19 year old rookie bassist Io Kaloudi

Through my songs I try to pass messages about the state of the world, it’s a bit like philosophy! I also write about love, but not in the singer/songwriter style. I write about the love for life, the love for something or someone you lose in a philosophical and deep way. I try to show the world that there are things about life we don’t appreciate.

Q. Hello, would you like to give us a brief introduction about yourself (selves)?

My name is Io Kaloudi, I am 19 years old and I’m from Greece. I moved to Brighton (UK) in September 2015 to study Bass guitar at BIMM (Brighton Institute of Modern Music). I’ve been playing bass guitar for 4 years but I have been involved in music for pretty much my whole life, playing instruments, singing, gigging and writing.

Q .Can you tell us how you started your music?

I started taking lessons in classical piano at the age of 5. Around the age of 8 I started attending theory lessons at my music conservatory and last year I got my Theory of Music degree. I took part in many concerts organized by my music conservatory playing solo, duets and also trios. I continued playing classical piano until the age of 17 when I decided to stop as it didn’t express me and I wasn’t putting all the effort required in order to justify me continuing. I still play the piano though, I do covers of songs, play in gigs, write parts for my songs or record spooky phrases on my phone! When I was about 8-9, I started playing the guitar. I picked it up pretty quickly and soon participated in concerts with other kids who attended our local music workshop. In that workshop I met two girls with whom we later formed a band. I didn’t have guitar lessons for long. I attended the workshop again when I was 14 after being asked to help out in a few songs. After our class, there was a boy who played bass and that’s the first time I had actually listened to a bass guitar up close. It immediately caught my interest! I started playing at the age of 15 and soon got my first bass. Around that age I also started writing my own songs (music and lyrics) and recording covers. Only recently I have started producing my songs and will continue to do so in new songs to come!

Q. When was the happiest moment of your music life?

I think the happiest moment of my music life was when I moved to Brighton to study and started getting involved in many different bands and projects. It did me a lot of good to get away and focus on music and meet new people who share the same love for what they do. I have had the chance to meet some amazing musicians and to work with them inside and outside of university. It’s very satisfying when you get people asking you to help with a project they’re doing or when they help you with your own project. I started feeling more like a professional musician and enjoyed what I do even more.

Q. What do you try to express through your music?

Well… I will write songs about personal experiences, usually sad ones, but also about life. I used to write poetry so my songs have many poetic elements. Through my songs I try to pass messages about the state of the world, it’s a bit like philosophy! I also write about love, but not in the singer/songwriter style. I write about the love for life, the love for something or someone you lose in a philosophical and deep way. I try to show the world that there are things about life we don’t appreciate.

Q. When was your most memorable performance, and when was your worst performance?

I think the performance I really enjoyed the most was probably my first performance with a full band in 2014. I got in a cover band with other 4 people and we played one and only gig. But it was great, the venue was packed, there was a lot of cheering and from our friends and crowd, just great vibes! Also as a bass player it’s always exciting to play to the beat of a live drum kit. We had a lot of fun that night (and a lot of free drinks!). As for the worst performance I remember the exact date… 27 December 2014. I was playing with my acoustic band ACES in a local café/bar and everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong! We got very stressed before we even started because we were relying on someone to bring us an acoustic guitar and showed up late. When he came eventually we found out that the battery had gone so we had a bit of a panic… Luckily it was sorted. We didn’t have time to do a proper sound check either. Also it was raining a lot so many people we expected never came. When we started playing, our guitarist completely messed up the solo in the first song, so that stressed us out even more. Also, we had planned a little show for a specific Greek song we were covering called ‘Piano fotia’ which means I catch fire. We filled a metal bucket with paper and vodka and through a match in. But because of the rain there were no windows open and the whole venue filled up with smoke. We were waving our hands to the owner while playing, indicating to do something with the bucket, but the response was…thumbs up, as she thought we were asking for her opinion about our idea..! So yeah… I don’t think there was much left to go wrong!

Q. Do you have a favorite song or a song with a special meaning among your songs?

I recently recorded my song ‘Arabia’. I wrote this song 2 years ago when my mom was going to go off and work in Saudi Arabia because the financial situation in Greece was going from bad to worse. I was always very attached to my mom, so when I heard the news it was like being stabbed in the heart. On the same day I picked up my guitar, played the first chords I could think of and sang any lyric that came to my mind, to find that later that would be my first completed song. That song means a lot to me because it was a song straight from the heart and was written in the most difficult period of my life.

Q. Do you have a hobby other than music?

I always find ways to keep myself occupied. I go out with friends for a coffee or drink or I might go to the gym… Sometimes I sit and watch movies with my flat mate too. A lot of the times though I pick up a guitar or my bass and just start playing and automatically write a song or a riff, so can’t really get away from it!

Q. What is music to you?

Music to me can be a lot of things. Sometimes it can be simply entertainment or under other circumstances a good friend that keeps me company when I need it. But when I am actually part of the music, when I’m performing on stage or writing, it’s a whole different thing. There it’s all about becoming one with the sounds and letting them carry you away. It’s like a form of religion. You do it because you believe in it, it’s the thing that you turn to when things get hard. Music is not just a bunch of chords and words put together, it’s like medicine that can cure the mind and soul and a way of expressing what words can’t.

Q. What are your plans/goals for the future?

Before moving to Brighton all I knew was that I wanted to do music. However, my life and experiences there have started pushing me into a direction. What I want to achieve is being a good performer and player. I am very interested in going into session work as a bass player. I want to live my dream on the big stage and make a living out of what I love. I will also continue doing my own stuff, keep writing and recording and keep as active as possible.