Power of Metal Russian Community interview with Kosta Zafiriou, 2009

About Pink Cream 69:

ViXP: Hello, dear Kosta! Do you plan to visit Russia and Ukraine in the future?
So far, unfortunately there are no plans to visit your countries for PC 69 concerts. Although we would love to play Russia and Ukraine, we need an invitation from a professional and serious promoter before we can come. Personally, I will come again to your countries during the next Helloween World Tour.

ViXP: Who in Pink Cream 69 does have musical education?
As far as I know, only Dennis and Uwe have a full musical education. Nevertheless, Alfred and I had teaching lessons when we started playing our instruments.

ViXP: Do you remember your activity with Kymera?
Of course! Although it's really a long time ago….

ViXP: Who was the author of songs on demo Kymera? And who wrote 'Ballad of Glory'?
All music for Kymera was written by Bruno di Blasio, which was also the reason for Andi and me to leave the band: They would not accept anybody else's songs, especially Andi's who already had written a few of the songs which made it on the PC69 debut later on.

ViXP: How you consider your relationship with Andi Deris now: as a friendship or a business partnership? Do you talk with him about Pink Cream 69?
It certainly is both, although we first had to clear the personal relation before doing business together again. It's funny to see for me, that if anybody is talking not very good about PC69, he will start an argument right away, he is still very proud of his past with PC69.

ViXP: You said once in the old interview that Pinkies won't make any more promotion video (and that's a very big loss for us). Didn't you change the opinion about this?
Unfortunately, it seems it still doesn't make sense for a band of our status to invest a lot of money into a video…therefore we'll release the upcoming DVD!

ViXP: Do you drink the 'Pink Cream' cocktail now? David tested this cocktail?
No, not really - we tested it, but it's very sweet and more of a woman's drink.

ViXP: What's that factory in the "Keep Your Eyes On The Twisted" video? And where you run in the "Living my Life For You" video?
"Twisted" is an old factory in our hometown Karlsruhe. The factory meanwhile was totally rebuilt and is a very modern technology museum, very famous! Check www.zkm.de
"Living" was some industrial area in a small town in the south of Germany, to be honest I don't remember any details.

ViXP: Where and how the "Shame" video was filmed?
It was at the airport "Frankfurt Hahn", but before it became so big it was an old military airport from the US army. The band performance is in a hangar.

Medvedd: When will Pink Cream 69 make the new album? Do you have some idea for new album now?
Yes, we talked about it, but we did not work out any new songs yet. As you might know, we are not under time pressure and we take our time for the records. We will only go to the studio and release an album when we think we have a collection of really strong songs - so, sorry, but I can't give you an exact date.

Medvedd: Do you planned to make something special with Andi Deris for upcoming DVD or do you plan performance with both singers of Pink Cream 69 someday?
The DVD will contain also the Live video from Japan in 1992, called "Size it Up". This is from the time with Andi in the band. Besides this, there is nothing planned to do together with Andi.

Fontoms: What you and other Pinkies think about video bootlegs, which are shooting by fans from audience? Do you approve or not them?
There is no chance to approve this, every modern mobile phone has a quite good camera built in these days. On the other side it is very good, because the fans can see in the internet which band can play their songs and which can't :-)

Evri: How is the state of hand by Alfred now? Is his hobby mauntainbiking dangerous owing to this illness? The best wishes to recover for him.
He is still biking, but it has nothing to do with his problem in his arm. Although his hand is not much better, it works really well with Uwe on the second guitar, together they build a great team!

The Tapdancer: What an album and a period of Pink Cream 69 is the best for you and why?
Hard to say, I think One Size with Andi and Electrified with David are probably my favourite albums, they seem to have the best vibe and best songs.

Mrs. God: Kosta, I wanna ask about the singers. Kevin Codfert from Adagio said in some interview that the replacement of singer is the main problem for a band because everytime everybody compares them. Do you often hear how people compare David with Andi?
Of course, in the first years, many people compared David with Andi, although I think they have different characters in their voices. But, of course I understand that the fans are curious to hear how David will sing Andi's old songs.

Mrs. God: Does the influence of David change the creative work of the band after his coming to PC69? What new he brought in the band?
David brought in his voice, his character, his passion and his personality into this band, which was highly appreciated, but Pink Cream by then was already an established band in the market.

Grisha: When Andi left Pink Cream 69? There are different years in different interviews and bio.
He left the band December 1993, but we found out in January 1994. Trust me, I know it :-)

Romanson: Do other members of Pink Cream 69 have contact with Andi Deris now?
Dennis has contact with Andi once in a while, but we all met again when Helloween played a concert in our hometown Karlsruhe.

ivanna: Why full band Pink Cream 69 is mentioned as an author of the songs in mostly albums starting "Games People Play"? And why on the first two albums Andi Deris is consider as the main author though in the old interview for "Metal Hammer" you said that all guys brought their ideas in a studio?
It always depends on what the guy wants, who wrote the main parts for a song. In the first two records Andi (or Alfred) wanted to be named, on the third the band decided to have everybody written down since the record was a big effort of the whole band.

ivanna: When and how you made the acquaintance with Alfred?
I played with Alfred in a band together before Kymera. Karlsruhe is not a huge town, back then everybody knew everybody out of the rock scene.

ivanna: The lyric of "Hour of Freedom" is very strong. What inspired it and who is the author?
Yes, I like both, Song and lyrics of "Hour of Freedom", David wrote this song and Dennis contributed a few parts as well.

ivanna: Did you play some show after meeting with Dennis on Autobahnraststatte Bruchsal and before "Rockfabrick" festival in April 1988?
Yes, of course! Rockfabrik was the first part in April, the finals on Christmas 1988. Alone in this year we played around 30 shows in every club, pub or hall in the entire south part of Germany. I guess, we played 6-8 shows with Dennis before playing Rockfabrik.

About management:

Qwertyspit: Is it difficult to work with Helloween? Who is you favorite member of Helloween?
No, compared to the status Helloween has, the guys are really easy to handle and to work with. We get along with each other great and have a lot of fun on the road. They are all really nice and we have a great relationship, so I don't want to point out anybody BUT, Dani and I love to talk about drumming together…

InfiniteDarkness: With which band from past or present do you want work as a manager?
Metallica to make me rich :-)

ViXP: Can the situation with SPV make a negative affect on "Bottom Row Promotional"?
Not on the situation of Bottom Row, but since a few of our bands are signed with SPV, we hope it does not affect the upcoming releases. Right now it looks like the company is being restructured and they will exist for a while.

bulgor: Hello Kosta! About life in the road. What are main causes of conflicts between the bandmembers and how often these conflicts arise?
It depends on the band and the characters. I saw bands where members were beating each other up, and tried to kill each other, but this usually happens when some members abuse drugs or heavily drink.
Luckily, in Pink Cream or Helloween nobody drinks more than normal, also no heavy drugs are being used and the members always respect each other, even when there is a conflict.

ivanna: When "Bottom Row Promotional" signed the contract with Helloween?
2004 we started to work with Helloween.

Montage: Please, name following things:
- The last album you downloaded - The latest Coldplay album for my wife. We both have an own itunes account and prefer downloading instead of buying physical CD's: We both have an ipod and love the idea of having all our music with us. Besides itunes, I never downloaded an album illegally, because as a manager and artist I live from music and downloading without payment is exactly the same like stealing in a super market to me.
- The last album you bought - Long time ago, look above - I think Rammstein's "Reise, Reise"
- The last album where you liked every song - PC 69 IN10SITY :-)
- The last album which has completely disappointed you - not completely disappointed, but after such a long time I expected more: Guns n' Roses "Chinese Democracy"

Montage: Tell about your first steps in music =) What made you decide to play on drums?
I always was interested in the rhythmical side of music, there was never a thought of mine which instrument to play - I always only wanted to play drums!

Montage: Do you believe in UFO and aliens?
I really believe there is live out there, alone statistically it must be. To think we are the only ones and the "chosen ones" by god is egoistic and stupid. Nevertheless, I don't believe that most UFO's landed in the US and the US Army found a crashed one in Area 51, that's fairytales to me….

The Tapdancer: What future of metal music in your opinion? And what genres of metal have the greatest potential for brisk demand? And for your option, the true rock and metal fan - is this spirit or image?
I don't know which trends and mixtures the metal scene will come up with, but I am open and always interested in good new bands. I listen from Journey to Slipknot, from Pink Floyd to Nine Inch Nails, which are all great bands for my opinion, their music is made with passion and honesty - that's what counts to touch rock fans.
Personally, I think the melodic side of metal and hardrock will come back after many years of very heavy music being successful.
For me, there is no true or not true: If somebody likes rock and metal, I have no problems if he listens to Pop as well. I leave it to Manowar to kill all people who listen to other music as well…:-)

Fontoms: Do you and other Pinkies have some superstitions? If yes, can you tell about them?
I would say no. We had a special handshake in our early days, but this was more of a ritual than superstition.

Fontoms: Can you cook? And a tradition question of our community: Are you able to prepare eggs?
I am not a cook, my wife cooks great so there never was the need for me. Of course I can prepare eggs, I am not one of those helpless guys. Many times I cook or finish something my wife prepared when she is working and I take care of the kids.
When it comes to do a barbecue, I am the best one around!

Evri: What is your favorite alcohol drink? And what is your favorite dish?
My passport says…..OUZO!!!! I love barbecue and Hamburgers.

Evri: Why you don't write songs?
Because you need a certain talent for it :-) My talents are in a different direction.

Evri: Do your daughters practise music?
Yes, they both learn piano and they already had their first drum lessons!

Evri: What is your favorite book?
Lord of the Rings impressed me when I read it about 10 years ago, recently I would say Illuminati by Dan Brown.

Evri: How do you behave to religion? Are you catholic or Orthodox?
I am Orthodox, but more on the paper than in daily life. Usually, I only go to church for a wedding or funeral, not even Christmas.

ViXP: You told in interview 2004 that didn't know which songs Andi write now. Do you listen his albums now and do you have something favorite from Helloween's songs?
Of course, working with a band means also trying to understand the band, their sound, their message, their vibe. I like many of Helloween's material, for example "The Invisible Man" or "As long as I Fall" are extremely strong songs. There is many songs I like from old and new days of Helloween.

bulgor: Do you have pet? What is your favorite animal?
I never wanted a pet because of the responsibility, but 4 years ago my three ladies wouldn't let go, so we got a dog called Merlin. Although I never wanted a dog, I love him and he is my only male supporter in our house!

Grisha: Please, tell about your family. You said some years ago that your parents live in Greece now. Do you visit that country?
Yes, sure, I go 2-3 times a year to Greece, next time in August for summer vacation.

Grisha: Andi Deris told in same interview about friendship of Ron and a son of Jan Bayati. Did your family associated with Lydia and Ron Deris?
No, not closely, but Lydia and my wife know each other and they are both from Croatia. They live on Tenerife, but when they come to Karlsruhe we see them.

Romanson: Everybody in Pink Cream 69 have a brother or a sister. Do Andi Deris have a brother or a sister too?
No, he is a single child.

ivanna: When Dennis came to Germany? I read in his interview that he finished school in Germany. Did he came back to USA after that and before joined to Pink Cream 69?
As far as I know, Dennis came to Germany with his parents, because his father worked for the military.
He was around 13 years old and since then he never lived in the US again, just went to visit his family.

Rizvan: I don't have questions because I recently began to listen Pink Cream 69. I adore "In10sity". I simply want to wish successes for you, your music is super. Thank you that you are.

THANKS ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST ON OUR MUSIC!!!!
I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST AND HOPE TO SEE YOU PERSONALLY ONE DAY!

The interview was made by Tanya 'ivanna' Valchishena