Giorgos Dimitriadis

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INTERVIEW ON MAD TV,MARCH 6,2009



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Hi I'm George Dimitriadis and I was born in Athens and grew up in Thessaloniki where I started as a singer in good local rock bands such as The Yoghurt and The Ala Carte.
Those were the years of the sweet uncertainty, of the sweaty egg-cupped soundproof rehearsal rooms and of my first gigs at the open-air basketball ground of the Y.M.C.A, in the legendary rock club BERLIN of Theodore's and in the SELINI bar behind the building of the Theatre of Macedonian Studies.
The money we made was barely enough to buy our beer.The record companies looked then like far-away planets in a stellar system which was called Athens.We and the likes of us hung around like shadows in the dampness of the Nymph in the closure of the gulf of Thermaikos, as if we were the U.F.Os from another reality, replicas of Iggy Pop's, of Elvis Costello's, of Johnny Rotten's amidst the ironic sneers and comments of the bespectacled connoiseurs who never understood our love for rock'n'roll and were essentially jealous of us They called us "the rockades" and their eyes gleamed strangely because we could take the people sky-high with only a couple of songs, even higher than the Hortiatis mountain overlooking Salonica.
In the spring of 1983 I came down to Athens with a tape in hand The answer of the company man was as follows: "Guys your material is supreme indeed, I really dig it but our company can't take the risk, sorry." A Fall without a parachute on the hot asphalt of Mesogheion Avenue,where all the major record companies were and still are,and a circle was closed and another one opened for each of us in the band of Ala Carte.



I decided then that it was time to stay in Athens for good. I started hanging out at KYTTARO Club watching the band of FATME who payed there at the time and many other acts.For 4 years I was mingling with the local music circles, getting to know better what was going on then.
In 1987 I did my debut,as a singer again, on the record of Spyros Hatzinikolaou titled "FYSA TO KALAMI SOU"(which means play your sax in music slang).At the same time I was a member of an indie rock band The Low Noise, a very interesting english-speaking ensemble leaving behind us a few unreleased demos.In 1986 I started a new project forming a new band called'Oi Filoi Tis Tzenis'(Jenny's Friends).This was my actual primary attempt at playing my very first songs and the test was put at several clubs, one of them being RODEO and CAT'S MEOW.
After I finally did my military service in 1988 I joined forces with Nikos Ziogalas, Vasilis Kazoulis putting up our show at RODEO. In the meantime I was still trying hard to manage to get a deal with a record company but the receival was dissapointing!Their A&R men were telling me that what I did represented something which had died in the Greek music market. Luckily I didn't give any credit to their speculations and I went on writing new material until some fine morning it would see the light of day.
In the winter 1988-1989 I was chosen as a vocalist for the forthcoming show of Dionyssis Savvopoulos titled "Me Geia To Kurema"(a Greek wish said after we get a haircut).It was the time when Nionios(D.Savvopoulos)raged almost against everyone in his show and everyone was against him.
In 1990-1991 I had already written a significant number of songs
In 1991-1992 I joined The Aprosarmostoi(The Misfits)(the band of the late great Pavlos Sidiropoulos) as the singer of the band-Pavlos had died a year ago. It was one my best rock'n'roll phases…We toured all over Greece.
In 1993-1994 I decided to go on solo because I felt this was the way to carry on playing music and after all it was the most creative one indeed
So with the help of my friends I formed my personal band, The Little Heroes, and eventually signing my first contract as a singer-songwriter.
Having decided to go solo and being enthusiastic about it I hadn't realized the difficulties awaiting ahead and the first of which was the negative reaction of a so called hard-fans core who filled AN Club and other venues when I was singing with The Aprosarmostoi!For the truth of it when I played my first gig there again in the spring of 1994 only 80 of them came.I started realizing that from then on that I would rather go on without their support as my music was meant for wider audiences by itself and thus discarding any second thoughts and guilts as to where I should go artistically.
In the following years I played a lot all over Greece building up a very significant following. It was not until 1997 when I released my 3rd album SAN NA MIN PERASE MIA MERA that success came with my huge hit under the same title.Two more albums followed in the years 2000,2001 each of them producing respective hits such as Xypna!Ftasame(Wake Up!We Have Arrived) and Osa Moy'heis Harisei(All Those You Gave Me) establishing me among the significant modern sognwriters of my country.This success gave me the opportunity to move much more freely artistically, avoiding the easy way or to play it safe and jump into the real maistream thing that was beginning to take the upper hand at the time.
In 2004 I signed with Lyra releasing ,what I believe it to be, the most rock album of my career titled PARAXENI EPOHI(STRANGE TIMES)which brought forward some very good songs such as Tis Kardias Sou O Vasilias(The King Of Your Heart) and the homonym song Paraxeni Epohi.In 2006 I was approached by PROOPTIKI,the film production and distribution company, with the proposal of undertaking the music score and the songwriting, alias soundtrack, for the metaphysical dramedy PENTE LEPTA AKOMAby Giannis Xanthopoulos,which was acknowledged as the most popular comedy of the year.A double album was produced called ANOIHTA MAGAZIA(OPEN SHOPS)/PENTE LEPTA AKOMA(FIVE MORE MINUTES)gaining general approval and a heavy air play of the hit songs Kane Kati(Do Something), Ti Rolo Paizo Ego?(What's Am I Here For?) and Zilia(Jealousy). For the time being I got down to work again writing new material for my next album which will hopefully be out by next year 2008,God willing.
I have released the following vinyl and cd albums so far:
1) AFORMES GIA ANTARSIA (CHANCES TO REBEL) 1994 Lyra
2) TEFHOS DEFTERON (SECOND EDITION) 1995 FM RECORDS
3) SAN NA MIN PERASE MIA MERA (AS IF NOT ONE DAY HAS PASSED) 1997 Virgin
4) XYPNA!FTASAME (WAKE UP! WE ARRIVED) 2000 Virgin
5) AFTOS POU DEN XEREI (HE WHO DOESN'T KNOW) 2001 Virgin
6) TA KALYTERA (THE BEST OF) 2002 Minos/Emi (Virgin)
7) PARAXENI EPOHI (STRANGE DAYS) 2004 Lyra
8) PENTE LEPTA AKOMA-Single with three songs (FIVE MORE MINUTES) 2006 PLUS (+) REC
9) ANOIHTA MAGAZIA(OPEN SHOPS)/PENTE LEPTA AKOMA Soundtrack 2006 PLUS (+) REC
10) SAVVATO Mikros Iros/Legend 2009
11) GIORGOS DIMITRIADIS LIVE Mikros Iros/Legend 2010