letters to you / A Rose‘s Diary Interview
Q: Can you talk about musical history and how the project has changed throughout the years? It seems to have mutated in many ways.
Jonathan: The emo era, which flourished in the prime of our youth, no longer exists in its original form. The same is true of the music scene. Although there are always promising rays of hope alongside the old bands from the past, the scene has changed significantly, especially in Germany.
The idea for our EP project came about just a year ago, when we met face to face for the first time in a long time and reminisced about the good old days. We listened to the emo bands of our youth and came up with the idea of making a split EP from a few old songs from back then. The songs aren't new, but we dug them out of the bottom of our drawers and want to use them to remember a time that had a big impact on us.
Toni: 100% agree
Q: What are some of the themes and concepts on your album When emo meant friendship on Myspace era? I think some of that is evident in the title but can you dig a bit deeper.
Jonathan: The songs deal with typical emo themes that were relevant at the time: social misunderstanding, love, heartbreak, and feelings of loneliness. The split EP is a tribute to this period, which had a profound impact on us. Even though the scene no longer exists as it did back then, emo, just like punk, is an attitude to life.
The EP is also proof of our friendship, which was based on our shared love of music. Even after 20 years, we still feel a deep connection to each other because of it.
Toni: It's like a little brother or sister who has grown up alongside you. It's not something you can touch, but it's definitely there. When you think back to that time and everything that has happened in recent years, you'll see that it has always been a part of who you are. It was the best time to feel alive.
Q: Can you talk about your creative process?
Jonathan: As we said, the songs were not re-recorded, but come from our active period back then. They were mastered some time ago by Toni and Daniel Benyamin from Ghost Palace Records in Greece. Since the individual song tracks no longer exist, they could not be mixed individually. This somehow fits in with the emo era back then, when we simply recorded everything quickly and sometimes quite minimalistically and in low quality in order to express our feelings and emotions in the music and made it accessible to the whole world via MySpace.
Toni: The mastering process, which is the final mixing of a recording to prepare it for release, was done at a house on a hill near Thessaloniki. Daniel and I practiced the songs on a nice sunny day. So, the exact opposite of emo, ha ha.
Q: What was the recording process like for the album? It seems like it could have been recorded in multiple places.
Jonathan: The EP consists of three songs from Toni's former band letters to you and three songs from Jonathan's acoustic emo singer-songwriter project A Rose's Diary.
The A Rose's Diary songs were recorded lo-fi in Jonathan's small living room. As soon as he had an idea back then, he had to record it right away and publish it online – he wouldn't do that today, but at the time it was so important and right for him.
Toni: We recorded it in Steve's basement. He was our guitarist and pianist and the most musically talented of us. At the time, he was still playing guitar in an alternative rock band called Sesame. Danny our singer, sang the songs with the lyrics I wrote. Also my job was to play guitar and conduct the songs.
Q: Is there anything you hope people take with them when they listen to your music?
Jonathan: On the one hand, we naturally want people to feel transported back to that time and perhaps feel a little nostalgic. On the other hand, we also hope that the people who listen to the songs will internalize that it's absolutely okay to not be okay sometimes and that there is always hope.
Even though we sang about typical emo topics back then and tried to express them, it was always clear to us that nothing is ever hopeless and that life and our existence have a deeper meaning.
Toni: Remembering the good old days. Maybe it's about feeling accepted and at home. Writing quotes from our songs on the walls.
Q: What other things should we know about the music? Any live shows we should know about?
Jonathan: For us, music was and is a wonderful medium for expressing ourselves. Music often speaks when words fail. Of course, we ourselves have changed over the years, but what has remained is our love of music and people. We are grateful for this phase of our lives, which has shaped us and made us the people we are today. Emo is a matter close to our hearts, and we still live it today. There are no live shows planned, as our projects have not existed for many years. But who knows, maybe the muse will kiss us again someday and we'll pick up our guitars and write new music. But without MySpace, it doesn't feel the same as it used to...
Toni: One Word. NO! We never played a show or a living room concert. I didn't want to. I just wanted to create music with my best friends by my side.
Q: Can you talk about musical history and how the project has changed throughout the years? It seems to have mutated in many ways.
Jonathan: The emo era, which flourished in the prime of our youth, no longer exists in its original form. The same is true of the music scene. Although there are always promising rays of hope alongside the old bands from the past, the scene has changed significantly, especially in Germany.
The idea for our EP project came about just a year ago, when we met face to face for the first time in a long time and reminisced about the good old days. We listened to the emo bands of our youth and came up with the idea of making a split EP from a few old songs from back then. The songs aren't new, but we dug them out of the bottom of our drawers and want to use them to remember a time that had a big impact on us.
Toni: 100% agree
Q: What are some of the themes and concepts on your album When emo meant friendship on Myspace era? I think some of that is evident in the title but can you dig a bit deeper.
Jonathan: The songs deal with typical emo themes that were relevant at the time: social misunderstanding, love, heartbreak, and feelings of loneliness. The split EP is a tribute to this period, which had a profound impact on us. Even though the scene no longer exists as it did back then, emo, just like punk, is an attitude to life.
The EP is also proof of our friendship, which was based on our shared love of music. Even after 20 years, we still feel a deep connection to each other because of it.
Toni: It's like a little brother or sister who has grown up alongside you. It's not something you can touch, but it's definitely there. When you think back to that time and everything that has happened in recent years, you'll see that it has always been a part of who you are. It was the best time to feel alive.
Q: Can you talk about your creative process?
Jonathan: As we said, the songs were not re-recorded, but come from our active period back then. They were mastered some time ago by Toni and Daniel Benyamin from Ghost Palace Records in Greece. Since the individual song tracks no longer exist, they could not be mixed individually. This somehow fits in with the emo era back then, when we simply recorded everything quickly and sometimes quite minimalistically and in low quality in order to express our feelings and emotions in the music and made it accessible to the whole world via MySpace.
Toni: The mastering process, which is the final mixing of a recording to prepare it for release, was done at a house on a hill near Thessaloniki. Daniel and I practiced the songs on a nice sunny day. So, the exact opposite of emo, ha ha.
Q: What was the recording process like for the album? It seems like it could have been recorded in multiple places.
Jonathan: The EP consists of three songs from Toni's former band letters to you and three songs from Jonathan's acoustic emo singer-songwriter project A Rose's Diary.
The A Rose's Diary songs were recorded lo-fi in Jonathan's small living room. As soon as he had an idea back then, he had to record it right away and publish it online – he wouldn't do that today, but at the time it was so important and right for him.
Toni: We recorded it in Steve's basement. He was our guitarist and pianist and the most musically talented of us. At the time, he was still playing guitar in an alternative rock band called Sesame. Danny our singer, sang the songs with the lyrics I wrote. Also my job was to play guitar and conduct the songs.
Q: Is there anything you hope people take with them when they listen to your music?
Jonathan: On the one hand, we naturally want people to feel transported back to that time and perhaps feel a little nostalgic. On the other hand, we also hope that the people who listen to the songs will internalize that it's absolutely okay to not be okay sometimes and that there is always hope.
Even though we sang about typical emo topics back then and tried to express them, it was always clear to us that nothing is ever hopeless and that life and our existence have a deeper meaning.
Toni: Remembering the good old days. Maybe it's about feeling accepted and at home. Writing quotes from our songs on the walls.
Q: What other things should we know about the music? Any live shows we should know about?
Jonathan: For us, music was and is a wonderful medium for expressing ourselves. Music often speaks when words fail. Of course, we ourselves have changed over the years, but what has remained is our love of music and people. We are grateful for this phase of our lives, which has shaped us and made us the people we are today. Emo is a matter close to our hearts, and we still live it today. There are no live shows planned, as our projects have not existed for many years. But who knows, maybe the muse will kiss us again someday and we'll pick up our guitars and write new music. But without MySpace, it doesn't feel the same as it used to...
Toni: One Word. NO! We never played a show or a living room concert. I didn't want to. I just wanted to create music with my best friends by my side.