Greek indie pop musician Σtella will perform at Fed Square this month, sharing a lineup with house music pioneer François K and spiritual jazz and Indian classical singer Ganavya.
Ten years after releasing her self-titled debut album, Athens indie pop musician Σtella decided to do something she’d never done before: sing in Greek.
Born and raised in the Greek capital, Σtella’s music has reached listeners far beyond her homeland over the last decade. Prior to her fourth album, 2022’s Up and Away, Σtella signed to Seattle’s Sub Pop Records. The album was her most successful to date, opening doors to extensive transatlantic touring.
François K | Σtella | Ganavya
- Fed Square
- Saturday 28 February
- Free entry
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“Sub Pop really helped because it’s a massive label,” Σtella says, speaking to Beat over Zoom ahead of her free show at Fed Square on Saturday 28 February.
Up and Away was also Σtella’s most conspicuously Greek-sounding record, with five of its tracks featuring bouzouki, the long-necked Greek lute. It seemed like a natural progression for Σtella to include some Greek lyrics on the Up and Away follow-up, Adagio, released last April.
Adagio features two songs in Greek: the original, Omorfo Mou, which was the album’s second single, and a cover of Litsa Sakellariou’s late-60s Greek pop song, Ta Vimata.
Σtella’s reluctance to sing in Greek prior to this had made her something of an outsider in the Greek music scene, she says. But singing in English has been less an act of rebellion and more a reflection of her taste.
“Like, 90 per cent of people in Greece listen to Greek music. Sometimes trash folk music, music I can’t listen to, or trap music in Greek, which is an even worse nightmare for me,” Σtella says.
Despite the popularity of Greek-language music, Σtella’s decision to finally sing some songs in Greek wasn’t a calculated attempt to tap into a bigger market.
“I just did it because I thought I should try it,” she says. “I don’t know if I’m going to do it again, to be honest. I might, but maybe it was a one-off thing.”
Σtella has always felt comfortable writing lyrics in English, a language she’s been speaking for most of her life.
“When I was growing up, there was someone who was staying with us for a few years from Canada. She was the niece of a very good friend of my dad’s, who just decided to come to Greece. And we had an extra room and she stayed with us,” Σtella says.
“Her name was Jackie. She was, like, 23 at the time. I was, like, two and she stayed for two years. And that’s why I speak English and have the accent and everything.”
But Σtella isn’t just fluent in English; she finds it easier to express herself in her second language.
“It feels light to me in a way,” she says. “It’s easier in English to say I love you. In Greek, if you say s’agapó, it feels like, ‘Whoa, look what you said.’”
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Outside of the two songs in Greek, Adagio draws on a wide range of influences, from Brazilian samba and MPB to disco and Greek pop, and includes three songs co-written by !!!’s Rafael Cohen (aka Las Palabras).
“When I started working on Adagio, I was listening to a lot of Tim Maia and Gal Costa,” Σtella says. “And then I would listen to some Greek artists from the 60s and 70s, like Tzeni Vanou, who was singing in French in the 70s, trying to make it outside of Greece. That didn’t quite happen for her, but she sang all these amazing songs and I was just like, ‘Oh my God, this sounds like gold,’ and I was just influenced.”
Σtella’s debut Australian tour includes a free show at Fed Square on a lineup with legendary post-disco DJ and remixer François K and jazz and South Asian classical musician Ganavya. She’s bringing her full band along, and hopes the inaugural trip to Australia will be the first of many – even if she is “horrified” about the looming jet lag.
“We’re five people on stage,” Σtella says. “I sing. I used to play the guitar, but I don’t do that anymore. I have a tambourine sometimes, and there is Odysseas who plays the guitar, Orestis plays keyboards, Velissarios plays the bass and Nikolas plays drums.”
They’ll be performing songs from Adagio and Up and Away, as well as a few deep cuts from Σtella’s discography.
“I like doing different things,” Σtella says. “I would get bored if I would do the same thing on each album. I think all my albums are different.”
Σtella performs at Fed Square on Saturday 28 February with François K and Ganavya. More info here.
This article was made in partnership with Fed Square.
