‘Click Interview’ with The Second Sight: ‘The Big Stars Became More Important Because That Is Where The Money Comes From’
German electro-pop formation The Second Sight got some successful releases in between the late 90s and early 2000 years. Their third full length album “From The Dark Into The Sun” featuring the great title song even became a kind of synth-pop hit. The band decided to split up after this album and got finally reactivated in 2015. Singer Alex Vlassakakis and composer Dierk Budde got back in touch and decided to compose new songs. It all resulted in a new album entitled “In The Grey” released by 7US Music. The album reveals solid electro-pop compositions and an impressive vocals’ production. If you’re into good-old synth-pop music you definitely have to discover this work. I talked about it with the band’s vocalist.
(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)
Q: The Second Sight decided to call it quits after the successful album “From The Dark Into The Sun” (2001). One of the reasons was you experienced the music industry was progressively falling down. What have been the first signals you noticed and how do you look at the situation today?
Alex: Yes you are right, budgets were cut off. No one wanted to invest in ‘New Bands’ so the big stars became more important because that is where the money comes from. It was a difficult time, for all musicians, but that’s the price of modern technology I guess.
Q: Did you remain in touch after the split of the band and what has been the click to get back with a reduced line-up? What have been the main changes and eventually innovations compared to the early years of the band?
Alex: Actually we lost contact. I went to Greece for a couple of years, but -and that’s the good side of social media, I got back in contact with Dierk. He told me he was working on a project with some covers from Depeche Mode. We met, and it felt like we just had seen each other yesterday. He made some great playbacks with original Depeche Mode sounds from the legendary “Emulator”-album. We had a small concert and it felt great being on stage again. So we started sharing ideas for some new songs.
Q: One of the main evolutions today is for sure the importance of social media and streaming platforms, which stands for a different way of listening to music. What do you experiences as the pros and cons of these important evolutions?
Alex: A pro for sure is that, as an independent band, we can much more easily communicate with our listeners than before. The con is that you’re not getting a lot of money from streaming, unless you’re Ed Sheeran (lol).
Q: How did the writing of the album happened? What has been the main focus in the production and where do you place “In The Grey” compared to your early work and albums?
Alex: It was a combination of different ideas from Dierk and myself. So he has a structure for a song and I have an idea how the singing line could sound and so I would say it is like ‘painting a picture’. I think ‘In The Grey’ has some new parts which sound modern and some elements are ‘typically’ The Second Sight sounding.
Q: The album has been preceded by three singles, which I think have been positively received in Germany –even reaching the DAC. But what’s the importance and impact of singles today and getting ranked in the DAC?
Alex: We believe there are different ways to approach our listeners and one of them is Club DJs and therefore the DAC is important to get noticed.
Q: I also noticed a clip has been made for each of the singles, which means 3 new clips! What did you try to express through the clips and is there a possible link with the lyrical content of the songs?
Alex: Yes, that’s what we are trying to visualize, the lyrical ideas. Like in a “Placed Called Home” you see the child who has a safe place, but also the refugee camp. In “Born On The Wrong Side” it’s the tattooed guy, and in the newest clip “History” it’s the same, but you will see soon enough…
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