Panagiotis and Spyros, with their love for music and the streets of Thessaloniki, the city of their university years, as their common denominator, begin their journey into the music genre of rebetiko. The world gets to know them better as their voice and melody color their stroll.
1. How did you meet? And which was the meeting point between Panagiotis and Spyros?
We met at the University of Macedonia in 2018, when we were in the first year of our undergraduate studies. What brought us together at that time was our mutual need to play rebetika.
2. What is the story behind the name “Giagkinides”, and what is its meaning for you?
We came up with the name after already playing for two years. We wanted it to be something that entailed the element of rebetiko, but in a metaphorical sense. Thus, we landed on “Giagkinides”, which comes from the word “yangın”, a word with Asia Minor origin, which means flame, fire. Of course, later this word was used in various songs in the genre of rebetiko with a metaphorical meaning, defining this way erotic heat.
For us, “Giagkinides” is essentially the beginning, because since then we became seriously involved as a group with music and publishing videos.
3. How does rebetiko speak to your soul and how was your love for this genre of music born?
Rebetiko speaks to the soul through its lyrics and music. Although all these songs are old, they have a timeless meaning that takes you from the present to the past and this way you can identify with them.
We both loved rebetiko at different times or at the same time. That’s difficult to delineate.
4. What was the first time that you played music on the street and what feelings did it evoke in you?
The first time we played on the street was in the winter of 2019. At first, we felt a slight shyness and nervousness about the people walking by and listening to us, about whether they were bothered by it or liked it. We got over that quickly of course, thanks to the nice comments and the love of the people we met.
5. What is the most touching experience you had while playing music in the street?
A lot of things have happened in the street, as we have played too many times.
The first thing that comes to our minds is a woman, who asked us to play her brother’s favorite song, who had passed away and after we played it, a very emotional moment followed.
6. How would you describe your experience from your participation in “rizes festival”?
It was a really beautiful experience, there were a lot of people, and we shared the stage with incredible artists.
7. What are the stimuli that led to the creation of your new album “Anthropoi tou dromou”?
As its name suggests, the inspiration for its creation comes from people, moments, situations that happened as we were playing on the street. Essentially, this album is a way to show our gratitude to the “street” that has experienced us and “created” us as musicians.
8. Do you think that rebetiko speaks to the hearts of young people? And if so, how?
We believe that everyone, if they listen to rebetika, will find an element to identify with, whether that is in an erotic, social or friendly way. There are so many rebetika that describe many different situations. As we understand it, there are many young people who listen to rebetika voraciously; this in itself shows that it speaks to their hearts.
9. How do you envision 2024 “musically”?
We don’t like to make a lot of plans. Usually, things come naturally.
What we are trying to do in 2024 is to become better musicians, to evolve and to give to people who listen to us and support us something better.
At the end, what was it that spoke to their hearts? The bridging between the old and the new when their longing for music met their passion for rebetiko. The “street” felt their pulse and gave them their love. And that love is always characterized by nostalgia for things that have passed but find a way to exist in our lives. We hope to have more musical experiences with them!
