9+1 Q&A with Panos Birbas

What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

I suppose that the thing that inspired me initially into starting making music was listening to my father’s records as a child. Since a young age, I remember myself learning music and trying to become better at a musical instrument. As time went by, I started listening to more things, like the first albums of Leonard Cohen and the Velvet Underground. That was when I realised that the truth in music lies in storytelling. For the creation and incarnation of my latest project ‘’Dandelion’’, my wish was to express myself with the music I wrote mainly during the pandemic and quarantine era. That was a therapeutic procedure for me.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

The album ‘’Dandelion’’ contains 9 new songs, which are obviously informed by the music I love a lot, 60’s cinema music and music by beloved songwriters like Cohen, Waits, etc. These songs are enriched with orchestrations of strings and many wind (trumpets) and key instruments from the 60’s. What also stands out are the duets with three amazing female artists Rosey Blue, Lola Yannopoulou and Etten.

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

I would say that my main influences for writing music is true love, politics, society, death and the hope that children bring in this world.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

My music is mainly based on true emotion given with simplicity and clean vocal and instrumental interpretations. My main difference from today’s music is the simplicity and purity of the orchestration and the whole approach.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Three relatively desert islands that I have visited and loved are: Psara, Sikinos and Skinousa. Three books that I love are: ‘’Things fall apart’’ by Chinua Achebe, ‘’L’ estranger’’ by Albert Camus and ‘’Blindness’’ by Jose Saramango. Three beloved albums are: ‘’Songs Of Love And Hate’’ by Leonard Cohen, ‘’The Velvet Underground & Nico’’ by The Velvet Underground/Nico and ‘’Goodbye And Hello’’ by Tim Buckley.

Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

Even though I love working in the studio, there’s nothing like interacting with people. When there is true chemistry and reason for doing that, the feeling is incomparable.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

A funny incident that I can recall, is waiting for people to come to a venue for our live gig. Guess what? Nobody came! We ended up performing live an amazing set for the owner of the venue and the cleaning ladies that were present.

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

A really unique song in my latest album is the instrumental ‘’April’’. It was written the day my father left this world and it depicts a very special time of my life. I wrote it in his old accordion and my whole feeling of loss is in this song.

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

We are presenting live the release of my new album ‘’Dandelion’’ in the 12th of December, in the beautiful Gazarte Roof Stage. After the release show we plan on visiting more cities in Greece and abroad

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

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Curated by: Christos Doukakis

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