IOANNIS STERGIOU: “For the Road”

Guitarist / composer / producer Ioannis (John) Stergiou presents the single / music video “For the Road” taken by his new solo album entitled “Τo Laouto Tou Pappou” (Grandpa’s Lute). Out now and available to buy and stream from the artist’s bandcamp page and all streaming platforms.

Album’s concept with artist’s own words

”To Laouto tou Pappou” (Grandpa’s Lute) is a project that emerged as an idea in 2021 and was implemented in 2022 receiving a scholarship from GEMA within the framework of Neue Start Kultur.

This project is different from anything I’ve done so far mainly because of its emotional value and then because of the different musical approach I followed in it.

It’s all about the lute of my grandfather, my mother’s father, musician and craftsman of another era and culture.

His name was Alexios Fakos. He was born in 1925 in Marmara, Ioannina and learned clarino from his father Vassilios Fakos from Veltsista, Ioannina. In Marmara, in the village where we spent our summers during our childhood with our grandparents, we learned what it means to really live. Away from “civilization” and amenities. There we had the chance to live up close to ”Mastralexis”, who managed to create whatever he had in mind, from a small work of art to an entire building, despite the lack of means. There was nothing he could not do. As a musician of that time, however, he managed to create not only his own instruments (such as his formidable clarinets) but the tools he needed as well. He also made guitars and greel lutes. One of these instruments came into my hands a few years ago…

After my father’s death, I found at home the instruments he had left behind. One of them was this lute made by my grandfather many decades ago. It wasn’t in a good condition and needed a lot of care to recover. One of the best Greek luthiers, Takis Vergetis, took care of the instrument and brought it to its original form, exactly as Mastralexis made it decades ago. I thank the guitar “doctor” and my brother Markos Galantis for the advice and guidance. A big thank you goes to the other luthier and friend George Kesisoglou for taking care of the instrument here in Berlin.

After 8 months of restoration I received the instrument and started playing the first notes. The sound of it took me back to our childhood. A very special instrument with a unique sound of another era, that someone really needs strong hands to ”tame it”. This special sound combined with the feeling that it is my grandfather’s lute, automatically gave birth to melodies. In my spare time I played with it and wrote these melodies, clearly influenced by the memories of my childhood as well as later influences from my father and my musical experiences travelling and performing all over Greece. Simple melodies that were played on Greek scales, with the harmony oscillating between east and west. Rhythms alternating mainly by geographical and cultural criteria, connected either with the sound of the traditional way, we used to hear growing up, or having a more modern playful approach. Always trying though, not to lose the character and main purpose of the project.

As for the orchestration, it could have been done in many ways but I did not want to do anything pretentious. Each song has its own character. The whole process was spontaneous and wherever the music led me I followed. I preffered to catch the emotional vibe of each moment than trying to play perfect. As the melodies came out spontaneously, so they were written.

I think that if my grandfather had the chance to travel as much as I did, he would have clearly written a lot more than these melodies. Unfortunately, he did not make it. Holding his lute in my hands, however, felt like someone telling me what to play. Trying to explain how music comes from within us, most of the time, we could say that our inspiration comes from afar and we simply translate it into notes. When the melodies come out effortlessly, it ‘s like someone is dictating them to you.

Metaphysical or not, I just felt the need to record this instrument and honor ”Mastralexis” for his personality and greatness. He lived in an era that cannot be compared to the present day and as this was the case with many other notable but unknown heroes of the time, his recognition was trapped in the narrow limits of his village. So it’s now time for my grandfather’s lute to be heard by a wider audience.

Dedicated to Alexios Fakos (1925-1989).

(lyrics written for him)

Where there was joy and celebration,

There he was flying like the Eagle,

to play his Clarinet,

and make the feast grow

while singing and dancing,

we watched the night turning to day.”