Galery

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-       There are many signs, which show us that the landscape of our society changes, including the sound recording business. From vinyl we moved to CD’s and after that to mp3’s and not CD stores are online. There the listener buys are steals music. What is certain is that ineternet made our lives easier. Today, everyone gets online, listens to music, downloads it, acquires it, independently of whether they pay or not. This is a new phenomenon, not only in Greece but all over the world. Today everything changes. You can rarely see anyone going to a store to buy a CD. And we are not even talking about the old type of CD stores, which I remember. Today, we are talking about department stores, entertainment centers, where you can find irons, TV’s, books, computer games, etc. CD’s take up a very small place in all those centers. Today, CD’s have also another purpose – you can put your glass of water on them, because they are sold in newspapers, magazines… There is a CD overconsumption, which makes them unnecessary. Besides this, there are many musicians who distribute their CD through magazines. Prince is one example of that. He has not made a new album in a while, and now when he did, he decided to distribute it through a newspaper. Musicians no longer count on the sales from their albums but mainly on their live performances, on music activities, advertising, etc.

-       Is this the reason why you do so many things? You are a singer, musician, producer, actor, businessman, TV host..

-       I want to make it clear that I am not an actor. I played in a movie, for which I made the soundtrack but this does not make me an actor. Look, when you sing rap, this things happen – it is a multitask field. The musician plays many different roles and presents different characters in his songs. The same thing happens on the big or small screens or in a TV show, where you express yourself in a more descriptive way than in your songs.

-       I believe that sending messages through different channels is very positive and this is why I have always thought of you as e representative of the modern Renaissance.

-       Those are big words! The Renaissance is something very sacred in the development of humanity that my name has no place there (again laughter among the crew).

-       I said “modern Renaissance,” which is a little different. Summer is coming and it gives an opportunity for musicians to make concerts. Which are some of the interesting moments in your program this summer?

-       To be honest I do not know my summer schedule, because my manager deals with it. I learn about it at the beginning of every week. But surely, there are many concerts in Greece and abroad. I also have a lot of sound recording to do this summer. Upcoming I have a very interesting cooperation with the big Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis (Wow! Another surprise). With him we will work on updating some of his old songs by modernizing the lyrics.

-       You have started your career as a painter of political caricatures and right now except for everything else you are hosting a talk show on one of the biggest Greek TV stations. What would you say to those who believe that artists should stick to the entertaining business?

-       I have a different opinion. At the beginning of the interview I said that an artist should create feelings. The entertaining part of our work is interesting, because people need to have fun. But equally as important is discussing everything that surrounds us, to create conditions for a dialogue, to make the one opposite of you to think, to create communication outside the music sphere, to use the power, which popularity and the media give you, in order to pick up a microphone and say what you think. You have to use those moments in a positive way and this is what I’m trying to do. It doesn’t matter whether I will succeed or not but I start doing everything with a positive thought. I grew up in an environment where political discussions were part of my everyday life. I remember my father and grandfather arguing on political topics and I was sitting in between them and trying to understand why those two men, who have so much in common, who live in the same house, whose everyday life is pretty much the same, and who have the same habits, differ so much in their political understanding. This made me sit down and try to find an answer within myself. Later on, this answer became part of my music and of everything I do.

-       Your fans are really young people. What is the most important message you want to send to them?

-       The truth is that there are so many things in my head that even I have a hard time prioritizing them. I believe that the most important thing in life, which is missing in our society, is the truth. Very often, we create illusions and live in “our own” truth, which changes reality. We need to stop the illusions and to say “no” to them, I believe that this is what we need the most. We need to live in truth, to speak the truth and to search for the truth.