Haris Alexiou is in a class of her own. Considered by many to be the most influential female artist in Greece of all time, she has released over 30 albums since her successful start in the ’70s.
Her talent spans diverse musical styles, from laika and rembetika to ballads, entehna, and modern songs – and she sings them all with a passionate voice that seems to come from somewhere deep within her soul. She is the voice of a generation, epitomising Greek music and the Greek spirit – and delivers that on the world stage.
And now Haris Alexiou, affectionately nicknamed Haroula by Greeks the world over, has returned to our shores after 17 years. The name Haris means grace or charm, and she exhibited both in this interview with Neos Kosmos. Alexiou has led an exemplary career, and she continues to look to the future. She says that her goal is “to speak with the younger generations as I have with the previous generations”. “I have written my later songs with that in mind. It gives me joy when I see younger people at my concerts listening to my songs.
Today matters. I don’t want to be nostalgic. I have a 29-year-old son who has helped me reconnect with younger people.
“When you’re young, you want to spread your wings and you connect with things that are further away from what you know, where you want to fly. When I was 16, I was listening to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. But then I came back to our music. It’s up to Greek artists to create their best music to draw the younger audience back.” With Greece’s current economic crisis escalating by the day, how has the music industry been affected? “We don’t really know what tomorrow will bring. These changes are happening too swiftly for us to establish as artists how to interpret this into our music. An artist has to find light in the darkness and at this moment, we have to wait to see the light.”
As for artists, however, Alexiou believes that crisis is not necessarily a bad thing.
“They will be forced to look inward, to try new things. It’s the people who can battle it out in times like these who can stand the test of time. The best music has been born out of difficult times.” When developing the song repertoire for her international tour, Alexiou compiled it with Australia in mind. “This program has been practiced throughout Europe and is one of the best programs I’ve done. I didn’t select based on what was older, what was new, but based on the emotion of the song. Greeks outside of Greece don’t want to hear a song just because it’s in fashion, they want to hear the more classic songs.”
The songstress thoughtfully considers the future of Greek music. “I ask one thing of my fans. To introduce the younger generation to Greek music. Slowly, the reality of being second, third, even fourth generation Greek in Australia, will set in. Without music, the Greek language will be lost. “We have very beautiful audiences. Greeks around the world will sing with you, connect with you. The Greek audiences, you can’t compare them with anywhere else.”
Haris Alexiou has one show left on Saturday 19 November. For tickets, go to www.ticketek.com.au