind the song?
J: The Risk’ is a song about overcoming ourselves and fighting about what we feel it’s the right thing. It’s the first single out of OCEANDVST’s upcoming debut album and it was mixed by James Paul Wisner Debut album ‘FLOATING’ out June 15th
What is your favorite track on the album?
Evan: Can I mention two tracks? I will, it’s The Risk and Great Escape.
How do you stay healthy while performing?
E: While on tour you don’t always have the luxury of eating healthy and nutritious food, so I’m focused on staying hydrated and I take vitamin stacks.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
E: We all have to adapt to the new standards, the faster we all do it the better for everyone.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
E: I would say ‘Set me free’ but simply cause of the whole situation with the virus and the lockdowns.
Both (Pfizer and BioNTech) and Moderna have concluded Phase 3 Study of the Coronavirus vaccine. With both vaccines, it takes two shots. How many people do you think will take it and how many will forget to take the second shot?
E: Many people are scared to take the shot, they need to see if it will cause any side effects to others but on the other hand, I think that it will be illegal for someone to travel and do some other things without taking the shot to avoid another wave of the virus so “it’s a risk we have to take”, if someone takes the shot and doesn’t get any bad side effects from it, I think it will be impossible to forget to take the second one. Since it’s an mRNA shot tho people don’t have to worry about the shot “getting into” their DNA.
To makes things a bit more complex, There is talk that people could either mix the manufactures of the vaccines or in the case of Moderna studies have shown you could take a half dose for the first shot and still be alright for the second vaccine. Do you feel that this is right?
E: There’s not much evidence but my gut tells me to take the full shot and the second one from the same manufacture.
How long before the whole world will be vaccinated against the virus. You have to remember there only has to be a 70% for Herd immunity (Herd immunity occurs when a large portion of a community (the herd) becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. As a result, the whole community becomes protected — not just those who are immune.)
E: Pretty familiar with herd immunity. Let’s face the cold heart truth, third world countries won’t get the chance to do it. I think that it will take up to 4 months for the wealthiest countries population to do it and up to 7 months for the less wealthy ones.
Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
E: I believe that the music business will get back on its feet eventually.
How was the Christmas show?
E: We are so grateful that we got to do a show even under these circumstances but I’m gonna be dead honest, it feels so bleak without our people in the crowd, I believe that all three of us agree on this one when playing a show, I usually get a natural high by the crowd’s energy and I was missing this thing so much during this show, I’m sure that good times will come again tho.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
E: Working, a lot of weight lifting, lots of drum practice and I re-watched my all-time fav anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
E: This happened during the previous lockdown where I was sketching once again after many years.
95% of people said that they have changed the way they watch television. This includes people who don’t have television and using their computers to do streaming of programs and movies. Which is your favorite streaming channel?
E: I’m gonna sound so mainstream and boring but it’s Netflix (don’t you people dare to skip the Neon Genesis Evangelion intro) gotta go pee now, Chrysa will take it from here, peace.
Many artists are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. In October that is going to change at least on Facebook. Facebook is cracking down on livestreamed shows that include recorded music with new terms of service, preventing artists from using the platform for “commercial or non-personal” purposes, unless they have obtained the relevant licenses. The updated music guidelines state that users “may not use videos on our products [which include Instagram] to create a music listening experience […] This will includes [Facebook] Live,” and stipulates that such content should be posted for the enjoyment of friends and family only. How do you think this will change the landscape of Facebook?
Chrysa: There are many streaming platforms to connect with your fans, it doesn’t have to be Facebook the only way. We think that a decision like this would only harm facebook. In times like this, preventing artists to share their art is not a good thing.
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merchandise to them at the show?
C: Sadly, coronavirus forcibly took the only way of communication with fans – live shows. We can play music online, arrange a virtual meet and greets, promote our merch through social media but I don’t know if there’s such a thing as live shows. It’s hard to keep your fan base that way, but I think hard work and loyalty is the way to increase your fan base.
How is your limited-edition masks selling?
C: There’re doing great! So good to see people wearing our masks to protect themselves.
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means things like playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
C: It happens a lot, mostly to small artists. When it comes to playlists there are many that you have to pay to be included but there are many free options. Supporting a well-known band on tour tho, if you don’t have a label to put you in that position and you are a new artist, I think it’s something almost impossible to achieve without paying.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
C: I mean, holographic concerts are cool. But they’re not comparable to the one as we are used to .
If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?
C: Music is a really big part of our lives and it’s really hard to think about doing something else, honestly. But if I had to choose something else I would be an actress or a dancer. Something that it’s related to art.
Evan: Many things cross my mind but I think I would end up being a psychologist or with a bit of luck a professional football player
What is your happy place?
C: Music is our happy place. It’s obvious I know, but we would be nothing without music. When we’re sad, this is where we go to. When we are happy, music is the way to our expression.
Spotify just deleted 750,00 songs, mostly from independent artists. Was your saved?
C: Thank god, our songs survived haha
Anything you would like to say in closing
C: Thank you so much for sticking around! We are blessed to do what we love and your support is everything. Without you we would be nothing . See you on the pit! (hopefully soon)
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