The modern Amazon – exclusive interview with Vicky Psarakis from The Agonist

The Female Metal Voices Tour 2017 has begun last week at Dürer Kert, Budapest. Luckily we had a possibility to do an exclusive interview with Vicky Psarakis, the frontwoman of The Agonist. The lovely Greek American singer answered to our several questions after the show.

How do you feel yourself after the show?

Well, the show was great, it was fantastic. I really liked the crowd and everyone’s energy. It was a really good start to this tour, I hope all shows will like this. (smiles)

You have been here in Hungary once – how much is it different now?

The last time I was here was two years ago. We were playing the same venue but I was really-really sick. Actually I think I was laying on this couch here and the paramedics came. I wasn’t able to do the show, finally the guys made the show without me, which sucks but I couldn’t stand up and I had to miss 3 shows then I think – and this was one of them. But it was a good experience because everyone took care of me over here, everyone was so friendly and nice, so it’s so nice to be back and actually play the show this time. (laugh)

Touring life could be really tough. How do you survive these periods and how do you keep yourself healthy?

I just try my best to stay healthy like to eat healthy, first of all. To get enough sleep, it’s very important, to drink a lot of water. At the end of the day I have to be on the stage and perform well.

How do you prepare yourself for the shows?

Obviously I warm up my voice every night, it takes 20-30 minutes and then I warm up my body too: walk around, stretch – you know I don’t want to pull my muscles on stage. That’s it, there’s no secrets behind it, really. (smiles)

During the tours you visit many countries and you have a possibility to try different national cuisines. Have you already found your favorite food?

I’m not foodie actually, if you’re a musician probably there’s a professional chef or something. So it’s hard for me to choose a favorite food, because I eat almost everything as long as it’s good. (laughs)

But the Greek cuisine is one of the best in the world. Do you have favorite Greek food?

Probably pastichio. We call it the Greek lasagna because it looks like a lasagna. It’s really good. (laugh)

Can you cook anyway? And when are you not on tour or in the studio how does your ‘average day’ look like?

I can cook pretty well. When I’m at home I have a pretty boring life. I just stay at home, cook almost every day, walk my dog – you know, I don’t do any exciting. I do like cooking a lot, but I don’t have any favorite recipes, but I do like challenges. Like if I go out a restaurant and try out something new and I like it, I have that motivation to find out how can I make it at home.

As we know you are Greek American. When you were 10 years old you moved to Greece with your family. How much was this adventure inspiring to you?

It’s really different then living in America – not just culturally, but in every way. They are different people, financially too, that is why it is not easy to live in Greece especially now which is the main reason I moved back to the States. But I am thankful for that because I’m bilingual, I can speak English and Greek perfectly. And I’ve been moving around so much – so, being on tour is difficult, but I used to do it, being on way, so touring is a bit easier to me.

Now back to music: there are more and more female fronted metal bands – how do you see, why is it so this trending now, and how much could it affect to feminism?

I think it’s just a matter, a few band started it and even if we go back to ’70’s, ’80’s there were women in rock. There weren’t as many in metal, I guess, or they were on a very underground scene. To me it’s just a matter of a couple women going out there and doing it and succeed and inspires other women to pursue it, because you get the idea that „if she is doing it, why can’t I do it?” or sort of thing. But I think it’s cool. Like I always enjoy lot of genres of music not just listen to metal. And you can see on the pop world or indie or whatever, there are a lot of female singers. So to me it’s never been about the gender there’s behind the mic, it’s just been about are you good at what you do, are you a good singer? If yes, do it, if not stay at home. It doesn’t matter if it’s a man or woman.

Are you a feminist?

It depends what that term means because I feel like lot of people have a different idea for that right now. I wouldn’t say that I’m a feminist, but I do believe that if you wanna sing – obviously you should be able to sing – that’s not a job made only for man. So I wouldn’t say that I’m a feminist just I believe that everyone should have to get a chance and a choice to pursue what they wanna pursue in their life.

Many people still think that being a part of a metal band as a woman is still very tough. How do you see that?

It’s not hard really. I think the most important thing is who you’re with, because you know, the band is like a family and you have to get along with them. So as long as you’re in a good environment, you get along and you have fun I wouldn’t say it’s difficult.