Collectors: Chris Kontos

LN-CC: Where do you normally find your records?

Chris Kontos: Everywhere. I even buy records from bookstores sometimes and stores with vintage toys. I used to go to flea markets a lot and got some good stuff there, but it's such a dirty job and you need to devote so many hours that I can't do it so much now. Luckily there are some quite good record stores in Athens and I have bought some records that are really hard to find there. I only started buying records online a few months ago, I got really hooked but I'm trying to cool off now.

LN-CC: Tell us a bit about your mixes?

Chris Kontos: As I was telling you, making mixes for me is like a way of making a statement, like telling a story. Perhaps some people might call my mixes sad sometimes. Maybe they are sad in a way, but for me expressing feelings is the first reason that I will go and make a mix. Usually it's all about this idealistic paradise that I have made up in my mind about the Greek sea, sun and joining it with people I love. All my life I have been looking for music that accompanies this "fake" world of my dreams that only takes place for 10-15 days every summer. Usually I try and go to places that are quiet and can give me the solitude I need to enjoy friends and music and the scenery. A lot of people don't know the real side of Greece - since I'm talking about Greek records I thought it's good to talk about this. Usually my mixes begin from that summer dream around the Mediterranean Sea. Also, my mixes all connect to the 80s in a way, all these innocent times we had as children with our parents around the sea. For me the sea is the connection between everything, this innocence that you have lost along the way.

LN-CC: That's interesting, this feeling definitely comes through - however some of your mixes like Rainy Season are much warmer and feel wintery too?

Chris Kontos: Yes, this is a winter mix! Usually I make two in the winter and two in the summer. So Rainy Season is not that med feeling, but again it's a bit of a romantic one, it carries that feeling of intimacy with something.

LN-CC: Does any particular mix stand out as a favourite for you?

Chris Kontos: If I want to talk about my favourite, it is The Sound Of Someone You Love Who's Going Away And It Doesn't Matter. The title is from a song by Penguin Cafe Orchestra. This mix means so much to me, nothing else ever comes close. It was done after a big emotional trip I had, and I was staying in this almost deserted hotel, there were no lights, no city, really remote. I was sitting in silence just listening to this. After that it became extra special. The second favourite is the first mix I made for David on Noncollective, called Southern Sunsets. In this mix I tried to mix new wave gothic records with totally Mediterranean sunny records.

LN-CC: And how about the mix that you made for LN-CC?

Chris Kontos: This mix is also turning into a favourite for me. Usually I tend not to listen to my mixes a lot, I have so many on the web at one time that I can't follow them all. Usually I have to find a special time to listen to my mixes, I listened to this one a week ago in the car when it was raining in Athens and it became a special mix for me. I included some Greek records in there, not all Greek records, some Japanese - this is again one for my holiday bag for some summer listening on a balcony somewhere.

Another important thing about my mixes is that I play a lot of soundtracks. I always like my mixes to sound like the soundtrack to a film. I play some tracks from soundtracks in this mix, tracks by Vangelis, Stephen Brown from Tuxedo Moon, and also Wong Kar-Wai's movie Happy Together, an Astor Piazzolla track with an accordion. It gives a really romantic vibe. The last track is also really special, James Mason, the b side of I Want Your Love, both sides of this record are so amazing! The mix is called Stella Maris, it's one of the tracks in the mix by Gigi Masin - there are two of his tracks in this mix, he is an amazing Italian guy. Again I should thank Tako for that. After I discovered the name I liked it even more - it's the name of the Virgin Mary in some Mediterranean countries, and it means Our Lady Of The Sea. I saw some pictures of Stella Maris on the web and really liked it. I also found that it's the name of a cruise ship that was touring the Mediterranean in the 80s, that sounded so cool to me!

The Dancer by Sirena

CBS Records 1979

This is one of the few Greek disco records, rare and quite good at the same time. It was produced by a guy who was making Greek music in the 60s - in Greece there was a big scene of garage and psych, this kind of sound. This is one of the few attempts by Greek composers to make a disco record. There are two amazing tracks, all the other record is totally crap, but two are simply amazing. One is The Dancer and one is If You Go Away. Everybody wants this record in Europe - you can find it quite easily in Athens. One of the guys behind this is Mike Rosakis, he was 60s legend for soft rock music, but this is his one attempt a great disco record. There was a great Italo scene here but not this kind of disco. There was always room for some weird records though like Saada Bonaire's Invitation which was played in Greek discos in the 80s.

Love's Fool by Sigma Fay

Mercury 1979

This is a rare case, it involves my favourite Greek musician after Vangelis, his name is Loukas Sideras and he was the drummer in Aphrodite's Child. Vangelis Papathanassiou, Demis Roussos, Loukas Sideras and Anargyros Koulouris - these four artists made the best Greek music for me in the 70s. Basically most of the records that I'm going to present here are all connected to Aphrodite's Child in some way. Loukas Sideras is one of the leading figures in Greek music for me in the 70s, responsible for a lot of work and two really rare solo records of his own. This is his wife, Sigma Fay, and it was produced and written by him. It's one of my favourite records ever - some amazing slow tracks and some killer disco ones. I love the cover too. Loukas Sideras and his wife made two more really good records together under the name. Everything he did was amazing.

Op'era Sauvage by Vangelis

Polydor 1979

The thing about this Vangelis record is that it's not my favourite Vangelis record (that would be maybe Earth) but one track on this record called R^eve has become one of my all-time favourite tracks over the last five years. I tend to play it a lot! It's so emotional and deep and for that reason alone this has become my favourite Vangelis record. I consider Earth his masterpiece as an album. There is another Vangelis record that I really like that many people neglect because it's a later 80s record, like '86, it's called The City. He tried to do a Blade Runner thing again but it's maybe even better than Blade Runner. It's really good. Anyway, R^eve is 11 minutes of pure bliss.

Robert Williams

Polydor 1978

So, now let's move on to another Greek star, one who became disco for a while, although this is not really a disco record. Robert Williams was a member of Poll, one of the most famous Greek bands of the 70s. This is one of his solo records, where he tried to play more European influenced music. The first side is Greek lyrics, the music is not so interesting, but the next side is totally different, you have three tracks that blow everything away. The first one is like an intense disco rock track, the second is a percussion led folky chant-like track that is really emotional, then the third track is going back to Greek again. It's a really emotional song, talking about Greek beaches, the sun love and stuff like that. It's a really special record for me as it was introduced to me by a really dear friend, Petros, who passed away last year, and it brings memories of him listening to this.

Whispers of Immorality by Vangelis Katsoulis

Utopia Records, 1990

The famous Vangelis Katsoulis! There are so many people coming to Athens and they send me emails saying, "Can I find that Vangelis Katsoulis record?". Katsoulis is a jazz musician that has produced four or five records during the 80s and early 90s. This one is my favourite. It's like really organic with very heavy synths - everything is synths. He has some session musicians playing but it's really futuristic, though with a warm feeling. To be honest it sounds like traces of Larry Heard in some places. It's a record that you can listen from start to finish without any interruption. I have to thank Tako for introducing me to a hero of my country that I didn't even know about.

One Day by Loukas Sideras

Polydor 1972

Let's move back to Loukas Sideras again, maybe his only well-known solo record, produced in France I think. Sadly I don't have it anymore, I sold it - it goes for insane prices, maybe more than 200 Euros usually for a Canadian copy and more for a Greek one. The first solo record by him. He did other projects like Epsilon, but this is so amazing. It sounds folky in a way but it also has some intense tracks that precede disco by some years. He made it right after he left Aphrodite's Child. Maybe it's my favourite Greek record from a really special artist. Now this guy is not into music, he has a billiards place in Athens and he doesn't seem to like his past, some people told me he doesn't like to talk about his music and he doesn't even have any of his records.

Into The Light by Akis

Music Box International 1990

Akis is such a mysterious guy, nobody knows much about him, he has produced some Italo records in Greece, and he was a sound engineer and producer so he has produced a lot of records. This record is a really rare case, it's really insane, tracks from total ambient, weird electronics, also a new beat sounding track and a ten minute Larry Heard-esque proto house track. It's really dope, really crazy. Great from start to finish, and really rare.

Time Is Over by Harris Chalkitis

Barclay, 1974

Harris Chalkitis was a collaborator of Aphrodite's Child and a quite successful solo artist. He is the person behind Queen Samantha's disco hits as well as some of Demis Roussos hits. Time Is Over is a great piece of fender Rhodes led disco funk with spacey synths great scat vocals and nice guitar work by Argiris Koulouris, another session friend of the Aphrodite's gang who co-wrote the song.