(KevinP turns in another edition of his new NCS interview series, Get To the Point, and in this installment he talks with Nikos Panagiotopoulos, bass player for the Greek bands Universe217 and Lunatic Medlar.)

K: I was all set with my first question being “hey you had a busy 2014 with the Universe217 Ease EP & Lunatic Medlar’s debut album, Finely Tuned Machine, then I noticed the latter was in 2013. Sooo, I guess, I’ll go with “what are your plans for 2015”?

N: Universe217 will do a 4-way split with some good friends (Agnes vein-Allochiria-Hedvika) and also planning on finishing our next LP (which we have already started recording). And maybe some re-releases from our earlier material.
As for gigs, we are hoping for some European dates. We have almost finished our Greek tour for our EP Ease and our label, Van Records, already booked us for their Acherontic Arts Fest this coming May.

K: The songs for the 4-way split and for the upcoming full-length, can you give us some idea what to expect based on your prior material?

N: It’s more minimal/monolithic and has a colder vibe. We didn’t do it on purpose but I think we have less of that Balkan eastern element of our prior works. We didn’t lose it but you can hear it less. Continue reading »