BiB: EVANGELIA – From Special Ed Teacher to Greek Pop Sensation

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Why, hello, it is Adam. Welcome back to Bringing It Backwards

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Podcasts, where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal

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stories of how they achieve stardom. On this episode,

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we had a chance to hang out with Evangelia over

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Zoom Video. Evangelia was born in New Jersey,

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but raised between Jersey and Crete

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in Greece. So she'd spend nine months out of

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the year in the United States and then three months on on her

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grandmother's farm in Greece. And she talks to us

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about how she got into music. Always loved singing. She said in

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third grade, her picture under her picture in the yearbook, it said what you

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wanted to be, and she wrote singer. So she always loved music. She was a

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soccer player. When she tore her acl, that's when she started to learn how to

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play guitar and write songs. She actually went to college, though, to be a

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teacher. She was a special ed teacher. Always

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involved in music. Would run the open mic nights and would

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teach, you know, during the day and, and, and write songs and play music at

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night. She was in a band. She talked about that a little bit. When she

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had gotten laid off due to budget cuts in 2018, she knew that was

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her moment to try to give music her all

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100%. She talked about that moment. She talked about meeting her

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now partner and boyfriend collaborator, and the two of them

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together created this sound of, you know, pop music

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and implementing all of these original

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Greek instruments and sounds. And she

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even speaks Greek in her songs. And having this kind of idea beforehand

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when meeting with producers, they just didn't understand it. They're like, this isn't going to

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work. This isn't going to work. And when she decided to go for it no

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matter what, that's when stuff started happening for her. She talked about the massive success

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of her song F. We hear about the tour she's on currently

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and all about the brand new song called Mikonos. You can watch

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our interview with Evangelia on our Facebook page and YouTube channel at

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bringing it backwards. It would be amazing if you subscribe to our channel

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and like this on Facebook and follow us on Instagram

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With Evangelia,

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Bringing it backwards,

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bringing it backward, bringing it backward,

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bringing it backward, bringing it backward,

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bringing it back.

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Well, this is about you and your journey in music, and we'll talk

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about the new song. And I know you what played last night,

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right? You have a. You're on tour currently. Crazy.

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Yeah, I'm on tour all over Greece right now. I did the

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Feels like Greek Summer tour in the US and now it's like the real

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Greek Summer tour, and it's been a lot of fun.

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And today's a day off, and I'm

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talking to you from the island of Thinos, Greece,

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which. Wow. I just came from Mykonos. I took a boat from

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Mykonos to get here, and I'm meeting some friends,

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but I got. Amazing.

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Yeah, I was looking at your Instagram story. You were on a beach yesterday, too,

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I believe. Yes. Yeah, I was on. We played this really

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awesome beach club on the island of iOS. So what's

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sick about that is during soundcheck, while

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the, you know, the band takes a while, the drums alone, it's like a full

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half hour. Just chill. Just chill at the

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pool overlooking the beach. It was pretty great.

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Amazing. That is so amazing. Well, again, I appreciate you doing this, and

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thanks for taking some time out of your day off to.

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To hang with me. Thank you.

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Yeah. So I. You. I did read

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you. You were born and raised. Were you. Were you born in the States

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and then raised in Greece or kind of? Tell me about

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your. Your upbringing.

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I was born in New Jersey, and

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a month later, my parents took me over to the island of

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Crete to meet my family in Greece. My dad's from Crete. My

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mom's Italian American, and my dad came to the States in

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his, like, 30s, so his whole immediate family is still in

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Crete. And my grandmother's no longer alive,

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but we. I used to go there every summer and spend

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summers on the farm with my. Yeah. Yeah, as we

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say. And I was named after her and everything. So I was,

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like, raised both in the States

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and both in Greece at the.

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In a way. Like, I spent three. I spent three months of

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my entire, like, life

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in Greece every year. Wow. Okay, so

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you'd. Yeah, so it was. You'd go to Greece for. Yeah, three months

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at a time and then come back to the States for, what, like, school and

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everything? And then you go through summer school. Early and

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start school late. Oh, nice.

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Just to be in Greece. But, yeah, it was really, really

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Special to. And like, a lot of kids

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would get to go to camp. Like, for me it was like camp was

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going to yeah's farm and,

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you know, hanging out with her, working on the

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sheep, tending to the sheep, the goats, the chickens,

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the olive trees, like, really, really nice.

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And we lived right near a beach town called

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Palo Hora, which is where I'm from. So then we go to the beach and

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I have my friends and it's just.

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Was really, really lovely and special to get the

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opportunity to have that be my, like, normal.

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It was amazing. Yeah. That is so cool. Like, at what age or did

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you end up just staying in Greece at one point or another? Or were you

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like, say after high school or after you're kind of like having

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to go to, you know, school in this space or whatever? Yeah,

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well, what's not even in college,

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I still go to Greece in the summers and now

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I try to come as much as. As much as I can. Well, now with

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my music career kind of picking up on

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both sides of the world, it's been. Had a good

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reason to come to come to Greece. And I also

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have usually always only spent time in Crete because that's

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where my family was. And any time away from Crete meant time away from my

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family, which was like, limited since I lived in.

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But now with this tour that I'm doing,

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I'm getting to see all these new places in Greece that I've.

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I've never been to, even though I've been coming to Greece my whole

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life. So it's been really cool to get to like island hop

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and explore these different places from like the north to the

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south to random islands. It's been so, so cool.

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That is amazing. I love the fact you have such big, you know, you have

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like radio, records and big hits in Greece. I mean, that must be such a

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cool thing for, you know, your family that's there all

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the time to like, see like. Oh my gosh, my, you know, my niece or

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my granddaughter is like on the radio here in, in Greece.

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It's wild. Yeah, no, it's super cool. It's, it's. It's

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particularly cute when I'm on like tv.

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I do a lot of like, live interviews here and they all

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tune in and I

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like, say and hey to my family and I know they're

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watching. And then afterward I think. What do you think?

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It's quite so awesome. That is so awesome.

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Yeah. Well, how did you get into music? Do you come from a

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musical household? A creative family?

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Creative family for sure. My mom sings, but more

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like jazz, show tunes stuff is her

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vibe. My dad wasn't really in music, but his family, like,

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my. My aunt's also quite wholesome. My dad's

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sister, and, like, her kids, they all were in, like, the town choir.

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How cute is that? That is pretty cute. I know the

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love of the town. Has a choir that's. Yeah, exactly.

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Choir. And my cousins play the traditional

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instruments. And my dad was

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the cultural chairperson of the Pan Cretan

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association of America, which meant that he was in charge of

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bringing all sorts of

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musical theatrical arts

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events from the island of Crete to

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America and, like, and everything.

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So a lot of these traditional musicians would come

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through our home and, like, you know, we always cooked for them

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and, like, hung out with them and everything. So I just really grew up around

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this rich appreciation for my culture and

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where I come from, and so really

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loving, like, traditional Greek music, but then also being, like, a

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kid in America and, you know, having my mom listening to jazz

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records and everything like that. But then also, like, Britney Spears

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and NSYNC and Backstreet Boy, everything. That was

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everything at that time. So

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I always dreamt of becoming a singer. And even in, like, my

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third grade yearbook, there's just, like, picture where it's little

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me with my buck teeth, and we wrote, like, what we want to be when

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we grow up. And I wrote singer. And I always. If I

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have a hard day or, you know, big milestone

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moments, I always, like, look back at that picture to remind

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me. But, yeah, I always loved

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it. But I also, you know, grew up in an immigrant

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household where doing music

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is not particularly encouraged as a career choice.

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Not the most stable, one might say. Right.

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So I. I studied and became

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a teacher, which is the only other thing I like, truly, if I wasn't

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doing this pop star singer thing.

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Like, I love being in the classroom and teaching, and I got

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my master's in special ed, and I taught for three years. And

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by day teaching. Yeah. And even at. I went

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to Rutgers in Jersey. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I'd,

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like, host the open mic nights. I'd be like, everybody thought I was in the

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music school, but I was not. Like, I taught. It's

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in social studies. So, like, it was just not.

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She's better at this than us, and we're in the program, like, what's going on?

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So I just always loved the community of, like, music and bringing people together

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and open mic nights and. And. And all of that and, like,

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networking, going to New York. So when I was a teacher, I was, like, teaching

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by Day. And by night, I was running around New York City and Brooklyn.

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Like, I would come back to work the next day and, like, the teachers that

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were in the know about my double life would, like, see my Instagram story and

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be like, girl, you were in Brooklyn, like, four hours

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ago. How are you here right now? You know?

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Wow. And then there were budget cuts in the school district,

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which is messed up on the government,

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and we. And they cut all the non tenured teachers, including

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myself, teachers. Like, we lost our jobs.

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And for me, though, it was this moment of, like,

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I always, like, deep down, I always wondered, like, what if I could give it

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100%? Like, what if I could give music

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100% of my time and, like, 100%, like, true

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try. But

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it would have been hard to leave the safety net and to, like, quit my

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job. But this kind of gave me the opportunity to not choose

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to leave, but to, like, open the door and show me

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a way out in a sense, and to not have to look for another job

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for a minute. So that's kind of.

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Wow. Well, yeah, so it sounds like, yeah, it's like, yeah,

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00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:31,560
the universe is like, yeah, you're supposed to be a singer, so we're going to

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kind of push you out of this career path that you're currently in.

247
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So then we'll give you a moment here to focus and you can understand that

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this is really what you need to be doing. Exactly. Wow. You really,

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like a. Like a universe. A universe moment.

250
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Definitely. What. What

251
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it was that. What year was that? Was that recent? Ish.

252
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2018 June.

253
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Yeah, that was 2018 June at the end of the.

254
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The 2018 school year. And then.

255
00:16:06,130 --> 00:16:09,970
I know. I feel like with COVID though, we lost, like,

256
00:16:10,210 --> 00:16:13,330
two and a half years. Yeah. Easily. Sure.

257
00:16:15,470 --> 00:16:19,270
So it's like, long ago, but I'm like, guys, wait. It really wasn't that long

258
00:16:19,270 --> 00:16:23,110
ago. Right. Yeah. I mean, just to get before all

259
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that. I mean, that's. That's so crazy to think. And the fact that you were

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doing special ed. Were you teaching special ed? Yeah, I was teaching special

261
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ed. That's amazing. My mom was a special ed teacher, so that's

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so cool. Respect. Teachers. Teachers are

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very, very special humans, and the world needs to appreciate them

264
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more. Is what I 100 I 100

265
00:16:46,670 --> 00:16:50,350
with your music. So, like, you. You were

266
00:16:50,350 --> 00:16:54,190
just. It was kind of just a hobby or something you enjoyed doing, but

267
00:16:54,270 --> 00:16:57,550
through high school, grade school, all of that, and then

268
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once you got to college, you just. You're like, you know, I want to be

269
00:17:01,870 --> 00:17:05,590
a teacher because you were talking about how music really wasn't sought

270
00:17:05,590 --> 00:17:08,750
to as, like, you know, you're gonna go do this, and this is going to

271
00:17:08,750 --> 00:17:12,330
be your career path. Yeah. Were you writing songs and

272
00:17:12,330 --> 00:17:15,650
stuff at that point or playing in a band or anything like that?

273
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I was writing songs towards the end of high school

274
00:17:20,450 --> 00:17:23,970
is when I, like, really picked up because I actually. Soccer was, like, my first

275
00:17:23,970 --> 00:17:27,690
love, and I used to. It used to be, like, all my

276
00:17:27,690 --> 00:17:31,170
time was spent on that. Then I tore my ACL when I was 16,

277
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and I had a lot of time on my hands not

278
00:17:35,050 --> 00:17:38,850
being able to play soccer. And so that's when I started learning, like, ukulele

279
00:17:38,930 --> 00:17:42,550
and guitar on, like, YouTube, just, like, in bed, because I had nothing

280
00:17:42,550 --> 00:17:45,550
else to do. And, like, really, really

281
00:17:46,270 --> 00:17:50,070
loving that. And I got into, actually, Ingrid Michaelson, and

282
00:17:50,070 --> 00:17:53,830
I loved at the time, like, her albums that came out

283
00:17:53,830 --> 00:17:57,550
was, like, really simple, like, just an instrument

284
00:17:57,550 --> 00:18:00,790
and her voice. And that was very inspiring for me at the time because I

285
00:18:00,790 --> 00:18:04,030
had an instrument and my voice, so I was like, I can write a song,

286
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you know. So it was really. That was really

287
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inspiring for me. And then when I went into college, I did open

288
00:18:11,170 --> 00:18:14,690
mic nights and write and perform by myself. But then I also started

289
00:18:14,690 --> 00:18:18,450
this blues band, and it was me, this

290
00:18:18,450 --> 00:18:22,170
other girl singing, like, harmonies and

291
00:18:22,170 --> 00:18:25,810
sometimes leads. We had another. A guy on

292
00:18:25,810 --> 00:18:29,570
acoustic guitar and a trumpet, and it was so much fun. And

293
00:18:29,570 --> 00:18:33,330
we played, like, basement shows at Rutgers, and I got a lot of

294
00:18:33,330 --> 00:18:36,820
experience from that, and

295
00:18:38,020 --> 00:18:41,820
it was a lot of fun and a whole other part of my life,

296
00:18:41,820 --> 00:18:45,140
but it was, like, bluegrassy kind of fun vibe

297
00:18:45,620 --> 00:18:49,260
and then. Yeah, but I always, like.

298
00:18:49,260 --> 00:18:52,820
I always love pop music and, like,

299
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Latin music and then the traditional Greek. And I'm very much, like. I love to

300
00:18:56,540 --> 00:19:00,100
go out and, like, party and dance all

301
00:19:00,100 --> 00:19:03,780
night long and couldn't quite, like, create

302
00:19:03,780 --> 00:19:06,900
the music that I was hearing in my head. Like, I didn't have the capabilities

303
00:19:06,980 --> 00:19:10,170
to do it. And then,

304
00:19:11,770 --> 00:19:15,290
especially in Greece, by the way, the partying here is out of this world. Have

305
00:19:15,290 --> 00:19:18,930
you been to Greece? Yeah, I have not. And my. My mom is Greek,

306
00:19:18,930 --> 00:19:19,850
and I've never been.

307
00:19:23,290 --> 00:19:27,130
I'm sorry. Or

308
00:19:27,530 --> 00:19:31,290
at least quarter. Yeah, full quarter. All right.

309
00:19:31,530 --> 00:19:35,330
Well, yeah, my mom, like, she watches, like,

310
00:19:35,330 --> 00:19:39,110
would watch, like, the Big Fat Greek Wedding, all that stuff, and that was

311
00:19:39,110 --> 00:19:42,870
just, like. That was, like, her life. Like, she just. Yeah, pretty. Well,

312
00:19:42,870 --> 00:19:46,430
I can't. I can't remember where in Greek she's told me, like, 15

313
00:19:46,590 --> 00:19:47,870
times. And I'm just, like.

314
00:19:50,190 --> 00:19:53,630
Trying to come reconnect with your Roots. Because it's.

315
00:19:54,510 --> 00:19:58,070
They're very delicious. Okay. The food's really, really good.

316
00:19:58,070 --> 00:20:01,710
Yeah, I see it's beautiful there too. And it's

317
00:20:01,710 --> 00:20:05,230
beautiful. And yeah, like the, like literally last

318
00:20:05,230 --> 00:20:08,960
night we went out after the show. The show ended

319
00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:12,280
at like 2am and then us and the band went. Went out

320
00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:16,240
and got to this bar at like 2am and it was still not full.

321
00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:20,040
And it got full around 4am and we were there. Oh my gosh.

322
00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:26,120
Like, why are you leaving? Like, you literally stay out till the sun comes

323
00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:29,800
up here. It's like, it's all. It's a whole. Like, people say New York City

324
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:33,650
never sleeps. Like, no, the entire country. He does

325
00:20:33,650 --> 00:20:36,970
not sleep and partying.

326
00:20:37,370 --> 00:20:40,810
That's amazing. Your music. It definitely has that vibe of like

327
00:20:41,130 --> 00:20:44,970
this. This is a song you could that will be rocking at the club at,

328
00:20:44,970 --> 00:20:48,650
you know, three in the morning and people are just like, dance.

329
00:20:48,650 --> 00:20:51,850
And so basically a couple months after I

330
00:20:54,090 --> 00:20:57,370
decided to go full force into music and I was like in New York, like

331
00:20:57,370 --> 00:21:00,550
networking, doing everything I could. I met

332
00:21:01,750 --> 00:21:03,750
Jay Stolar, who's my

333
00:21:05,430 --> 00:21:09,110
boyfriend and life partner, but now also full on

334
00:21:09,110 --> 00:21:12,790
creative partner. All the music and everything we've done from

335
00:21:12,790 --> 00:21:16,310
the start. And it was the first time that I.

336
00:21:16,550 --> 00:21:20,270
Cause I had the idea of like blending like the elements

337
00:21:20,270 --> 00:21:22,790
and creating something a little more dance. And

338
00:21:23,910 --> 00:21:27,350
I don't want to say ethnic, but like really taking in my roots

339
00:21:28,740 --> 00:21:32,380
in the music. And a lot of producers at the time were

340
00:21:32,380 --> 00:21:36,100
like, I don't know about that or

341
00:21:36,100 --> 00:21:39,940
I don't know about using Greek or like, don't think that's cool.

342
00:21:40,180 --> 00:21:44,020
But Jay was the first person that like got it because

343
00:21:44,020 --> 00:21:47,620
he also knew me so well and was like, dude, you're

344
00:21:47,620 --> 00:21:51,300
like calling, you're always speaking Greek, talking about Greek,

345
00:21:51,300 --> 00:21:54,980
dancing, you like love, like, it's just so

346
00:21:56,230 --> 00:22:00,070
deeply an important part of who you are.

347
00:22:00,790 --> 00:22:04,510
So now that I was focusing on music, like for

348
00:22:04,510 --> 00:22:08,190
real, where it's not just an after school activity, it's

349
00:22:08,190 --> 00:22:12,030
like we're like, we gotta pick our lane

350
00:22:12,030 --> 00:22:15,390
and like explore that and you know,

351
00:22:15,390 --> 00:22:19,030
experiment and mine and create. And so

352
00:22:19,750 --> 00:22:23,490
it was the first time that I felt

353
00:22:23,490 --> 00:22:26,530
like, oh man, this really feels

354
00:22:27,250 --> 00:22:30,610
finally like truly who I am

355
00:22:31,010 --> 00:22:33,890
and what I want to

356
00:22:34,850 --> 00:22:38,210
share with the world. And it's been really, really cool to get to

357
00:22:38,210 --> 00:22:42,010
incorporate my culture and like my language and

358
00:22:42,010 --> 00:22:45,810
some of the instruments and in all different ways, like each song is. Not

359
00:22:45,810 --> 00:22:48,610
every song has as much Greek as the other or,

360
00:22:50,570 --> 00:22:54,250
you know, it's different instruments, but it's been really, really cool.

361
00:22:54,730 --> 00:22:58,490
And very special for me to reconnect with my culture in that way.

362
00:22:58,490 --> 00:23:02,250
Like, it's brought me closer, even closer to my dad, who didn't want me

363
00:23:02,250 --> 00:23:05,930
to do music at first. He, like, gives me, like, sends me old Greek

364
00:23:05,930 --> 00:23:09,210
songs and stuff to inspire me, and it's really cute.

365
00:23:09,690 --> 00:23:13,490
It's really cute. I love that. I was gonna ask you, but, I mean,

366
00:23:13,490 --> 00:23:17,100
you answered the question. Meeting, you know, your partner.

367
00:23:17,820 --> 00:23:21,060
But if. Because you were talking about having your dad would bring

368
00:23:21,060 --> 00:23:24,820
acts from Greece to the States and artists, and

369
00:23:24,820 --> 00:23:26,980
they would come through your house and stay with you all. I didn't know if

370
00:23:26,980 --> 00:23:30,460
that was part of, like, what played a real big role in your songwriting early

371
00:23:30,460 --> 00:23:34,300
on, but it sounds like it was always there. But,

372
00:23:34,540 --> 00:23:38,060
you know, this just kind of came together

373
00:23:38,700 --> 00:23:42,370
once you. You both got together to write music together. Yeah,

374
00:23:42,370 --> 00:23:46,050
like, it was always there, like, for me, I was always so passionate about, like,

375
00:23:46,290 --> 00:23:49,850
the tradition. You've seen, like, if you've seen my big fat freak

376
00:23:49,850 --> 00:23:52,930
whenever they're dancing in, like, a circle and. And stuff, like,

377
00:23:55,170 --> 00:23:58,890
are so deep in my blood. Like, I feel like I was reincarnated

378
00:23:58,890 --> 00:24:02,610
from, like, a long time ago, because since I was really, really little,

379
00:24:02,610 --> 00:24:04,850
like, I. I just, like,

380
00:24:06,130 --> 00:24:09,770
danced them. Like, I, like, knew the steps. Like, it was just like,

381
00:24:09,770 --> 00:24:13,280
that girl really likes this. It was just very

382
00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:15,840
evident. And.

383
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:21,320
Yeah, but I never quite knew. I never quite knew.

384
00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:25,040
And to be. And to also be on honest with you, those

385
00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:27,680
early on conversations that I had with people

386
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,840
kind of being like, I don't really know about this culture. It's like they weren't

387
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:35,480
ready yet. It was like, kind of like we were of the game. Like,

388
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,640
now I feel like today there's a lot more of an

389
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,200
appreciation of people bringing, you know, other backgrounds and

390
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,960
cultures into their music. But there was a time when that wasn't necessarily, like, the

391
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,960
cool thing to do. And,

392
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:54,000
yeah, I was almost afraid of, like, not being cool if I did

393
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,560
that. But then once I actually did

394
00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:01,320
incorporate. Incorporate it and go and do

395
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:05,120
it, that's when everything changed. And, like, I signed a

396
00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:08,960
record deal because of what we were doing and

397
00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:12,560
because I was. I was like, wow, all this time

398
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:16,800
and just had to be me. Isn't that wild

399
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,720
to think? I mean, I was just thinking about that. When you're talking, like, as

400
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,960
a young artist, you know, you're like, okay, I want to go into this.

401
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,080
I lost this job. I want to go into this full

402
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:30,760
100%. And then you have this idea, and people are

403
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:34,600
like, you know, that's not going to work. And you're

404
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,280
probably sitting there like, well, I guess maybe it's not going to work because,

405
00:25:39,970 --> 00:25:43,730
you know, being green to the whole thing at the time, you wouldn't know.

406
00:25:43,810 --> 00:25:47,610
And then when you're authentic, you. Then you decide you meet this other

407
00:25:47,610 --> 00:25:51,450
person, then you're 100 authentic to yourself and your roots. And it's

408
00:25:51,450 --> 00:25:55,290
like, it pops off as, like, the thing that worked out. It's like, I.

409
00:25:55,290 --> 00:25:58,890
It's crazy how that happens, right? Everyone's afraid to be himself,

410
00:25:58,890 --> 00:26:02,690
but when they are, it's like, it works. I feel like tick tock and

411
00:26:02,770 --> 00:26:06,570
everything you see there, it's like people that are

412
00:26:06,570 --> 00:26:09,890
authentic is the stuff that gets viral if somebody tries to

413
00:26:09,890 --> 00:26:13,170
recreate some other thing that somebody else has done,

414
00:26:13,490 --> 00:26:17,250
or if it's too polished and pretty or it

415
00:26:17,570 --> 00:26:20,770
doesn't resonate the same way. And I think people can just kind of see through

416
00:26:20,770 --> 00:26:24,210
the bullshit when it comes to, like, being authentic. Yeah,

417
00:26:25,010 --> 00:26:28,610
I. I fully agree. It's.

418
00:26:28,930 --> 00:26:32,350
It's kind of. Yeah, it was kind of a crazy thing when I had that

419
00:26:32,350 --> 00:26:36,030
realization. That's so. I was like, oh, I could, like,

420
00:26:36,030 --> 00:26:39,830
really, like, lean into it, you know, but they're like. I had friends

421
00:26:39,830 --> 00:26:42,870
be like, you know, you should greet. Like, you're literally like,

422
00:26:43,350 --> 00:26:47,150
you professionally Greek dance. Like, I would

423
00:26:47,150 --> 00:26:50,990
dance at, like, high level, like, dance groups or whatever. They're like, oh,

424
00:26:50,990 --> 00:26:54,630
that. So now, like, I started this, like, thing where I dance.

425
00:26:54,630 --> 00:26:58,360
There's this traditional dance pedo from my island, and it's

426
00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:02,160
actually traditional dance, but women now dance it too.

427
00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:05,320
But it's kind of like, I love it as a statement of, like, we're here,

428
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:08,320
it's 2024, and yes, I'm gonna dance fetos early.

429
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:12,160
And all these different places that

430
00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:16,160
I travel to, I dance

431
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:20,760
and, like, I pose like, dancing around the world. And it's been cool

432
00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:24,400
because I actually went to, for example, like,

433
00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:28,160
South Africa for a show where I opened for this amazing artist

434
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,020
named Costa D. He's Greek, and he had this big show in South Africa

435
00:27:32,020 --> 00:27:35,860
and he brought me to open for him. But, like, I posted

436
00:27:35,860 --> 00:27:39,340
that I was coming to South Africa and this,

437
00:27:39,500 --> 00:27:42,940
like, Greek dance group reached out to me that they wanted to do

438
00:27:43,100 --> 00:27:45,940
a video with me to dance, but those are with me. And I was like,

439
00:27:45,940 --> 00:27:47,980
let's do it. And so we met.

440
00:27:49,740 --> 00:27:52,300
We met up in the square and we

441
00:27:53,500 --> 00:27:57,140
choreographed and did, like, this Greek dance in South

442
00:27:57,140 --> 00:28:00,990
Africa. And it's just been like, such a cool. Such a cool thing.

443
00:28:00,990 --> 00:28:04,710
And I've had different people reach out to me or even like, at shows, just

444
00:28:04,710 --> 00:28:08,470
be like, hey, like, you help me get in touch with my culture, like,

445
00:28:08,470 --> 00:28:12,150
appreciate where I come from, or, like, want

446
00:28:12,150 --> 00:28:15,909
to learn my language or, you know,

447
00:28:15,909 --> 00:28:19,670
even people that are in Greek but come from immigrant families,

448
00:28:19,670 --> 00:28:23,350
you know, just wanting to get closer to where they come from. So

449
00:28:23,350 --> 00:28:26,640
it's been really special of it. And with,

450
00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,720
like, you know, you. You. You meet your partner and you

451
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,400
guys start writing songs. And then where do. Where do you see the first, like,

452
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:38,200
success of it? Like, working like, you're like, whoa. Like, of course. Of

453
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,120
course I should have done this. This. This is the sound, and this is what

454
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:44,480
we should have done. Yeah. In the studio.

455
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:48,400
The first one was my song,

456
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:53,260
which ended up being the first song we released. But I remember

457
00:28:53,740 --> 00:28:57,420
Corner, or, like, sitting in the room and

458
00:28:57,420 --> 00:29:00,140
I'm going, you got to figure out something Greek to say. I was like, all

459
00:29:00,140 --> 00:29:03,940
right, I'm going to go in a corner and just think. Because

460
00:29:03,940 --> 00:29:06,220
I wanted to think of, like, a word that is

461
00:29:07,580 --> 00:29:11,420
accessible to, like, the Western ear as well.

462
00:29:11,740 --> 00:29:15,540
And the word in Greek means let's go. And

463
00:29:15,540 --> 00:29:19,300
it's pretty easy to say. So it's like, like,

464
00:29:19,300 --> 00:29:22,500
let's go, let's go. Like, you say that, you know, Spanish songs were starting to

465
00:29:22,500 --> 00:29:26,260
come up at the time. Like, Valle, Valle Dale, Dale. Like, it

466
00:29:26,260 --> 00:29:29,020
just kind of worked. And

467
00:29:29,980 --> 00:29:33,820
once we just kind of added

468
00:29:33,820 --> 00:29:37,660
that in, it was just like. And then, like, the bouzuki came in.

469
00:29:37,660 --> 00:29:41,020
The bouziki is this traditional Greek instrument. And then the bouzouki came in, and we

470
00:29:41,020 --> 00:29:44,630
were like, oh, this is lit. This is

471
00:29:44,630 --> 00:29:48,350
lit. And it was like that

472
00:29:48,350 --> 00:29:52,070
demo and the demo for my song Diving were the two, like,

473
00:29:52,070 --> 00:29:54,870
demo versions of songs we sent over to

474
00:29:55,350 --> 00:29:58,070
Patrick at Sony

475
00:29:58,950 --> 00:30:02,710
Music Germany in Europe. And he just was,

476
00:30:02,870 --> 00:30:06,230
yep, I get it. And we were like,

477
00:30:06,870 --> 00:30:10,350
whoa, let's do this. Wow.

478
00:30:11,070 --> 00:30:14,590
Yeah. And then do those songs do well right away?

479
00:30:14,910 --> 00:30:16,350
Or like, like, what was.

480
00:30:18,750 --> 00:30:22,310
You know, I know you had, like, a huge viral

481
00:30:22,310 --> 00:30:26,070
moments on Tick Tock and stuff, right, with your songs. And, like,

482
00:30:26,070 --> 00:30:29,230
was that soon after that or. Or way down the line. Yeah.

483
00:30:30,110 --> 00:30:33,590
Was like the first demo or, like, literally when we were in the experimentation phase

484
00:30:33,590 --> 00:30:37,370
of, like, okay, this is lit. But then my song,

485
00:30:38,330 --> 00:30:42,090
where we incorporated, is all in English except for this one line,

486
00:30:43,930 --> 00:30:46,650
which means fire in your eyes. And

487
00:30:47,850 --> 00:30:51,690
it came out in English and with that

488
00:30:51,690 --> 00:30:55,410
one line. And then six months later, I'm in Greece to film

489
00:30:55,410 --> 00:30:59,210
a music video for another song, and I

490
00:30:59,210 --> 00:31:02,760
meet Eleni Ferreira, who is, like, the

491
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:06,440
biggest pop artist in the country of Greece. Slash.

492
00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:10,040
Very well Known in Europe in particular for

493
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,080
coming second place in the Eurovision Song Contest.

494
00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,800
So she's like, yeah. Like, they call her, like, the Queen of Europe. Like,

495
00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,880
she went like, I don't even know what

496
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:25,240
number. Platinum in Spain for the sun. Like, she's just kind of like

497
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,630
a queen. Summer. Yes. And she's like,

498
00:31:29,630 --> 00:31:32,950
nothing. And every summer when I come to Greece and, like, party all night long,

499
00:31:32,950 --> 00:31:36,390
there was always an Elaine song that was like, my song of the summer.

500
00:31:36,710 --> 00:31:40,430
Because they play. Play her in the clubs and she walks in the

501
00:31:40,430 --> 00:31:43,430
room as we're, like, brainstorming, singing my song, singing.

502
00:31:44,230 --> 00:31:47,910
And I was like, what the heck? This is crazy. And she sits down,

503
00:31:47,910 --> 00:31:51,630
she's like, I love this song. I heard it, like, came up. She's like,

504
00:31:51,630 --> 00:31:55,440
I heard this song. And I was like, I want this song. We gotta make

505
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,120
this song, basically. And she just, like, loved, like, what I

506
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:02,400
was doing and kind of looked into me in my background and she

507
00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:06,640
was like, we should do it as a duet in Greek and

508
00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:10,359
Spanish, because she also sings in Spanish for that

509
00:32:10,359 --> 00:32:14,040
audience, that song. And I always knew

510
00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:17,600
Fotia would be, like, my little, like,

511
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:21,240
sleeper hit in a way. And it's still, you know, I'm still, like, a

512
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:24,930
developing artist and growing, and so there's always, like, you

513
00:32:24,930 --> 00:32:27,570
know, immense room to grow with it. But for me, it was just like, oh,

514
00:32:27,570 --> 00:32:31,410
yeah, like, I know it's gonna. It just, like, is so good. It deserves its

515
00:32:31,410 --> 00:32:35,050
moment. And we did the duet

516
00:32:35,050 --> 00:32:38,050
and it was, like, number one on the radio for

517
00:32:39,970 --> 00:32:43,730
a very long time, for, like, over a year. And we, like,

518
00:32:43,730 --> 00:32:47,370
crazy. I did, like, my first TV performance with her. I was the first

519
00:32:47,370 --> 00:32:51,010
girl she's ever done a duet with. She's only ever collaborated,

520
00:32:51,690 --> 00:32:55,370
guys, so it was like a really, like, special thing

521
00:32:56,330 --> 00:32:59,690
over choreography and for her dancing. And it was like, my first time

522
00:32:59,690 --> 00:33:03,490
performing on tv and I had to, like, dance next to her, but I practiced

523
00:33:03,490 --> 00:33:05,930
really hard and she was super nice and really encouraging

524
00:33:07,290 --> 00:33:10,810
to me. But it just, like, that definitely

525
00:33:12,330 --> 00:33:16,130
changed. Changed everything. And,

526
00:33:16,130 --> 00:33:19,850
like, a little clip of me singing it, the English version,

527
00:33:19,850 --> 00:33:23,130
acoustic, like, went viral and stuff. And so, like. And then

528
00:33:23,830 --> 00:33:27,550
Deborah DeLuca, who's this amazing, like, techno DJ

529
00:33:27,550 --> 00:33:31,270
artist from Italy, like, her song on Tick Tock, and she. She

530
00:33:31,590 --> 00:33:34,550
made a remix of it and just DM'd me and was like, I want to

531
00:33:34,550 --> 00:33:37,950
put this out. What do you think? And I was like, hell, yeah. So, like,

532
00:33:37,950 --> 00:33:41,790
it's playing and it's just been cool because this

533
00:33:41,790 --> 00:33:45,230
is the. You know, and we just

534
00:33:45,230 --> 00:33:49,030
performed it actually, at times Square. She came to

535
00:33:49,030 --> 00:33:52,770
do, like, a surprise concert. And so I was singing my song,

536
00:33:53,330 --> 00:33:56,650
which has Bouzuki in it, and I was just like, look at this. Like, Bouzuki

537
00:33:56,650 --> 00:33:59,970
is, like, blasting, like, what an international

538
00:34:00,450 --> 00:34:04,250
crazy Square. Yeah. Oh, man. We got this Italian dj.

539
00:34:04,250 --> 00:34:08,050
It's techno. I'm singing up here. I'm singing in Greek and

540
00:34:08,050 --> 00:34:11,650
English, and then Bouzuki's, like, bumping. It was cool.

541
00:34:12,370 --> 00:34:16,050
That is amazing. And you recently put out a new. A new

542
00:34:16,050 --> 00:34:19,870
record, correct? Yes. Yes. Tell me

543
00:34:19,870 --> 00:34:23,190
about that song. And then I want to hear about what you have coming up,

544
00:34:23,190 --> 00:34:25,190
because I know you're. You're on tour, and I don't want to take too much

545
00:34:25,190 --> 00:34:28,350
time away from your. Your day off here. Good.

546
00:34:29,310 --> 00:34:33,150
So I just released a new song called Mikonos, which is

547
00:34:33,310 --> 00:34:37,150
about literally what I explained

548
00:34:37,150 --> 00:34:40,790
to you before that Greeks party all

549
00:34:40,790 --> 00:34:44,509
night long and just. It's like completely normal

550
00:34:44,509 --> 00:34:47,949
to show up somewhere at 4am

551
00:34:48,189 --> 00:34:51,949
and it is the best time

552
00:34:52,029 --> 00:34:55,429
to show up and just staying up and seeing the

553
00:34:55,429 --> 00:34:57,949
sunrise and kind of like a testament to

554
00:35:00,669 --> 00:35:04,509
my favorite. Some of my favorite nights out with my friends where we're just

555
00:35:04,509 --> 00:35:08,309
literally, like, dancing all night long until you see

556
00:35:08,309 --> 00:35:11,170
the sunrise and. And then you go to the beach and then you just, like,

557
00:35:11,570 --> 00:35:14,730
do it all. You sleep a little in the afternoon, and then you do it

558
00:35:14,730 --> 00:35:18,210
all over again. And Mykonos is the most famous island

559
00:35:18,290 --> 00:35:21,970
for this. For this party scene. And.

560
00:35:23,890 --> 00:35:27,650
And I. It's a. Mikono's is a special place and

561
00:35:27,650 --> 00:35:31,290
has this crazy energy of, like, everybody there is just ready to have

562
00:35:31,290 --> 00:35:33,970
a good time. And

563
00:35:35,070 --> 00:35:38,870
there's no. There's no sleep. There's no sleep in Mykonos. It's just. It's

564
00:35:38,870 --> 00:35:41,550
just having a good time. And

565
00:35:42,430 --> 00:35:46,270
that's. That's literally basically what the song is about. Just like, keep

566
00:35:46,270 --> 00:35:49,950
me up all night, like Mikono and just having a

567
00:35:49,950 --> 00:35:53,750
great time. And that's what I want when people to hear

568
00:35:53,750 --> 00:35:56,710
it, to just want to get up and like, dance and have a good time

569
00:35:56,710 --> 00:36:00,430
with their friends and hopefully associate it with some

570
00:36:00,430 --> 00:36:04,160
really good memories. Love it. Yeah. It's such a

571
00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:07,280
party song. I really, really like it.

572
00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:11,360
And I love the. The remix that you just put out too. That's cool

573
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:15,200
version too. And you have new. Other. I mean, that's new. But do you

574
00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:19,040
have other stuff on the way? Always have other stuff on the way.

575
00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:23,280
But we're kind of a bit of the. We're. We're in between

576
00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:27,200
some songs right now, and so we're. We're figuring

577
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:30,960
out we're figuring out what the next move is going to be. So right now,

578
00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:34,450
we're riding out this summer on. On Mykonos, and

579
00:36:34,610 --> 00:36:37,810
it's a summer jam. Exactly.

580
00:36:37,890 --> 00:36:40,530
Exactly. We're parting it up.

581
00:36:41,810 --> 00:36:45,170
Love it. Love it. Well, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much. I have

582
00:36:45,170 --> 00:36:48,010
one more question for you. I want to know if you have any advice for

583
00:36:48,010 --> 00:36:51,690
aspiring artists. Yes, I

584
00:36:51,690 --> 00:36:55,410
do have advice. I think big

585
00:36:55,410 --> 00:36:59,180
thing is to just do the art and to

586
00:36:59,180 --> 00:37:02,860
just, like, just do it

587
00:37:02,940 --> 00:37:06,620
and recognize that it's

588
00:37:06,620 --> 00:37:09,100
going to take a lot of.

589
00:37:11,020 --> 00:37:14,300
You just have to, like, create and create and create,

590
00:37:14,940 --> 00:37:18,660
because each thing you create, even though it might not be it or

591
00:37:18,660 --> 00:37:22,460
the thing that might, like, blow you up or whatever, it's, like, one

592
00:37:22,460 --> 00:37:25,200
step closer to whatever that thing is going to be.

593
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,320
And to not be afraid

594
00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,600
of being seen as

595
00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:36,880
cringy or whatever it is. Like,

596
00:37:38,240 --> 00:37:42,000
get over the embarrassment thing of, like, getting yourself out there and just,

597
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:45,840
like, do the art and post it on the Internet

598
00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:50,080
and just keep. And keep going and, like, networking. And you just

599
00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:53,190
really never know where your path is going to take you. Because I could not

600
00:37:53,190 --> 00:37:56,670
have guessed if somebody told me while I was teaching that I would be doing

601
00:37:56,670 --> 00:38:00,230
a podcast with you today from the island of Thanos. In between my,

602
00:38:00,230 --> 00:38:03,710
like, Greek summer tour with this, like, really

603
00:38:03,710 --> 00:38:07,310
amazing artist that I'm touring with right now, I'd be like, I mean,

604
00:38:07,310 --> 00:38:10,750
that sounds awesome, but, like,

605
00:38:10,750 --> 00:38:14,590
I'm. I just don't see how that's going to work. It's just like,

606
00:38:14,990 --> 00:38:18,710
just keep going and keep creating, and things

607
00:38:18,710 --> 00:38:20,510
start to fall into place.

608
00:38:27,110 --> 00:38:28,470
Bring it backwards,

609
00:38:32,310 --> 00:38:35,830
bring it backward, bring it backward,

610
00:38:35,990 --> 00:38:39,510
bring it backward, Bringing it backward,

611
00:38:39,670 --> 00:38:41,350
bringing it backward.