Who are The Finger ?
We are Lia Siouti (vocals), Sotiris Noukas (guitar), Sakis Azas (guitar), Andy Haralanis (bass), and Nick Ditsias (drums) and we come from Thessaloniki, Greece. We are five people who love to play and we dream about getting our music out there! At this point we would like to say that The Finger doesn’t necessarily mean the middle finger. It could be a thumbs up! But it could be the middle one too. It depends.
Everyone is very aware of the political issues surrounding your country. Can you give us an idea what’s currently happening within the Greek music scene?
This is actually a very serious matter to us, since it’s affecting us a lot. There are several great bands in Greece, but with the political and economic crisis, record companies are shutting down, record stores are shutting down, many stages too have closed. The few stages that are left open, pay a little or sometimes they don’t pay at all!
When you get in such serious economic troubles, you’ve got to see the positive side of things. In situations like the one we’re facing here, in Greece, people tend to be resourceful and find new ways to get their music to the right ears. Some, like us in this case, get influenced and inspired in an unfortunate way. This is getting so much under our skin, that we can’t help but putting it in our songs.
Your track “Die! Die! Superhero” was released last summer as an early taster off your new album, I Don’t Believe My Eyes, can you tell us a bit about the song?
“Die! Die Superhero!” was completed in three days, actually. We wrote it while Greeks were all over the streets demonstrating about the crisis. We were so angry about everything that was (and still is) going on—you can hear a sense of anger in the song. We recorded it in a few days and released it immediately. At that time, we weren’t actually even an official band yet. We were only three members and after seeing that the single was embraced by many people, we took it more seriously!
You are very active across a number of social network sites. Is it now essential for a band to be fully engaged in this area or do you see it as a distraction?
No, no distraction at all! I strongly believe that musicians should have a more personal relationship with their fans, not just “hey, buy my CD,” “come see my show,” etc. We love talking to everyone on all platforms and we always take the time to reply to everyone personally. And we don’t do it because we have to, we do it because we love it. It is so interesting talking to people from every corner of the earth and discussing music with them.
Who would you say has influenced the sound of your music the most?
It’s not a band or an artist in particular. We love bands like The Cure, Pink Floyd, and Muse, but it’s not just them. Since we’re five members in the band, it’s too difficult to sustain so many influences or use some of them, so we try to keep it to what sounds good in the songs and not what reminds us of a band we love.
What are your hopes for the band in 2012?
More shows! Hopefully out of the borders of Greece! Maybe write a second album! A video clip! Many, many hopes and goals to achieve. Reaching a wider audience!
Sum the band up in 6 words?
New… Old… Rock… Dreams… Love… Death
