By Jasper the Groom
We got to know the Berlin Brides by mere accident from a Facebook message which eventually curtailed to knowing their music and knowing the band better as these minstrels of raw woman power punches its fans in the face with their music mixbag of electro pop, riot girl, punk and rock!
Despite their name, they’re actually from Athens, Greece with Natasha Giannaraki, lyricist and lead singer, and Marilena Orfanou, composer and keyboardist and they have a huge following not only in their hometown, but online as well and I really can’t blame them for amassing that much of a fanbase if you took a listen to their music.
Even though I’m not a fan of making comparisons of how they relate to other established and iconic acts that are out there, I really couldn’t shake the tail feather of them sounding so similar to the likes of Le Tigre, Stereo Total, and any Riot Girl acts which is what I wrote on their “Discover This” entry.
So with that, we got to talk to our good e-friend Natasha, lead singer of the Berlin Brides about how they got their start and how super awesome their debut album was when we reviewed it to high acclaim!
Hey Natasha thanks for doing this interview with Nerdy Frames here in Sunny New Zealand. So when did it all begin with the Berlin Brides, what was the pivotal moment that you wanted to start up a band?
I’ve been involved in the Athenian music scene on and off since 1998, doing vocals mostly, but my main focus up until then was in the visual arts field. I started writing lyrics in 2006 and felt I should do something with them, then had a couple of futile collaborations, trying to make them into songs.
On the summer of 2007 I met Marilena Orfanou at a band rehearsal with some common friends, one of whom, wanted to form a band. The chemistry was evident: My lyrics instantly clicked with Marilena’s music, so we met the following September and realized we wanted to do the same thing: an electro girl band. We had a few songs ready after only a couple of rehearsals. We recorded our first demo, made a profile on MySpace and that was it!
Who’s in the band Natasha because I know that its you on vocals and Marilena on Keys?
We’re the lyricist and composer, started off as a duo and can still play as one if we choose to. But we wanted to expand our sound so we’ve been playing with a drummer for a while: our first drummer was Elena Ioannou, a blonde bombshell that gave up the rock’n’roll circus to work with the Médecins Sans Frontières.
Manolis Papadopoulos has been our drummer for the past year and we’re now going to play in Toronto with Vangelis Mousikas, who has played with before. Zisis Andriopoulos and Katrin The Thrill have played guitar for us on several gigs.
Where did the name Berlin Brides come from? Because you’re actually a band from Athens, Greece, I mean have you guys been to Berlin?
Yeah, we have both been to Berlin and I was was just back from there on the summer of ‘07 when we met, so we chatted about the city’s music scene and how we liked it. The inspiration came from an idea I had while there, to make a short film or a performance with a bunch of girls dressed up as brides, who would get off a plane and out on the streets of Berlin and would erotically “assault” handsome strangers.
So Athens, Greece huh…tell us about their music scene and besides your lovely asses who else in your hometown are doing it for you that we should look out for?
Many people: a new band called ‘Keep Shelly in Athens’ is getting attention from international blogs with their balearic downtempo grooves, so you might want to check them out. Some of my personal favourites: a young guy called ‘flight36-B’ who makes quirky lo-fi pop, a cool rock chick called ‘Katrin The Thrill’ who just released her first EP and sometimes plays guitar with us, The Callas, musical venture of fine artist duo Ionas brothers, a weird dude called ‘Big Fat Lips’… And much more, there’s also an interesting experimental scene if you’re into that. Check out impro duo ‘Acte Vide’.
How would you describe the sound which is the Berlin Brides, because when I wrote your ‘Discover This’ page I pointed out that it had hints of Riot Girl, Chicks on Speed and Stereo Total.
You were spot on: my vocals and lyrics often delve into riot girl territory, ‘Bikini Wax’ being an unofficial tribute to the band Bikini Kill and ‘Failure to Wank’ an ode to unsuccessful masturbation. Like Chicks on Speed, we don’t play guitars and we have a soft spot for eurotrash and two-finger keyboard buggery.
As for Stereo Total, I’ve been lucky enough to share fun times with them: their sense of humor, knack for melody and love of the 60s are a great inspiration. One time they played in Athens they invited me onstage to sing “Amour a Trois”. On our press releases we claim to play a mix of electro, punk & power pop and have occasionally been “accused” of being europop kitsch. Brian Banks from Music Vice Canada said we’re “the processed cheese in his Kraftwerk dinner!”
Not to be pokey or nosey here but what sounds do you incorporate into the Berlin Brides when it comes to composing? I remarked in my review of your album that you used an 808 Cowbell in ‘Princess in Distress.’
Spot on again. We like our retro sounds and kitch stuff like the 808 Cowbell. I will let Marilena elaborate on this one: “I create sounds from Roland Juno G, Nord Lead 2 and Micro Korg plus Moog basses, rubber bass, distorded hammonds and bright synths”.
How do you come up with the concepts and ideas for the songs? Where is the base genesis of these come from? 
The lyrics I write are a lot about dealing with with the small hang-ups of life such as sexual confusion and frustration with a sense of humor. I was tired of wimpy songs full of self-pity that greek musicians specialize in. They come to me when I least expect it: while driving in my car, at a lecture, in my sleep, so I keep a notepad handy. And sometimes while we jam in the studio with Marilena.
Who or what inspires/influences personally and what albums/acts/bands/etc did you listen to back in the day?
My influences come from a wider field than music: visual/performance artists such as Miranda July and Pipilotti Rist, offbeat indie films by Andrew Bujalski, Zelner Brothers and (more famous) Wes Anderson. Musical influences I share with Marilena are Peaches and PJ Harvey. Back in the day I listened to a lot of Sonic Youth, Jesus and Mary Chain, Pixies, shoegaze British bands such as Ride and Madchester bands such as Charlatans, Happy Mondays and Stone Roses.
Where in the world has The Berlin Brides been traveling and what gigs were your most memorable to date?
So far, just UK (London and Essex) and Canada. We have been invited to play in Los Angeles, Bordeaux and Oslo but had no money to travel at the time. We love playing abroad, so we’ll jump at any opportunity to do so! And I think it’s about time we played in Berlin!
Lets about your fantastic debut Modern Celibacy, first off why the title of Modern Celibacy and how long did it take to make?
The collection of songs falls into the wider theme of contemporary bachelorhood. I kept writing more of them until this connecting thread became apparent. ‘Modern Celibacy’ was the title of one song that we composed a year into the existence of the band and seemed like an appropriate title for the whole album.
It took a long time to make: the songs were pretty much ready in the spring of 2009, but we toured a lot that year, so we recorded that summer, which was a good thing, as we had found our sound while playing all those gigs. Then the production took about a year, which had made me very impatient at the time, but, on the upside, during that time we were picked up by indie label Inner Ear, that loved our sound and were cool enough to release our first single on clear 7” vinyl and our album on 12” album, as well as CD.
Are there any tracks on there that you would recommend for our readers to check out? I’m feeling some new ones excluded from the review including ‘Été Athénien’ which you sing in Greek I believe…..in fact you should do more songs in Greek more often.
‘Été Athénien’ is French for ‘Athenian Summer’ and is sung half in french and half in english. There are unofficial versions of some of our songs in Greek too. Being European, we are exposed to many languages and cultures, which we incorporate into our music.
What are on the cards for the Berlin Brides in the near future or this year? Ever thought about coming to either Australia or New Zealand (please consider)?
Oh, we would LOVE to! Please invite us when it’s winter here and summer there! For the time being, our immediate plans are to go to Canada for CMW this coming week: it’s the biggest musical convention in the country and we have friends in Toronto that we met during Indie Week in October, so it should be fun! Then we have some shows booked here in Greece and are waiting to hear from some European festivals in the spring.
Would you like to end our interview with some wise words or sage advice Berlin Brides?
“Hit and Run”!
And with that we thank you.
http://berlinbrides.com/
http://www.myspace.com/berlinbrides
http://www.facebook.com/berlinbrides
http://www.twitter.com/berlinbrides
http://www.youtube.com/berlinbrides
