Known widely as the Greek urban blues, Rembetika continue to evoke a sense of intense excitement, passion of the soul, heartache, loneliness and injustice, a melancholic, rather egocentric introspection; they continue to be romantically associated with the underworld of hashish-smoking spivs and petty criminals, feelings and experiences of “poor people” living on the “margins” of society; they continue to excite controversy over their origins and their meanings poised as they are between European and Ottoman cultures. Rembetika, no doubt, continue to exert a powerful fascination for people of different backgrounds, both Greeks and non Greeks alike…

The group Apsilies formed spontaneously and consists of 4 friends/musicians who started playing the old songs for fun on an afternoon they were hanging out together. Its natural, genuine and fresh approach and its dry and original sound have generated an overwhelming response during their concerts and an immediate CD release, while now presenters around the globe are taking notice of the first really interesting Rembetiko sounds coming from Greece since a very long time.

Line up:

Dimitris Mystakidis, voice, guitar

Evgenios Voulgaris, voice, oud,
bouzouki

Apostolos Tsardakas, kanonaki,
violin

Theodora Athanasiou, voice,
baglama