Interview with Coti (Costantino Kiriakos)

The last work of Costantino Kiriakos, as Coti, is practically indispensable-worth checking every second. He is involved with electronic experimentalism since the 80s and has other projects that are also well worth conferred. I was very happy when he agreed to answer some questions:

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How did you first come to be involved in the Athens scene?

I was born in Milan, Italy, but I moved with my family to Athens when I was 5.
I began being interested in music quite late for a kid, around 15, and I started right away doing my own music. From there on it was a simple matter of playing and playing and meeting other musicians in the process.

What do you most appreciate about you as a musician?

I think what I most value is my openness to what music is.

You are very productive, so many releases in the last years. Do you sometimes have creative blocks?

Yes I have creative blocks, my way of avoiding them is to drop the project I was working on and move on to some other that might be more inspiring at the moment.

Can you please describe how Athens music scene is?

Athens at the moment is a very interesting place to be because of all the crisis happening here. There is a very large number of bands and other musical projects going on. These are very rough but interesting times at the same time.

How does Athens influence your music, the way you write, create?

I have to say that my music place is not Athens, probably to noisy for me to concentrate I mostly write in Tinos island where I have a little house.

How was Solesulsuolo recording session? Hard times, funny times, challenging times?

Solesulsuolo was written and recorded in Stockholm. I stayed in Sweden for a few months, checking whether I would like to live there (I didn't).
A good friend gave me access to his rehearsal place and so I went there to play with my new instrument I had just built, the Oniscus Harmonicus.
Times were quite hard on a personal level, but hiding in the studio playing and recording was great, also right next door there was the best pastry shop in Stockholm.

How are your live presentations?

I do not perform solo often, I play live mostly with Mohammad (a trio we have with Nikos Veliotis and ILIOS). Lately I started playing with my songs project, The Man from Managra.

What musicians are your medicines?

I think mostly songwriters like Lee Hazlewood , L.Cohen and Eno.

Do you still listen the musicians you were hearing when you got into music?

Sometimes I do, I was listening to the Go Betweens last week..

What are the mainly changes from “Onda” to “Solesulsuolo”?

Onda is recorded only with a double bass, and Solesulsuolo with the Oniscus.
Onda was written on a mediterranean Island in the summer, whereas Solesulsuolo was written in northern Europe, wishing I was on the island. So Solesulsuolo is much darker to me.

As an artist, do you think criticism is still relevant? Do you read it?

Yes I do read it, all musicians care about what other people think of their music, some just won't admit it. Of course a bad criticism can ruin your day, but its a risk you have to take.

How do other forms of arts influence your music?

I always think of music in a visual way. The moment I hear music I imagine lines, dots etc..

What projects are you involved right now?

We just released Zo Rél Do , Mohammad's fourth release (see www.mohammad.gr)
and we are arranging a small european tour for October.
Also with The Man From Managra (www.themanfrommmanagra.com) we are playing quite a few house concerts here in Athens, and I am also trying to see if I can somehow promote it outside of Greece.

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Official Website: http://www.cotik.com/index.htm