Stratos Bichakis | Musician
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Echoes Beneath the Stars
Greek Ethno Music Location Recordings (1930–1988) – DJ Set Berlin-based artist and researcher Stratos Bichakis presents a powerful DJ set weaving together rare and often-overlooked recordings from Greece’s experimental and ritual music traditions. Spanning nearly six decades—from 1930 to 1988—his selection unearths a hidden sonic terrain where folk, mysticism, and avant-garde gestures collide. This isn’t a typical archival showcase. Through carefully layered transitions and deep emotional pacing, Bichakis crafts a journey that’s as hypnotic as it is revelatory—featuring everything from ancient laments and field recordings to early electronic experiments, poetic monologues, and raw village celebrations. It’s a set that blurs the line between memory and myth, conjuring an atmosphere that feels both deeply rooted and radically otherworldly. Originally conceived for MAWA festival on the remote island of Donoussa, this DJ set invites listeners into an immersive act of cultural listening—a resonant map of Greece’s experimental undercurrents, brought to life on the dancefloor or in the dark. https://v-i-s.bandcamp.com/album/v-i-s-c-0-3-greek-ethno-music-location-recordings |
Amiruz | Selector
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Neo After Dark
Greek tunes and beyond… Amiruz is a fearless navigator of sound — diving headfirst into adventurous music that defies genre, expectation, and time. A Berlin-based cultural worker, music curator, and selector, she crafts wild journeys through rare finds, deep cuts, and surprising turns — where global rhythms meet experimental textures, and nothing stays in one place for long. With no fixed style and an ear for the unexpected, Amiruz invites dancers and listeners into a world where music is exploration, not destination. It’s the art of YouTube DJing — where there are no B-sides, only new discoveries. |
AS IF | B2B DJ Set
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Voltas and Kosmik play in a band in Athens (Kooba Tercu) and live and work together in Gavalochori, Crete. They both love experimental music, dance and the situation that occurs. Many a time, they played together at Ride bar, Chania, and at free parties at Rosa Nera / Prytaneia, the town's squat.
Kosmik's selections invoke mood swings from mellow to cute to immersive to punishing punk and back again. Voltas explores ghettotech, experimental EDM (lately, from Egypt and the Arab world), baile funk and IDM. Check out their projects: AS IF – αμοράλ (2022), AS IF – Bae hop (2022), and Voltas – It’s a no (2023). |
Filoxenia | Sunday
Filoxenia (griechisch: φιλοξενία)
Evgenia Damavoliti-Toli – vocals, percussion
Zacharis Spyridakis – vocals, lyra
Vasilis Bichakis – vocals, laouto
Michalis Kontaxakis – vocals, mandolin
An evening of mezé, raki, and Cretan live music
An evening of traditional Cretan culture, where music, food, and shared moments come together. Savor a vibrant mezé feast—an array of small, flavorful dishes prepared with local ingredients—accompanied by raki, the island’s signature spirit distilled from grape pomace. Far from the sweet notes of anise, raki is bold, earthy, and best enjoyed slowly, in good company. As the plates circulate and glasses clink, live performances of authentic Cretan music will fill the air, drawing from a centuries-old oral tradition. This immersive encounter invites you to experience the heartbeat of Crete—through the textures of string and skin, voice and verse, flavor and fire.
Evgenia Damavoliti-Toli – vocals, percussion
Zacharis Spyridakis – vocals, lyra
Vasilis Bichakis – vocals, laouto
Michalis Kontaxakis – vocals, mandolin
An evening of mezé, raki, and Cretan live music
An evening of traditional Cretan culture, where music, food, and shared moments come together. Savor a vibrant mezé feast—an array of small, flavorful dishes prepared with local ingredients—accompanied by raki, the island’s signature spirit distilled from grape pomace. Far from the sweet notes of anise, raki is bold, earthy, and best enjoyed slowly, in good company. As the plates circulate and glasses clink, live performances of authentic Cretan music will fill the air, drawing from a centuries-old oral tradition. This immersive encounter invites you to experience the heartbeat of Crete—through the textures of string and skin, voice and verse, flavor and fire.
Evgenia Damavoliti-Toli | Musician
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Evgenia Damavoliti-Toli works as a physiotherapy assistant. She met the Kissamitic-Cretan music and dance tradition through her grandfather Stefanos Andronikakis, a master singer and dancer in the area of Kissamos. She studied the recordings of great masters of Cretan music and formed her personal style based on the aesthetics of the provinces of central-western Crete. She studied for two years traditional song of Greece, as well as recordings from Asia Minor, Thrace, Macedonia, and the Cyclades, and later, the musical tradition of central-eastern Crete. She collaborates with many renowned musicians, and collects & records forgotten songs and traditions of the Cretan wedding. She is studying Byzantine Music and since 2014 teaches traditional Cretan songs with her own method.
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Zacharis Spyridakis | Musician
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A virtuoso of the Cretan lyra, Zacharis Spyridakis began his musical journey in Athens under the guidance of legendary lyrist Kostas Mountakis. A graduate of the Greek Conservatory of Athens, he has brought the sounds of Crete to global stages—from the Olympic Games to the Cultural Olympiad in China. His extensive collaborations span composers like Vangelis, Yannis Markopoulos, and Jordi Savall. Blending tradition with innovation, he bridges ancient melodies and modern forms, enriching the contemporary music scene while staying deeply rooted in the Cretan soul. He is also an experienced teacher and frequent contributor to recordings and international festivals.
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Michalis Kontaxakis | Musician
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Born in Heraklion, Crete, Michalis Kontaxakis is a leading mandolinist known for both preserving and innovating Cretan musical tradition. Trained by masters Michalis Stavrakakis and Paris Perisinakis, and a graduate of the Folk and Traditional Music Department in Arta, he has become a key figure in the evolution of Cretan mandolin. He was the first to introduce microtonal mandolin into Cretan music, expanding its expressive range. A frequent collaborator with renowned folk musicians and a member of Stelios Petrakis’s Cretan Quartet, he blends deep respect for tradition with bold, original musical explorations.
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Vasilis Bichakis | Musician
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Vasilis Bichakis is a laouto player, singer, and cultural researcher based in Crete. He trained with renowned teachers Astrinos Zacharioudakis and Yiannis Xylouris and studied both Western and Byzantine music. He holds a degree in Music Studies from the University of Athens and a master’s in Cultural Analysis and Education from the University of Crete. Bichakis is a committed scholar and performer of Cretan folk music, engaged in projects for radio, publishing, and community education. Since 2014, he has been a member of the Traditional Music Association of Apokoronas “Harilaos,” dedicated to preserving the island’s intangible cultural heritage.
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