September 22, 2025 • 38 mins
On this episode of Bringin’ It Backwards, hosts Adam and Tera Lisicky sit down with the rising Greek-American pop sensation Evangelia for an inspiring and heartfelt conversation straight from the Greek islands. Born in New Jersey but raised between the US and Crete, Evangelia shares how a childhood spent split between two worlds—and summers on her grandmother’s farm—ignited her love for music and culture. She opens up about her journey from teaching special education in New Jersey to making the full leap into music after an unexpected layoff.
Evangelia gives us a front-row seat to her transition from open mic nights and basement blues bands in the States to crafting her signature blend of dancey pop with Greek folk influences—a sound built alongside her partner and collaborator, Jay Stolar. She reveals the ups and downs of trying to fuse her roots into mainstream pop, the industry pushback she faced, and how staying authentic finally brought her major breakthroughs, including the chart-topping “Fotiá” (and an unforgettable duet with Greek pop royalty Eleni Foureira).
Recorded in the middle of her sun-soaked Greek tour, you’ll hear Evangelia’s behind-the-scenes stories about writing her summer jam “Mykonos” (inspired by epic all-night island parties), her viral moments, and the sometimes bumpy but beautiful road back to embracing her heritage.
If you’re an aspiring artist, you won’t want to miss her candid advice on pushing past self-doubt, owning your uniqueness, and just getting your music out there—even when it feels scary. Hit follow, subscribe to Bringin’ It Backwards, and get ready for a conversation that’s equal parts heart, hustle, and Greek sunshine.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Why, hello, it is Adam. Welcome back to Bringing It Backwards
Podcasts, where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal
stories of how they achieve stardom. On this episode,
we had a chance to hang out with Evangelia over
Zoom Video. Evangelia was born in New Jersey,
but raised between Jersey and Crete
(00:22):
in Greece. So she'd spend nine months out of
the year in the United States and then three months on on her
grandmother's farm in Greece. And she talks to us
about how she got into music. Always loved singing. She said in
third grade, her picture under her picture in the yearbook, it said what you
wanted to be, and she wrote singer. So she always loved music. She was a
(00:44):
soccer player. When she tore her acl, that's when she started to learn how to
play guitar and write songs. She actually went to college, though, to be a
teacher. She was a special ed teacher. Always
involved in music. Would run the open mic nights and would
teach, you know, during the day and, and, and write songs and play music at
night. She was in a band. She talked about that a little bit. When she
(01:04):
had gotten laid off due to budget cuts in 2018, she knew that was
her moment to try to give music her all
100%. She talked about that moment. She talked about meeting her
now partner and boyfriend collaborator, and the two of them
together created this sound of, you know, pop music
and implementing all of these original
(01:27):
Greek instruments and sounds. And she
even speaks Greek in her songs. And having this kind of idea beforehand
when meeting with producers, they just didn't understand it. They're like, this isn't going to
work. This isn't going to work. And when she decided to go for it no
matter what, that's when stuff started happening for her. She talked about the massive success
of her song F. We hear about the tour she's on currently
(01:49):
and all about the brand new song called Mikonos. You can watch
our interview with Evangelia on our Facebook page and YouTube channel at
bringing it backwards. It would be amazing if you subscribe to our channel
and like this on Facebook and follow us on Instagram
X and Tick Tock at Bringing Back Pod. And if
you're listening to this on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Podcasts, please
(02:12):
rate review Tell your friends. It helps us out tremendously.
We'd appreciate your support if you follow and subscribe to our podcast,
we're wherever. You listen to podcasts, we're bringing it backwards.
With Evangelia,
fall is here, and with it comes cooler nights, heartier meals,
(02:32):
and the craving for something warm. And satisfying. That's
where HelloFresh comes in, bringing you comforting chef designed
recipes and fresh seasonal ingredients right to your door.
This season, they've taken things to the next level with their biggest menu
refresh yet. Say hello to a whole new way to dinner.
HelloFresh has has doubled its menu. Now you can choose from
(02:54):
100 options each week, including new seasonal
dishes and recipes from around the world. Dig into bigger
portions that'll keep everyone satisfied. Feel great with an even
healthier menu filled with high protein and veggie packed recipes.
HelloFresh now helps you eat greener with new veggie pack
recipes that have two or more veggies. And you can get
(03:16):
steak and seafood recipes delivered every week for no
extra cost. There's three times more seafood on you
now at no extra cost. Discover new seasonal produce each week.
From snap peas to stone fruit to corn on the cob and more.
I absolutely love hellofresh. It's the easiest way for me to actually make healthy
food for myself and for my son. Instead of just going
(03:39):
to, you know, fast food or whatever, I get the food delivered right to my
doorstep. All the ingredients are there, all the spices are there, Everything
is in the box delivered right to my door. And there's so
many amazing recipes to choose from each and every week. And, and I just
absolutely love hellofresh. We've been using it for, for a while now. It
just makes everything so much easier when it comes to dinner. It's not like the
(04:01):
kids get home from school, you're home from work or whatever and then it's what's
for dinner, you know, bam. Hellofresh. You have some stuff to choose from right there.
All the ingredients, super easy. No trips to the grocery store, which I love because
I always end up in there and I have no idea what. I'm just throwing
stuff in the cart and I get home and I still have no idea what
I'm going to make. So we love hellofresh in this household. 91% of
customers say they feel healthier eating with HelloFresh. 90%. 9 out of 10
(04:23):
say dinner is more delicious with hellofresh. Hellofresh is the
easiest way to cook dinner. Hellofresh is America's number
one choice for home cooking. And check this out. The best way to cook just
got better. Go to hellofresh.com bib
tv10fm now to get 10 free meals and a
free item for life. One per box with active subscription free meals
(04:44):
applied on discount on first box. New subscribers only. Varies by planning. That's
hellofresh.com bibtv10fm
to get 10 free meals and a free item for
life.
(05:05):
Bringing it backwards,
bringing it backward, bringing it backward,
bringing it backward, bringing it backward,
bringing it back.
Well, this is about you and your journey in music, and we'll talk
(05:28):
about the new song. And I know you what played last night,
right? You have a. You're on tour currently. Crazy.
Yeah, I'm on tour all over Greece right now. I did the
Feels like Greek Summer tour in the US and now it's like the real
Greek Summer tour, and it's been a lot of fun.
(05:49):
And today's a day off, and I'm
talking to you from the island of Thinos, Greece,
which. Wow. I just came from Mykonos. I took a boat from
Mykonos to get here, and I'm meeting some friends,
but I got. Amazing.
Yeah, I was looking at your Instagram story. You were on a beach yesterday, too,
(06:11):
I believe. Yes. Yeah, I was on. We played this really
awesome beach club on the island of iOS. So what's
sick about that is during soundcheck, while
the, you know, the band takes a while, the drums alone, it's like a full
half hour. Just chill. Just chill at the
pool overlooking the beach. It was pretty great.
(06:35):
Amazing. That is so amazing. Well, again, I appreciate you doing this, and
thanks for taking some time out of your day off to.
To hang with me. Thank you.
Yeah. So I. You. I did read
you. You were born and raised. Were you. Were you born in the States
and then raised in Greece or kind of? Tell me about
(06:57):
your. Your upbringing.
I was born in New Jersey, and
a month later, my parents took me over to the island of
Crete to meet my family in Greece. My dad's from Crete. My
mom's Italian American, and my dad came to the States in
his, like, 30s, so his whole immediate family is still in
(07:19):
Crete. And my grandmother's no longer alive,
but we. I used to go there every summer and spend
summers on the farm with my. Yeah. Yeah, as we
say. And I was named after her and everything. So I was,
like, raised both in the States
and both in Greece at the.
(07:42):
In a way. Like, I spent three. I spent three months of
my entire, like, life
in Greece every year. Wow. Okay, so
you'd. Yeah, so it was. You'd go to Greece for. Yeah, three months
at a time and then come back to the States for, what, like, school and
everything? And then you go through summer school. Early and
(08:03):
start school late. Oh, nice.
Just to be in Greece. But, yeah, it was really, really
Special to. And like, a lot of kids
would get to go to camp. Like, for me it was like camp was
going to yeah's farm and,
(08:23):
you know, hanging out with her, working on the
sheep, tending to the sheep, the goats, the chickens,
the olive trees, like, really, really nice.
And we lived right near a beach town called
Palo Hora, which is where I'm from. So then we go to the beach and
I have my friends and it's just.
(08:46):
Was really, really lovely and special to get the
opportunity to have that be my, like, normal.
It was amazing. Yeah. That is so cool. Like, at what age or did
you end up just staying in Greece at one point or another? Or were you
like, say after high school or after you're kind of like having
to go to, you know, school in this space or whatever? Yeah,
(09:09):
well, what's not even in college,
I still go to Greece in the summers and now
I try to come as much as. As much as I can. Well, now with
my music career kind of picking up on
both sides of the world, it's been. Had a good
reason to come to come to Greece. And I also
(09:32):
have usually always only spent time in Crete because that's
where my family was. And any time away from Crete meant time away from my
family, which was like, limited since I lived in.
But now with this tour that I'm doing,
I'm getting to see all these new places in Greece that I've.
I've never been to, even though I've been coming to Greece my whole
(09:55):
life. So it's been really cool to get to like island hop
and explore these different places from like the north to the
south to random islands. It's been so, so cool.
That is amazing. I love the fact you have such big, you know, you have
like radio, records and big hits in Greece. I mean, that must be such a
cool thing for, you know, your family that's there all
(10:17):
the time to like, see like. Oh my gosh, my, you know, my niece or
my granddaughter is like on the radio here in, in Greece.
It's wild. Yeah, no, it's super cool. It's, it's. It's
particularly cute when I'm on like tv.
I do a lot of like, live interviews here and they all
tune in and I
(10:39):
like, say and hey to my family and I know they're
watching. And then afterward I think. What do you think?
It's quite so awesome. That is so awesome.
Yeah. Well, how did you get into music? Do you come from a
musical household? A creative family?
(11:00):
Creative family for sure. My mom sings, but more
like jazz, show tunes stuff is her
vibe. My dad wasn't really in music, but his family, like,
my. My aunt's also quite wholesome. My dad's
sister, and, like, her kids, they all were in, like, the town choir.
How cute is that? That is pretty cute. I know the
(11:23):
love of the town. Has a choir that's. Yeah, exactly.
Choir. And my cousins play the traditional
instruments. And my dad was
the cultural chairperson of the Pan Cretan
association of America, which meant that he was in charge of
bringing all sorts of
(11:45):
musical theatrical arts
events from the island of Crete to
America and, like, and everything.
So a lot of these traditional musicians would come
through our home and, like, you know, we always cooked for them
and, like, hung out with them and everything. So I just really grew up around
(12:08):
this rich appreciation for my culture and
where I come from, and so really
loving, like, traditional Greek music, but then also being, like, a
kid in America and, you know, having my mom listening to jazz
records and everything like that. But then also, like, Britney Spears
and NSYNC and Backstreet Boy, everything. That was
(12:30):
everything at that time. So
I always dreamt of becoming a singer. And even in, like, my
third grade yearbook, there's just, like, picture where it's little
me with my buck teeth, and we wrote, like, what we want to be when
we grow up. And I wrote singer. And I always. If I
have a hard day or, you know, big milestone
(12:52):
moments, I always, like, look back at that picture to remind
me. But, yeah, I always loved
it. But I also, you know, grew up in an immigrant
household where doing music
is not particularly encouraged as a career choice.
Not the most stable, one might say. Right.
(13:16):
So I. I studied and became
a teacher, which is the only other thing I like, truly, if I wasn't
doing this pop star singer thing.
Like, I love being in the classroom and teaching, and I got
my master's in special ed, and I taught for three years. And
by day teaching. Yeah. And even at. I went
(13:39):
to Rutgers in Jersey. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I'd,
like, host the open mic nights. I'd be like, everybody thought I was in the
music school, but I was not. Like, I taught. It's
in social studies. So, like, it was just not.
She's better at this than us, and we're in the program, like, what's going on?
(14:01):
So I just always loved the community of, like, music and bringing people together
and open mic nights and. And. And all of that and, like,
networking, going to New York. So when I was a teacher, I was, like, teaching
by Day. And by night, I was running around New York City and Brooklyn.
Like, I would come back to work the next day and, like, the teachers that
were in the know about my double life would, like, see my Instagram story and
(14:22):
be like, girl, you were in Brooklyn, like, four hours
ago. How are you here right now? You know?
Wow. And then there were budget cuts in the school district,
which is messed up on the government,
and we. And they cut all the non tenured teachers, including
myself, teachers. Like, we lost our jobs.
(14:45):
And for me, though, it was this moment of, like,
I always, like, deep down, I always wondered, like, what if I could give it
100%? Like, what if I could give music
100% of my time and, like, 100%, like, true
try. But
it would have been hard to leave the safety net and to, like, quit my
(15:08):
job. But this kind of gave me the opportunity to not choose
to leave, but to, like, open the door and show me
a way out in a sense, and to not have to look for another job
for a minute. So that's kind of.
Wow. Well, yeah, so it sounds like, yeah, it's like, yeah,
the universe is like, yeah, you're supposed to be a singer, so we're going to
(15:31):
kind of push you out of this career path that you're currently in.
So then we'll give you a moment here to focus and you can understand that
this is really what you need to be doing. Exactly. Wow. You really,
like a. Like a universe. A universe moment.
Definitely. What. What
it was that. What year was that? Was that recent? Ish.
(15:53):
2018 June.
Yeah, that was 2018 June at the end of the.
The 2018 school year. And then.
I know. I feel like with COVID though, we lost, like,
two and a half years. Yeah. Easily. Sure.
(16:15):
So it's like, long ago, but I'm like, guys, wait. It really wasn't that long
ago. Right. Yeah. I mean, just to get before all
that. I mean, that's. That's so crazy to think. And the fact that you were
doing special ed. Were you teaching special ed? Yeah, I was teaching special
ed. That's amazing. My mom was a special ed teacher, so that's
so cool. Respect. Teachers. Teachers are
(16:38):
very, very special humans, and the world needs to appreciate them
more. Is what I 100 I 100
with your music. So, like, you. You were
just. It was kind of just a hobby or something you enjoyed doing, but
through high school, grade school, all of that, and then
(16:59):
once you got to college, you just. You're like, you know, I want to be
a teacher because you were talking about how music really wasn't sought
to as, like, you know, you're gonna go do this, and this is going to
be your career path. Yeah. Were you writing songs and
stuff at that point or playing in a band or anything like that?
I was writing songs towards the end of high school
(17:20):
is when I, like, really picked up because I actually. Soccer was, like, my first
love, and I used to. It used to be, like, all my
time was spent on that. Then I tore my ACL when I was 16,
and I had a lot of time on my hands not
being able to play soccer. And so that's when I started learning, like, ukulele
and guitar on, like, YouTube, just, like, in bed, because I had nothing
(17:42):
else to do. And, like, really, really
loving that. And I got into, actually, Ingrid Michaelson, and
I loved at the time, like, her albums that came out
was, like, really simple, like, just an instrument
and her voice. And that was very inspiring for me at the time because I
had an instrument and my voice, so I was like, I can write a song,
(18:04):
you know. So it was really. That was really
inspiring for me. And then when I went into college, I did open
mic nights and write and perform by myself. But then I also started
this blues band, and it was me, this
other girl singing, like, harmonies and
sometimes leads. We had another. A guy on
(18:25):
acoustic guitar and a trumpet, and it was so much fun. And
we played, like, basement shows at Rutgers, and I got a lot of
experience from that, and
it was a lot of fun and a whole other part of my life,
but it was, like, bluegrassy kind of fun vibe
and then. Yeah, but I always, like.
(18:49):
I always love pop music and, like,
Latin music and then the traditional Greek. And I'm very much, like. I love to
go out and, like, party and dance all
night long and couldn't quite, like, create
the music that I was hearing in my head. Like, I didn't have the capabilities
to do it. And then,
(19:11):
especially in Greece, by the way, the partying here is out of this world. Have
you been to Greece? Yeah, I have not. And my. My mom is Greek,
and I've never been.
I'm sorry. Or
at least quarter. Yeah, full quarter. All right.
Well, yeah, my mom, like, she watches, like,
(19:35):
would watch, like, the Big Fat Greek Wedding, all that stuff, and that was
just, like. That was, like, her life. Like, she just. Yeah, pretty. Well,
I can't. I can't remember where in Greek she's told me, like, 15
times. And I'm just, like.
Trying to come reconnect with your Roots. Because it's.
They're very delicious. Okay. The food's really, really good.
(19:58):
Yeah, I see it's beautiful there too. And it's
beautiful. And yeah, like the, like literally last
night we went out after the show. The show ended
at like 2am and then us and the band went. Went out
and got to this bar at like 2am and it was still not full.
And it got full around 4am and we were there. Oh my gosh.
(20:22):
Like, why are you leaving? Like, you literally stay out till the sun comes
up here. It's like, it's all. It's a whole. Like, people say New York City
never sleeps. Like, no, the entire country. He does
not sleep and partying.
That's amazing. Your music. It definitely has that vibe of like
this. This is a song you could that will be rocking at the club at,
(20:44):
you know, three in the morning and people are just like, dance.
And so basically a couple months after I
decided to go full force into music and I was like in New York, like
networking, doing everything I could. I met
Jay Stolar, who's my
(21:05):
boyfriend and life partner, but now also full on
creative partner. All the music and everything we've done from
the start. And it was the first time that I.
Cause I had the idea of like blending like the elements
and creating something a little more dance. And
I don't want to say ethnic, but like really taking in my roots
(21:28):
in the music. And a lot of producers at the time were
like, I don't know about that or
I don't know about using Greek or like, don't think that's cool.
But Jay was the first person that like got it because
he also knew me so well and was like, dude, you're
like calling, you're always speaking Greek, talking about Greek,
(21:51):
dancing, you like love, like, it's just so
deeply an important part of who you are.
So now that I was focusing on music, like for
real, where it's not just an after school activity, it's
like we're like, we gotta pick our lane
(22:12):
and like explore that and you know,
experiment and mine and create. And so
it was the first time that I felt
like, oh man, this really feels
finally like truly who I am
and what I want to
(22:34):
share with the world. And it's been really, really cool to get to
incorporate my culture and like my language and
some of the instruments and in all different ways, like each song is. Not
every song has as much Greek as the other or,
you know, it's different instruments, but it's been really, really cool.
And very special for me to reconnect with my culture in that way.
(22:58):
Like, it's brought me closer, even closer to my dad, who didn't want me
to do music at first. He, like, gives me, like, sends me old Greek
songs and stuff to inspire me, and it's really cute.
It's really cute. I love that. I was gonna ask you, but, I mean,
you answered the question. Meeting, you know, your partner.
But if. Because you were talking about having your dad would bring
(23:21):
acts from Greece to the States and artists, and
they would come through your house and stay with you all. I didn't know if
that was part of, like, what played a real big role in your songwriting early
on, but it sounds like it was always there. But,
you know, this just kind of came together
once you. You both got together to write music together. Yeah,
(23:42):
like, it was always there, like, for me, I was always so passionate about, like,
the tradition. You've seen, like, if you've seen my big fat freak
whenever they're dancing in, like, a circle and. And stuff, like,
are so deep in my blood. Like, I feel like I was reincarnated
from, like, a long time ago, because since I was really, really little,
(24:02):
like, I. I just, like,
danced them. Like, I, like, knew the steps. Like, it was just like,
that girl really likes this. It was just very
evident. And.
Yeah, but I never quite knew. I never quite knew.
And to be. And to also be on honest with you, those
(24:25):
early on conversations that I had with people
kind of being like, I don't really know about this culture. It's like they weren't
ready yet. It was like, kind of like we were of the game. Like,
now I feel like today there's a lot more of an
appreciation of people bringing, you know, other backgrounds and
cultures into their music. But there was a time when that wasn't necessarily, like, the
(24:45):
cool thing to do. And,
yeah, I was almost afraid of, like, not being cool if I did
that. But then once I actually did
incorporate. Incorporate it and go and do
it, that's when everything changed. And, like, I signed a
record deal because of what we were doing and
(25:08):
because I was. I was like, wow, all this time
and just had to be me. Isn't that wild
to think? I mean, I was just thinking about that. When you're talking, like, as
a young artist, you know, you're like, okay, I want to go into this.
I lost this job. I want to go into this full
100%. And then you have this idea, and people are
(25:30):
like, you know, that's not going to work. And you're
probably sitting there like, well, I guess maybe it's not going to work because,
you know, being green to the whole thing at the time, you wouldn't know.
And then when you're authentic, you. Then you decide you meet this other
person, then you're 100 authentic to yourself and your roots. And it's
(25:51):
like, it pops off as, like, the thing that worked out. It's like, I.
It's crazy how that happens, right? Everyone's afraid to be himself,
but when they are, it's like, it works. I feel like tick tock and
everything you see there, it's like people that are
authentic is the stuff that gets viral if somebody tries to
recreate some other thing that somebody else has done,
(26:13):
or if it's too polished and pretty or it
doesn't resonate the same way. And I think people can just kind of see through
the bullshit when it comes to, like, being authentic. Yeah,
I. I fully agree. It's.
It's kind of. Yeah, it was kind of a crazy thing when I had that
realization. That's so. I was like, oh, I could, like,
(26:36):
really, like, lean into it, you know, but they're like. I had friends
be like, you know, you should greet. Like, you're literally like,
you professionally Greek dance. Like, I would
dance at, like, high level, like, dance groups or whatever. They're like, oh,
that. So now, like, I started this, like, thing where I dance.
There's this traditional dance pedo from my island, and it's
(26:58):
actually traditional dance, but women now dance it too.
But it's kind of like, I love it as a statement of, like, we're here,
it's 2024, and yes, I'm gonna dance fetos early.
And all these different places that
I travel to, I dance
and, like, I pose like, dancing around the world. And it's been cool
(27:20):
because I actually went to, for example, like,
South Africa for a show where I opened for this amazing artist
named Costa D. He's Greek, and he had this big show in South Africa
and he brought me to open for him. But, like, I posted
that I was coming to South Africa and this,
like, Greek dance group reached out to me that they wanted to do
(27:43):
a video with me to dance, but those are with me. And I was like,
let's do it. And so we met.
We met up in the square and we
choreographed and did, like, this Greek dance in South
Africa. And it's just been like, such a cool. Such a cool thing.
And I've had different people reach out to me or even like, at shows, just
(28:04):
be like, hey, like, you help me get in touch with my culture, like,
appreciate where I come from, or, like, want
to learn my language or, you know,
even people that are in Greek but come from immigrant families,
you know, just wanting to get closer to where they come from. So
it's been really special of it. And with,
(28:26):
like, you know, you. You. You meet your partner and you
guys start writing songs. And then where do. Where do you see the first, like,
success of it? Like, working like, you're like, whoa. Like, of course. Of
course I should have done this. This. This is the sound, and this is what
we should have done. Yeah. In the studio.
The first one was my song,
(28:49):
which ended up being the first song we released. But I remember
Corner, or, like, sitting in the room and
I'm going, you got to figure out something Greek to say. I was like, all
right, I'm going to go in a corner and just think. Because
I wanted to think of, like, a word that is
accessible to, like, the Western ear as well.
(29:11):
And the word in Greek means let's go. And
it's pretty easy to say. So it's like, like,
let's go, let's go. Like, you say that, you know, Spanish songs were starting to
come up at the time. Like, Valle, Valle Dale, Dale. Like, it
just kind of worked. And
once we just kind of added
(29:33):
that in, it was just like. And then, like, the bouzuki came in.
The bouziki is this traditional Greek instrument. And then the bouzouki came in, and we
were like, oh, this is lit. This is
lit. And it was like that
demo and the demo for my song Diving were the two, like,
demo versions of songs we sent over to
(29:55):
Patrick at Sony
Music Germany in Europe. And he just was,
yep, I get it. And we were like,
whoa, let's do this. Wow.
Yeah. And then do those songs do well right away?
Or like, like, what was.
(30:18):
You know, I know you had, like, a huge viral
moments on Tick Tock and stuff, right, with your songs. And, like,
was that soon after that or. Or way down the line. Yeah.
Was like the first demo or, like, literally when we were in the experimentation phase
of, like, okay, this is lit. But then my song,
where we incorporated, is all in English except for this one line,
(30:43):
which means fire in your eyes. And
it came out in English and with that
one line. And then six months later, I'm in Greece to film
a music video for another song, and I
meet Eleni Ferreira, who is, like, the
biggest pop artist in the country of Greece. Slash.
(31:06):
Very well Known in Europe in particular for
coming second place in the Eurovision Song Contest.
So she's like, yeah. Like, they call her, like, the Queen of Europe. Like,
she went like, I don't even know what
number. Platinum in Spain for the sun. Like, she's just kind of like
a queen. Summer. Yes. And she's like,
(31:29):
nothing. And every summer when I come to Greece and, like, party all night long,
there was always an Elaine song that was like, my song of the summer.
Because they play. Play her in the clubs and she walks in the
room as we're, like, brainstorming, singing my song, singing.
And I was like, what the heck? This is crazy. And she sits down,
she's like, I love this song. I heard it, like, came up. She's like,
(31:51):
I heard this song. And I was like, I want this song. We gotta make
this song, basically. And she just, like, loved, like, what I
was doing and kind of looked into me in my background and she
was like, we should do it as a duet in Greek and
Spanish, because she also sings in Spanish for that
audience, that song. And I always knew
(32:14):
Fotia would be, like, my little, like,
sleeper hit in a way. And it's still, you know, I'm still, like, a
developing artist and growing, and so there's always, like, you
know, immense room to grow with it. But for me, it was just like, oh,
yeah, like, I know it's gonna. It just, like, is so good. It deserves its
moment. And we did the duet
(32:35):
and it was, like, number one on the radio for
a very long time, for, like, over a year. And we, like,
crazy. I did, like, my first TV performance with her. I was the first
girl she's ever done a duet with. She's only ever collaborated,
guys, so it was like a really, like, special thing
(32:56):
over choreography and for her dancing. And it was like, my first time
performing on tv and I had to, like, dance next to her, but I practiced
really hard and she was super nice and really encouraging
to me. But it just, like, that definitely
changed. Changed everything. And,
like, a little clip of me singing it, the English version,
(33:19):
acoustic, like, went viral and stuff. And so, like. And then
Deborah DeLuca, who's this amazing, like, techno DJ
artist from Italy, like, her song on Tick Tock, and she. She
made a remix of it and just DM'd me and was like, I want to
put this out. What do you think? And I was like, hell, yeah. So, like,
it's playing and it's just been cool because this
(33:41):
is the. You know, and we just
performed it actually, at times Square. She came to
do, like, a surprise concert. And so I was singing my song,
which has Bouzuki in it, and I was just like, look at this. Like, Bouzuki
is, like, blasting, like, what an international
crazy Square. Yeah. Oh, man. We got this Italian dj.
(34:04):
It's techno. I'm singing up here. I'm singing in Greek and
English, and then Bouzuki's, like, bumping. It was cool.
That is amazing. And you recently put out a new. A new
record, correct? Yes. Yes. Tell me
about that song. And then I want to hear about what you have coming up,
because I know you're. You're on tour, and I don't want to take too much
(34:25):
time away from your. Your day off here. Good.
So I just released a new song called Mikonos, which is
about literally what I explained
to you before that Greeks party all
night long and just. It's like completely normal
to show up somewhere at 4am
(34:48):
and it is the best time
to show up and just staying up and seeing the
sunrise and kind of like a testament to
my favorite. Some of my favorite nights out with my friends where we're just
literally, like, dancing all night long until you see
(35:08):
the sunrise and. And then you go to the beach and then you just, like,
do it all. You sleep a little in the afternoon, and then you do it
all over again. And Mykonos is the most famous island
for this. For this party scene. And.
And I. It's a. Mikono's is a special place and
has this crazy energy of, like, everybody there is just ready to have
(35:31):
a good time. And
there's no. There's no sleep. There's no sleep in Mykonos. It's just. It's
just having a good time. And
that's. That's literally basically what the song is about. Just like, keep
me up all night, like Mikono and just having a
great time. And that's what I want when people to hear
(35:53):
it, to just want to get up and like, dance and have a good time
with their friends and hopefully associate it with some
really good memories. Love it. Yeah. It's such a
party song. I really, really like it.
And I love the. The remix that you just put out too. That's cool
version too. And you have new. Other. I mean, that's new. But do you
(36:15):
have other stuff on the way? Always have other stuff on the way.
But we're kind of a bit of the. We're. We're in between
some songs right now, and so we're. We're figuring
out we're figuring out what the next move is going to be. So right now,
we're riding out this summer on. On Mykonos, and
it's a summer jam. Exactly.
(36:37):
Exactly. We're parting it up.
Love it. Love it. Well, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much. I have
one more question for you. I want to know if you have any advice for
aspiring artists. Yes, I
do have advice. I think big
thing is to just do the art and to
(36:59):
just, like, just do it
and recognize that it's
going to take a lot of.
You just have to, like, create and create and create,
because each thing you create, even though it might not be it or
the thing that might, like, blow you up or whatever, it's, like, one
(37:22):
step closer to whatever that thing is going to be.
And to not be afraid
of being seen as
cringy or whatever it is. Like,
get over the embarrassment thing of, like, getting yourself out there and just,
like, do the art and post it on the Internet
(37:46):
and just keep. And keep going and, like, networking. And you just
really never know where your path is going to take you. Because I could not
have guessed if somebody told me while I was teaching that I would be doing
a podcast with you today from the island of Thanos. In between my,
like, Greek summer tour with this, like, really
amazing artist that I'm touring with right now, I'd be like, I mean,
(38:07):
that sounds awesome, but, like,
I'm. I just don't see how that's going to work. It's just like,
just keep going and keep creating, and things
start to fall into place.
Bring it backwards,
(38:32):
bring it backward, bring it backward,
bring it backward, Bringing it backward,
bringing it backward.
Why, hello, it is Adam. Welcome back to Bringing It Backwards
Podcasts, where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal
stories of how they achieve stardom. On this episode,
we had a chance to hang out with Evangelia over
Zoom Video. Evangelia was born in New Jersey,
but raised between Jersey and Crete
(00:22):
in Greece. So she'd spend nine months out of
the year in the United States and then three months on on her
grandmother's farm in Greece. And she talks to us
about how she got into music. Always loved singing. She said in
third grade, her picture under her picture in the yearbook, it said what you
wanted to be, and she wrote singer. So she always loved music. She was a
(00:44):
soccer player. When she tore her acl, that's when she started to learn how to
play guitar and write songs. She actually went to college, though, to be a
teacher. She was a special ed teacher. Always
involved in music. Would run the open mic nights and would
teach, you know, during the day and, and, and write songs and play music at
night. She was in a band. She talked about that a little bit. When she
(01:04):
had gotten laid off due to budget cuts in 2018, she knew that was
her moment to try to give music her all
100%. She talked about that moment. She talked about meeting her
now partner and boyfriend collaborator, and the two of them
together created this sound of, you know, pop music
and implementing all of these original
(01:27):
Greek instruments and sounds. And she
even speaks Greek in her songs. And having this kind of idea beforehand
when meeting with producers, they just didn't understand it. They're like, this isn't going to
work. This isn't going to work. And when she decided to go for it no
matter what, that's when stuff started happening for her. She talked about the massive success
of her song F. We hear about the tour she's on currently
(01:49):
and all about the brand new song called Mikonos. You can watch
our interview with Evangelia on our Facebook page and YouTube channel at
bringing it backwards. It would be amazing if you subscribe to our channel
and like this on Facebook and follow us on Instagram
X and Tick Tock at Bringing Back Pod. And if
you're listening to this on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Podcasts, please
(02:12):
rate review Tell your friends. It helps us out tremendously.
We'd appreciate your support if you follow and subscribe to our podcast,
we're wherever. You listen to podcasts, we're bringing it backwards.
With Evangelia,
fall is here, and with it comes cooler nights, heartier meals,
(02:32):
and the craving for something warm. And satisfying. That's
where HelloFresh comes in, bringing you comforting chef designed
recipes and fresh seasonal ingredients right to your door.
This season, they've taken things to the next level with their biggest menu
refresh yet. Say hello to a whole new way to dinner.
HelloFresh has has doubled its menu. Now you can choose from
(02:54):
100 options each week, including new seasonal
dishes and recipes from around the world. Dig into bigger
portions that'll keep everyone satisfied. Feel great with an even
healthier menu filled with high protein and veggie packed recipes.
HelloFresh now helps you eat greener with new veggie pack
recipes that have two or more veggies. And you can get
(03:16):
steak and seafood recipes delivered every week for no
extra cost. There's three times more seafood on you
now at no extra cost. Discover new seasonal produce each week.
From snap peas to stone fruit to corn on the cob and more.
I absolutely love hellofresh. It's the easiest way for me to actually make healthy
food for myself and for my son. Instead of just going
(03:39):
to, you know, fast food or whatever, I get the food delivered right to my
doorstep. All the ingredients are there, all the spices are there, Everything
is in the box delivered right to my door. And there's so
many amazing recipes to choose from each and every week. And, and I just
absolutely love hellofresh. We've been using it for, for a while now. It
just makes everything so much easier when it comes to dinner. It's not like the
(04:01):
kids get home from school, you're home from work or whatever and then it's what's
for dinner, you know, bam. Hellofresh. You have some stuff to choose from right there.
All the ingredients, super easy. No trips to the grocery store, which I love because
I always end up in there and I have no idea what. I'm just throwing
stuff in the cart and I get home and I still have no idea what
I'm going to make. So we love hellofresh in this household. 91% of
customers say they feel healthier eating with HelloFresh. 90%. 9 out of 10
(04:23):
say dinner is more delicious with hellofresh. Hellofresh is the
easiest way to cook dinner. Hellofresh is America's number
one choice for home cooking. And check this out. The best way to cook just
got better. Go to hellofresh.com bib
tv10fm now to get 10 free meals and a
free item for life. One per box with active subscription free meals
(04:44):
applied on discount on first box. New subscribers only. Varies by planning. That's
hellofresh.com bibtv10fm
to get 10 free meals and a free item for
life.
(05:05):
Bringing it backwards,
bringing it backward, bringing it backward,
bringing it backward, bringing it backward,
bringing it back.
Well, this is about you and your journey in music, and we'll talk
(05:28):
about the new song. And I know you what played last night,
right? You have a. You're on tour currently. Crazy.
Yeah, I'm on tour all over Greece right now. I did the
Feels like Greek Summer tour in the US and now it's like the real
Greek Summer tour, and it's been a lot of fun.
(05:49):
And today's a day off, and I'm
talking to you from the island of Thinos, Greece,
which. Wow. I just came from Mykonos. I took a boat from
Mykonos to get here, and I'm meeting some friends,
but I got. Amazing.
Yeah, I was looking at your Instagram story. You were on a beach yesterday, too,
(06:11):
I believe. Yes. Yeah, I was on. We played this really
awesome beach club on the island of iOS. So what's
sick about that is during soundcheck, while
the, you know, the band takes a while, the drums alone, it's like a full
half hour. Just chill. Just chill at the
pool overlooking the beach. It was pretty great.
(06:35):
Amazing. That is so amazing. Well, again, I appreciate you doing this, and
thanks for taking some time out of your day off to.
To hang with me. Thank you.
Yeah. So I. You. I did read
you. You were born and raised. Were you. Were you born in the States
and then raised in Greece or kind of? Tell me about
(06:57):
your. Your upbringing.
I was born in New Jersey, and
a month later, my parents took me over to the island of
Crete to meet my family in Greece. My dad's from Crete. My
mom's Italian American, and my dad came to the States in
his, like, 30s, so his whole immediate family is still in
(07:19):
Crete. And my grandmother's no longer alive,
but we. I used to go there every summer and spend
summers on the farm with my. Yeah. Yeah, as we
say. And I was named after her and everything. So I was,
like, raised both in the States
and both in Greece at the.
(07:42):
In a way. Like, I spent three. I spent three months of
my entire, like, life
in Greece every year. Wow. Okay, so
you'd. Yeah, so it was. You'd go to Greece for. Yeah, three months
at a time and then come back to the States for, what, like, school and
everything? And then you go through summer school. Early and
(08:03):
start school late. Oh, nice.
Just to be in Greece. But, yeah, it was really, really
Special to. And like, a lot of kids
would get to go to camp. Like, for me it was like camp was
going to yeah's farm and,
(08:23):
you know, hanging out with her, working on the
sheep, tending to the sheep, the goats, the chickens,
the olive trees, like, really, really nice.
And we lived right near a beach town called
Palo Hora, which is where I'm from. So then we go to the beach and
I have my friends and it's just.
(08:46):
Was really, really lovely and special to get the
opportunity to have that be my, like, normal.
It was amazing. Yeah. That is so cool. Like, at what age or did
you end up just staying in Greece at one point or another? Or were you
like, say after high school or after you're kind of like having
to go to, you know, school in this space or whatever? Yeah,
(09:09):
well, what's not even in college,
I still go to Greece in the summers and now
I try to come as much as. As much as I can. Well, now with
my music career kind of picking up on
both sides of the world, it's been. Had a good
reason to come to come to Greece. And I also
(09:32):
have usually always only spent time in Crete because that's
where my family was. And any time away from Crete meant time away from my
family, which was like, limited since I lived in.
But now with this tour that I'm doing,
I'm getting to see all these new places in Greece that I've.
I've never been to, even though I've been coming to Greece my whole
(09:55):
life. So it's been really cool to get to like island hop
and explore these different places from like the north to the
south to random islands. It's been so, so cool.
That is amazing. I love the fact you have such big, you know, you have
like radio, records and big hits in Greece. I mean, that must be such a
cool thing for, you know, your family that's there all
(10:17):
the time to like, see like. Oh my gosh, my, you know, my niece or
my granddaughter is like on the radio here in, in Greece.
It's wild. Yeah, no, it's super cool. It's, it's. It's
particularly cute when I'm on like tv.
I do a lot of like, live interviews here and they all
tune in and I
(10:39):
like, say and hey to my family and I know they're
watching. And then afterward I think. What do you think?
It's quite so awesome. That is so awesome.
Yeah. Well, how did you get into music? Do you come from a
musical household? A creative family?
(11:00):
Creative family for sure. My mom sings, but more
like jazz, show tunes stuff is her
vibe. My dad wasn't really in music, but his family, like,
my. My aunt's also quite wholesome. My dad's
sister, and, like, her kids, they all were in, like, the town choir.
How cute is that? That is pretty cute. I know the
(11:23):
love of the town. Has a choir that's. Yeah, exactly.
Choir. And my cousins play the traditional
instruments. And my dad was
the cultural chairperson of the Pan Cretan
association of America, which meant that he was in charge of
bringing all sorts of
(11:45):
musical theatrical arts
events from the island of Crete to
America and, like, and everything.
So a lot of these traditional musicians would come
through our home and, like, you know, we always cooked for them
and, like, hung out with them and everything. So I just really grew up around
(12:08):
this rich appreciation for my culture and
where I come from, and so really
loving, like, traditional Greek music, but then also being, like, a
kid in America and, you know, having my mom listening to jazz
records and everything like that. But then also, like, Britney Spears
and NSYNC and Backstreet Boy, everything. That was
(12:30):
everything at that time. So
I always dreamt of becoming a singer. And even in, like, my
third grade yearbook, there's just, like, picture where it's little
me with my buck teeth, and we wrote, like, what we want to be when
we grow up. And I wrote singer. And I always. If I
have a hard day or, you know, big milestone
(12:52):
moments, I always, like, look back at that picture to remind
me. But, yeah, I always loved
it. But I also, you know, grew up in an immigrant
household where doing music
is not particularly encouraged as a career choice.
Not the most stable, one might say. Right.
(13:16):
So I. I studied and became
a teacher, which is the only other thing I like, truly, if I wasn't
doing this pop star singer thing.
Like, I love being in the classroom and teaching, and I got
my master's in special ed, and I taught for three years. And
by day teaching. Yeah. And even at. I went
(13:39):
to Rutgers in Jersey. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I'd,
like, host the open mic nights. I'd be like, everybody thought I was in the
music school, but I was not. Like, I taught. It's
in social studies. So, like, it was just not.
She's better at this than us, and we're in the program, like, what's going on?
(14:01):
So I just always loved the community of, like, music and bringing people together
and open mic nights and. And. And all of that and, like,
networking, going to New York. So when I was a teacher, I was, like, teaching
by Day. And by night, I was running around New York City and Brooklyn.
Like, I would come back to work the next day and, like, the teachers that
were in the know about my double life would, like, see my Instagram story and
(14:22):
be like, girl, you were in Brooklyn, like, four hours
ago. How are you here right now? You know?
Wow. And then there were budget cuts in the school district,
which is messed up on the government,
and we. And they cut all the non tenured teachers, including
myself, teachers. Like, we lost our jobs.
(14:45):
And for me, though, it was this moment of, like,
I always, like, deep down, I always wondered, like, what if I could give it
100%? Like, what if I could give music
100% of my time and, like, 100%, like, true
try. But
it would have been hard to leave the safety net and to, like, quit my
(15:08):
job. But this kind of gave me the opportunity to not choose
to leave, but to, like, open the door and show me
a way out in a sense, and to not have to look for another job
for a minute. So that's kind of.
Wow. Well, yeah, so it sounds like, yeah, it's like, yeah,
the universe is like, yeah, you're supposed to be a singer, so we're going to
(15:31):
kind of push you out of this career path that you're currently in.
So then we'll give you a moment here to focus and you can understand that
this is really what you need to be doing. Exactly. Wow. You really,
like a. Like a universe. A universe moment.
Definitely. What. What
it was that. What year was that? Was that recent? Ish.
(15:53):
2018 June.
Yeah, that was 2018 June at the end of the.
The 2018 school year. And then.
I know. I feel like with COVID though, we lost, like,
two and a half years. Yeah. Easily. Sure.
(16:15):
So it's like, long ago, but I'm like, guys, wait. It really wasn't that long
ago. Right. Yeah. I mean, just to get before all
that. I mean, that's. That's so crazy to think. And the fact that you were
doing special ed. Were you teaching special ed? Yeah, I was teaching special
ed. That's amazing. My mom was a special ed teacher, so that's
so cool. Respect. Teachers. Teachers are
(16:38):
very, very special humans, and the world needs to appreciate them
more. Is what I 100 I 100
with your music. So, like, you. You were
just. It was kind of just a hobby or something you enjoyed doing, but
through high school, grade school, all of that, and then
(16:59):
once you got to college, you just. You're like, you know, I want to be
a teacher because you were talking about how music really wasn't sought
to as, like, you know, you're gonna go do this, and this is going to
be your career path. Yeah. Were you writing songs and
stuff at that point or playing in a band or anything like that?
I was writing songs towards the end of high school
(17:20):
is when I, like, really picked up because I actually. Soccer was, like, my first
love, and I used to. It used to be, like, all my
time was spent on that. Then I tore my ACL when I was 16,
and I had a lot of time on my hands not
being able to play soccer. And so that's when I started learning, like, ukulele
and guitar on, like, YouTube, just, like, in bed, because I had nothing
(17:42):
else to do. And, like, really, really
loving that. And I got into, actually, Ingrid Michaelson, and
I loved at the time, like, her albums that came out
was, like, really simple, like, just an instrument
and her voice. And that was very inspiring for me at the time because I
had an instrument and my voice, so I was like, I can write a song,
(18:04):
you know. So it was really. That was really
inspiring for me. And then when I went into college, I did open
mic nights and write and perform by myself. But then I also started
this blues band, and it was me, this
other girl singing, like, harmonies and
sometimes leads. We had another. A guy on
(18:25):
acoustic guitar and a trumpet, and it was so much fun. And
we played, like, basement shows at Rutgers, and I got a lot of
experience from that, and
it was a lot of fun and a whole other part of my life,
but it was, like, bluegrassy kind of fun vibe
and then. Yeah, but I always, like.
(18:49):
I always love pop music and, like,
Latin music and then the traditional Greek. And I'm very much, like. I love to
go out and, like, party and dance all
night long and couldn't quite, like, create
the music that I was hearing in my head. Like, I didn't have the capabilities
to do it. And then,
(19:11):
especially in Greece, by the way, the partying here is out of this world. Have
you been to Greece? Yeah, I have not. And my. My mom is Greek,
and I've never been.
I'm sorry. Or
at least quarter. Yeah, full quarter. All right.
Well, yeah, my mom, like, she watches, like,
(19:35):
would watch, like, the Big Fat Greek Wedding, all that stuff, and that was
just, like. That was, like, her life. Like, she just. Yeah, pretty. Well,
I can't. I can't remember where in Greek she's told me, like, 15
times. And I'm just, like.
Trying to come reconnect with your Roots. Because it's.
They're very delicious. Okay. The food's really, really good.
(19:58):
Yeah, I see it's beautiful there too. And it's
beautiful. And yeah, like the, like literally last
night we went out after the show. The show ended
at like 2am and then us and the band went. Went out
and got to this bar at like 2am and it was still not full.
And it got full around 4am and we were there. Oh my gosh.
(20:22):
Like, why are you leaving? Like, you literally stay out till the sun comes
up here. It's like, it's all. It's a whole. Like, people say New York City
never sleeps. Like, no, the entire country. He does
not sleep and partying.
That's amazing. Your music. It definitely has that vibe of like
this. This is a song you could that will be rocking at the club at,
(20:44):
you know, three in the morning and people are just like, dance.
And so basically a couple months after I
decided to go full force into music and I was like in New York, like
networking, doing everything I could. I met
Jay Stolar, who's my
(21:05):
boyfriend and life partner, but now also full on
creative partner. All the music and everything we've done from
the start. And it was the first time that I.
Cause I had the idea of like blending like the elements
and creating something a little more dance. And
I don't want to say ethnic, but like really taking in my roots
(21:28):
in the music. And a lot of producers at the time were
like, I don't know about that or
I don't know about using Greek or like, don't think that's cool.
But Jay was the first person that like got it because
he also knew me so well and was like, dude, you're
like calling, you're always speaking Greek, talking about Greek,
(21:51):
dancing, you like love, like, it's just so
deeply an important part of who you are.
So now that I was focusing on music, like for
real, where it's not just an after school activity, it's
like we're like, we gotta pick our lane
(22:12):
and like explore that and you know,
experiment and mine and create. And so
it was the first time that I felt
like, oh man, this really feels
finally like truly who I am
and what I want to
(22:34):
share with the world. And it's been really, really cool to get to
incorporate my culture and like my language and
some of the instruments and in all different ways, like each song is. Not
every song has as much Greek as the other or,
you know, it's different instruments, but it's been really, really cool.
And very special for me to reconnect with my culture in that way.
(22:58):
Like, it's brought me closer, even closer to my dad, who didn't want me
to do music at first. He, like, gives me, like, sends me old Greek
songs and stuff to inspire me, and it's really cute.
It's really cute. I love that. I was gonna ask you, but, I mean,
you answered the question. Meeting, you know, your partner.
But if. Because you were talking about having your dad would bring
(23:21):
acts from Greece to the States and artists, and
they would come through your house and stay with you all. I didn't know if
that was part of, like, what played a real big role in your songwriting early
on, but it sounds like it was always there. But,
you know, this just kind of came together
once you. You both got together to write music together. Yeah,
(23:42):
like, it was always there, like, for me, I was always so passionate about, like,
the tradition. You've seen, like, if you've seen my big fat freak
whenever they're dancing in, like, a circle and. And stuff, like,
are so deep in my blood. Like, I feel like I was reincarnated
from, like, a long time ago, because since I was really, really little,
(24:02):
like, I. I just, like,
danced them. Like, I, like, knew the steps. Like, it was just like,
that girl really likes this. It was just very
evident. And.
Yeah, but I never quite knew. I never quite knew.
And to be. And to also be on honest with you, those
(24:25):
early on conversations that I had with people
kind of being like, I don't really know about this culture. It's like they weren't
ready yet. It was like, kind of like we were of the game. Like,
now I feel like today there's a lot more of an
appreciation of people bringing, you know, other backgrounds and
cultures into their music. But there was a time when that wasn't necessarily, like, the
(24:45):
cool thing to do. And,
yeah, I was almost afraid of, like, not being cool if I did
that. But then once I actually did
incorporate. Incorporate it and go and do
it, that's when everything changed. And, like, I signed a
record deal because of what we were doing and
(25:08):
because I was. I was like, wow, all this time
and just had to be me. Isn't that wild
to think? I mean, I was just thinking about that. When you're talking, like, as
a young artist, you know, you're like, okay, I want to go into this.
I lost this job. I want to go into this full
100%. And then you have this idea, and people are
(25:30):
like, you know, that's not going to work. And you're
probably sitting there like, well, I guess maybe it's not going to work because,
you know, being green to the whole thing at the time, you wouldn't know.
And then when you're authentic, you. Then you decide you meet this other
person, then you're 100 authentic to yourself and your roots. And it's
(25:51):
like, it pops off as, like, the thing that worked out. It's like, I.
It's crazy how that happens, right? Everyone's afraid to be himself,
but when they are, it's like, it works. I feel like tick tock and
everything you see there, it's like people that are
authentic is the stuff that gets viral if somebody tries to
recreate some other thing that somebody else has done,
(26:13):
or if it's too polished and pretty or it
doesn't resonate the same way. And I think people can just kind of see through
the bullshit when it comes to, like, being authentic. Yeah,
I. I fully agree. It's.
It's kind of. Yeah, it was kind of a crazy thing when I had that
realization. That's so. I was like, oh, I could, like,
(26:36):
really, like, lean into it, you know, but they're like. I had friends
be like, you know, you should greet. Like, you're literally like,
you professionally Greek dance. Like, I would
dance at, like, high level, like, dance groups or whatever. They're like, oh,
that. So now, like, I started this, like, thing where I dance.
There's this traditional dance pedo from my island, and it's
(26:58):
actually traditional dance, but women now dance it too.
But it's kind of like, I love it as a statement of, like, we're here,
it's 2024, and yes, I'm gonna dance fetos early.
And all these different places that
I travel to, I dance
and, like, I pose like, dancing around the world. And it's been cool
(27:20):
because I actually went to, for example, like,
South Africa for a show where I opened for this amazing artist
named Costa D. He's Greek, and he had this big show in South Africa
and he brought me to open for him. But, like, I posted
that I was coming to South Africa and this,
like, Greek dance group reached out to me that they wanted to do
(27:43):
a video with me to dance, but those are with me. And I was like,
let's do it. And so we met.
We met up in the square and we
choreographed and did, like, this Greek dance in South
Africa. And it's just been like, such a cool. Such a cool thing.
And I've had different people reach out to me or even like, at shows, just
(28:04):
be like, hey, like, you help me get in touch with my culture, like,
appreciate where I come from, or, like, want
to learn my language or, you know,
even people that are in Greek but come from immigrant families,
you know, just wanting to get closer to where they come from. So
it's been really special of it. And with,
(28:26):
like, you know, you. You. You meet your partner and you
guys start writing songs. And then where do. Where do you see the first, like,
success of it? Like, working like, you're like, whoa. Like, of course. Of
course I should have done this. This. This is the sound, and this is what
we should have done. Yeah. In the studio.
The first one was my song,
(28:49):
which ended up being the first song we released. But I remember
Corner, or, like, sitting in the room and
I'm going, you got to figure out something Greek to say. I was like, all
right, I'm going to go in a corner and just think. Because
I wanted to think of, like, a word that is
accessible to, like, the Western ear as well.
(29:11):
And the word in Greek means let's go. And
it's pretty easy to say. So it's like, like,
let's go, let's go. Like, you say that, you know, Spanish songs were starting to
come up at the time. Like, Valle, Valle Dale, Dale. Like, it
just kind of worked. And
once we just kind of added
(29:33):
that in, it was just like. And then, like, the bouzuki came in.
The bouziki is this traditional Greek instrument. And then the bouzouki came in, and we
were like, oh, this is lit. This is
lit. And it was like that
demo and the demo for my song Diving were the two, like,
demo versions of songs we sent over to
(29:55):
Patrick at Sony
Music Germany in Europe. And he just was,
yep, I get it. And we were like,
whoa, let's do this. Wow.
Yeah. And then do those songs do well right away?
Or like, like, what was.
(30:18):
You know, I know you had, like, a huge viral
moments on Tick Tock and stuff, right, with your songs. And, like,
was that soon after that or. Or way down the line. Yeah.
Was like the first demo or, like, literally when we were in the experimentation phase
of, like, okay, this is lit. But then my song,
where we incorporated, is all in English except for this one line,
(30:43):
which means fire in your eyes. And
it came out in English and with that
one line. And then six months later, I'm in Greece to film
a music video for another song, and I
meet Eleni Ferreira, who is, like, the
biggest pop artist in the country of Greece. Slash.
(31:06):
Very well Known in Europe in particular for
coming second place in the Eurovision Song Contest.
So she's like, yeah. Like, they call her, like, the Queen of Europe. Like,
she went like, I don't even know what
number. Platinum in Spain for the sun. Like, she's just kind of like
a queen. Summer. Yes. And she's like,
(31:29):
nothing. And every summer when I come to Greece and, like, party all night long,
there was always an Elaine song that was like, my song of the summer.
Because they play. Play her in the clubs and she walks in the
room as we're, like, brainstorming, singing my song, singing.
And I was like, what the heck? This is crazy. And she sits down,
she's like, I love this song. I heard it, like, came up. She's like,
(31:51):
I heard this song. And I was like, I want this song. We gotta make
this song, basically. And she just, like, loved, like, what I
was doing and kind of looked into me in my background and she
was like, we should do it as a duet in Greek and
Spanish, because she also sings in Spanish for that
audience, that song. And I always knew
(32:14):
Fotia would be, like, my little, like,
sleeper hit in a way. And it's still, you know, I'm still, like, a
developing artist and growing, and so there's always, like, you
know, immense room to grow with it. But for me, it was just like, oh,
yeah, like, I know it's gonna. It just, like, is so good. It deserves its
moment. And we did the duet
(32:35):
and it was, like, number one on the radio for
a very long time, for, like, over a year. And we, like,
crazy. I did, like, my first TV performance with her. I was the first
girl she's ever done a duet with. She's only ever collaborated,
guys, so it was like a really, like, special thing
(32:56):
over choreography and for her dancing. And it was like, my first time
performing on tv and I had to, like, dance next to her, but I practiced
really hard and she was super nice and really encouraging
to me. But it just, like, that definitely
changed. Changed everything. And,
like, a little clip of me singing it, the English version,
(33:19):
acoustic, like, went viral and stuff. And so, like. And then
Deborah DeLuca, who's this amazing, like, techno DJ
artist from Italy, like, her song on Tick Tock, and she. She
made a remix of it and just DM'd me and was like, I want to
put this out. What do you think? And I was like, hell, yeah. So, like,
it's playing and it's just been cool because this
(33:41):
is the. You know, and we just
performed it actually, at times Square. She came to
do, like, a surprise concert. And so I was singing my song,
which has Bouzuki in it, and I was just like, look at this. Like, Bouzuki
is, like, blasting, like, what an international
crazy Square. Yeah. Oh, man. We got this Italian dj.
(34:04):
It's techno. I'm singing up here. I'm singing in Greek and
English, and then Bouzuki's, like, bumping. It was cool.
That is amazing. And you recently put out a new. A new
record, correct? Yes. Yes. Tell me
about that song. And then I want to hear about what you have coming up,
because I know you're. You're on tour, and I don't want to take too much
(34:25):
time away from your. Your day off here. Good.
So I just released a new song called Mikonos, which is
about literally what I explained
to you before that Greeks party all
night long and just. It's like completely normal
to show up somewhere at 4am
(34:48):
and it is the best time
to show up and just staying up and seeing the
sunrise and kind of like a testament to
my favorite. Some of my favorite nights out with my friends where we're just
literally, like, dancing all night long until you see
(35:08):
the sunrise and. And then you go to the beach and then you just, like,
do it all. You sleep a little in the afternoon, and then you do it
all over again. And Mykonos is the most famous island
for this. For this party scene. And.
And I. It's a. Mikono's is a special place and
has this crazy energy of, like, everybody there is just ready to have
(35:31):
a good time. And
there's no. There's no sleep. There's no sleep in Mykonos. It's just. It's
just having a good time. And
that's. That's literally basically what the song is about. Just like, keep
me up all night, like Mikono and just having a
great time. And that's what I want when people to hear
(35:53):
it, to just want to get up and like, dance and have a good time
with their friends and hopefully associate it with some
really good memories. Love it. Yeah. It's such a
party song. I really, really like it.
And I love the. The remix that you just put out too. That's cool
version too. And you have new. Other. I mean, that's new. But do you
(36:15):
have other stuff on the way? Always have other stuff on the way.
But we're kind of a bit of the. We're. We're in between
some songs right now, and so we're. We're figuring
out we're figuring out what the next move is going to be. So right now,
we're riding out this summer on. On Mykonos, and
it's a summer jam. Exactly.
(36:37):
Exactly. We're parting it up.
Love it. Love it. Well, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much. I have
one more question for you. I want to know if you have any advice for
aspiring artists. Yes, I
do have advice. I think big
thing is to just do the art and to
(36:59):
just, like, just do it
and recognize that it's
going to take a lot of.
You just have to, like, create and create and create,
because each thing you create, even though it might not be it or
the thing that might, like, blow you up or whatever, it's, like, one
(37:22):
step closer to whatever that thing is going to be.
And to not be afraid
of being seen as
cringy or whatever it is. Like,
get over the embarrassment thing of, like, getting yourself out there and just,
like, do the art and post it on the Internet
(37:46):
and just keep. And keep going and, like, networking. And you just
really never know where your path is going to take you. Because I could not
have guessed if somebody told me while I was teaching that I would be doing
a podcast with you today from the island of Thanos. In between my,
like, Greek summer tour with this, like, really
amazing artist that I'm touring with right now, I'd be like, I mean,
(38:07):
that sounds awesome, but, like,
I'm. I just don't see how that's going to work. It's just like,
just keep going and keep creating, and things
start to fall into place.
Bring it backwards,
(38:32):
bring it backward, bring it backward,
bring it backward, Bringing it backward,
bringing it backward.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.