Click Interview with Last Days Of S.E.X.: ‘It Is Really Bad That In The End Of The Day An Algorithm Decides If Your Music Deserves Visibility’
Last Days Of S.E.X. is a Greek solo-project driven by sound terrorist Manos Chrisovergis. He this year released his fifth full length album to date. All albums were released by Hands. The album holds on the early Rhythmic-Noise influences but became more Techno/Electro orientated. It however remains a true sonic bomb; merciless Noise loops carried by banging rhythms. “Overstimulation” is an album whereon the artist deals with very personal issues he explains in this interview.
(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)
Q: Manos, how do you see yourself as a musician/producer and what does your main project Last Days Of S.E.X. stands for?
Manos: Last Days Of S.E.X. started during 2007 when I broke up with my then girlfriend. I started composing music during the last days we had sex, so I named the project after that. As musician I believe that if you want to have the full experience of my music you should come to a live performance.
Q: Rhythmic-Noise has been always the key and main influence to your work although you’re still experimenting with other influences as well. How do you see the evolution in sound and production from the early works (cf. “First S.E.X.ual Experience” and “Great Irony And The Politically S.E.X.plosive”) towards the other albums?
Manos: My first albums were totally into Rhythmic-Noise, where all the channels were thrown through a distortion and a eq effect. The noises were created through distorted drum samples and loops. My latest albums are going more into a Noise-Techno direction while at the same time I noise and more sounds layers. In both of my styles I try to keep a harsh groove vibe.
Q: What’s your way of working and producing songs? What are the different stages you’d to go through to achieve an album and more especially the newest one “Overstimulation”?
Manos: I mix equipment such as noise synths, feedback, drum machines and pedals with software. I wanted my last two albums to be suitable for dance. I try to use rhythms that I imagine playing when I DJ in order to make my body move. But when I perform live the things are different cause I also add more noise, scream at the microphone, move a lot, try to connect to the crowd and spread energy.
Q: What is “Overstimulation” all about? What did you try to express and is there a particular meaning behind the title of the album and the different tracks?
Manos: My first albums had political references in general and my last ones are mostly inspired by thoughts and situations inspired from everyday life (also political but in a different way). As a person I have ADHD and “Overstimulation” , “Dopamine Low”, “Neurodivergent” are titles that refer to ADHD 🙂
Q: What’s your perception of the (Industrial) music scene today especially considering aspects such as increasing CD sales versus streaming, social media, labels closing their doors etc? How do you expect things evolving?
Manos: Well, there won’t be any new music genres like we use to have in the past (Power-Noise, Harsh-Noise, Rhythm-Industrial, etc) but we have many great bands which blend different styles and keep our ears interested. There are more live performances of smaller projects compared to early 2000s cause we have compact and mobile equipment and the air tickets are cheaper (don’t know for how long).
Tapes, vinyls and t-shirts sell better than CDs and mp3s but people still support artists by buying. We all download a lot but at the same time we go to concerts and buy music. As we grow older we are more selective about what we listen to and invest our money at. Being a musician in our days means that you have to spend half of your time composing and the other half to social media promotion which is exhausting… It is really bad that in the end of the day an algorithm decides if your music deserves visibility.
Q: Back in the past you’ve been also involve with other projects like Libido Formandi and To Travel Without Any Certain Destination. Do you’ve plans to reactivate these projects and how do you look back at these projects and productions? What are the further plans for the coming months?
Manos: I’ve taken part in many projects (I think more than 15), from Jazz and Noise to Punk and Black-Metal. Some of them are personal, some in a group form (and of course other people’s bands), I don’t even use my name in most of them cause I love being a ‘ghost’ musician. I have also composed music for documentaries and films. I may reactivate Libido Formandi only if I live again in the same city with my friend Hydrone (the other half of the group). About TTWACD I have a dark Jazz/Ambient album finished but I am not happy with the song titles. My favorite projects that I take part besides my personal Last Days Of S.E.X. are Solar Anus (Harsh-Noise group), Black Spring (Industrial group) and Current 23 (a ritualistic Dark-Ambient group).
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