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Dimitris Sakkas is the man behind the awesome Memphidos’ project. The reason of this interview is double: Firstly, last month he released the excellent ‘Melody In The Mist’ and secondly he will play live at the 10 years of 33 Recordings’ event. But, even without these two reasons, his music since his debut ‘Dirty Sky’ is so evolving and cinematic, that every magazine/webzine that respects itself should give some space to this great artist. Ladies & gents, this is Memphidos… Never too late to discover!

Hi Dimitris, please introduce Memphidos’ project to our readers. How did you get involved with music-writing in the first place?

Hello! Memphidos is a project I created when I was 17 (now I am 31). I enjoyed listening electronic music all the time and that was the main reason I got involved with the music writing. When I made my first steps in electronic music, I was really intrigued to understand how this sound was produced. I remember that every week I went to a local store and looked all those synthesizers trying to experiment with the sounds.

In March, you released your excellent ‘Melody In The Mist’ album. Would you like to provide us with some info about your latest full-length. Is there a concept behind this one?

Melody In The Mist‘ is an album I had been working for 2 years, maybe more. The whole album consists of atmospheric and more cinematic tracks. I like to trigger emotions with my music. My main inspiration was atmospheric movies, such as “The Mist“, “Blade Runner” etc. The concept I had in mind when I was writing the tracks, was to make each one as a chapter of a movie. This continues with the names and the tracks’ order. The album is a story that begins with the first track and ends with the last.

It was exciting for me since it was something I had in mind for many years, to make some off beat cinematic tracks. The first track I wrote for this series was ‘Lost Bone‘ and it was released in WRONGPAD’s compilation.

One of the most additive tracks from ‘Melody In The Mist‘ is ‘It Is Near’. But what is this that is near anyway? Will you solve the puzzle for us?

Hehe. This track is indeed intense. It is a chapter of the story I mentioned before. Each person listens the album and creates a different personal story. Therefore for every individual  “it is near” means something different that continues his story. Maybe you can answer what is near for you…

Always wanted to ask you this one. Since I met you back in late 00’s! It is about ‘Old Man’s Regrets’ a track that magnetized me from its first second. After all these years I still feel addicted. The track features samples from a key scene by the awesome Paul Thomas Anderson’s flick “Magnolia”. Would you like to talk about this god-like inspiration?

I think this track was a milestone in my music journey. It was the track that made people acknowledge my music. The inspiration was definitely the movie. Such a wonderful movie with many emotions. I got inspired hearing the old man’s speech. I noticed that there was no music for the most of the speech. So I was wondering, what would be the best soundtrack for that speech. So I created that soundtrack!

How would you describe the local idm/electronica scene then? Which new acts should we take notice of? Do you believe that there are enough venues to host this productivity?

I always say to those asking this question, that the scene is big. Every year more and more artists come up. We have many noticeable artists. All 33 Recordings’ artists are a good start for someone who wants to take a journey to the indie electronic scene in Greece. Since I always looked for inspiration in indie, idm and electronic artists all over the world, discovering 33 Recordings was a real blast for me. So many good local artists with great music, some of them  (Miktek, Poordream, Mobthrow, Insom, etc.) with worldwide recognition. Becoming a member of this team is something I am proud of.

Unfortunately, in Greece we tend to admire foreign music artists and be very hesitant with local creations. Sadly, most venues, festivals, and organizers in Greece don’t support the local scene.

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What are you going to present on your 20th April live appearance, for the 10th anniversary of 33 Recordings?

For me, every live appearance is an opportunity to create new music, and I always want to present new and fresh music. So in this live I will present some new tracks-experiments I made. More uptempo techno stuff.

Which is your favourite studio & live equipment?

Tough question. I love my hardware. Every synth/sampler is unique. I could say that Korg ElecTribe EMX is my favorite studio and live equipment. The most of ‘Connected Minds‘ EP was created with this synth sequencer.

How do you combine your occupation (graphic designer) with Memphidos? Are you the one who takes care about the  video art for your live appearances?

I tend to have a holistic approach to my music creations and being able to design the visuals as well makes this approach possible. For me each track or album is a whole “world” I have envisioned in a certain way. In order to create the result I want, there is a process of writing and a lot of thinking and experimenting. As I already mentioned, I like to provoke emotions with my music and this extents to the visuals that accompanied the sounds.

WRONGPAD have several visual artists, including me, who are responsible for the visuals you can watch in our shows.

Which are your future goals regarding Memphidos?

After the ‘Melody In The Mist‘ album, I am making some music for my next album/ep. I don’t have anything finished yet, but the next release will be uptempo and more tech.

Photo credits: Constantinos Kapa

Christos Doukakis