VELVET THUNDER

Andry Lagiou (who goes under Andry alone, in the single-named way of Cher, Madonna, Bono and the like!) has been making quite some ripples in the metal world of late, with her superb debut solo album Skies under her belt last year – after first causing quite the sensation in her native Greece a few years ago by winning the Voice Of Greece TV show performing Deep Purple’s Burn (and Rainbow’s Temple Of The King along the way). She has also been busy endeavouring to represent Greece – and the rock genre in general – in Eurovision (and only marginally failing to do so), to say nothing of a touring schedule which has seen her honing her stage show to perfection, so she she has certainly been kept on her toes of late .

She did find the time to answer a few of my questions put to her on behalf of Velvet Thunder…

VT: Obviously it is well known that you got your big break on the TV show The Voice, in Greece, doing Burn by Deep Purple. It is on YouTube of course, and even now it is a great performance. However you also did Temple Of The King by Rainbow, which shows a very different side to your voice. What made you pick that one (apart from the obvious Ritchie Blackmore connection?)
ANDRY: I was actually been given that song because they thought I could sing any male difficult song regardless of the beat . I enjoyed both since I’m versatile: I bring to the table the best performance.

It is probably fair to say that Greece is not known internationally for its rock scene – for most people it probably starts and ends with Vangelis and Aphrodites’ Child. I must admit, the only band which comes to my mind currently is Firewind (and Gus G from that band through his work with Ozzy, of course). I do vaguely recall a Greek band from the ‘70s who I once heard an album by called rather strangely Socrates Drank The Conium, but that is deep in my memory! Is there a strong following in the country for rock/metal, and would you expect people there to have been familiar with the songs you performed on The Voice?
Yes there is a strong following but not for Greek acts! Greeks would prefer to pay any act from any other country than their own people and promote the great musicians we have. The business is a Black Hole here. Of course people know the songs from The Voice and even if they didn’t, they finally learned! Thing is, we lack music education and education in general in this country. I could proudly say that if the business here would let us in we would thrive. It’s all about their pockets….

You originally fronted the band The Harps. Are they now permanently disbanded, and how did their output compare with the material you are doing now? I must admit I have not heard their stuff, but am curious.
I didn’t actually front them – I am The Harps! It’s my project, my music, my lyrics, my orchestrations, and arrangements, artwork etc. We were never a band – this why I decided to go solo.

You have compared yourself to Dio, and the similarity of approach and style is certainly striking, and brings me to one thing I noted on the Skies album, that you use your deeper register quite a bit, which makes you far less limited than many other female singers in the genre, and highlights it to great effect when you take it up to a higher octave. Is this deliberate, or do you naturally tend to sing like that?
My faith, my soul and my voice lays with him. It’s not exactly comparison, I just feel spiritually connected somehow. Well I can say this is my style but I don’t do it deliberately, I play with frequencies easily; it’s not only about the notes but nuance, colour, position, Air flow and pronunciation. When I sing other genres, I’m different … I can sing RnB, Latin, Pop, Blues, Funk, Disco, Dance etc. It’s always a different approach .

The opening track Skies is an absolute classic, I have to reiterate. It knocked me back on my feet when I heard it, and is truly anthemic. Is that a favourite of yours, and would you say that song and Mistress Of The Night are your two most obvious ‘anthems’ so to speak?
Yes Mistress is my persona and my brand, Skies is the anthem ..but in my heart speaks Olive Tree. It’s a vague poem that only I know deeply. Black Hole is my biggest creation so far combining genre with balanced elements.

I note the variety in the album, which works very well. As well as the ballad My Love, there is Olive Tree, the closest you get to what could be termed ‘prog rock’. Church Bells has many different moods within it, and Do Or Do Not has an Eastern-sounding Perfect Strangers / Stargazer feel to it. What would you regard as your favourite track on the album (for me, Skies and Olive Tree are the two biggest highlights).
I will agree with you those are my favorites also Although My Love shows 100% of my vocal skills,

You recently toured as support on the Legends Of Thrash tour – a bill I thought seemed a little bit of a strange match, as you are certainly not in a style which could be dubbed as ‘thrash metal’ at all. Do you have plans for headlining dates in the next year? – especially in the UK, as I would certainly love to catch your show live.
Well, the guys wanted me how can I say no? Seems like from ‘Blues Metal’ I turned out to be ‘Thrash Metal’! Ha ha…. titles are not my thing anyway – they can call me ‘lady of the lake’ if they want to. The Thrash audience was very receptive, they loved it. People nowadays still understand quality. I was a bit surprised considering the Olivia Rodrigos out there… so I would do it again for sure. We will headline some festivals in September 2025 Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria. I really hope I can tour the UK again soon.

I was going to ask whether you ever did Burn at your shows, but looking at a couple of setlists online I see that you do! Does this go down well, and has it been adopted as something of a signature song for you? I was surprised to see that you did not open the shows with Skies, which seems to me to be an absolutely perfect opening track.
Yes we play burn every time. Mickey goes down to the audience and plays guitar, I light him up with my lasers, and people have fun. It is a signature for me … I’m expecting Blackmore to knock on my door and sue me… hahaha! Well, Skies, it’s difficult to move and sing without warm up. Still, we opened with Do Or Do Not which is equally difficult to start screaming right away!

Growing up, what female singers were you influenced by, if at all? The obvious names are probably Doro Pesch or The Runaways, but there may be others in slightly different genres (Deborah Bonham, Annie Haslam, Sonja Kristina etc). I’m not sure which would have been popular in Greece (I have only been there once I must confess, back in 1993!)
Not at all – I’ve never heard of Doro Pesch!. As a child I grew up with Whitney Huston, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Taylor Dayne, Toni Braxton. And from the rock scene: Janis Joplin ,Jefferson Airplane, Heart, Melissa Ethridge, Alannah Myles. And yes I knew I Love Rock And Roll [actually a Joan Jett hit of course] but never really studied the song. It’s very easy – I was born in 1990!

As one last question, if you were asked to name your five favourite albums, by any artists, what would they be? That’s always interesting to find out what people really love!
Weirdly enough I don’t like albums, only songs from different genres but I would say … Eloy – Colours, Megadeth – Youthanasia. Melissa Ethridge – (the album), Deep Puple – Burn. Even though people would expect me to like Aguilera – Stripped, songwriting- wise i prefer Spears – In The Zone . A Greek singer wrote Everytime, by the way, on this one.

Thanks for your time with this. As a final thing I must note, Burn has a special place for me as it was the opening song at the first rock gig I ever went to – when I was 14 I saw Deep Purple (with David Coverdale and Tommy Bolin) in Liverpool, at what turned out to be the very last show before they split up (for eight years at least). That makes me feel old!
Ah, you’re never too old to ROCK N ROLL!