Listen to the audio excerpt of the Interview:
SOTIRANEWS:
I would like to talk a little about your cooperation. How did it start, how does it continue and what will be the future course.
TINY:
The cooperation has started eleven years ago. In 2000 I discussed it with Christos, whom I met from the 2 amazing works he had done then with the Usual Suspects, where he had written the songs, a collaboration at the Concert Hall where I presented my songs, on the one hand with Charoula Alexiou who was my collaborator and on the other hand with the much younger colleague at the time, Christos Thivaios. Since then we have a very substantial relationship. There was a catalytic collaboration in 2002, eighty to ninety concerts that he also released and a record that in my opinion is one of the best I have ever released, the Hamlet of the Moon. This was followed in 2005 by his participation in the complete presentation of my songs in poetry by Nikos Kavvadias, which took place in six performances at the Concert Hall and then in major cities in Greece, I do not remember if we were in Cyprus then.
In 2009 we collaborated again at the Herodeion where two really great performances of the Southern Cross took place, and from 2010 until today, for almost two years, we did about 200 concerts in many forms. The first form was with a group, Christos and I, the next form is the one you will watch today, which we called "Music Practice for Three", with Christos, me and Thymios Papadopoulos, one of the best European wind players instruments and of course as soon as our collaboration was over, the last of which was at the Concert Hall, we started 10 big performances with the theme of Kavvadias again but in the form of a musical fairy tale, which gathered about 15 thousand people in Athens which was an exceptional phenomenon attendance but also in terms of participation. It is obvious, then, that with Christos, I personally have the closest relationship I have with other musicians, other songwriters or other singers and I will catch a possible question from you, why this is happening, to tell you that Thivaios, apart from being one of the most important Greek songwriters who followed my generation, is the only storyteller, I would say, here in Greece. It combines two things that are very difficult to find, not only in Greece and Cyprus, but also throughout Europe. It combines an element of art of the spirit, of the intellect and an element of art of "mud". When these two elements coexist, which is very difficult to find even in European musicians, then the mixture is catalytic and hence our collaboration. Now with the six concerts we have here in Cyprus, this cycle closes. We will possibly continue next year alone to find ourselves again in special projects that will be done but also in the future when another moment will arise to bring out one's explosive talent.
THEBAN:
Let me say on this that I want to thank Thanos after so many years because really the way I see the course of my life, it really contributed catalytically to being what I am and becoming what I became, that is, it was the cause, the occasion and the result Thanos. Apart from the fact that I consider him my best friend, he is also the greatest teacher I have ever had in my life in the sense that if Thanos did not exist, I could not explain, interpret and find what I finally did. So, the result, which you all applaud and has to do with me on stage, apart from the songs I wrote or am writing or my interpretation, that is a very small part of who I am. What finally stands in front of you as a stature of a performance, I owe to Thanos Mikroutsikos.
SOTIRANEWS:
2011 was a year of the indignant, as characterized by TIMES magazine that declared the anonymous indignant person of the year. There were waves of indignation in Africa, in the United Kingdom, in Cyprus with the tragedy in Marie but also in Greece with the indignant of the Constitution. Can song ultimately contribute to the formation of consciousness?
TINY:
No, art never came forward to change situations. Art simply contributes, and I say this historically, to the formation of a critical thinking of the citizen and the human being, which, when it exists, can change situations as well. Let us clarify this, because there are some colleagues now and in the past who thought that the revolution is made by writing a song or a movie. These can help shape critical thinking. You made a remark that I agree with, that is, that this year was the year of the indignant and in principle I consider it positive. And in Cyprus I said it because I had a disagreement at some point with the issue of Marie because I support President Christofias. Nevertheless, I made it clear that these are two different things, that is, I am in favor of the indignant ones who resent because this world we live in does not suit them. In Greece, for example, some people said: "Yes, but we did not see a request from the indignant." I tell them, "Forgive me too much, that's not the point." You can not expect the people who have already expressed their anger to have a political platform ready and other types of initiatives to be taken tomorrow morning. This is funny and let's talk about it! What I consider very important is that young children who see that they have no life in this world, where 40% of young people in Greece are unemployed and another 30% who go into production, come in with € 400 - € 500 per month . That is, they can only resent a world that looks bright but is not for them. This is unbelievable. Or even the labor veterans who paid for 40 years of stamps and now they are told "we cut this, we cut that" and we are talking about people with salaries of € 600, € 500, € 400, with obligations and no future. This thing that one sees, not so much in Cyprus, but in Greece and begins and sees in Portugal, Spain, Italy, is that the social fabric is disintegrating and the only solution in my opinion is to upset the world and to try in this situation to reconnect pieces from the lost "we". Once upon a time there was the "we", but then the heavy and barbaric capitalism, the one that shone and seduced many with its plastic and imaginary glow, began to dissolve the "we" and began to create small, medium and large "I" until and "superego" with the method of advertising and the media. It is time, it is the only opportunity of this incredible crisis that we live in Greece (and where Southern Europe lives but Europe in general will live, and to some extent America also lives) to reconstitute this "we". There is no other way.
THEBAN:
I of course agree with what Thanos said and it is also an opportunity to remember that every day we have to care about how this whole society works and not feel proud because we bought an expensive car or because we are having a good time. We must be aware of what is happening overall and socially because unemployment and food have started to work in Greece. There are meals not only in the church but also in the neighborhoods, in the world, in the shops outside…
TINY:
We are talking about 3-4 million people. And the other part, the other 4 million, are starting to squeeze. Which means that the "lower" 3 million will increase as the others start to squeeze. The number of unemployed and the poor will increase because the more the middle class is squeezed, the more jobs are lost and the phenomenon increases…
THEBAN:
And it does not work, nor does the market move. On what Thanos will explain it better and in more economical terms is the fact that when in the capitalism in which we live and for which many wrongly rejoiced with this false prosperity the mechanism that makes everything work is the following : the fact that profits are appropriated and debt and losses are socialized. This is the basic premise of the capitalism in which we live. That is why we are in this situation. And the question is where will our children live? There are businesses that close at all times. In Cyprus, this has also started timidly. This is of course a problem of an economic and political nature and that is why we must see that there will be a solution of a different level.
TINY:
I must say, however, that in Cyprus you are a little different. The issue is a little different. When there are hot events, like Marie's, you can hardly get the other person out of the moment and put his mind to work. I believe that the problem that Europe and Greece are going through is purely political. And it is purely political because the political decisions made were wrong. And they were taken to serve interests. I think that Christofias and AKEL certainly manage a capitalism (we do not have socialism) and this is the bravo to AKEL that for 25-30 years has not snubbed the possible like other parties of the Left in Europe that say they want another society and that they are not interested in her;
THEBAN:
Because I also lived in Italy for 12 years from 1982 to 1994, where the Partido Comunista Italiano (PCI) was in the middle, Enrico Berlinguer did something similar and it was wonderful that this work was happening.
TINY:
It is a matter of a political intervention with capitalism and I will tell you that the events in Marie were tragic, possibly by the Presidency as well. This is the first prisoner. On the other hand, if we get away and forget this for the time being, the fact that Christofias is currently managing this crisis, I am sure he is not managing it to the detriment of working people as is done in Greece, as is done in Italy, as is the case in Spain with the strange social democrats who are essentially neoliberal parties and who solve the crisis with what Thebes said before. That is, for capital, profits are privatized and losses are socialized. This happens. Because there were roads in Greece as well, so that the burden would not fall on the world and jobs would be opened and deficits would be covered by growth. You are also a bit lucky with the issue of gas that if a proper exploitation is made in one direction, Cyprus may not be one of the countries that will feel a big problem in the issue of the European crisis and I hope that the correlations in Germany and in France so as not to continue this incredibly harsh policy of cutting deficits in this way, which essentially means worker poverty even in the rich northern countries. Workers in Germany have 8 years to get a euro increase while Germany has a positive reserve!
SOTIRANEWS:
Going through the vinyl era, on cassette, on CD, on iTunes, in a digital world of music. Music has of course taken it to another level. People can download music illegally but for free through piracy but also legally buy individual songs one by one online. What's up; Does the music change? Is the future optimistic or pessimistic?
TINY:
The market is changing and it is very difficult in this period we live in, to set rules for this market. Because if rules could be set I would have no problem buying songs online, either one by one or many-many. Music, however, does not change because technology or distribution has changed. Music changes because the seasons change. The form of the song 100 years ago was different and now it is different. And this is because societies are changing. Form is a crystallized social experience. A social experience is crystallized for a period when things do not change. So the form and the song change because societies change. It does not change because it is distributed differently. Thanos Mikroutsikos is no longer difficult because on April 13, 2012 he turns 65 years old and has 67 different CDs. The cycle, even if some things remain to be continued, I have done. Thebes has reached the middle. Others are in the beginning. This way the distribution will never come out. And that is the pity. That is why the conscious young citizens who are light-hearted should think that the artists of their generation almost this process makes them unable to express themselves.
THEBAN:
It's very important, but there are also young people who do very special things in music. Do you have Lefteris Moumtzis in Cyprus, J. Kriste, if he is not given the opportunity to make a living from it, to make records, what will he do in the end? Will he work ten hours a day from elsewhere and do his art as an amateur? This is amateur. Why not give, say, Monika a chance to live her life as a songwriter and be able to give us samples of her work?
SOTIRANEWS:
In closing, Mr. Mikroutsike, let us refer to your Biography, which you were lucky enough to write for Odysseus Ioannou, as well as Odysseas Ioannou was lucky enough to write your own autobiography. You mentioned inside that "I would not become Minister of Culture again". Wouldn't Mikroutsikos become a Minister again if given the chance?
TINY:
I have proved this in practice. Because I have said it dozens of times since 1996, in public, in my big interviews, on TV, on the radio, in the newspapers. But some may not have believed me. But I was explaining it and I was even getting bored. In fact, my wife used to say to me: "oh my child, we consolidated it, you do not want to become". I told her that "you may have read 50 of my interviews, someone else is reading one or none, it does not mean that he wakes up in the morning and decides to open the 400 publications to see bass and Mikroutsikos says if he wants to become a minister. This thing does not happen. So I have been saying this since 1996 with arguments. And I denied it 2 times (to become a Minister again). So in practice I proved it. Of course there is no way I can do it again. First of all in music you can not go in and out whenever you smoke. I went out once and the Virgin Mary left me to come back again. The second reason is that the years go by. The time left is short even if I run out of all the flame from the candle. I have 4 children, 2 grandchildren, friends, associates, I want to live with them. The third is that when I was a minister and according to my colleague I did a very good job in some areas, ministers came after the same party and dissolved everything. And the fourth and most important reason is that after 1996, the social democratic parties throughout Europe and therefore in Greece ceased to have a progressive character and this was proved by the crisis.
SOTIRANEWS:
Would Christos Thivaios become a statesman?
THEBAN:
No, although I am politicized and I try every day to see my life through the prism of "us" and not "me" and to live in a set of citizens, no I would not be a politician. I would not become a politician because when I go on stage I have a step, my speech can be understood and passed to a lot of people and I can certainly think what I will say and do and pass to the world much more than if I were a government official in a state position.
SOTIRANEWS:
A message that you would like to leave in closing for Cyprus?
TINY:
There is a timeless message for Cyprus and the Cypriots, after 1974. But after 1989 it remained the only country in Europe that is torn in two. This huge national problem, for Cyprus to appear halfway, where in fact it is whole, is a huge problem, which must be solved at all costs, even with some "concessions". Because we have been seeing the Cyprus problem constantly decline since the 60s. At the same time, however, Cyprus must be on a European scale an example of a country where within the framework of this barbaric capitalism it is one of the most socially just. That is, sometimes they ask me if I am a leftist and I say yes. When I am asked what a leftist means I say that it is something very simple: I want a society where children around the world who are born have the same starting point and then let them end up where they want. This is impossible with capitalism. At least in this regard, Cyprus, I would like to go much fairer than other countries, including Greece. My wish is that they find the "we" again, to leave the political games here for a while, which of course does not mean that in a democratic society there must be an identification of views, because this is not right, nor should it be, but at least not decisions are made on the basis of political interests. They must seize the opportunity because politics wants cunning, they must seize this gas that fell like a mother from heaven because the next eight years, as long as the same political leaderships are maintained in the major European countries, will be very harsh. It must find Cyprus strengthened regardless of who is at the helm.
THEBAN:
The wish is: for this country that is torn in two, let all of us and especially you who live here try, because we may come and go but we are not here all the time, to look our children in the eye and act with the same respect the same courage and with the same power that the gaze of our children has. I would very much like to bring my children to study here. I would really like Cyprus to remain a European paradise, or at least because it is possible. My only hope and wish is Cyprus…
See snapshots from the rehearsals:
We thank Aloft Music Bar in Ayia Napa for the exclusive collaboration.
Editing / Interview: Marinos Pavlikkas