“Collection Two” is a new 7 track EP. It's the companion album to Collection 1, or it can be seen as the second side of the LP, with both collections offering a total of 12 works.
It is the culmination of an experiment that began in the C19 lockdowns. How can musicians create songs collaboratively when they can't get together? With just a few musical ideas and a selection of fragments from visual arts, literature, poetry etc, he reached out to old friends and new artists scattered and isolated, hoping to create a community remotely through recorded music, inspired by what this process might sound like. The process was to follow where the musical piece would go, being completely open to the artists' responses, free from limiting ideas of style and genre set by the music industry. The results were always surprising and inspiring. Each song's creation became its own story.
The surprising, eclectic and cinematic result is a testament to the possibilities of remote collaboration in music, with each song being a dramatic journey inspired by images, events and stories.
Conceived, directed and produced by composer Basil Hogios, it features international collaborators from Indonesia, Greece, UK, Belgium, Australia, Turkey, France, USA.. and more. Deep gratitude to all who contributed.
Scroll down for the stories behind the songs and the collaborators, credits and acknowledgements.
(cover photo by Ed Aldcroft)Elegy
’Elegy’ was the first single from ‘Collection 2’, a last minute addition to the album created in a short intense burst of energy as a reaction to images of violence inflicted on innocent souls entangled in senseless conflicts. It's also based on a real event where a lifelong friendship was lost after a friend was deeply offended when the other empathised with the victims of the 'wrong side', the surreal lack of humanity from someone bearing witness to the conflict from a sheltered vantage point via screens and social media commentary.
In a world that demands allegiance, empathising with all humans seems to be no longer a valid position. Even a distant observer is not immune to the divisive forces that unfold, laying bare the stark reality of human behaviour.
The orchestral sample and title is taken from a moving instrumental work ‘Elegy’ composed by Basil Hogios for the European Capital of Culture in Denmark, which became the backbone of the new song. Listen to the full original orchestral track below,
The beautiful, ethereal vocals are sung by Syauki Destanika from Indonesia.
Original Orchestral Track
Credits
Music and Lyrics - Basil Hogios
Original Orchestral Performance: Aarhus Symphony Orchestra
Vocals - Syauki Destanika (Indonesia)
Lyrics
Another picture
Blood and dust and rubble
It's just unthinkable
A clinging lifeless hand
A father holds her
The same age as my daughter
Who did this to you
I had a good friend
Who texted me to pieces
'How could you be so heartless
and ignore my pain'
Her reason twisted
Punctuation vicious
I posted the wrong victims
So we can never be friends again
Have we lost our minds
Will it burn our souls
Can we feel no more
Who did this to you
The Right One To Love
'Swipe right.... I'm gone'.
Inspired by on-line dating stories and the unsettling feelings that come with it, this piano and voice ballad explores our increasingly lonely online existence, and how we yearn for real human contact. An early draft of the song was penned during a Covid lockdown, when people were forced to maintain relationships online. Sadly, this trend of maintaining friendships online continued well after lockdowns were over. Upon hearing stories from friends about how online dating was especially damaging to self esteem and mental health, the chorus (and title) came to life.
Sylektis teamed up once again with incredible vocalist Sonia Konstantinidou, to bring the character to life. She also wrote the Greek Lyrics and sung on 'Szyszki, Revisited', on Sylektis Collection 1.
Credits
Music and Lyrics - Basil Hogios
Vocals - Sonia Konstantinidou (Greece)
Piano, Production, Mix - Basil Hogios
Lyrics
I am frozen in the glow
Timelines and memories
Tracing where I have been.
Hearing sounds of human life
Outside my window
And no living soul to be seen
And there's no one here to witness
If I stay or if I leave
Got nowhere to go to
Nowhere to be
Why does everybody tell me
‘Take a walk in the sun'
Hashtag no filter, pretend that it's fun
Are you the right one to love?
I’m sure, I think, I know, I am enough
I wasted another day, I can’t look away
So many so-called friends
A screenful of faces
it somehow just don’t feel right
Now the days are getting colder,
Someone come over
Drink wine and talk all night
I'm here,
right here
Are you the right one to love?
I’m sure, I think, I know, I’ve had enough
I wasted another day, I can’t look away
And its wrong, so wrong
Swipe right, I’m gone
I Rode with Fate
The way this song was made perfectly illustrates the Sylektis process-driven approach, influenced by chance. Made after the lockdowns were over, Basil visited his friend Vangelis Loulis in London, a singer/song-writer with a powerful baritone voice. Vangelis played some his old demos to Basil, and an early version of I Rode With Fate really connected. The next afternoon they recorded a new version, a live vocal and guitar take in Vangelis' living room. Rather than attempting to make a perfect recording, the sounds outside the apartment window were also captured, and they also recorded his son's toy keyboard. There was no 'final goal'. Basil returned to Prague the next day.
In exploring the story telling of the song's lyrics, there was a strong sense of rebellion, particularly political. Basil wanted to highlight the contrast of two realities: a working man at home, but with a vast internal world, one where he imagines rising up. He added additional musical layers and mixed the track to express that contrast, moving from the raw reality to a dreamspace.
Credits
Music and Lyrics - Vangelis Loulis
Guitar and Vocals - Vangelis Loulis
Additional music, Mix - Basil Hogios
Lyrics
I rode with Fate, she took me there
Through narrow roads, she came to light
While the super-highway made her a lie
I rode with fate, she took me there to the square
The jackals and crows in the city hall
Are Doing their dance, making her crawl
Electric clouds roll in the night
Slowly, Painfully
I rode with Fate, she was always there at the square
It's where her spirit lives
And she knows
Crisis forgives.
Safe House (alternate version)
Safe House was the first track of the Sylektis project, featured on Collection 1. One of the inspirations for the song was a fascinating chapter from The Examined Life by Stephen Grosz, ‘A Safe House’, from which the song was named. The Examined Life is a 2013 collection of essays by the practising psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz, which is an attempt to "distil over 50,000 hours of conversation into pure psychological insight, without the jargon." This particular chapter was about a man who had constructed an extremely detailed image in his mind of a house in France that he would go to when he felt fear and anxiety. He had a childhood tainted with abuse, which has effected his adult life.
After the instrumental remix was created, the words of the real-life patient were sent to Arker, who re-interpreted the text in French and subsequently recorded this beautiful reading.
Credits
This track is an alternative version of 'Safe House' from 'Collection 1'.
Instrumental Remix by Basil Hogios and Michael Theiler
Text read by Gérald Lambert (Arker)
Lyrics
Words (French. English Translation below)
Je ne pense pas beaucoup à mon enfance.
Quand je le fais, je ne me souviens pas de grand-chose.
Tout cela me semble si lointain, si mort.
Je me dis que c'était mon enfance, et non pas que c'est mon enfance.
Ce n'est pas vivant en moi.
Je n'ai pas vraiment de maison en France.
Vous le saviez, n'est-ce pas ?
_ _ _ _ _
I don't think much about my childhood.
When I do it, I don't remember much.
It all seems so distant, so dead.
I tell myself that it was my childhood, and not that it is my childhood.
It's not alive in me.
I don't really have a house in France.
You knew that, didn't you?
Fly, Bird
Frederic Dumesle has extensively collaborated with Sylektis. He is a specialist in analogue and vintage synths and also composed the music in Tiny Suns (Collection 1). His passion for technology also extends to cinematography. He re-filmed the original Sylektis footage as a projection through specialised lenses to create the visuals for the Tiny Suns Music video. He composed the instrumental music for Fly, Bird specifically for Collection 2 with his analog synth collection and acoustic piano.
Based on the success of Tiny Suns, in which spoken word was added to Frederic's music, Basil added an archived recording to the new piece, and an instant connection was created. The recording was a poem written by Maia Horniak for one of her film trailers, recited by Alexandra Heley. The two seemingly disparate audio pieces were edited and mixed by Basil to create this final track, in the spirit of the Sylektis process, in which elements are 'collected' and recombined to create a new synergy. Basil and Frederic are continuing this process visually in the upcoming music video.
Alexandra Heley is featured on the cover of Collection 2 (photo by Ed Aldcroft)
Frederic also created the synth bass sounds in Human Machine Amazing!
Credits
Text - Maia Horniak (Czechia)
Reading - Alexandra Heley (UK)
Music - Frederic Dumesle (Luxembourg)
Arrangement & Mix - Basil Hogios
Lyrics
Today is a very special day
I can hardly keep my heart from bursting
This is where I belong
The people here are all kind
They seem to know me, but they never look me in the eye
I offer myself completely.
I lie on the ground
My breath is warm
I close my eyes
I'm not scared
I know I'm doing the right thing
This is not a game.
Human Machine Amazing!
In this new and challenging direction, 'Human Machine Amazing!' was Sylektis' second single from Collection 2, featuring drummer extraordinaire Osman Konuray. The process began with a rhythmic exploration of 18, split into 6+6+6 or 7+7+4. Osman was presented with (in retrospect) a way too over-complicated mathematical musical puzzle, that he not only graciously solved, but also took to another level by adding mind-bending layers of complexity and poly-rhythms in the cymbal and snare parts, creating the single tour-de-force drum performance you can hear on this track. That's right, this is one performance, not recorded in overdubs!
To contrast this marvel of human musicianship, it became clear that all the melodic aspects of the track had to contrast the live drums.. hence everything else was composed of synthesizers and worked around the drum performance. Frederic Dumesle once again lends his expert analog synth skills to the synth bass, while Basil created the higher synth lines and computer vox parts. The poly-rhythmic coming together and separating of live drums and synths is a wry nod to the synergy and dissonance of humans and technology.. hence the title.
The vocoder computerised voices singing 'Amazing! Isn't it so... Amazing! Wasn't that so.. Amazing! Aren't you just so.." were already in the track. However by some bizarre twist of fate on the day the track was mixed, Basil heard the lines 'I just wanted to tell you, I think you're amazing. I think you're amazing too! you're so amazing!' while viewing the film Baghead (2008)*. Naturally, this serendipity could not be ignored.
Credits
Original composition by Basil Hogios.
Drums composed, performed and recorded by Osman Konuray in Barcelona.
Synth Bass parts by Frederic Dumesle recorded in Brussels.
Additional synths and mix by Basil Hogios in Prague.
*Sample credit: from the film Baghead (2008), written and directed by the Duplass Brothers, staring Greta Gerwig and Steve Zissis. All attempts made to get copyright clearance for the sample.
Lyrics
'I just wanted to tell you, I think you're amazing. I think you're amazing too! you're so amazing!'
Amazing, isn't it so
Amazing, wasn't that so
Amazing, aren't you just so
Amazing. Amazing!