By Despina Karpathiou
When three best friends from Sydney decided to fuse Greek music into a unique sound of bouzouki and modern house music, the crowds listened.
Selling out their own shows in Sydney for the last three years, the boys now perform at weddings and events in Greece, Cyprus and France.
This is a story of friendship and music and following your inner talents.
Arky (the band’s percussionist) sat down with The Greek Herald for a candid chat about chasing creativity.
It all started 10 years ago when George (DJ) and Arky (percussionist) produced music together in their homes. George and Greg (bouzouki) had known each other in their youth from the Cypriot Club, and Arky was the ‘3rd musketeer.’
“Greg had just started making waves in the scene by playing bouzouki over famous club songs, which piqued our interest,” Arky remembers.
When asked how it all came together, Arky says that “all it took was one rehearsal at my house back in 2018, which is where I met Greg for the first time.”
The video they posted that evening exploded with views overnight.
“This is before we had a name or a mission. The response itself is what energised the thought to create a wedding band that is now FiloXenia,” Arky added.
The inspiration behind Filoxenia was commonality and shared passion.
“Our love for the music and festival scenes in the world brought us together. We have each travelled around the world to attend world-famous festivals such as Tomorrowland and EDC Las Vegas, as well as travelling to the party islands of the world such as Mykonos and Ibiza,” he said.
The name FiloXenia was chosen for the band because of what it represents. It means ‘From Strangers to Friends’ and is a Greek term that means “hospitality.” However, Arky explained that this doesn’t do it justice.
“It dives deeper into the love and care that we share for people once they arrive at our doorstep. It is our obligation to ensure you feel like family through the music and events we share. We aren’t strangers to anyone at our events, often finding us scattered across the dancefloor talking to anyone who wants to listen,” Arky said.
Everyone is motivated by something or someone, and the Greek culture is a huge part of what drives FiloXenia to perform and create the music they play.
“We are each of Greek-Cypriot background and the sound of the bouzouki has been ritualistic to anyone that shares our culture. Growing up in the early to mid-2000s, electronic music started to ramp up in terms of quality and popularity. I guess you can call it “right place, right time” because the fusion of our sound is quite literally a sign of the times,” Arky explained.
The genre of FiloXenia’s music masquerades in many forms, but they are mainly Greek-House, Afro House and Mediterranean Techno.
“I know they don’t make much sense, but we are constantly adopting new sounds as they emerge onto the scene. We literally put Greg’s bouzouki on top of an NRG song we created and called it “Bouzouka” – anything is possible!” Arky said.
After a very challenging few years that saw Sydney’s nightlife take a hard plunge (with lockout laws and COVID-19 lockdowns), it is slowly revitalising itself.
Arky is confident that the scene will continue growing as many promoters and event organisers are taking matters into their own hands, booking venues and putting on shows that are ‘birthed in passion and good intent.’
“There is a large amount of people we know personally who are hosting amazing events across all genres, and we love to see it. If we focus on what we do, and do it to the best of our ability, that will invariably change the scene, and we believe that others doing the same thing will only add more value!” he said.
FiloXenia’s collective goal is to keep performing ‘their hearts out every weekend at weddings and private functions across Sydney and Australia.’ They also want to be in Europe every summer performing at wedding and club events.
“Performing in Mykonos, Ibiza, Ios or any Mediterranean island is where we want to be showcasing our talent because the Mediterranean itself plays its part in the FiloXenia sound,” Arky said.
Find out more about FiloXenia via: https://www.filoxeniaband.com/
