We recently had a chat with Yohanna, singer of the Greek metal band Passengers In Panic: In this interview we talked about the story of how she joined the band at a time of change and the deep personal significance of their second album, Amnesia. Yohanna also opened up about her pre-show rituals, the vocal struggles she faced in the studio, her deep respect for the late Chester Bennington, and the new extreme vocal techniques she is currently learning.

Highlights from the Interview

When asked about how she would describe the band in her own words, Yohanna said:

“I would describe Passengers in Panic as having a strong Greek identity with Greek traditional music, with Greek traditional elements in general. […] But I think you really understand the band and the mentality of the band when the line between the band and the audience just disappears. We are all part of the same experience. We are all passengers in panic at the end of the day.”

When asked about joining the band during an important chapter and taking over vocal duties, Yohanna said:

“I was incredibly happy because this was my dream and something that I had always wanted to do, but at the same time it was a huge risk, huge challenge for me because I was stepping into a band that had already started its journey and I was taking over the vocal duties from the original singer. So I had to find my own style and own way of doing things and make the role my own, and this was the hardest part of the whole experience, you know, the whole journey at first.”

When asked about what their powerful and emotional album Amnesia means to her personally, Yohanna said:

“Amnesia is very personal for me. It’s inspired by real experiences and stories that have affected us both personally and as a band. […] I think at its core, this album is also about what happens inside us when we live with so much pressure, uncertainty, noise around us. And sometimes we try to forget things that make us feel, you know, disappointment or anxiety, angry, every bad emotion, you know, we have in your soul if you want just to let it go, just to give it away. And actually in that way, when we try to forget bad things in our lives we experience our own kind of amnesia.”

When asked about the song that challenged her the most as a vocalist, Yohanna said:

“Well definitely without a doubt, Amnesia. You know, it probably challenged me the most, more than any other song from this album. And I was, you know, I was still figuring out my voice, my tone, what I wanted to do with that, how I wanted to express myself. And there were moments that I wasn’t sure how to translate what I was hearing into my voice and what I wanted to do.”

When asked about which artist in the world she would choose for a dream collaboration, Yohanna said:

“Well, it’s kind of an impossible collaboration because the one artist that I have on my mind right now and I always have in my mind actually is Chester Bennington from Linkin Park. […] There was so much power and vulnerability in the way he sung and I really admire every song that he sung with Linkin Park or without Linkin Park. […] I think that it’s maybe one reason that I’m here today and I’m doing music and I’m trying my best for that because of him, because of his voice.”

When asked about what fans would be surprised to learn about her, Yohanna said:

“I think that the one thing that they would be surprised to know about me is that I have recently started to learn how to do growls, you know, extreme vocal techniques, you know, which is completely new for me. […] You just feel like you are going to unlock a new part of what you are doing so far and it’s great because when I started learning how to do growls I realized that growling helps me a lot through my clean singing. And I felt that I started to do better in my clean singing.”

Watch the full interview below.