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Interview with THE HYBRIS: Trio celebrates life, political stance and music on new album

International music project debut album “Music, Vol. 1” has ten captivating alternative/indie rock anthems


International music project THE HYBRIS has just released its debut album “Music, Vol. 1”. In ten captivating alternative/indie rock anthems, it celebrates life, political stance and music itself. “Music, vol. 1 “, was written and produced over three years, made from the hearts of three friends living in Germany, France and the US, further fueled by lockdowns around the world.


Inspired by a wide range of alternative influences, Jimmy Eat World on hard, System Of A Down on soft, the album epitomizes all of the members’ work to date. Melody and power front and center. In Greek tragedy, “Hybris” meant “exaggerated self-pride, arrogance, excessive ambition, causing the transgressor to be ruined.”

The perfect title for the times in which we live. Today, ‘hybris’ (or ‘arrogance’) is often associated with a loss of reality and an overestimation of one’s abilities or achievements. And one day this idea came up to do it all by myself: write, perform, record, produce and release amazing rock songs.


The lyrics often show political attitude. However, the group does not take it too seriously. But why these silly masks? Isn’t this mask worn? Some think that they want to become more interesting than they really are. Others think it’s a smart move, as they are incredibly ugly in real life.


In this new interview, we talk with the band about their new release, inspiration, music influences and future plans. Check it out bellow:


What can you say about this new EP/CD? THE HYBRIS is a project of three friends. We are from Germany and know each other for many, many years. We played in various rock bands before we were spread all over the world for professional or family reasons. Today we live in Nice, in L.A. and in Cologne, but still – and more than ever – we make music again. We started this project three years ago and spent the last years writing and recording this album.


What is the meaning of the EP/CD name? We called the album “Music, Vol. 1”. “Music” is one of our favorite tracks on this album and the numbering indicates, there is hopefully many more to come.


Which one is the composer of the CD/EP? Every song starts differently. All of us play various instruments, everyone contributes what the songs we are currently working on needs. Thanks to today's technical possibilities, we have built a joint virtual recording studio. In the past, you had to spend tons of money for expensive recording studios and be creative in a limited amount of time. This almost always led to pressure and dissatisfaction. This is different today, each of us can get started when the flow is there, which is amazing.


If you have to pick one song, which one would you pick? That’s difficult, I love all of them. But if I had to pick one, it would be “Silent Violence”.


Is there a special message in this EP/CD? If there is, what is it? Some songs are more personal, others are politically motivated – sometimes you can despair at the state of the world. We wanted to reflect this in our name: "THE HYBRIS" stands for us as a headline for the age we live in as mankind right now: In Greek tragedy 'Hybris' stood for exaggerated self-pride, arrogance, excess of ambition causing the transgressor's ruin.


Are there some lyrics that you´d love to share? My favorite lyrics is “The Other Side”, a song about openness, tolerance and empathy towards people who live a different life and perhaps have a different background or culture.

Which inspirations have been important for this album? Like musically or friends, family, someone you'd love to thank specially? We are huge fans of good music. Mainly rock music, but also completely different stuff like hip hop, electro or jazz. Our music moves between pop, punk, indie rock and alternative rock, but we always try to create a recognizable style. People quickly compare you with existing bands, I find that extremely difficult for our own music. Others have compared us to bands like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Feeder, The Killers, The Cure or The Clash – which is an incredible compliment for us.


Something to add?

Well, if anyone wonders what the deal is with these masks – we felt like doing something "different". At first it was a stupid idea, but meanwhile we think it is pretty cool.



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