For someone who didn’t get a chance to meet them, the story about rebetika band Apodimi Compania, one that doesn’t need any further introduction, always seemed like a fairy tale.
I always had to envisage their famous steki, at the Retreat Hotel with brothers Galiatsos, Archie Argyropoulos and Hector Cosmas playing, and all those Greek and non-Greek Australians who would spend their Fridays and Sundays, from 1984 to 1994, listening and dancing rebetika.
After only few months in Melbourne and so many stories heard, Apodimi Compania in my eyes soon became the synonym for rebetika.
At this year’s Brunswick Music Festival, the First Annual Hector Cosmas Memorial Concert will be an opportunity for me to finally see what I had to imagine – the Apodimi Compania; and to all those fans who never stopped talking about Apodimi, with fond nostalgia and an amount of melancholy – an opportunity to see them again.
Retreat Hotel and Apodimi
It was back in 1983 when as university students, Australia-born brothers George and Manolis Galiatsos started playing Greek music and rebetika, leaving aside English folk music.
“It was something about the music, the lyrics, and the mesmerising melodies that got us hooked once and for all,” George Galiatsos tells Neos Kosmos.
It was one of the first gigs of brothers Galiatsos with Takis and Tasos Dimitriou, at some pub near the Victoria market, where a member of the audience, Spyros Vlahos, christened them Apodimi Compania, “for lack of a better name”, as George describes.
“The Retreat Hotel. Well….what can I say?”, starts George.
“One could say that we took up residency there, playing at first to a select number of friends and later on, to a capacity crowd. It became the meeting place of all those who wanted to hang out, meet friends and have a great time listening and dancing to Greek music. The audience comprised mainly of Greek-Australians, young and old, but also of a number of Australians and Celts – Irish and Scots.”
Apodimi, at the time, comprised of members’ Hector Cosmas, Archie Argyropoulos, Manoli and George Galiatsos, and a guest Cretan friend Michael Melambiotis, many of the gigs were memorable ones. For the great dancing and playing, but above all, for the obvious connection between audience and band.
“I must confess that those years between 1989 and 1994, were among the best in my life.
“We made a name for ourselves in the Australian music community and enjoyed every moment of it,” George says.
It was in February, 1994, that brothers Galiatsos repatriated to Greece.
Soon after, in 1997, Hector Cosmas made his way to Greece, and Apodimi was back again, every Sunday afternoon, for nearly 8 years.
In honour of Hector Cosmas
In March last year, Apodimi suffered a great blow with the passing of, as they say, long-standing member, friend and brother, Hector Cosmas.
At the time, there was talk among the remaining three members as to putting an end to the band, as there was the belief that there was no Apodimi without Hector.
It was through the insistence of Hector’s father, Costandis, and many friends from Australia, that they decided to continue.
“An invitation to come to Oz in March gave us the inspiration, and so in January this year Manoli, Yianni and myself got together and decided to keep Apodimi for whatever purposes, because that’s what Hec would have wanted us to do,” George says.
With that in mind, Apodimi started playing again.
In January 2013 they recorded 17 songs, for the album aptly titled Ode To A Friend, in memory of Hector Cosmas.
The idea for the First Annual Hector Cosmas Memorial Concert, that will be held as part of Brunswick Music Festival, on 22 March, belongs to Peter Leman, the managing director and the person behind the idea of staging the annual Brunswick Music Festival.
If everything goes according to plan, the Hector Cosmas Memorial Concert will become an annual event celebrating Greek music, for as long as the Festival exists.
Together with the current line-up of Apodimi – Manoli and George Galiatsos, Yiannis Niarhos, and guest vocalist Chrysoula Kehayioglou – accompanying Apodimi Compania on their 2013 tour will be Paddy Montgomery.
“A true multi-instrumentalist, proficient on namely anything with strings on it, he will be a great addition to the band and we look forward to playing with him again.”
With this concert, members of Apodimi hope to continue the tradition that Hector felt strong about – to come Down Under every few years, to play music, re-connect with old friends from the Retreat days, and make new ones.
“Playing the The First Annual Hector Memorial Concert is certainly an honour for us and myself personally. It is perhaps one way of honouring the memory of Hec, what he stood for and presented. Hec loved life and music and through playing the music he loved, we hope to honour him and his legacy. Somehow Hec will be there with us…”
During their visit to Australia, Apodimi Compania will perform in Adelaide, at The National Folk Festival in Canberra, and for the Greek Community in Brisbane.
For Melbourne audiences, the only opportunity to see them will be on Friday 22 March at the Brunswick Music Festival. For tickets, visit http://www.brunswickmusicfestival.com.au/, or contact (03) 9388 1460.