Renowned Greek singer-songwriter and composerย Stefanos Barbaliasย has just released his deeply evocative new single,ย โLoss,โ a profoundly moving composition that explores the depths of love, loss, and the enduring echoes of memory. With its haunting melodies, this song is an intimate reflection of the emotions that shape our most vulnerable moments. At the heart of โLossโ are its deeply personal lyrics, reflecting the lingering ache of absence and the search for connection beyond time. Check out the exclusive interview below:
1. Your roots can often shape your journey. Can you share a story or moment from your early life that had a significant impact on your path into music?
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: There was a small cinema at my school. Up and till then I had never seen a movie in a theatre. Lights went off and the first notes of Sergei Prokofievโs โPeter and the Wolfโ filled the room. My two favourite things at the time, music and animation combined in this masterpiece. Magic. A new world emerged through the darkness and the light of the projection. Different, colourful, exiting and real. No way going back after that.
2. Did your musical journey begin with formal training, or was it more of a personal exploration? How has that shaped your unique approach to your craft?
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: It begun with formal training in a rather conservative music school. Along side there was always my need to write my own music but also to explore contemporary music. It was fully respected and encouraged by my teacher but frowned upon by the school. So by the time i was in my teens it became clear i had to find other ways to fulfil my needs as a student. This included lessons in saxophone, guitar, songwriting, electronic music production, seminars in whatever seemed interesting to me but not in a formal way. Iโm not an advocate for one or the other approach but for better or worse this has been my journey so far.
3. Who were some of the most influential figures in your early musical life, and how did they inspire your sound? Also, whatโs the story behind choosing the name โSTEFANOS BARBALIASโ?
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: Every night i would listen to my mother playing the piano from my room as i tried to sleep. Chopinโs โRevolutionary etudeโ and Peggy Leeโs โJohny guitarโ always. Same two every night. It had a weird effect on me, calming me down and at the same time making me restless as this secret world i described in your first question came to life again through this warm, intense and slightly dark lullaby. As for choosing Stefanos Barbalias, i didnโt. That is my name.
4. What do you believe sets your music apart? How would you describe your sound to someone discovering you for the first time, and what emotions or experiences do you hope to evoke in your listeners?
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: Itโs hard to judge your own work in those terms and claiming there is something so unique in someones music that sets it apart from everyone elseโs, there for its new is a safe step to the ridiculous. I can only hope that by sinking in the pool of my feelings and experiences with eyes open and a brave heart something interesting will emerge. The rest is for someone else to value, decide or judge. As far as labels go if someone asks i usually say unwillingly it is a mixture of indie/folk and instrumental music but what i really want to say is here, have a listen. I think if i tried to evoke specific emotions iโd fail in many levels. Most of all iโd mess with the creative process which i feel should be spontaneous, pure and selfish. So i donโt. However so far the vast majority of the reactions i get are not far from my own view on my work. Itโs about a certain tenderness tapping into a sensitive space inside were darkness or melancholy is present next to openness and redemption. At the other end some people feel uneasy, uncomfortable with those type of feelings and i totally get it.
5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as FOLK?
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: Yes unfortunately iโm not different in that aspect. It was a rather long, unpleasant period emulating, comparing myself to others. Agonising if what i was doing was worth anything. I hate that time in my life even more because as common as it was iโm not really sure it was necessary. The key for me after a lot of struggle and even deciding to quit at one point was to go back to the place i described in your first question and build from there. Putting joy first and when it came to evaluate what i did replacing words like good or bad with honest and true. True to my core as i felt it as a child, honest meaning mine. Worthy, unworthy, beautiful, ugly. Mine.
6. Music often transcends entertainment. Whatโs your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles โ and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: First of all as much as i respect entertainers and their craft and acknowledge their role in our lives i donโt think entertainment is accurate when it comes to describe music the way iโve experience it. We have a word in Greek โpsyhagogiaโ which means โeducation, upbringing of the soulโ. And as that it can act as a political, cultural, spiritual, and social vehicle. Personal narrative doesnโt exclude the above and maybe for me itโs better to come from that place instead of a strict ideological point of view or a specific political angle. Although weโve seen masterpieces in both cases. Technical artistry is only relevant as a structure made to support flesh and blood. Otherwise it becomes pure masturbation when the hole point is to make love.
7. Do you feel the rewards of your musical career match the energy and passion you invest in it, or are there different kinds of fulfillment youโre still seeking?
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: No, most of the time i donโt think they match.
But i donโt blame music for that. Itโs not a donkey to carry our fulfilment on itโs own. A traditional musician from Crete was once asked if he loved his instrument. He answered โyes i do, it keeps me company and i express myself but no more than i love my wife โ, He winked and continued โor my neighbours wifeโ. Life should go first. Itโs a necessary balance for the shake of life but for the shake of music as well.
8. Can you walk us through your creative process? From the first spark of an idea to the finished track, whatโs the most essential part of your process, and how do collaboration or external influences shape your work?
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: I try to be spontaneous and open. Sometimes a strong inspiration takes me to the end of a song. Other times i stop in the middle and evaluate later if it moves me enough to continue. Collaborators definitely shape my work. There have even been times that the input of a musician changed my mind about a song. Lately i try to stop before the arrangement to see what the wonderful musicians i collaborate come up with. Often itโs surprising, different than what i would do but equally if not more fascinating.
9. Whatโs been the most challenging hurdle in either your personal life or music career, and how has it shaped you as an artist?
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: I donโt think iโve had objective difficulties in my life. Iโve had some but you hear life stories that leave you speechless with the courage and strength it took to get over or learn to leave with or whatever. I guess iโm one of those people who make a mountain out of a molehill. Didnโt mean to but thatโs how itโs been so far for me. And yes, i guess it shapes you. As a person, as a friend, as a lover, as an artist, as everything. I donโt want to draw a line and say it is what it is. Iโm still struggling you see.
10. On the flip side, what moment or achievement in your career so far has made you feel the proudest, and why? And letโs talk about your latest release and future plans.
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: Again iโm not that proud of what would seem as an objective achievement in my career rather than my persistence to get over inner obstacles in order to pursue a life in music in a way that makes me happy. Regarding my latest release it is a single called โLossโ. Itโs one of those that inspiration wouldnโt desert me until it was finished, one of those that collaborators and especially Stavros Parginos on the cello left their mark on it, one of those that i later discovered a personal meaning to me and one of those that everyone who heard it had a different interpretation for it. Future plans apart from playing live and recording more music involve a serious of videos i want to do were artists of different disciplines are given complete freedom to take one of my songs and intemperate in their own way.
11. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: Criticism is always welcomed and i do pay attention to positive or negative comments that feel genuine. As far as haters go i donโt have a lot of experience but I guess with people who are only driven by negativity and their only goal is to express it in a rude way there is no point starting a conversation with logical arguments
12. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: Well, both really, different kinds of paradise. Creative work is about getting lost in your imagination, finding serenity to your agonies, being as bold as you can,. Live performance is about being able to bear all this in order to present it and share it in a clear way. Exchange energy with other people through something that was created in your room, by you, for you.
13. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
STEFANOS BARBALIAS: Andrei Tarkovsky said that โA book read by a thousand different people is a thousand different booksโ. Iโm more fascinated by this approach. Everyone has their own personal experience, they take what they want, make what they want of each song. How, when, who, why someone wrote something, is not a job for the listener.
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