June 01, 2002 - Text: Sequential-X

1. How many people are involved with Devic Craft Cordings ?

Devic Craft is the brainchild of Haris P, Nikos C and myself Nikos S.

The last few years have seen a number of Greek "psy" labels emerging, releasing either full-on, progressive or techno music. Without really knowing the managers and owners of these labels I believe that they all decided to release the style of music they find interesting and in this same manner we decided to create a label promoting and releasing the styles we like. Of course we know that the audience for this kind of music is not so broad, both in Greece and the rest of the world but this is not really something that would affect our decision on what to release.

3. What is the broader vision behind setting up a trance label (especially in Greece) ?

Releasing good music (especially at a time when most music available today on record stores is boring and repetitive) is our goal and the force that started us going. We are, all three, music lovers since we can remember and always wanted to be more active in this field. When buying music we liked became harder and harder we felt the need to release CDs in the way we like so that other people, with whom we share common taste, will benefit as well. There are only a few labels all around the world releasing this different-psy we like and certainly there is room for more. There is very good music around us but few labels are interested so it remains unreleased.

4. Devic Craft Cordings is a very weird name how does that came out ?

When we decided to start the label we wanted to find a name which would describe the essence of psychedelic music, or at least it's meaning to us. Well in my opinion psychedelic music is strongly related to nature and the forces therein. Devas are the spirits of nature, deities which give the living energy to all things around us. The Devic Craft is the magical creation of the devas, in this case psychedelic music. Cordings are energy lines which connect all living things together and through which life force, positive and negative, is transferred (and of course there's a small word game with re-cordings). So Devic Craft Cordings means the connection through psychedelic music of people (the listener) and nature (psychedelia).

Well I hope that people get the message we try to send, music appreciation is not blind devotion to a certain style but the ability to keep yourself open to many different things.

We are sure there is a great number of Greeks interested in more experimental sounds, probably more than in many other European countries. We hope these people will help and buy a CD but reality has shown us that unfortunately in this country most people copy music from friends and do not buy. Record stores are closing down and sales are very low. I don't want to sound negative so I will just pretend that the reason for this is that no good music is sold in the psy record stores in Greece (how long since you last saw a psy-harmonics CD in a self ??) and that hopefully this will change soon... To conclude I think we should concentrate on the international market and try to get our CD in as many different places as we can...

We will continue releasing music we find interesting whether from Greek producers or international acts. We are very happy to see that there are a number of Greek artists producing excellent music and certainly in the near future we will release more of their work. The good thing about working with Greek artists is the personal relationship you have with people you actually meet, go out with or chill, a lot more direct than communicating with international artists through e-mail or telephone. Apart from that we
really want to see an expansion in the Greek scene because the picture we've shown to the rest of the world all these last years is not really indicative of what Greeks have to offer.

I couldn't say who influenced the psychedelic trance scene to become what it is today - I wish I had someone to blame !! To be more serious I think bands like prana, the psy-harmonics crew, the infinity project, youth, certainly influenced me and so did to many other people all around the world. Even before that, industrial bands like Front Line Assembly, Front 242 played a big part on what was to follow...

Keep your ears open, forget all you've learned, be careful not to fall back and miss the flow !

Devic Craft Corndings - "Clauraudience" Chaishop Review by Sequential-X