Woodford brothers Alexis and Stefan Daperis have worked with Grammy nominated producer Chris Tsangarides to make their debut album ‘Everything Is One’
Woodford brothers Alexis and Stefan Daperis have worked with Grammy-nominated producer Chris Tsangarides to make their debut album Everything Is One.
The brothers are two-thirds of the band Everafter and, having cut their teeth on the London circuit at venues like The Water Rats and The Barfly, have now released their first record under the guidance of the top producer.
The opportunity to work with Tsangarides, best known for his work with heavy metal bands like Judas Priest, came about after they recorded a demo two years ago that they were unhappy with.
Their father, Nick, a former musician himself, decided to see if he could get in touch with Chris through some old contacts.
Lead singer Alexis explains: “Dad used to play in a band with a keyboard player who had worked with Gary Moore who knew Chris. He got in touch with the guy and here we are.
“Chris is great to work with and he is one of the reasons we’re so happy with the album.
“He’s a legend in his own right, his expertise is massive and he’s a really wonderful guy.
“When we were recording he let us be and allowed for the sound of the band to come through rather than trying to influence us too heavily.”
The brothers have been playing together for over eight years and Alexis can’t wait to get the record out there after so much hard work.
He said: “We are very much excited about the release. In terms of recording, it took three weeks to get down but the album is a culmination of five years of songwriting and work.
“There are a couple of tracks on there that are older than the band itself.
“It’s been put together by picking the 12 best songs we have from about 50 written over the last three to four years, so that shows you how long we have been working towards this.”
Violin
The band’s influences include Metallica, Thin Lizzy, The Beatles and Green Day among others. The influence of American punk band Green Day is evident in the band’s sound and style, according to Alexis.
The singer, 35, moved to Woodford along with his family when he was aged two and his brother was born shortly afterwards. He has lived in the area all his life.
From an early age Alexis was into music, taking up piano lessons aged seven, moving on to the violin for a few years until eventually, at the age of 12, he picked up a guitar and instantly knew it was the instrument for him.
He said: “When I started playing the guitar it quickly became my preferred instrument.
“My dad is a guitarist so I grew up watching him play and it felt natural for me to do the same.
“I grew up listening to The Beatles. My dad is a big fan and he had a Beatles song book which I started learning from and it all started from there really.”
There have been a number of notable and notorious fraternal partnerships in popular music history, perhaps most famously between the Gallagher brothers of Britpop band Oasis.
Alexis tells us that Everafter do not quite suffer the same family working strife.
He said: “We are really fortunate, it can be volatile with brothers in a band but our relationship is great.
“There has been no real clash of ideologies or ideas.
“It’s a band and we all contribute. Stefan sings lead vocals on three songs that he’s written on the album and it’s nice for me to be able to sit back and watch him take a more central role.”
Alexis feels that the band is sound-focused as opposed to centring the creative process around lyrics.
He said: “I always say that the music comes first and it is there for people to enjoy however they want to enjoy it – dancing, singing along, jumping around, whatever, that is the primary focus.
“As for the lyrics, if someone can take something valuable from them or find some kind of guidance in them, then that’s a bonus.”
The Woodford three-piece are currently down to two members as their drummer left a few months ago but they already have a replacement lined up, though it has had an affect on organising gigs.
Alexis said: “The gig side of things has been on hold for a couple of months as we search for a new drummer but we should have that sorted in the next few weeks.”
The album ‘Everything Is One’ along with the single ‘Horizon’s Wide’ is out now and available to download on iTunes.
You can listen to the single on their soundcloud page here
---------
Re more
- PREVIEW: The Only Way Is Downton at the Lovegrove Theatre -
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here