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For our special feature on the contemporary music scene in Athens, composer Filippos Raskovic talks about his career and his international piano practice, as well as his collaboration with sculptor Dimitris Tampakis. Above all, he discusses the collegial creation of the Krama festival: a cross-disciplinary festival linking free improvisation, contemporary classical and experimental electro, whose second edition was held at Espace KEIV in September 2021.
Tristan Bera: How did you become a composer?
Filippos Raskovic: I don't remember why I became a composer. I started out playing the piano and I really enjoyed making my own music, it just took off like that. I played in post-metal, hardcore punk, post-rock and free improv bands before discovering my passion for composition. Being in bands had a huge influence on the way I made music.
How would you compare teaching in Athens and at London's Royal Academy? What were you looking for in London?
I don't think it's fair or logical to compare teaching by geographical location, city or country. I moved to London to live in a megalopolis with access to art, music and culture from all over the world, to be able to attend cultural events that I would never have been able to attend elsewhere, but also to make friends, meet personalities from different countries and rub shoulders with the very intense rhythm of the city. Of course, at the Royal Academy, I was lucky enough to meet some incredible fellow musicians, for whom I could write or with whom I could play; I was able to attend master classes and seminars by great composers, and I had access to all the Academy's resources. It was above all my meeting with Professor Rubens Askenar, who became a friend, that completely changed my approach to music in general. However, in Athens, I met and played with some wonderful musicians and also had some extraordinary teachers, such as Fergus Currie and Christine Tokatlian. I've had the opportunity to play in many bands and venues, and this contact I've had with the scene in Athens is something unique. Here, you decide to play on Monday and you're on stage on Saturday.
What are your major influences in terms of genres, composers or types of performance?
It's hard for me to answer this question, because I find that my influences are constantly changing. I remember being deeply moved the first time I heard Gérard Grisey's music. The same goes for the music of Salvatore Sciarrino and Carola Bauckholt. I admire Tim Hecker, and at the moment I'm listening a lot to the music of Christian Wallumrød and Yiannis Kyriakides. Finally, I love Craig Tabborn's piano improvisations.
How would you describe the state of the Athenian scene in both contemporary classical and experimental music? Do you have any memories of memorable concerts, for example, that have left their mark on you? How has the scene evolved since you first became interested in these types of music, in terms of venues, concerts and audiences?
The music scene in Athens, and Greece as a whole, is unique and very powerful. It ranges from punk and metal to electronic and contemporary music and, of course, the wide variety of traditional Greek music. All these genres are available on numerous platforms and in a multitude of venues and spaces. As far as experimental music is concerned, what's incredible is that in one evening in Athens you can attend three or four different types of concerts in venues such as Chimeres, Underflow (venue and label) or the Embros Theatre.
The contemporary classical music scene is expanding, as most classical musicians (at least of my generation) have studied abroad and are now coming back and creating ensembles. However, in my experience, the contemporary classical scene is still small and funded only by institutions. It doesn't have the same scope as in other European cities, because it hasn't yet found its place in more independent and accessible spaces. All the same, I have the impression that things are getting better every year.
What differences do you see between contemporary classical music and experimental music? Are these categories still valid? Do they matter to you, or do they merge into your general practice?
Hmm, I'm not a musicologist, but I'll do my best to differentiate between them. Contemporary classical music is a generic term that refers to music that has been written since the beginning of the 20th century and refers to music that perpetuates the classical canon. Experimental music is, in this sense, similar, but is more generalist and refers neither to classical music alone, nor to a specific period. Contemporary and experimental music share gray areas, and often something can be part of both. Both terms are still valid and important. They are useful and used by academics, musicologists, curators and festival organizers. But I don't intentionally recognize myself in this distinction, and these terms don't affect my creative process.
Can you tell me about the way you compose? Does the practice of improvisation influence your composition? Do you usually work according to specific themes?
My way of working changes from piece to piece, and has also been modified, project by project, through contact with artists from the applied arts. Improvisation is a very important and powerful tool for me, as is meeting musicians at workshops, where I record our improvisations. I also use electroacoustic processes in my music, and I also compose acousmatic pieces. The computer is an indispensable ally in my compositional process. In my compositions, I rarely work on a specific theme. However, on the occasion of my close collaboration with the sculptor Dimitris TampakisI have explored the interaction of sound with the resonant body of the sculptures.
For me, the practice of composition and improvisation are linked, and I fluctuate between the two. When I improvise, I concentrate mainly on my instrument, the piano. But the skills required to improvise help and influence my compositions. Conversely, compositional thinking is always present in my improvisations, or so I feel.
Could you explain how your collaboration with Dimitris Tampakis began, and on what basis it crystallized? How do you operate your dialogue between the visual arts and music? Does this dialogue refer to certain historical collaborations between composers and visual artists? Is transversality necessary if contemporary classical music is to be understood more widely?
We met for a drink, and he showed me prototypes of some of the sculptures he was making. He explained that he intended them to be loudspeakers, resonant bodies. He envisioned that they could be used in place of a normal loudspeaker. I fell in love with both his work and the idea, and we talked about the possibilities all night. The piece is called Echo Chambers and was developed during our residency at Fuga in Spain. Working with Dimitris is very natural and organic. Echo Chambers is the first of many pieces. We aim to create a dialogue by interacting with sound, its distortion and amplification, through sculptures in different places and contexts. We look forward to developing our next ideas. Although we have historical references, particularly with other sound sculptures (for example, we've been fascinated by acoustic mirrors, a passive device used to reflect and concentrate sound waves), we don't make direct references to any collaboration or historical piece.
Transversality can both help and hinder the communication of music. [It's a question of balance].
DIMITRIS TAMPAKIS & FILIPPOS RASKOVIC - Echo Chambers from FUGA on Vimeo.
Can you tell me more about your residency in Fuga, Spain? What did you find there?
Working at Fuga, at the Etopia Center for Art and Technology, was an incredible experience. It's magical to be in a workspace where you can concentrate on one work and nothing else. We also had access to all the tools and resources Fuga had to offer, and benefited from all the support of the on-site team. We met some exceptional people and artists. It was a great opportunity for Dimitris and I to create our first work in these conditions.
Did the various confinements have an impact on your work? How did you cope with the absence of a stage during the pandemic?
During the first lockdown, I was submitting my Master so I didn't feel the void in terms of work (laughs). During the second lockdown, I felt I had a lot of time to develop certain technical skills that I'd been lacking. I was affected by the lack of concerts and, by the end of the period, I was becoming increasingly thirsty to play live or attend performances again.
The real blow was having to cancel the 2020 edition of the Krama festival, which would have been held in Communitism. However, we managed to adapt it into a sound installation within a three-day exhibition in collaboration with UN P R 18T (Un.Processed Realities).
The Krama Festival
As part of the Krama festival, you bridge the gap between contemporary classical music and experimental music. Can you explain how the idea for the festival came about and how it was implemented? What was your project? Was it difficult to set it up financially or in accordance with health measures due to covid19?
Krama is a music festival that aims to present a new vision of the independent Athenian music scene, bringing together improvised music with experimental electronica and contemporary classical. To this end, Krama invites musical groups from different backgrounds to perform and explore their commonalities through an alternative aesthetic discourse. Krama activates new resonances between independent artists and groups from Greece and Europe. The team consists of Agelos Pascalidis / Agatha, Niki-Danai Chania, Thodoris Triantafillou and myself.
For a long time, I've been following Athens' thriving music scene, which includes a wide variety of artists. I have, however, noticed that most of these music scenes are not merging or coming together, including through social networks. What's more, contemporary classical music was really missing from the independent music scene and venues. For a long time, the idea of Krama - to bring together electronica, free improvisation and above all contemporary classical music in a single festival - had been floating around in my mind and gradually took shape. The festival's ambition is to grow...to invite artists, speakers, ensembles and musicians from all over Europe to join the Greek scene and commission them. So in 2019, I contacted Agelos Pascalidis and together we approached Don Stavrinos (the founder of Studio Ennia) to organize the first edition of the festival at the Embros Theatre and bring Echéa Quartet from London. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 edition has been rescheduled. Nevertheless, as part of the sound installation produced in collaboration with UN P R 18T (Un.Processed Realities), Krama was able to invite composers, music producers, instrumentalists and bands to contribute and produce pieces, many of which were created specifically for the occasion.
How did you collectively select the line-up? Could you mention two participants, for example? For my part, I attended NatCase's performance entitled books on nihilism at KEIV. Perhaps you can elaborate.
The selection and programming is done by the whole team and, in the spirit of the festival, the process is democratic. We decide on the number of artists per genre and find the artists and bands that complete the set. I can mention two participants from the last edition, one from the electro scene and the other from free improvisation.
NatCase (born in Athens) is an electronic music producer and DJ. She creates underground club music hybridized with lo-fi aesthetics, dynamic drums, synthesized neo-tribal and chord-based sound components. Her personality has been honed slowly and progressively: after studying piano, keyboards and drums, she began obsessively listening to punk rock and affiliated genres, then psycho-acoustically plugged into electronic music and became fascinated by dance culture. Her artistic expression resonates with the plight of the oppressed, the difficulties of achieving equality and the agony of social equilibrium. After opening for the famous Greek punk band Γενιά του Χάους (Chaos Generation) in April 2009, she began devoting herself to DJing. Currently, she produces and presents a series of radio shows: NatCase Ritual . In 2016, she began producing her own music and self-released three EPs: "9-5", "Fe", followed by "Se|foo|", a series completed after training in electronic composition at CMRC (KSYME) attended in 2017-2018. Since then, she regularly presents her music live and has featured on compilations by Greek labels Nutty Wombat and Trial & Error.
Ramdat is a trio of guitar, saxophone and drums, influenced by a wide variety of genres, including noise rock and free jazz, which formed in the spring of 2016. A year later, they began performing as a quartet with the addition of keyboards, which broadened their sound, and now play either as a trio or a quartet. Ramdat has released four albums, most recently FrimFall in January 2021, and is currently working on a forthcoming release. The ensemble's aim is to create a stimulating musical experience in each of their performances, through a focused, in-the-moment improvisational process, with no genre barriers and a non-conformist attitude.
I would also like to add the names of Panos Alexiadis and Veronica Moser.
What are you working on at the moment? Are you looking forward to another collaborative experience, in a medium other than sculpture, for example? What ideal project or festival are you dreaming of?
I recently completed a collaboration with UN P R 18T (Un.Processed Realities) for an exhibition at the Centrum in Berlin, entitled "Post European Rage Room", and in October I just played piano improvisation sets at the Monopiano festival in Flynkigen. I'm also writing a piece for double bass and large recorder for Giorgos Kokkinaris and Sylvia Hinz, which will be performed at the Music Bridge festival organized by Stegi Onassis. Finally, I hope to release some previously recorded pieces and improvisations soon. I don't have an ideal project or festival in mind... There are so many ideas I'd like to explore! New ideas and exciting dreams always come true!
How do you see the present and future of the music scene in Athens? Are there any Athens-based contemporary music sensations or initiatives you'd like to share? What does the scene need to develop?
There are more and more ensembles popping up in Greece, doing a fantastic job of organizing wonderful concerts, seminars and master classes. The younger generation's interest in studying contemporary music is growing, but I think there's clearly a lack of platforms and programs to satisfy this curiosity and new interest. And what's needed in Athens, I think, is for this new passion for musical creation and performance to find a home, so that young musicians can nurture themselves and this community can grow. I don't know if this is the best way, and I certainly don't have the answer!
Tristan Bera in Athens.
Photo © Ilme Vysniauskaite
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