Odysseus Never Came Back Interview
Whoever said dubstep and metalcore don’t mix 
obviously has not heard Odysseus Never Came Back. These six Greek musicians mash the best of both genres together in an iconic post-hardcore fashion. The band plowed through their fair share of “haters” during their short 3 year history in theAthens underground music scene catching the eye eager new fans. Watch their video for “Cause This is How We Roll” to see what the buzz is about.
After a very vague Facebook Post telling fans to “keep their eyes open for the future,” By the Barricade decided to ask the band exactly what they meant, and got to hear a little more about their future plans.
By the Barricade: Can you explain a little of the backstory behind the band’s name?
Odysseus Never Came Back: The former guitarist of the band and the vocalist were hanging out together over the summer at the beach and they were discussing creating a band. When they were name dropping, Odysseus Never Came Back was what they came up with. It represented a bit of that pessimism and negativity of our times especially here in Greece.
By the Barricade: Odysseus Never Came Back has gained a lot of popularity in the Athens underground scene. Is that success due to social media?
Odysseus Never Came Back: Social media definitely helped out a lot! [It was] also the way we and our producer Anthony Tsigonias promoted ourselves and our music. As a band we had a lot of “hating” especially from other people close or part of the Greek underground music scene. We used that to our advantage to promote ourselves and our music. So, in a way, we’d say that all the people who had been our strongest “haters”, they had also been our biggest supporters.
BtB: The band’s last single “Lotus Isn’t Just a Fruit” was mixed by legendary producer Joey Sturgis. How has his fine-tuning changed your sound?
ONCB: Yeah, that was something unexpected for us because we hadn’t planned on this from the beginning. We had a chance through our producer to have our song mixed and mastered by Joey Sturgis and Nick Scott and so we seized that opportunity. The outcome was amazing as expected and also Nick Scott’s touches on the “post production” side of the track was also great. We did not have the track produced by them, as it was produced by our own, Anthony Tsigonias, and definitely something that hadn’t been done here in Greece in the past and we are too proud of this track and video.
BtB: Most of your tracks have significant dubstep instances. What do you think would happen if the band showed up at a rave and started jamming?
ONCB: The band, or at least the band members individually do go to a lot of dubstep and generally electronic music parties here in Greece. We love that kind of music hence our music is deeply influenced by it. As for showing up at a rave and jamming as a band, we’d rather avoid that and just be part of the crowd there dancing and going nuts with the music.
BtB: Your latest single is on Spotify. Do you think music streaming sites like Spotify are a good way to support the scene?
ONCB: Well, there’s been an ongoing discussion globally and all over the internet about whether Spotify is actually helping the artists monetize their music or not and so far the numbers say that it doesn’t, not even the big name artists. We were fortunate enough to have made a descent amount of sales even from just a single that we released, however, here in Greece supporting a band by buying their music is still unfortunately at a primitive stage. This is why we as a band are against “giving away” music for free but instead charge even a symbolic tiny fee so that people start getting into the habit of buying and supporting music instead of just expecting it everything for free or downloading it illegally.
BtB: If an artist listened to Odysseus Never Came Back as he painted, what do you think his picture would look like?
ONCB: …It would be a disaster… He would definitely not finish the painting. He would either tear it to pieces and start dancing to our music or destroy whatever device our music was playing through and then the painting again. Haha.
BtB: What is your favorite food to eat after a show your hometown of Athens?
ONCB: Well, arguably every Greek’s favorite food when eating out, especially after a night out, is “souvlaki”…. So, you do the math.
BtB: The band’s last Facebook post seemed kind of vague. Can you tell us anything else about what Odysseus Never Came Back has planned for the future?
ONCB: The band had its final show as Odysseus Never Came Back a few weeks ago. The attendance was very good and it was a great show to remember. After the show, Odysseus Never Came Back does not exist anymore, however, keep in mind what we just said: “the final show AS Odysseus Never Came Back”… If that is not clear enough, I’d suggest stay tuned.
BtB: How will you spend the downtime while all that gets settled?
ONCB: Most band members are also university students and/or working so this is what they will keep on doing while working on what’s yet to come.
BtB: Is there anything else you would like to say to the readers at By the Barricade?
ONCB: Keep supporting your local music and also people and media who go out of their way to do it too, like By the Barricade.
