Hailing from the city of Athens, a place famous for its natural outstanding beauty and mystery, is experimental artist and producer Teo Arkitekt. The 27-year-old moved to London by virtue of being at odds with the music scene of home country Greece. Upon moving to England, he demonstrated his ability to subvert and fuse genre conventions through the formation of avant-garde duo DK, which he formed with friend and classical cello player Kiara Konstantinou. DK released their debut track ‘Wilmheim’ late last year and are finalising details for the release of follow-up single ‘Politik’.
Teo put his future in his own hands with the decision to move to London at the end of 2016. The relocation appears to be paying off as DK’s debut single surpassed over 10,000 views on YouTube within its first week of release. He explained that “in Greece in order to be hugely successful you have to follow a certain pattern” and create a specific, more commercialised sound. He elaborated stating that he believes the opportunities available for artists who don’t fit into a certain mould are more accessible in the UK. “I felt like it was the right audience and the right market for the music I was going to make since there are a lot of experimental artists here who are actually making it in the end”.
After the move, Teo began writing tracks for the newly created DK describing the sound as “something more experimental than what you normally hear”. “We combine techno with cello and it’s not only that […] we use classical lines in our songs or we have deeply classical influences”. This combination constructs a dark exploratory sound which both excites and entices, creating an air of melodramatic mystery.
Opening up about his musical influences, he said that he’s always been interested in unusual sounds, finding innovation in music more engaging, influences which are clear in ‘Wilmheim’ and upcoming track ‘Politik’. “I always want to find the balance between a memorable song and the experimental version of it” he explained.
Yet, Teo hasn’t always produced experimental music, his career in the music industry began with the formation of pop duo Freaky Fortune who rose to fame after competing for Greece in the 2014 Eurovision song contest. When asked about the band his immediate response was “we were young and stupid” a startling statement considering that it was Freaky Fortune that catapulted the budding musician’s career. He explained “Freaky Fortune wasn’t ever really my style of music the whole thing started with us fooling around with songs and it just happened that one of the songs be successful”. Teo took a moment to ponder before finishing “we felt like we had to continue doing that so we paused our own true musical tastes and preferences and then Eurovision happened”.
Reflecting on his ascent into the spotlight, Teo cast his mind back to where it all began. “I was like 19 years old me and a friend of mine started doing covers and uploading them to YouTube like new releases from Lady Gaga or Adele back in the time when they were number one”. After receiving online attention, the pair made up of Pouzbouris and vocalist Nick Raptakis, ventured into creating their own tracks for the Greek house music scene resulting in the dance duo signing to Cobalt Records. This came after the success of debut single ‘Our Destiny’ which shot into the top ten in Greek radio charts back in May 2012.
Teo recalled that it was their record label that put Freaky Fortune forward for the Greek national final of Eurovision. He explained “We never thought that we were actually going to be the ones representing Greece because there was another artist in the final that was very famous and there was going to be a public vote nevertheless we thought it would be a good opportunity for us to promote our single”. He then paused, glancing around the room with a bemused look on his face as if debating whether to share his bona fide opinions. “Unfortunately”, he chuckled, “people loved the song and we got to represent Greece”.
It has to be said that there is a certain stigma surrounding the music of Eurovision regarding it being cheesy, commercialised pop. Yet, this stereotype juxtaposes the Athenian artist’s background; he is classically trained, having studied music all of his life. Teo attained a diploma in Music Theory and Advanced Harmony, as well as securing a Masters degree in Music Production after moving to London. When discussing the connections between mainstream pop music and classical training Teo said “my classical training does not change my opinion on the charts I just think that music in the charts right now is just music that’s easy on the brain”. “Most of the artists in the charts are just in a battle with each other [over] who will make the simplest song”. It was this conflict of musical interests that caused Freaky Fortune to part ways. “Eventually at some point we [Pouzbouris and Raptakis] both had to go back to who we were”.
And this is where we find Teo now, in the place that he aspired to be when he moved to London - creating music that he is truly passionate about. When he speculated on what the future holds for DK, his excitement about this project was clear “our next single [Politik] is coming out we hope within spring the video is almost done and we are already working on another song which is going to be 9 or 10 minutes long so its going to be our baby our big project”.
The 27-year-old artist has already retained a rip-roaring career but the creation of DK marks a new chapter in both his life and musical journey. Headstrong and innovative, Teo Arkitekt has well and truly put his nose to the grindstone to get to where he is today and he’s showing no signs of stopping.