Metal Inside(r) Home Quarantine is Metal Insider’s new column during this time of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We asked artists five questions on what’s been keeping them busy ranging from their favorite movies, food they’ve been eating, music they’ve been listening to and more. We caught up with Illusory keyboardist Makis Vandoros as he’s been spending this time staying busy working in the medical field.
What have you been doing to pass time during Quarantine?
Well, being a medical specialist (orthopedic surgeon for the last fifteen years), during the Quarantine means that you almost have no time to even think about stopping working! We have to take care of our fellow-citizens and assure that everybody is safe, remaining healthy at home, or, under precautions, at work. Next to this, I had to take care of my own family. And every day I needed to study and practice our own songs, which (from my side) are song-in-a-song, rather difficult to play different melodic lines along with the lead guitars. Yet the final result is stunning, worth being heard and presented on every stage in Europe.
Have you been listening to any music or have any playlists worth checking out?
Yes. I have been listening to lots of Symphonic Metal, including Nightwish, Therion, Ayeron etc., as well as Accept, Powerwolf, Hammerfall. As a pianist/keyboardist, I am always affected by Jean-Michel Jarre and Pet Shop Boys, whose concerts from 2010 to present I have been watching (and listening to, thoroughly) since March 2020. You see, Electro-Pop is my primary love, and this sound comes easily out of my Roland, Korg, Yamaha keyboards I simultaneously use in the band. Not to mention any project that combines Metal music with classical, i.e. Wolf Hoffmann’s masterpieces, which I recommend to everybody, especially to the non-metal lovers.
A lot of people have been spending this time cooking including making their own bread, what food have you been prepping during this time?
That’s a nice question! You see, I have no time left to cook something sophisticated. The most I have been prepping is pasta, with a very simple Napolitana sauce. But, if I had the time, I would have prepared my favourite Carbonara. Luckily, my beloved and special friends and family have never left me alone; there is always somebody who cares for me, and I thank God for it.
In terms of entertainment, what movies, TV shows, books, or games have been keeping you busy?
I have to tell you that I stopped watching TV a long time ago. No reality shows, in any case. If I find something interesting, I watch it until it has no more meaning, and I go to something else. Anyway, I prefer to watch concerts on my large screen and listen to the Dolby Atmos sound of the music created, in my B&W system. Starting from the Wacken Open Air and Hellfest, going to Defqon and Dreamland! Any year, any band. My opinion is that we always have something to learn from everybody.
What advice do you have for your fans in isolation during this time?
Please people, stay home and stay safe! All this will come to an end and we will live normally again. Just be patient. Take care of yourselves and your family, have trust in the medical staff, the nurses. Everybody from every position in the Health System (National or Private) are working for you. As for your favourite band, show your support on every media. Not only do we look forward to presenting our brand new work, but we also need to see that you really love it! We need that in order to go on and on. Do not stop loving your friends and family, they are the real world. Let’s refuse to live in an entirely digital world. Humans are not made for this, we need physical and visual contact, love, affection, care. A screen is not enough. For all these, see you at one of our concerts soon!
