Translated by: George Vasilakis

1. How did you get involved in music and how did this relationship turn out in time?
(George) It began when I cane into an old piano and a saxophone from my grandfather. Unfortunately, the sax was in a bad condition so I got my hands only onto the piano, and by saying got onto, I mean I just played and learnt by myself without following any systematic educational course with a teacher or in a music school. What made me deal systematically, that led me to a music school, however, was the fact that I first played the keyboard, one that was given by a friend of mine. I'd always been fascinated with intricate tones and I think that was the day I set off for a later musical course in electronic music. I soon got a keyboard of my own, and later on a few synths of different types. I can remember myself throughout the 80s programming new sounds into my synths and composing electropop music. In the early 90s I studied sound engineering and, in course, I worked as an engineer in various studios and live performances. For the last five years I’ve been taking guitar lessons (which has always been I childhood dream) as well as the bass. A year and a half ago I set up Soulincident, my record label.

2. Was music a childhood dream?
(Despina) It was AND is… the dream that still keeps us kids.

(George) It definitely was, and I’ll go along with Despina on this. In my view, it's very positive for somebody to have dreams, or to put it differently, to have ambitions. And, in truth, this is what keeps us young. For me, of course, the word "dream" represents what I imagine I will be able to accomplish, without necessarily having the essential qualifications or knowledge for such accomplishments. That is, something like an initial spark, the trigger for a course to begin. What I think is more important, though, is hard work for the accomplishment of your ambition during your course. Otherwise, the dreams remain dreams, or even worse, to have a word on our trade, sometimes the dreams of an ambitious artist - look it up under "reality TV games" - wishing on his fast and unconditional recognition from the general public, may become a nightmare for us rest.

3. What crossroads have you crossed?
(Despina) Various… Different… but to me all the same! It was all music! And it was all "us".

(George) From 1987 to 1994 I was in an electropop band called X-Beat with a very good friend of mine, Marinos Dimitratos. Since 1994 I've been working with Despina.

4. What music did you use to listen to and what do you listen to now?
(George) The kinds of music I'm mostly into are Funk, Soul, Rock old and new, psychedelic Rock, fusion Jazz, but, as ordinary as it may seem, I honestly listen to almost everything that goes with my mood. There are, however, certain criteria in my choice. The most basic is that, in order that something should please me, it has to be not too foreseeable. I get irritated, however, to listen to a contemporary production and identify elements on loan from older tunes, which have, in truth, been used more effectively in the past. To put it more blunt, I generally get irritated to be passed on something as new idea when it's been better performed, let's say, 30 years before and the "old" version sounds fresher.

5. How did Esimon Imar come about?
(George) Esimon Imar is the outcome of our last-five-year musical experimentation.

6. What causes you to write a tune?
(Despina) Everything! Life itself…the moments that touch us nicely…badly…!

7. The songs in your cd album do remind of Greek-speaking Café del Mar, don’t you think?
(Despina) I like that. I miss a Greek-speaking Café del Mar. It gives me the wits.

8. What audience are you addressing?
(Despina) I couldn’t classify! To any person who can find something in our sound, lyrics…I like to think of our music as a wave…free to be felt by whomever! Could you ever ban somebody from listening just because you think they don’t belong in your audience? Not I!

9.What’s your opinion of Greek music nowadays?
(Despina) Umm… it's hard to tell! Few things are hopeful. Thank god these suffice!

(George) Shall I assume you're referring to the Hellenic underground music we listen to, written by young talented guys as well as older guys, those who would hardly be accepted by a Multinational Record Label, who write their own songs and whom we listen to unexpectedly in various short live performances? That "Greek" music is more than something to me, and I wish the work-efforts of all those emerging artists, which are in "Lost and Found" , would eventually find the audience and the recognition they deserve.

10. What would you advise that someone who'd want to get his hands on record production should do?
(Despina) You can have a word with Mr, Gogas about that (smiling)! If you allow me, rather than advice, I'd like to make a wish. That they imagine themselves at the finishing point of their career, when they will probably be making a personal evaluation of their work. I hope that they will be able to claim at that time that what they gave their audience was the best they could do.

11. A big Label or an independent one?
(George) Definitely an independent one, ...cause, like the proverb says, if you don't praise your home... (smiling)

12. May I ask about free distribution of songs on the Internet?
(George) Well, there are two schools of thought on this. The first one argues that music should be distributed for free, like, for instance, open source applications, and that musicians should be paid in live performances. Sounds good, but I think it’s hard to substantiate, particularly in small countries like Greece. For those who are unaware, musicians performing small live concerts e.g. in bars, clubs, municipal concerts etc can't sustain a living out of their salaries for the reason that, on the one hand salaries are too low, on the other hand, concerts are rare. It’s only the pop* repertoire clubs that can sustain a living, and that goes only for full time professional musicians. But this kind of systematic occupation, as far as I know, doesn't at all concern most independent scene musicians. The second school argues that the free distribution of music is piracy, which kills music. Legally speaking, it goes. But consumer opposition has a logical, in my view argument that this phenomenon is due to high prices, and it demands that prices should fall to more affordable levels, so that music is available to all. My personal view as a member of Esimon Imar, but also as a representative of Soulincident is that we will always try to keep prices at the most affordable levels possible and that we trust our audience will understand, that, in order for us to go on to exist in the future as a record label, we should receive a basic financial apart from moral support for the work produced.

* Native pop music in Greece is Hellenic traditional bouzouki music arranged with modern sounds.

13. Should we be expecting live performances some time?
(George) Possibly this coming Fall, after the circulation of our LP, because for the moment all my energy and time are devoted to Soulincident.

14. What's your opinion of the music scenes of Athens?
(George) There are various levels. Some are good, some not so good. For one thing, as independent musicians we need more music scenes but also a wider audience. For better or for worse, the information pie has been cut, with pop music having the lion's share. As a muisician, I’d desire more diversity in the media so that the audience could be informed and familiarized with all kinds of music in order that they more frequently attend the smaller music scenes bearing alternative repertoire.

15. What else should we be expecting of you then?
(George) After our LP is out, we will be experimenting with other musical styles, and, what comes up will constitute the material of our new project. We are not in a hurry, however. We want whatever we bring out to have ripened inside so that we are confident that it has been the best we could possibly have given to our audience at that given moment. Bearing always our capabilities as creators and performers. One of the advantages of our independent label is that we are not under pressure of having to be productive. We bring out a project only if it’s worth listening to.

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