Translated by: George Vasilakis
1. How did you get involved in music?
There was a lot of music at home in my childhood. My father used to play the guitar and the accordion and my mother used to sing - both as amateurs. I can still bring back memories of them being entertained at parties by singing the hits of those times, mainly Greek ones, but also foreign ones. So it was like father like son. I had my first guitar lessons given by my father, and that was it!
2. What music did you use to listen to then, and what do you listen to now?
My first selections started off at the age of ten when I came across songs by Prisley, The Beatles, The Kings, The Rolling Stones etc. on the radio. I went on with rock sounds such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Yes etc., with rhythm and blues and rock fusion such as Allman brothers, Dooby Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steely Dan etc., but I was also touched by the dance feeling of soul, funk, disco and latin. Then I came across Jazz-Rock with Soft Machine, Weather Report, Return to Forever, Jean Luc Ponty, Frank Zappa etc. as well as the sounds of electric blues and jazz of John Mayall, Crusaders, Spyro Gyra etc. In this way, I started to marvel at the beauty of craftsmanship and improvisation in music, and that was what determined my further quests. Inevitably, then, I looked back in time in search of the diamonds of jazz and its great musicians. These days I still discover a lot of things from the main stream of jazz – it's a non-depleted source- but, at the same time, I listen to its modern streams as well as contemporary music streams such as new age and, generally, world music. (I don't like to put labels on things, but they serve a general classification). Of course, during my course I picked up samples of the treasures of classical music, which I still continue to unravel. And, lastly, as a Greek, I deeply value traditional and generally Hellenic ethnic music of our country and its virtuosos. As you get it, I am open and listen to anything, but this demands having a lot of time at hand- that’s my main problem.
3. Which do you consider to be more important, having an ear for music or being musically educated?
The foremost prerequisite is to have an ear for music, that is, to be talented. We ought not to forget that a lot of great pioneer musicians were the self-taught ones. That, of course, was a long time ago. Now that music is more complex and multi-layered, musical education is essential for the proper foundations of theoretical and technical qualifications to exist in a musician. Of course, musical education should be contemporary, not partial, so that the hatching musician is familiarized with all musical trends and than decide the direction to specialize on.
4. How did the title "Oppositions" come about?
The album Oppositions includes ten tracks which I have composed at different periods an under varying influence. What the tracks have in common is the existence of and interesting melody for a start, and then improvisation on its original structure. Those are the elements that classify the record in the area of jazz-fusion, that is, the blending of elements of jazz with elements of latin, funk, rock etc.
5.What does it mean ?
As I've already mentioned, the tracks of the record are varied in style, structure and orchestration, so the element of musical opposition pre-exists in the record. Apart from this, oppositions generally exist in our lives. We see them everywhere, and they succeed one another. The existence and alternation of oppositions in the world may be rare or constant, but inevitable. It may be beautiful, but also necessary. It was those musical and philosophical observations that made me entitle the record "Oppositions", but also to write a poem, which I had printed on the cover.
6. What causes you to write a melody?
Anything. Love, nature, society, personal experience, a poem or a work. The causes for my inspiration of a melody are numerous. Sometimes, though, inspiration comes out of nowhere, without my being able to determine what the cause was, which certainly exists, but exists on the back of my head.
7. What kind of audience listen to Mellow Mood?
To begin with, it makes sense that people who like jazz listen to us. But because our music always features a melodic basis and lively and contemporary grooves, and does not resort to specific atrocities and experimentations, we have concluded that it appeals to a much wider audience. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to claim that our music can trigger someone to begin to listen to jazz.
8. What can I find in your work as a group that I haven’t heard in that of another?
You’ll listen to music that harmoniously blends traditional jazz with modern jazz, a music that incorporates various groove forms and is based on beautiful melody lines with touches of Mediterranean taste as well as on interesting improvisational forms.
9. Tell me a few things about the band. Whom does it consist of?
We started out ten years ago, in 1995, playing occasionally in various music scenes and cultural events. We began to progressively enrich our repertoire and to improve our playing ability. Then, we ended up constantly performing once a week in music scenes in Athens and acquiring a small but warm audience. In this way, ten years later we had achieved our secret goal, that is, to bring out our first album, which includes our own tracks. The band includes the following members at the moment: George Marinakis - Accoustic and electric piano, Angelos Marinakis - Tenor Saxophone, Dimitris Bilias - Electric bass, Panayiotis Tziniolis - The Drums, Poupeta Lappa - Vocals.
10. What’s your opinion of the jazz scene in Greece?
The audience listening to jazz in our country as well as the music scenes that house this kind of music are slowly but steadily growing. The spread of jazz occurs primarily by its musicians themselves who admire the craftsmanship, its multi-faceted harmony and, most of all, its freedom of expression, but this value has begun to spread out to a wider audience.
11. What piece of advice would you give to some interested in dealing with bringing out records in Greece?
That would depend on their goal. If they wanted to hit the charts, I'd tell them to think twice about it. If, however, love towards this kind of music is their priority, and they avail at funding and promoting their own work, thus confronting the record labels' interests, then they ought not to hesitate.
12.What is your opinion of free distribution of music through the Internet?
If it’s done without the composer's consent, then I am strongly against it - it’s clearly theft. People need to understand that, if that theft goes on in any form, in a short time there wont be any actual composers. Since they won't be able to receive payment for their works, they won't have reasons or motives to continue to dedicate themselves to their works.
13. What should we expect of you in the short run or in the long run?
A lot of concerts this year and a record next year. The material for our new album already is already there but I’d like to try out a few melodic ideas and instrumentations as well as a few new collaborations with musicians. I'm planning on our going into the studio at the end of this year, and mid next year, with the Lord’s help, our next album will be out.
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