Griza City is one of the most noteworthy new groups in the Greek rock scene. Skilled in their playing and full of passion, they love and truly understand their genre, delivering a flawless performance on stage. Myth of Rock has been following the band closely over the past few years and, ahead of their live show at Holywood Stage in Athens on December 27 as support act for Petros Theotokatos, spoke with them. The result is a very interesting, engaging interview, which you can enjoy right below.
by Dimitris Zacharopoulos
photos by Iro Kalligeri (@irokalligeriphotography)
Hello guys! You are playing live as a support act of Petros Theotokatos at Holywood Stage in a few days! Which are your feelings about that?
Hi, Myth of Rock, first of all thank you a lot for having us. Our support to Petros Theotokatos makes us really proud for this opportunity to play alongside with an artist like him who has influenced a whole generation of musicians with his songs. It’s a big moment for us and we are looking forward to playing the concert.
What should people expect from this live show of yours?
As it is our last show for 2025 and we don’t like the false promises, we’d like to invite everyone who has not attended our gigs to be there as it going to be pure rock’n’roll.
As far as I know, you composed music for “Theates”, a poem by Anastasia Stavraki. Can you give us all the info?
Anastasia Stavraki is a great person and a good friend too. It is the first time we attempted to make a song out of a poem. We did our best with respect to the words and the artist herself so we can provide with a unique sound as it is not very common poems to be transformed in rock songs in Greece.
Riff, lyric, or vibe—what sparks a new Griza Poli song first?
Well, this is something that there is not a magical recipe to tell 100%. It varies from times to times. Usually, is either a lyric or a harmony that breaks through to the surface.
Your music is rooted on classic rock and Greek rock—how do you keep your sound fresh?
Musical inspiration is self-fed or through by many other triggers that surround us daily. Sometimes it could be another song or a line in a book. We try to keep it fresh based on what we hear in our heads and by paying attention to the details of our favorite songs. This applies to all the band members.
How much different is Griza Poli from the other Greek rock bands?
Regarding how different we are from the rest of the Greek rock bands we would like to think that our sound is more international or American, you name it. We pay attention to the lead melodies and solos creating a clearer picture of what we do. We are not so hybrid and we want to provide raw energy to the people.
Why does Greek rock still matter in 2025?
Rock still matters, always will. The art never dies whatever form it may take. Rock lives over and under the ground. Greek rock is underestimated and underrated, maybe the audience expect from the artists, bands to provide more and pursuit and demand their space. There is no room for disappointment due to the fact it is not a mainstream genre especially here. It can wake up the masses and this is why it matters and is intimidating to the industry.
Some say that rock n’ roll music is dead today. What’s your opinion about that?
As mentioned above, it is intimidating to the industry that prefers to promote artificial music that can be manipulative towards the younger generations. It is not dead they just not want it back by not investing in it although major bands from 20, 30 or 40 years ago are still out there and are listened to. But we need new blood to take over because they will not exist after a while and we will not have something less old to refer to.
Name your five favorite foreign artists/bands and your five favorite Greek artists/bands.
Foreign artists we admire and look up to are the GNR, ACDC, Pearl Jam, Metallica, WASP. Favorite Greek artists/ bands are Tripes, Ksilina Spathia, Vasilis & Thanasis Papakonstantinou, Prassein aloga, 9mm
Do you like Greek folk music?
It’s a very interesting and special musical genre and requires skills due to the different time count. Listening to and taking part in the dances is a whole different experience. Playing it is another story whatsoever. Our favorite genre is rock’n’roll. We believe there are great folk artists out there more skilled in this genre than us if this is where you are coming from.
How do you survive creative disagreements?
There is always a way out of a deadlock when we come up and discuss new ideas. Disagreement won’t take over by creating a negative atmosphere among us. We try new ideas in the song structures that from now will involve speed changes and off beats so the word disagreement does not really apply with our group.
How has time affected your music/sound?
Time has made us more mature and more punctual on accomplishing our goals as a team having been together for more than a decade already give and take. We try to embody the mindset of our favorite artists when we try to find the spirit of our sound.
What do people usually get wrong about Griza Poli?
There is nothing really that someone misunderstand about us. Just a couple of occasions when we published our song “Ginekes” that we received messages accusing of misogynism and reproducing stereotypes. You cannot be liked by anyone out there. We are not “playing” under the table and our goal is to be clear when it comes to the meaning of our lyrics.
Describe with one word your live energy, please.
Explosive!
What does “success” actually mean for you?
Success is to make people happy and leave the concert with high moral and us to be remembered positively.
Describe a mistake that shaped the band for the better, please.
When it was happening, we couldn’t realize it by experiencing from inside. Some past members although they said they were interested in our project after some time didn’t have the mood as they said at the beginning. They did try to break us apart. Despite their efforts, once we found out from comments out there in we decided to focus on what we can individually offer to the team and not antagonize with each other. You don’t drag your mates down and leave for other lands.
In five years, where do you want Griza Poli to stand?
We don’t know exactly, it is quite superficial to make predictions. We would like to be on the real FM radio along with other musical artists and in the charts with our song more popular than trap songs.
Finally, why should someone not miss your live show at Holywood in a few days?
It is our most special moment so far, we wish all our friends and fans to come over and celebrate, to enjoy the night as it is going to be a party. We are lucky to be there along with Petros and we just want to make it happen so we can do it again. ALL OF YOU, BE THERE!! Rock on lads!
