DOL AMMAD / DOL THEETA – Interview with Thanasis Lightbridge

Thanasis Lightbridge is very talented composer. He with friends' help created great work… This is risky connection of powerful elements closed in two projects – DOL AMMAD and DOL THEETA. This is a pact among Metal Music and Opera, Electronic Music and music New Age.

Hello Thanasis! Tell us about your vision called “Electronica Art Metal” in shortcut?

Hello my friends! This so called “vision” is a certain tag that I have given to my music in order to describe my dream of unifying my favorite genres of music into one. I love electronics, metal and operatic music and I wanted to create a new kind of sound, a hybrid of music. My vision is that there will be 3 projects of “Electronica Art Metal”. We have already started with Dol Ammad and Dol Theeta and there is one more for the future.

Keeping in my hands the album “Ocean Dynamics” of DOL AMMAD I sensed that it will be something exceptional, because the photo of the band gave me many to thinking… The five musicians with fourteen-person choir!!!… This looks very impressive… Is the choir regular

part of the band?

Yes the choir is a basic part of the sound of Dol Ammad and will always be the main “singer” in this project. In “Star Tales” the choir was 12 members but in “Ocean Dynamics” we went far and included 2 more members resulting in a 19-member band 😛 I think in the future however I will seek a more compact group of choristers, maybe again 3 in each voice like in “Star Tales”.

The rest of musicians of DOL AMMAD was related with different bands e.g. ROYAL HUNT, SILENT FORCE, ANGRA, AVANTASIA, RHAPSODY or BLIND GUARDIAN. You found experienced team…

Oh yes drummer Alex Holzwarth and guest singer DC Cooper were both extremely experienced and talented musicians with a great background in many bands. It is really important to have the best team around you in everything you try to achieve. The rest of the musicians and the choir were also amazing musicians.

What is the work with such persons' quantity? You meet yourselves on rehearsals with the whole of line-up?

It is really hard to meet at the same time with all these people for rehearsals. Most of the time we rehearse each voice separately. In groups of 3 or 4 people. A production like Dol Ammad requires a lot of patience and organizational skills. I remember times during the creation of “Ocean Dynamics” that I would just collapse or be depressed by the daunting work that I had in front of

me… Thankfully the music kept me going and made me stand up strong to the challenge. You learn a lot each time, I now look forward to apply my experience from the 2 albums into the next Dol Ammad journey!

You are the composer of the whole of material. In the music of DOL AMMAD I felt the fascinations of Metal as well as New Age's music, Opera or Electronic music. Am I right ?

Yes, you are right. I am the composer of the music and there are lots of elements of New Age music which I love. Especially in “Ocean Dynamics” I think I have achieved a great unification of New Age with Metal music.

Oh yeah… THERION – this was my first metal association…

Of course Therion immediately come to anyone’s mind especially due to the choir in Dol Ammad. I admire them a lot and I am a big fan also.

ENIGMA, LESIEM and JEAN MICHEL JARRE – these were my next associations…

I love Enigma and Lesiem although Michel Cretu has many years to create something that would impress me. Jean Michel Jarre holds a special place in my heart, he is the reason I am involved with music and technology and he is an enormously inspirational artist to me. I am following him from my very early age and I hope someday I could meet him and maybe have a little music chat.

And what are your others inspirations (besides of a music)?

I am inspired by all forms of art like the movies, books etc but also from everyday situations, people reactions with each other etc. It’s amazingly surreal what everyday objects and movements hold for you if you if you have an open mind and free up your imagination…

The music from “Ocean Dynamics” is very majestic, full of pathos, spatial depth and rich arrangements. What are lyrics for such sublime music?

The lyrics of “Ocean Dynamics” have an aquatic theme and are all tales from the deep oceans and the abyss. The “Thalassa Dominion” songs are a conceptual short story of an alien underwater civilization that face extinction and call out to their forefathers for help. The rest of the songs are sci-fi space stories that we came up with.

Who writes texts?

In “Ocean Dynamics” I shared the lyrics writing with a good friend George Harisopoulos who wrote the short story “Thalassa Dominion”

Can you compare previous albums of DOL AMMAD to “Ocean Dynamics”?

Musically “Ocean Dynamics” is a bit more mature and serene than “Star Tales”. I think “Star Tales” has faster songs and a party-like atmosphere. It is a bit like shouting “hey! Listen to this!” it has tons of sounds and endless melodies. “Ocean Dynamics” is more direct and focused in a way. Production wise I think we did an excellent job in “Ocean Dynamics” with a perfect balance of all the elements. I especially like the choir sound in this album. However “Star Tales” has a kind of “Wall of Sound!” production which is also unique in the music world. I think the albums are very different to each other and I absolutely love them both!

Do you play concerts?

I am afraid not. It is a very challenging matter to organize concerts with such a project. It requires a lot of time and money that I don’t have. Of course something low-budget would be easier possible but personally I don’t like low-budget stuff…

Is your band well-known in Greece?

Well I don’t walk down the streets spreading autographs but I think that most open minded metal heads are at least aware of our existence.

You lead the project DOL THEETA simultaneously. Say something about the project…

Ah yes, Dol Theeta is the second project of the “Electronica Art Metal” experiment. It is a more

atmospheric and intellectual project than Dol Ammad. Apart from me in the keyboards and drums it includes soprano Kortessa and guitarist Dim also members in Dol Ammad.

What is the newest album of DOL THEETA “The Universe Expands”?

We started the discography of Dol Theeta with a single/mini CD entitled “Goddess” released in August 2008 and we have just released the full debut album “The Universe Expands” in the 25th of December 2008. I believe it is a very “deep” album with melodies and feelings that can make you dive inside your inner cosmos if you listen too carefully!

Can you unroll the origin of the names of the projects – DOL AMMAD and DOL THEETA?

The name “Dol Ammad” is taken from a video game named “Descent 3” by Outrage/Interplay/Tantrum and in that game it is the name of a fuel refinery station in planet Europa. Etymologically the word “Dol” could be derived either from Tolkien's world where it means “castle” (remember Dol Amroth) or the latin word “dolor” which means pain. (“dol” also used to be a measurement unit

for pain). As for the word “Ammad” it seems that it is a Palestinian name meaning “pillar/column”. So Dol Ammad could be the “Castle of Columns” or the “Columns of Pain” ?! “Theeta” is a mutation of the word “Theta” which is the eight letter of the Greek alphabet. It is the first letter in my name and also my birth city Thessaloniki in Greece. This letter and its symbol have amazing history behind it.

The cover-arts for releases of the projects are full of colours, with mystical and cosmic tinge. On the two cover-arts of DOL THEETA is visible a woman's figure with wings… Who is an originator and a creator of the cover-arts?

I am deeply honored to have the amazing works of artist Werner Hornung as the visual element of my music in Dol Theeta. He is also a great personality and all his works are totally stunning…

I saw the video clip of DOL THEETA to track of “Goddess”… I think the idea was good – the majority of conceptions was create by help of computer effects. The present computer's technics make easy many things… Is this your only video-clip?

Yes “Goddess” is our first ever video clip and was created by my good friend Harry Kalogirou a genious developer and programmer. He mainly used the open source software “Blender” for the whole video, blending the real footage with great 3d imagery and textures. I think he did an amazing job as a first video!

Who are responsible to promotion of the projects? You offer cd's, mp3, posters, post cards and t-shirts…

We have formed a personal label named “electronicARTmetal Records” that releases and promotes our music and merchandise. We try to offer the best possible quality in the packaging of our releases and also in the various merchandise items that help support the projects.

The Greek Metal Scene is very intense. But are bands with similar music of your projects?

Truly there are lots of metal bands in Greece. However, I am not aware of a project similar to Dol Ammad or Dol Theeta both in Greece and worldwide.

The recent conflicts in Athens shocked whole Europe. We watched the conflict from safe distance thanks to medias. What do you felt this conflict?

Yes we lived some crazy days here in Thessaloniki also. What started as an outrage for a policeman’s murder of a teen boy ended in total anarchy and chaos in the streets. The media are still trying to find explanations for the event. In fact everyone is trying to explain the conflicts they way the see fit for their personal cause. What I feel is that there is justifiably a lot of rage in Greek youth

today because of the way things are in our country. Nothing is as it should be. You have to fight every day even for the simplest of things. The mafia of the government and most of the political parties have led the country to amazingly low salaries and extremely high prices in everyday necessities. I think we maybe have the most expensive products and the lowest salaries in Europe

right now… It’s absurd. Also education is so neglected and corrupt, it’s really depressing to think what the future will be if things stay as they are here today…

What plans do you foresee for your projects?

Right now I have to focus for the next Dol Ammad CDs. We will firstly release an EP with an extra song we did with DC Cooper when he was here in Greece and some bonus material. Then it is heads down for the third Dol Ammad album which will be a total killer! After that my plans are to release the third “Dol” project which will be more on the extreme metal side. But more on that later….

The thanks for devotion of time for the interview. The end of interview belongs to you…

Thank you very much for your support and interest in my music. It’s been an honor. All the best for the new year to you and your readers. May it be a year full of joy, love and endless amazing music!

www.thanasislightbridge.com