Its our pleasure and honor to host at the metalwar.gr the creator, composer and guitarist of Valiant Sentinel, Dimitris Skodras.
– Welcome Dimitris, we are glad to have you with us and thank you for sharing part of your time.
D.S: Welcome. I am glad and thank you for honoring me with this interview.
– How did the name Valiant Sentinel came up, what does it mean to you?
D.S: I was looking for a name that would sound good but would also have an epic connotation since the music and especially the themes of my lyrics are clearly in an epic / medieval fantasy style, hence the name. For me, this name represents the mental strength to endure against adverse conditions and to protect (guard) your dreams and ambitions as a person from those who want to destroy them.
– How did you get the idea to create Valiant Sentinel and how did you decide to move on to a One man band?
D.S: Valiant Sentinel was a project I dreamed of starting in high school. Of course I hadn’t thought of that name at the time, but I wanted to release a power metal record someday. It seemed impossible to me because I had neither the means nor the knowledge. So when after a long time I started composing on a frequent basis and becoming good on guitar, I thought, “Why not try? Since I always wanted it” and thus began the process of creating the first album. Initially, all I wanted was for my album to come out and fulfill my teenage dream. I wasn’t thinking about anything else. The main reason was that there was a specific vision of how I want the album to be, so I didn’t let anyone else get involved in the composition. However, I do not consider me a one man band, since on the first album others sing who even put their own touch on the interpretation of my music.
– When did you start playing music? What made you want to be a musician?
D.S: I have been involved with music since I was a child since I took piano lessons when I was 10 years old. The first time I composed a melody was after watching the movie “The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring” which changed my life. I first picked up guitar when I was 18 because I was a huge fan of James Hetfield and initially all I wanted was to learn to play like him.
– We are talking about Heavy/Power metal with epic elements, where do you get your inspiration from, either in composition or lyrically?
D.S: Musically I draw my inspiration from classical bands like Iron Maiden & Judas Priest but also power metal titans like Blind Guardian and Rhapsody (of fire). Lyrically I am mostly inspired by books, movies, series and video games that have to do with medieval fantasy but not only. Sometimes I am even inspired by my personal experiences.
– What is the message you want to convey through your music to the audience?
D.S: The message I want to convey to the audience is that music is a great support and not to give up and chase what they want in life. This is the meaning behind lyrics like “we are just men with mortal soul but we shall claim and have it all”.
– You completely create the composition and lyrics on the difficult path called one man band. What are the main elements that a musician must have in order to carry out such a task?
D.S: As I said before, I don’t consider us a one man band. Especially now. However, I would say that you should have a vision, that’s it, you should already have in mind a draft of what you want the style of the album to be, how you want the album to be compositional, to be able to play more than one instrument, patience, perseverance and of course to have the financial ability to pay for the recordings and the production of the album.
– Towards the end of 2021 the amazing debut album Valiant Sentinel was released. Tell us how did you feel with its release after so much hard work and what did you receive from the world?
D.S.: Thank you for your kind words and I’m glad you liked it. I felt like a lifelong dream was fulfilled exactly the way I wanted it to be which made the experience even more unique. I won’t lie. I didn’t have any demands or high expectations from the first album. However, there were some people from different countries around the world who supported me and bought the album and I thank them very much for that.
-After the release of the album Valiant Sentinel are there any points that you have pointed out, not necessarily to correct, in order to make a next release more painless?
DS: Yes , I had kept some notes but I think they were not useful since the second album had some different requirements from the first one which ended up changing a big part of the recording process.
-Will a new album be released soon? And if so, what can we expect from the new album? Will the amazing Rob Lundgren be on vocals?
D.S.: Yes. We are working on our second album with plans to release it in the summer of 2024. On vocals will be an amazing singer named Veandok , on bass Panos Manikas,on guitars and keyboards me and on drums Frederik Ehmke of Blind Guardian. Of course lyrics and music are written by me again.
-In two tracks of the album in “Forelorn” and “King in the north” we had the participation with two very “heavy” names of the metal scene, Fabio Lione (ex-Angra) and Tim “Ripper” Owens (ex-Judas Priest, ex-Iced Earth, Spirit of Fire, KK’s Priest) respectively. How did these two collaborations come about?
D.S.: A guitar teacher I once had happened to have Tim Owens’ e-mail and gave it to me to send him the song. As for Fabio , I just sent him the track on Facebook. They both agreed to sing so I was able to do those collaborations as well.
-We ‘ve been informed of the good news about Valiant Sentinel’s participation in a live performance and specifically at Metal Union Festival -Agrinio on August 31st, 2024. Would you like to tell us about it? How did it come about?
D.S.: Yes we will have the honor to share the stage with Burning Skulls,The Silent Wedding,the legend of Greek metal , Sakis Tolis and the unique Villagers of Ioannina city. I personally know all the guys from the Metal Union club and when I proposed them to play at the festival they accepted. This will be the first show of the band with the new line-up in Agrinio and it will be twice more special for me because it is the city I grew up in.
– Which musicians make up the line-up of the band at Live, are they regulars and if you want to tell us how the collaborations came about?
D.S.: As far as the live , on lead guitar is me. On rhythm guitar is Petros Nks , on vocals will be Veandok , on bass is Panos Manikas and on drums is Stelios Pepinidis. As for the permanent members it’s me,Panos Manikas and Petros Nks. Also after an excellent collaboration with Veandok for the second album , there are plans for him to sing in the next album of the band. Most of the acquaintances were made through the producer of our second album , George Nerantzis while Panos Manikas was a member of the band before.
– Photo from Valiant Sentinel’s Facebook Page –
-You re about to have more Live performances this year besides Metal Union Festival -Agrinio?
D.S.: Yes. I am very happy to announce that Valiant Sentinel will play live for the first time at An Club , on June 2nd along with Shinigami,Graywitch & Wildfire. We look forward to seeing you all there.
– What do you think about Metal scene in Greece? Given that there is a lot of talent out here and many good bands of equal quality from abroad that have nothing to envy and stay in obscurity or can’t make a living from music.What do you think can be the reason for that?
D.S.: Very passionate..and I can’t help but wonder, to be honest, how things would be if metal music wasn’t on the fringe and supported by the state. This is usually due to the fact that they can’t or don’t know how to promote their work properly so that people would know about them and listen to them. Certainly circumstances play a role but unfortunately talent alone can take you so far.
-How difficult is it for an Independent band to promote or release their music?
D.S.: I think the more financially comfortable a band is, the easier it is to promote and release their music. Of course, you need the right strategic steps before and after the release of the album.
– What are your goals and ambitions for the future of Valiant Sentinel?
D.S.: To release new music, to do as many live shows as we can in Greece and abroad and of course to grow our fan base.
– Dimitri the word to you, do you want to add something for our readers?
D.S.: Thanks once again to everyone who has supported Valiant Sentinel to date. I look forward to sharing new music with you. See you on the road.
– Thank you very much for this interview and we wish you many successes.
D.S.:Thank you too.
// Facebook page of Valiant Sentinel //
Information of Live events!
Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το Live στο An Club…. εδώ!
Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το Metal Union Festival -Agrinio…. εδώ!
Credits: George Pappas
