Minus One, the band selected to represent Cyprus at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, have recently discussed their full music career to date in a recent interview.
Speaking to FunCY, the Minus One group, made up of members Francois Micheletto (vocalist), Constantinos Amerikanos (vocalist and guitarist), Harrys Pari (guitarist), Antonis Loizides (bassist) and Chris J (drummer), discussed the band’s full career to date; from early beginnings to their 2015 Eurovision bid.
The idea of Minus One was planned in January 2009 with the band going on to form in March the same year with the aim of bringing a different genre of music to the Greek music scene. Since forming, the band has performed at different cities and venues around the country, including events and festivals in Larnaca and Limassol as well as the country’s capital, Nicosia.
Minus One has also performed outside of Cyprus in country’s including the United States as well as the United Kingdom. Notably, the Cypriot band have previously performed at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, one of the biggest festivals in the world.
The band members spoke of Minus One’s early beginnings:
Minus One started as a cover band, but following our Eurovision bid we started to write more of our own music. When performing covers, we would change the style and make them our own.
We don’t have any specific inspirations. Each artist who writes his own music or creates his own art may be inspired by many influences around him.
Whilst the members of Minus One have individually collaborated with a numbers of artists from around the globe, the band itself has yet to officially work and collaborate with any other artist or act as of today.
Minus One competed in the 2015 Cypriot national selection in a bid to represent their country at the Eurovision Song Contest in the host city of Vienna, Austria. The band managed to qualify to the final of the selection with their entry Shine and finished in 3rd position, missing out to John Karagiannis and his entry, One thing I should have done. The band spoke of their Eurovision bid:
Our participation in the selection for 2015 was an unexpected step from us. It was a good and interesting experience. Whilst at the time the results were disappointing for us, it proved to be worth the effort in the end.
We are excited about participating in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, but like last year we will keep our feet firmly on the ground and move forward to bring the best results we can.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg95jD3TCmQ
Last month, the Cypriot national broadcaster CyBC revealed that Minus One had been internally selected to represent Cyprus at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. Their 2016 entry will be composed in collaboration with Swedish composer Thomas G:son, the man behind the winning 2012 Eurovision entry, Euphoria.
The band hope continue what they are doing following their participation at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in the host city of Stockholm and continue to climb as high as they can, sharing their joy with the world.
