Hinting at the band's strange and casual association
with time, it all began on a hot Mediterranean summer
afternoon back in August, 1994 with a wintry-sounding
song entitled "December". Whilst holidaying and
relaxing on the Greek island of Ithaki, western
Greece, high-school buddies Alexandros Miaoulis and
Alexis Papaioannou work on the Papaioannou-penned tune
before traveling to the neighboring island of Lefkas
to meet up with friend George Kolyvas, where they
present the idea and get him to join in. Though the
trio had occasionally mucked about musically in the
preceding months, it was not until that specific
summer afternoon that they decided to pursue the cause
further. All three felt that there was a strong
artistic bond in their friendship, and, by extension,
potential music-making. A date was set for right after
summer, in Athens, their home base.
Frequent domestic meetings by the trio that often
dragged on into gently-played, late-night rehearsal
sessions, gradually produced a growing number of
intimate, almost naive-sounding yet finely crafted
instrumentals. They were strictly acoustic in sound -
classical and acoustic guitars, plus mandolin - and,
in most cases, melancholy. The style and sound of the
trio, which called itself "Icholoutro", came as a
stark contrast to the work of Papaioannou's other
parallel band, Oh! My Garden, a loud and ebullient
old-school funk outfit with a devoted following on the
local club circuit.
The trio wasn't quite sure where it was heading, or
intended to head, as a project, and had never really
discussed the matter either. However, the strong sense
of satisfaction felt for the accumulating material,
some of which was recorded using basic equipment and,
at times, performed to small home gatherings, kept the
rehearsals rolling.
Functioning as the band's nucleus, the tightly-knit
trio began collaborating with various musicians in a
bid to expand and thicken its acoustic sound.
Musicians on cello, double bass, violin, accordion and
percussion, all offered contributions. But various
circumstances concerning the guest players, ranging
from relocations to distant cities, marriage,
break-up, children, lack of interest, even death,
failed to provide any new permanent members to the
group's line-up.
Partially to facilitate the trio's home rehearsals,
Papaioannou, slightly under three years after the
band's inception, moved in with Kolyvas at a downtown
Athens flat, where the trio continued to work. Just
months later, however, in May, 1997, tragedy struck at
the band's core. Papaioannou, a key contributor to the
project who tended to offer more radical songwriting
ideas, was diagnosed with leukemia which he fought
bravely for five years before finally succumbing.
Shocked by the diagnosis, Kolyvas and Miaoulis put
the project on hold awaiting further development of
Papaioannou's health. Approximately a year-and-a-half
later, encouraged by their ailing friend, the two
recommenced work as a duo. Papaioannou, who was in and
out of treatment centres, occasionally joined them but
eventually withdrew completely as his condition
deteriorated.
Early in 2000, Kolyvas and Miaoulis began a series of
home recording sessions documenting both older and
more recent ideas. Held mostly in Athens, the
recordings also included a couple of sessions at a
tiny seaside village in northern Greece, Ierissos.
Kolyvas and Miaoulis traveled there to meet one of the
group's early collaborators, Vassiliki
Papandonopoulou, a violinist stationed at a public
school as a music teacher, for recordings. They were
postponed for a week after the duo's car, loaded with
recording equipment and instruments, broke down about
an hour into the six-hour long journey!
When given a sample of recorded songs to listen to,
the duo's sidelined friend Papaioannou noted that the
material had now acquired a "Portuguese-sounding"
slant.
Papaioannou, whose treatment included trips to the US
and Germany for specialized therapy, passed away on
April 8, 2002, at the age of 28. He is sadly missed.
Despite the sorrowful news, Kolyvas and Miaoulis
continued their home recordings. By now, the group's
original acoustic sound had evolved into one that also
combined electrified textures. They included bass and
atmospheric slide guitar, and, at times, various
discreet yet dirty and distorted sounds. A fruitful
recording session with virtuoso cellist Nikos
Veliotis, on his birthday, added further dimension to
several songs. It was all a departure from the trio's
pristine roots.
Acknowledging the development, one carried out
without Papaioannou's consent, Kolyvas and Miaoulis,
as a gesture of respect, renamed the project Burgundy
Grapes.
By early 2003, the duo agreed to finally release
thirteen tracks as a self-titled debut album. After
much delay, the material was mixed and mastered at
top-grade Athens studios to improve certain
shortcomings of the duo's home recordings. When mixed,
the songs were faithfully reconstructed.
Late in October, 2004, Burgundy Grapes released their
debut album on a new independent label, Outlandish
Recordings, a parallel venture of the Small Music
Theatre, one of the Greek capital's most active venues
for various forms of alternative music in recent
years.
Burgundy Grapes, joined by one of their early
collaborators, accordionist Giorgos Tsiatsoulis,
played their first ever show here as a trio on January
10, 2005, supporting visiting alternative-country act
St Thomas, from Norway. The Burgundy Grapes trio
followed up with their first full-length show on March
30, 2005 at the same venue.