From Zero to Hero

Formed in 2010, F02H have been gruadually gaining more and more ground in the underground music scene of Greece. After working hard in the studio F02H produced their first ever EP which was released at 8th March 2011.

After that, a few live-shows in Athens and Patras were enough to promote the EP. Now they are saving inner strength for the recordings of their first official album which is being expected to be released in winter 2011. The band’s drummer Ilias Iliopoulos recently conducted an interview with Sub-eXistance expressing the band’s HEROic ambitions!’

-Hello Ilias  and thank you for the interview. First of all introduce your band to the readers of our webzine. Who are ‘From Zero to Hero’?

Hello Lefteris and thank you for the interview, “From Zero to hero” is a band consisting of five members. Jordan being the vocalist, Bill the guitar player, Nikos who is a guitar player and also shares some clean and backing vocals, Neo on the bass guitar, and finally myself on the drums.

-In your music you blend many elements of different genres of music, such as precise drumwork, full-on blastbeat usage combined with breakdowns and melodic choruses. What are your main influences as a band?

We are influenced by many genres of metal and we consider every type of music to be influential. We do not confine ourselves in one style, instead we learn from and appreciate all artists who contribute to further create our own unique band. Of course we are inspired by metal-core/death-metal legends such as “As I lay dying”, “Killswitch Engage”, ”August Burns Red”, “Death”, and many others.

-You are a fairly new band but you have already released a four-track EP which has gained quite an amount of positive reviews, tell us about the procedure of the recordings, was it challenging for you as one may assume that you are not that experience in the field of recording?

We first began with the typical recording of drums, then the bass, guitar, then vocals. It was a fairly new experience for us to come to such a professional level in the music industry. Being tough, we did all we could to demonstrate our passion, love for music, and skill. Using our know-how we have attempted to give our all and continue learning on this road where complete knowledge can never fully be reached. Our EP is only the first step but nevertheless the stepping stone of our future in this competitive and as some might say over-saturated industry.

-Was it received well by the fans?

We are extremely appreciative of our fan-base which supports us and fuels our drive to continue what we’ve started. Their positive energy simply drives us forward and we thank them from the bottom of  our hearts.

-Is there any new music in the works? Compared to the EP do you feel your sound has progressed?

We are brewing something, yes. We have written numerous songs and already recorded a new track which we will soon make a video-clip for. Our recent tracks lean more towards death-metal and give off a more heavy hitting sound compared to our previous works.

-Was it a conscious desicion to record your music all by yourselves or its just a natural result judging from the situation here in Greece? What’s your generall opinion on the underground music scene of the country?

Our EP was recorded in ‘Wudsound’ studio here in Athens. But, taking into account that here in Greece exist but a handful of recording studios that offer their services at a hefty price, we decided to further take matters into our own hands and record our new track ‘She Rules The Night’ on our own . Recording by ourselves has also taught us the process of music making and for the time being we prefer being economical and in total control. The underground scene in many Greek cities is kept on the low, however it has its faithful followers. Hopefully, sometime soon, this genre of music makes it to the mainstream level and gains more credibility.

-Tell us a little bit about the new song 'She Rules the Night' that you mentioned above, how was the whole process?

Well It’s a very catchy song with lots of groove and breakdowns, very different from the other songs that we wrote. “She Rules the Night” will be a melodic break between the other heavy hitting songs . I must admit that it’s mainstream as hell but we love it! And please don’t judge the title… it’s not a love song (laughs)!!!

-In 2006, Killswitch Engage frontman Howard Jones stated in an interview that metalcore is a genre on it's way out. Many metal bands followed supporting this opinion. What are your thoughts on this statement, do you believe this kind of music still has thing to offer?

As I previously mentioned, the metal-core  fan-base is vast but not as large as artists such as myself would want it be. The typical metal-core genre is on its way out, yes, but that is why it needs some sprucing and shaking up to reinvent itself. We believe that we have the ability to offer something new and fresh to the ears of the intrigued listeners.

-What about live shows?  You are still on the up and up so live performances should be your main priority right now and as far as I know you are doing just fine!

Yes thank you! We have faith in our music and are propelling it forward quite nicely! We have given several live performances in Athens and in Patra. We see plenty of other cities in our future plans, such as Thessalonika, Agrinio, Larisa, etc. Later on we plan on moving outwards in Europe and performing wherever it may be possible. Our wish is to diffuse ourselves internationally (laughs).

-Well, I really hope you make it out someday! Lastly, what’s store for ‘From Zero to Hero’ for the rest of the year and what’s your plans for your future as a band in generall?

In the near future we hope to get signed with a recognized record label to open more doors and find new opportunities. The possibilities are endless and we are nothing short of excited for what’s in store for us as a band.

-Thank you very much for the interview, it was a blast! Anything else you’d like to add to the readers of Sub-eXistance? The closing is yours!

No, thank youLefteris, the pleasure was all mine. I would like to close up this interview by advising the readers of Sub-eXistance to listen to all sorts of music, not to restrict themselves or criticize whatever may appear different because different is only a sign of progress!

-From Zer0 To Hero’s EP "Scene of a crime" is now available at the following link:

 fromzerotoheroofficial@hotmail.gr

Lefteris K.