Hilltops Are For Dreamers is a no-boundaries music project formed in London around 2018 and founded by Vasilis Papageorgakopoulos. Its self-titled EP was released in 2020, and adopted a post-hardcore sound with melodic and bluesy elements. As the Covid lockdown took the world captive, they used the time to release another EP, A Transition, the split release collaboration with Repent For Joy. 2022 saw the band’s first full album release, In Disbelief, showcasing a production like they hadn’t created before. It melted together several styles of music. The band crowd funded support to finish the album and create a music video of the first single, Revival.
Now the project is gaining serious momentum as they’ll be releasing The Tragedy Of Being Human in six days. It will follow a more melodic path with a taste of the Scandinavian scene inspired by sounds like Katatonia and Opeth. The three-single release will feature Fernando Guerrero on drums (Aeonic Impulse), bassist George Kostaras, and Sam Sanassee on vocals (both are members of UK based metal band All Involved. As an independent project with nothing and no one to confine them, they’ve managed to create a unique musical experience.
You’ve released music on your own, and you’ve also worked with Rockshots Records. I’m sure a lot of people who are trying to make a career of it are wondering how to get hooked up with a label. Can you tell us your experience with that?
First of all, we would like to thank you for the opportunity that you are giving us to introduce the band to new audiences. Indeed, that’s a great question and thanks for that too. To be honest with you, we were always trying to find the right way that could make the band bigger and expand the fan base even further. Since day one and when we released our first EP, we sent demos out, emails, letters to find a label. We weren’t that lucky. We’d guess that could be because of the lack of experience in the industry as well as the sound of the band itself. While it was honest and soulful, it wasn’t something that you haven’t heard before.
That’s been achieved though, with the album ‘In Disbelief’. Very personal, prog, dark and moody debut that led us into signing a global record deal with Rockshots Records. We followed the same process, sending thousands of emails, but Rockshots really liked the album, so we agreed on the deal. A great boost for the band and definitely a great experience. We managed to release it in physical format and get a worldwide distribution from the US to Japan, and we got back some great reviews while locking in some radio airplay. It’s tricky to get hooked up with a label, but the harder you try the better chances you have to achieve it. Make sure that you have a great EPK, create quality material, professional, well-looking and attractive, personalize it, and the odds will be definitely higher than before. It doesn’t mean though that you can’t do things by yourself. While having a label as a key promoter is good, learning how to utilize all the available tools in social media could make an impact too. This is what we do now, and so far, it works.
That’s such great advice! The Tragedy of Being Human is your new EP coming out February 16. I’m excited about the limited release of the vinyl-style card wallet CDs.. such a genius idea. What’s your favorite format for listening to a band you love? Do you think people want to come back to old school physical formats?
Thank you, that’s appreciated. We wanted to have a vintage, more spiritual aesthetic to the final result, and we thought a vinyl style CD could be great for an EP. Personally, I like physical formats, such as CD and Vinyl. I grew up with CDs, so I really love the smell of a newly opened disc, the lyrics, the notes, everything…Vinyl is great too, takes you on a journey to another era while keeping the listening standards high. I really love the fact that Vinyl is so strong again. For the rest of the band, each of us have different ways of listening to music, but I would say that I am the most ‘old school’ of them all. I strongly believe that music fans want more physical products than the recent past. It’s like, ’well, we’ve had enough’, let’s buy some records now’. And the Vinyl sales justify that. Hope you purchase our CD here: https://hilltopsarefordreamers.bandcamp.com/album/the-tragedy-of-being-human
The Tragedy of Being Human, by Hilltops Are For Dreamers
I see you guys do a lot of work in the studio.. Are you planning on taking this live?
That’s another great question. We are based in different countries, e.g. I am in the UK and I spend significant time in Greece too, Fernando (Drums) is based in the USA, while George (Bass) and Sam (Vox) are in the UK too. We believe that it would be amazing to move this band from a studio space to a stage, and personally, I have played numerous gigs in my life with other projects—so definitely missing that feeling. What we would like to see happening is people requesting us play live. Shows on demand would be amazing. We appreciate your support so far but let’s make this entity big enough to gig all over the world and connect with our sounds!
The Tragedy Of Being Human will be released in digital format as well as a limited number of vinyl-style card wallet CDs, and is available for pre-order at Bandcamp.
Additional links:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7BeA4KRAgi4XUPmNfg7k9H https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX_fM_0zyYnM12QLobUWqtw
