Making waves, Patras band bucks local scene’s standards
Persistence and conviction over an extended period of neglect has helped generate a mighty year for the local pop-rock band Raining Pleasure, a decade after the band’s humble formation in the small city of Patras, western Greece, where the group still chooses to be based. Its days of sporadic, largely unnoticed, performances at small venues in Athens and other parts fo the country now seem to be over. After playing – and selling out – their biggest show to date last winter, at the capital’s mid-sized Rodon Club, the group is now preparing to take their largest step yet with an end-of-summer concert at the open-air, 5,000-capacity, Lycabettus Theater that will cap off a handful of summer dates for the band in more remote parts of the country. The group is scheduled to perform at Lycabettus on September 23 after dates at Nestorio on August 3 and Larissa on September 21. Until recently, and in sharp contrast to the band’s current appeal, Raining Pleasure often had to persevere with unfavorable, even condescending, working terms. Less than two years ago, for example, the owner of a tiny bar – and, at times, makeshift gig venue – in downtown Athens had booked Raining Pleasure for one night on the condition that the visiting group would play no originals, just covers. At the time, obvious hints of the band’s ability to produce a well-crafted, smoothly produced, and creative pop song had already existed on two albums – 1996’s «Memory Comes Back» and «Nostalgia» two years earlier – both of which were released on a small Thessaloniki-based independent label, Lazy Dog Records. But neither album managed to garner deserved attraction for the band. However, midway through the year 2000, or almost a decade after the group’s formation, hope for wider exposure surfaced when Raining Pleasure, a band fluent in English usage, were signed by the major label EMI Chrysalis. Their major-label debut, «Flood,» released last winter, has since been a top seller in the local market. It has sold some 10,000 copies to date, according to officials at the band’s label, which ranks as a respectable sales figure for local industry standards. Raining Pleasure, who took their name from the title track of an album by the Australian band The Triffids – an inspired, country-tinged rock act of the 1980s whose series of critically acclaimed albums failed to catch on with the masses – formed in 1992 as Rest In Peace, before renaming themselves. Members have come and gone, but in more recent times the group’s two remaining founding members, Vassilikos (vocals, bass, keyboards), and Jeremy (guitar, keyboards), have gelled with the quartet’s two newest arrivals, Spiral (guitar, keyboards), and Jay (drums). Quite remarkably, despite opting to deliver their work in the English language, this quartet has managed to break into the country’s musical mainstream, which is an almost unheard-of development on the local scene, as countless domestic English-languaged pop bands playing to meager crowds and hardly selling, and music industry officials, know well. «Yes, considering that they’re an English-languaged Greek band, the group’s level of appeal has come as a surprise,» admitted Elias Svinos, a press officer at EMI Chrysalis’s local branch. Domestic pop acts seeking wider local exposure usually bank on the Greek language for greater commercial appeal. If English-languaged pop music here stands a chance of selling, it has to be true to its roots, or imported work hailing from native English tongues. But Raining Pleasure have certainly managed to appeal to the local standards. The group has proved particularly popular among younger listeners who tend to marvel at its lush pop-rock sound – «they couldn’t sound more English,» like it or not, would be a typical comment – and weigh the band against foreign «indie pop» favorites. The obvious next step for the Patras-based act would be to venture abroad. Few local bands have attempted it and even fewer have succeeded, a rare exception being Aphrodite’s Child – the former Paris-based band of Vangelis and Demis Roussos – three decades ago. «It’s tough for any Greek band abroad,» said Svinos. «But the prospect is being discussed.»
