K.BHTA
My own private ATHENS
We are excited to launch a new LAGASTA series called “My own private city”, an inner journey into the cities of our favourite artists and producers around the world. More a personal affair than a typical city guide, the series offers a rare glimpse into a city through the eyes of an artist/producer.
From rooftops and studios to street corners and hidden gems, and from parks and neighbourhoods to favourite personal spots, we take an intimate trip to different places through memories, stories and photos. And it’s nothing short of an unforgettable experience.
Kicking things off is our beloved composer and electronic music producer Konstantinos Vita, also known as K.BHTA. Along a career spanning three decades, K.BHTA (former member of the legendary group Stereo Nova) has proven himself to be one of the most creative and endlessly inventive artists of Greek electronic music. He now takes us for a ride into his home city of Athens, a continuous source of inspiration for his work.
This is K.BHTA’s own private ATHENS.
“The oldest city of the world looks like drips of Pollock lines, like ancient shepherds covered with cellophane. A is for A, T is for Theseus, H is for hours, E is for enigma, N is for noise, S is for silver. The flying animals produce aerodynamic forces by flapping their wings back and forth in a wingbeat pattern, and this is how we live in the city, up and down, jumping to the beat.” – K.BHTA
Koukaki
A neighbourhood, a place under the hill, the city in dusk, “The eyes suspended – pale suns – the light that thaws the frozen heart” as the poet wrote. Our friends, our house, it’s all there…Waiting for the next day, the next song, a smile in the crowd.
Athens Riviera
Summer or winter, there’s always this beautiful road to drive along the coast for miles, stop for coffee, listening to your favourite songs or stay in silence simply watching the sea. During the hot days of summer, we go for swimming and stay until it gets dark. A place in the sun.
Glyfada
The bench, the sea, I left the others in the cafeteria. And for a moment I thought of Gauguin in Tahiti, but this place is different and still you can ask yourself why art is important and why “Silence is so accurate” as Rothko said. Anyway we’ve never experienced something like this before.
Larissa Station
It is the silence, of course, the way you listen to cacophony as the sun goes down, behind the train station. It happens every time, sometimes we don’t care, sometimes the colours are beautiful, and you can do anything. The Sun, of course, is not in the list of human possibilities.
Zappeion Park
Walkin’ on a sunny day, you feel free because you don’t have anywhere else to go, because there’ s no one to see or talk to, and suddenly you find yourself watching details everywhere, and this is how you can define the light, the most saturated or warmest colours, the highest or lowest contrast… and after a while you realize that you’re not alone.
Kerameikos
How long do you take in the shower? Do you experience loneliness? Don’t worry, I understand… I’m on the balcony, if you don’t want to see me, it’s fine… The flowers are not included in the price of the room. I’m not either. Nietzsche once said “The value of a thing sometimes lies not in what one attains with it, but in what one pays for it – what it costs us.” I have to agree although we don’t share the same beliefs.
Athens metro
We’re moving underground, changing places, going to work, cinema, catch up on something. The rush hours, the times during which most people commute. Get sleepy because of the delay, distorted faces, the income inequality…drunken late-night conversations…
Iera Odos
I did the same mistake again, in order to get around the obstacle. I know there’s a lot of distance between us. People want an emotional space. You drive because you want to go somewhere. You thought it was the right turn but it wasn’t, so you keep asking yourself “Left or right?” “left or right?” The line along which anything lies, faces, moves, etc., with reference to the point or region toward which it is directed.
Omonoia
If you don’t like history, you can choose tape recorders, because a few meters away from these guys you can find the palace of analog recorders, tape machines, vinyl players at very low prices and you can also have a sip of espresso, or even buy chamomile tea, oregano, rosemary and thyme, and as you leave this place, you can be friends with Simon and Garfunkel….
Syngrou Avenue
There are many things I like in this avenue, in the clear sunny days, you can feel in the distance the Saronic Gulf waving, changing colours from grey to blue to green. I always think that somewhere straight down there in the blue chaos there’s Crete or Africa and this makes me happy, and happiness is an emotional state.
