FlyByWire are one of the historic and most important Greek nu-metal bands, and after a ten-year hiatus, they have returned with a new track titled “Chronos”. Always dynamic and high-quality, FlyByWire are back in full force and, through their powerful sound, call on the scene to awaken and unite. Myth of Rock, having been hooked on “Chronos” and the distinctive FlyByWire sound, spoke with Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas), who kindly provided clear and insightful answers. Read everything that was said right below!
by Dimitris Zacharopoulos
FlyByWire return after a long period of time. How does it feel to release new music again after this period away?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): Releasing music again after ten years feels like this strange mix of familiar and brand new. On one hand, you’re stepping back into something that’s always been yours. On the other, there’s a weight to it, all the things you left unfinished, everything you still want to say. For us, this isn’t some nostalgia trip. It’s a restart. It feels like we found a more mature version of our voice, and we finally want to let it speak the way it should. We didn’t come back just to exist again. We came back because, after all these years, we actually have something worth saying.
Tell us the story behind the new single “Chronos”. What inspired the theme and lyrics?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): ‘Chronos’ didn’t start as a concept we were trying to shape. It came from something we’d been carrying for years. After a decade of silence, you can’t help but feel everything you left behind, the chances you missed, the moments that never happened, the words you didn’t say. The lyrics came out of that place, out of the need to face it without sugarcoating anything. Time isn’t something you grab, it pulls you with it, whether you’re ready or not. And we found ourselves right there, looking at what we lost, what we survived, and what we still want to catch before it slips away. That’s why the song feels so honest. It’s not a story we built, it’s a restart. A way of admitting that time doesn’t give anything for free, and if you don’t give meaning to your moments, they’re gone. ‘Chronos’ is our way of saying that out loud and turning it into something that speaks, to us first, and then to anyone who listens.
The video has a strong cinematic vibe. How did the concept for the clip come together?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): The idea for the video didn’t come from a sudden spark or some fancy concept on paper. It came straight from the core of the song. Time, the way we experience it, isn’t linear. It’s layers, overlapping moments, different versions of yourself living at once. I wanted that feeling to exist in the visuals. That’s why we focused on three different age phases of the same person, not as a story moving forward, but as parallel realities happening at the same time. It needed to feel real, grounded, but with that slight dream-state you get in the space between memory and the present. The video came together slowly, over time. We didn’t want to “build” the emotion in the edit. We wanted time itself to show up in the footage. So the concept grew naturally, step by step, until the images carried the same weight and truth as the song.
How would you describe the making of the video?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): There was the responsibility of translating something that already existed musically and lyrically into visuals. It wasn’t about communication, I knew the core of the song from the start. The real challenge was making sure the visuals didn’t just illustrate the lyrics, but pushed the song one step further.
From the beginning, we were clear that we didn’t want to explain anything. We wanted the images to work on the same emotional level as the music, to open the same inner space. When you direct something you’ve written yourself, you’re not chasing the right shot, you’re chasing the moment where image, emotion and meaning align.
The process was demanding, but that’s exactly what gave it value. When the visuals manage to expand the feeling of the song, they don’t just accompany the music, they become part of the story.
Do you personally feel “at war with time” in your own lives? In what way?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): I think everyone, in their own way, feels time slipping a little. No matter how hard you try to keep up with it, there’s always something that gets left behind. At 45, I can look at it from both sides, everything that’s already happened, and everything I still want to live through. And that alone changes the way you see things. I wouldn’t say I’m ‘at war’ with time. It’s more about trying to understand how it moves inside you, what it leaves, what it takes, how it shifts the way you think. There’s a balance in there, somewhere between nostalgia and the clarity that comes with age. And I think that balance ends up in the music. For us it’s something deeply personal, but anyone can see it through their own life. Time isn’t just a feeling, it shows where we stand and what we carry with us.
What emotions did you want listeners to feel when they hear this song for the first time?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): I didn’t have one specific emotion in mind, nothing I expected people to feel. What mattered to me was creating a space inside them, the kind that opens up when something hits you, even if you can’t put it into words. If the song makes someone pause for a moment, makes them think, then it’s done its job. ‘Chronos’ carries intensity, honesty, and a kind of urgency that doesn’t scare you, it wakes you up. And if even a bit of that reaches someone, even for a second, then the song has spoken the way it was meant to.
Let’s talk about the band’s return. What changed during your break? Musically or personally?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): Honestly, I don’t feel like we ever really stopped. It was more of a pause shaped by circumstances. Keeping a six-piece band running at a professional level is extremely difficult when it’s not something you can live off. Syncing six people, each with their own lives, responsibilities and phases, is never simple.
During that time, everyone kept writing, thinking, staying connected to music in their own way. What was missing wasn’t creativity, but the shared time and space to turn all that into something collective. From the outside it might look like a stop, but from the inside it felt more like waiting.
What’s changed now isn’t just the sound. It’s the situation. There’s alignment again, and a conscious decision to be here. Not to prove anything, but because we can finally support what we do in the way it deserves. And that difference, even if it’s not immediately visible, is everything.
You’re now working with a new lineup. How did this new team form?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): The new lineup didn’t come from any fallout or big shift. We’ve all been friends for years, the band just needed a different kind of energy to come back. Our DJ is the only new member, and he brought exactly that. There was an instant spark in the way he fit into the material and the place we’re at now. The guitar moved to someone who already knows the FlyByWire world from the past, so there wasn’t any ‘building chemistry from scratch’. It was already there. This lineup is built around people who understand the band, who’ve been part of its story in one way or another, and who can genuinely support this new chapter. That’s what matters the most right now.
How would you describe your current sound compared to the early FlyByWire years?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): Our sound today still has the same backbone we started with, the low tunings, the heavy riffs, that tension that’s always been in our music. The difference is in how we use it now. Back in the early days everything was more raw, more full-on. These days we give the songs more room. We know when to hit hard and when to pull back. The dynamics are sharper, the production’s tighter, and every part is there because it actually belongs there, not just to make noise. We didn’t change who we are. We just sound like a more grown, more locked-in version of the band we were.
Are there any specific bands or artists that influenced the new material?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): Our influences didn’t suddenly change. We grew up on bands that hit hard. Korn, Deftones, Slipknot, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, A Perfect Circle, Cypress Hill… that whole world shaped us. All of that is still in the new material, but not as a ‘reference’. It’s just the foundation we naturally write on. Over the years you start listening differently, you pay more attention to dynamics, production, atmosphere, and that changes the way you approach a track. We’re not trying to copy anyone. We just carry the bands that built us, and filter them through who we are now.
What was the biggest challenge while creating “Chronos”? And what was the most enjoyable moment during the process?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): The hardest part with “Chronos” was being completely honest with what we were feeling. The track talks about time and the things you lose along the way, and you can’t approach that lightly. We had to say it the way it was, without softening it. That was the real challenge: putting those thoughts out there and turning them into music. The best part was hearing the track actually take shape, when the riffs, the tension and the atmosphere finally fell into place. That’s when everything started to connect. But the strongest moment was when the song finally locked in. That’s when we knew it was saying exactly what we wanted it to say from the beginning.
Do you think time changes the way you see your own older songs?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): Yeah, time definitely changes the way you look at your older songs. When we wrote them, we were different people, different energy, different experiences, different things we were trying to say. Listening to them now, I can understand exactly where we were back then, but I hear them with more distance. I don’t reject them. I see them as moments from the road. Some grow with you, some you outgrow, some shift meaning completely. That’s the thing about music, the song stays the same, but you change, and suddenly you read it in a totally different way. Time doesn’t erase the old tracks. It just reminds you why you wrote them.
You’re already working on the pre-production of your second full-length album. What can we expect from it?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): We’ve been shaping the new record since the ‘Chronos’ sessions. The vibe in the band is back for real, and you can hear it in the new stuff. We want this album to be bigger, louder, more daring. And yeah, my goal is to make it a double album. It’s something I’ve wanted long before FlyByWire even existed, and it finally feels like the right moment to go for it. Sound-wise, we’re sticking to what we are: low tunings, heavy riffs, that hip-hop edge, the mix between rap and melodic vocals. The difference now is that everything feels more focused. The production is tighter, the decisions are clearer. We’re not trying to smooth things out, we just want it to feel real. The new lineup brought a lot of fresh energy, and that opened doors for us. There are darker parts, heavier moments, a lot more atmosphere and also things we’ve never tried before. It’s not ‘Chronos part two.’ It’s a whole new chapter. So yeah… expect the most mature and ambitious thing we’ve done so far. We’re not here to just drop another album. We want this one to hit.
Will the new album follow the emotional and dark direction of “Chronos”?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): Yeah, the new album keeps the emotional, darker vibe of ‘Chronos’, but it doesn’t stay stuck in that space. ‘Chronos’ was a very specific moment for us, heavy, personal. That feeling is still there, but the record opens up in different ways. We don’t want an album that’s only sadness or only tension. We want something that moves, heavy parts, breathing room, all of it. Some tracks are more internal, more atmospheric, and there’s one that touches on the stuff we’ve all been living through these past years. Not as a message… just as a reaction. So yeah, it has the “Chronos” atmosphere, but we’re taking it further. More dynamics, more range, more truth.
Any collaborations or guest musicians planned for the album?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): Right now, no, we don’t have any guest musicians lined up. We’re building this record from the inside out, just the core of the band. We want the sound to stand on its own first, and then we’ll see if there’s room for anyone else. We do have people around us that we love and who’ve already contributed, like on the backing vocals, and of course there’s Thanos Retsos (TheShadow). He’s always part of our creative process. His input was huge on ‘Chronos,’ and he’s someone who naturally fits into our sound. But beyond that, the project needs to find its feet on its own. If the right collaboration shows up along the way, it’ll happen naturally. We’re not chasing big names. We just want whatever actually serves the music.
When can fans expect to hear another new single?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): Very soon. The next single is almost ready. It’s a track that connects directly with everything we’ve been living through these past years, more like a reaction to it than anything else.
You’ve also mentioned returning to the stage. How do you feel about performing live again?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): Getting back on stage after all these years… it hit us hard. That first show was emotional in a way we didn’t expect, but at the same time it felt like no time had passed at all. The connection with the crowd, the energy, that’s fuel for us. The studio is where you build the music, but the stage is where it actually lives. That’s where you find out if what you made really means something. So yeah, playing live again isn’t just exciting, it feels like coming back to where we belong.
How do you see the Greek rock/metal scene today? Has it changed since your early days?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): The Greek rock/metal scene has changed a lot since we first started, and that’s not a bad thing. There are bands now with way more polished sound, better production, more confidence. People listen differently, and that pushes everyone to level up. At the same time, the whole environment has shifted. Back then, live shows were the only place you really connected. Now there’s this whole digital culture, releases, content, all that, and it shapes the scene in its own way. Not better, not worse… just different. What hasn’t changed is this: when a band has something real to say, people feel it immediately. That was true then, and it’s still true now. The truth doesn’t age.
What keeps you motivated to continue making music?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): What keeps us going isn’t anything big or dramatic. It’s simply that we can’t do it any other way. Music has always been the way, at least for me, to get out the things that don’t really fit into words. We’re not driven by the need to prove something or chase a goal. We just want to be honest, to write something that actually hits us first. As long as that’s happening, we’ll keep moving. And there’s one more thing, when you see that what you wrote connects with someone out there, that someone feels it the way you felt it, that’s fuel. That’s what pushes you forward.
Finally, what message would you like to send to the listeners who are discovering you now, and to those who have waited for your return?
Phoenix (Yiannis Boutas): For anyone discovering us now, just dive in with no expectations. Meet the music where it is today. If something hits you, that’s all it needs to do. And for the people who waited for us… thank you. The fact that they believed we’d come back, that was enough. Nothing more needed. We’re here because it finally felt right to speak again. If the music finds its place with someone out there, then we’ve done our part.
