The Euro Theatre

Secrets of Synth: ‘Snake’ by The Euro Theatre

By Jack
Synthwave is a nostalgic, largely instrumental genre of electronic music. We provided a three-part guide to synthwave here. In a new weekly series, we look at songs that have defined the genre and interview the creators behind them.

The Euro Theatre is the musical side-project of George Zois. Away from his full time role in band King George, Zois uses The Euro Theatre to explore synth music. His song ‘Snake’ showcases the strength of his sound.


Part spy movie, part Space Age thriller, with a touch of Carpenter in too, ‘Snake’ demonstrates Zois’ idiosyncratic style. A catchy synth melody, full of intrigue, rubs against funky synthetic bass and rumbling drums. It’s a terrific track, and we spoke to TET about how the song came to be.

1. How did you get into synth music?

“Well…It’s a story about a rock ‘n’ roller and a drummer with a broken finger…

I am actually in the Australian band King George (an Independent Music Award nominated band from Melbourne Australia with 2 albums) and have been writing/performing in the rock genre for many years but have always been a massive fan of electronic music (Depeche Mode/M83/TimeCop1983/FM84/Prince/The Presets etc).


So before Christmas 2015 the drummer from King George Michael Makris broke his finger (playing Aussie rules indoor football)… that meant I had a couple of months to do my own thing.. So I thought I’d grab the synth and finally get to fulfil my dream of writing an electronic tune and maybe release a song (I released my debut single Perfecto in Feb 2016).

BUT the songs just kept on coming and I have gone from releasing 1 single to 10, an Australian tour, featured on the New Retro Wave mixtape and NRW Facebook page, and now I have my debut album out called ‘Disco Misco’. It’s a little tough managing both projects but I absolutely love it.

So what do I have to say after all this? Michael…I love you man but thanks for breaking your finger….”

2. How did you come to write ‘Snake’?

“Earlier this year I had a chance to watch both Escape films again. When I was working on the song I had more of an outer space Sci Fi feeling in mind (Star Trek /Star Wars etc) but all I could picture in my head was the character (Snake) and everything just fell in place very quickly. There is a SciFi tribute on the album but now it’s a different song.”

3.Did you use analogue and digital equipment on this? It sounds like a mix of old and new

“It’s more of a mix. Being a songwriter in a rock band I have limited experience with Synth equipment so I start to write a lot of my songs on guitar and acoustic and then jump on the Synth. I also build some tracks off beats and samples. I do feel a little uncomfortable when talking to other Synthwave artists as I am little out of my league with all the technical jargon.”

“Hopefully I get better at it moving forward - Hey Nineteen (UK)

A wonderful combination of old and new, Disco Misco is one of the most satisfying debuts of the year. The standout is still ‘Snake’, a cinematic track so laced with intrigue it really ought to be scoring a Cold War thriller. Disco proves a sufficiently diverse ride, sometimes funky but other times moody: see the filmic ‘Montana’ and the title track, dedicated to studio 54. - Hey Nineteen (UK(