With his new work, he opens a “Window to infinity”, performing unique, anecdotal songs of the leading poet Alkis Alkaios, set to music by a worthy creator of the new generation, Manolis Androulidakis.
This complete musical work, where a poet, a composer and a performer meet, was also the reason for the conversation that follows. Approachable, friendly, direct, Yiannis Kotsiras does not act or feel like a star. He never loses his temper or his mind and that makes him even more endearing.
You stated that “Window to Infinity” is the record of your life…
Indeed, it is. This work is experiential in nature. It came to me completely karmically as a wish of Alkis Alkaios, but also because of the love that Manolis Androulidakis has for my voice. We took it by hand, note by note, we made it by hand. It has the aura of a completed work, as it used to be done with the great creators. He has it all. That’s why I feel it’s my life’s work.
Was it Alki Alkaiou’s desire to collaborate?
Yes, it was a wish he had expressed to Ilias Gerakis, his partner, and to Thanos Mikroutsikos. He wanted us to do a complete work, because I was among his favorite singers. It just never happened.
Is music a way to open a “Window to Infinity”? Are you worried about what you will leave behind?
I no longer have such metaphysical concerns. I had them before. The title “Window to infinity” expresses exactly the identity of this particular poet, who was a surrealist or even a surrealist. We open to the world a window to everything, the sky, the sea, the universe. The goal was for people to go out and travel like they used to, with music.
Does the public need this journey today?
We have a serious lack of music. Nice songs are written, but they don’t reach the audience. Television and radio have been flooded with pop and folk-pop, while artistic folk, rock music, folk have been left out. That’s why most artists have now focused on spreading their songs through live shows, which have gotten a lot stronger.
What accounts for this return of the public to live;
I would say that we artists also put our minds to it. Now we neither want to go to the very big shops nor seek the very big daily wages. This makes the programs very affordable. There was a period when the artists of the so-called “artistic folk” envied the glory of the department stores. This started in the 90s. Suddenly, from places like “Sfendona” of 700 people, we were thrown on the Holy Way to places of 2,000 or 3,000 people. We left the logic of music scenes and went to big stores. The sense of contact with the audience was lost. This lasted a few years. These shops operate with a different logic, different behavior, different requirements, different financial relationships. In the last few years, what Thanos Mikroutsikos said happened: we were re-introduced, we exchanged addresses again. We are back to normal.
Would you go to a big store today?
I can go to a big store and fill it up. I know, but I don’t want to do it anymore. Because people may come, but they won’t have a good time, so they won’t come again. But I want to keep in touch with my world and we all have a good time. In the music scene you are closer to the listeners.
You were never aloof or act like a star. Have you ever felt in danger of losing your temper?
These behaviors stem from personal insecurities. You want to pretend to be something other than who you are. This would suggest that I consider myself more important than others. I never had it. I didn’t grow up that way. In 1997 I had agoraphobia due to the great success of “Cigarette”, but then I balanced it out. This removal was not because I bought it, but out of fear. Besides, I’ve done all the work.
Shall I look inferior to a child carrying speakers, while I have carried, or a waiter, after I have eaten my feet serving? Younger kids who think the singer is important can get this. I grew up in my house with the singer being something normal. Christos Constantinou, the great musician who introduced me to music, used to tell me some important things that I have kept in mind, such as “don’t put the singer above the song” or “the higher you go, the lower you look” .
I think real stars are normal people. I’ve recently seen Roger Waters, who travels on the subway and is late getting home because he fell asleep and reached the end of the ride, or Keanu Reeves, who moves among everyone as normal, or Bon Jovi, who sneaks and she cooks for the homeless. In New York I had visited, I saw Denzel Washington jogging, I stopped him and talked to him. Real stars don’t feel like they have to prove anything.
Next plans?
In the summer I will do personal concerts with Dimitra Boulouzou and Myrto Vassiliou. The concert will be rock with folk elements. I’m in the mood to rock a lot this year. We will also do concerts with Miltos Paschalidis because last year we couldn’t get enough of it.
Yannis Kotsiras: It’s difficult for me to sing my lyrics
With the composer Nikos Terzis, Yiannis Kotsiras wrote the lyrics of very popular songs that we hear through the “Sasmos” series. Can television become a medium that will bring the good song to the general public?
I feel that in the last five years the very high-quality series have become the vehicle to bring good music into homes, not only with “Samos”, but also with “Agries Melisses”, “The Island”, “The Red River”. Very nice jobs were done. It is proof that television can be good and become a vehicle to bring good music into homes.
How do you feel as a lyricist and performer? How do these two qualities coexist?
Poetry is a very special and difficult genre. That’s why I don’t consider myself a lyricist. It’s very hard for me to imagine myself singing my lyrics. That is why I have only sung two of the thirty songs of “Sasmus”. I wanted to write about colleagues. Each song is written, not only on the needs of the series, but also on the identity of each performer. This is the detail that led to these songs being loved so much.
Which other artists’ songs would you like to perform?
I really want to sing songs by Pantelis Thalassinos, Nikos Portokaloglos, Orfeas Peridis, Miltos Paschalidis, whose song I have written and he has not written for me (laughs).
Yannis Kotsiras: I feel complete with the family
In his presentation CD your family was by your side, your wife Katerina and your two children. Is this how you imagined it?
Yes, and we’ve been planning it for a long time. There are no more presentations today. It was the presentation of my life and I wanted to have my family by my side.
How are you in the role of father?
Since the birth of my first son, Nikolas, who is seven years old today, and Konstantinos, who is five, my whole life has changed. Probably my life changed from the moment I met Katerina. I decided that work would take second place, and when Nikolas came along, he came to… last place. I’m singing and I have in the back of my mind that I’m going home. That’s what I’m interested in… Going home. In 2000 I would have preferred singing to family, today there is no such issue… I feel fulfilled, I am different now…
I can’t say how I am as a father. However, it is certain that I do everything possible to hear from my children the phrase: “Dad, you are the best dad in the world.”
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