Lena Platonos X Die Arkitekt

Lena Platonos and Die Arkitekt will step on ADAF Stage and present tracks from Die Arkitekt’s new album, as well as remixes on Lena Platonos’s classic songs from her whole career.

Lena Platonos
Pianist, composer, and vocalist Lena Platonos is a pioneer of the Greek electronic music scene, with over a dozen albums and numerous music videos dating back to the early ’80s. She was responsible for some of the first Greek pop recordings to primarily utilize synthesizers, and her otherworldly songs combined minimalist electronic soundscapes with poetic, surrealist lyrics about relationships, dreams, and the societies of the future. A piano player since childhood, Platonos played in band called DNA during the ’70s and composed music for popular Greek children’s radio program Lilipoupoli during the second half of the decade. In 1981, she collaborated with Marianina Kriezi and Savina Yannatou for an innovative electronic album titled Sabotage, released by the Greek label Lyra. This was followed by an album of Kostas Karyotakis poems set to music and an LP of Manos Hadjidakis compositions, both also in collaboration with Yannatou. Platonos made her solo debut in 1984 with Sun Masks, followed by Gallop (1985) and Lepidoptera (1986), which included lyrics based on nursery rhymes by Giani Rontari. An adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s Nightingale appeared in 1989. Following collaborations with Dionysis Savvopoulos and Dimitra Galani during the early ’90s, Platonos retreated from the public for most of the decade, returning in 1997 with another collaboration with Yannatou, this time interpreting traditional love songs with orchestral arrangements. An album called The Mixer also appeared that year, featuring Greek electronic artists interpreting her work in styles ranging from trip-hop to drum’n’bass. Platonos’ 2000 album The Third Door (in collaboration with Maria Farantouri) was based on poetry by Thodoros Poala, and the album was adapted into a stage production, which took place at the Athens Concert Hall in March of 2003. Platonos returned to electronic music in 2008 with Imerologia (Diaries – digitally reissued in 2020), which spawned two hit singles. The double CD Live at the Palace followed in 2010, and 13 Songs, a collaboration with John Bonito interpreting the poetry of Constantine Cavafy, arrived in 2011. Fans of vintage new wave and synth pop eventually began to discover Platonos’ work from the ’80s, and one of her songs appeared on the 2012 compilation Into the Light: A Journey into Greek Electronic Music, Classics & Rarities. Three years later, American label Dark Entries reissued Gallop on vinyl, and an EP of remixes by Israeli techno duo Red Axes was issued by the label in 2016. By the end of the year, the label also reissued Sun Masks and a Remix EP with tracks from the Lepidoptera album. During the pandemic Lena Platonos withdrew in the studio and planned ahead on three projects: Balancers a series of demo tapes and unreleased tracks from the 80’s (Dark Entries Records), and Hope Is The Things With Feathers, a collection of love poems by Emily Dickinson set to electronic compositions written by Lena Platonos. Lena Platonos currently is recording her first techno album set for release in the summer of 2022 and also contributed to two tracks in the debut album of the Greek techno prodigy Die Arkitekt which is due in May.

Die Arkitekt
Die Arkitekt is a multi-intrumentalist producer that uses avant-garde elements to create techno faithful to it’s roots. His avant-garde music combined with the conceptual appearance creates a riveting experience that transports the listener to his dark and imaginary world. Based in Athens and London, Die Arkitekt began his career with the release of his EP Wilmheim debut in September 2020. While working on his first album, which will be released on May 6, 2022, he released several singles with collaborations artists such as Lena Platonos, Kid Moxie, Tamta and Charity Kase. Last but not least, the performances of Die Arkitekt in London have left the best impressions on the public and critics with its elegant dj sets in famous places, such as the EGG LDN and the Dalston Superstore. His singles were supported by WONDERLAND, VICE, KALTBLUT and METAL Magazine. His debut album is a concept album entitled Dark Colors. The opening track, Dark, prepares the listener for a three-dimensional journey into the world of Die Arkitekt. On the one hand, the dynamic beats and emblematic basslines are present throughout the album and on the other hand, a musical skill and elegance that is rarely observed in a debut album of techno artists. While the “dark” element is present throughout the album, the last track Colors is an ode to the beauty of darkness, a techno-ballad for dusk until dawn. In addition to the ten tracks of his concept album, there is an additional bonus track, a Spanish version of Julian, the main single of the album that is already released in Greek language with the pioneer of Greek electronica, Lena Platonos.

Dark Colors albums will be supported by:
– Extensive paid campaign on social media – Interviews and reviews in music and non-print media – Six video clips (Face and Who told you to hate yourself and Julian that have already been released and expecting soon Julian-Spanish Version, Dark and Colors) – Live sets in summer festivals and clubs. – Merchandising

Die Arkitekt Facts *!
– Julian has been ranked No. 12 on Spotify’s global electronic Rising playlist. – Julian reached No. 1 on the iTunes techno chart Greece. – Julian reached one million playlist subscribers in the first week of its release. – In less than 2 months Julian surpassed 80,000 streams on Spotify – For a week Julian was at No. 22 on the American Techno chart of itunes while in Greece Politik and In Berlin at positions 3 & 4. – This summer, Die Arkitekt will be the headliner of Pride Festival Greece and the ADAF (Athens Digital Arts Festival) while also appearing at the Phaex Festival in Corfu among some of the top techno artists in the world such as 999999999, Debora de Luca, Satoshi Tomiie . – Kaval ft. Kid Moxie was a local success in Latin America (Argentina, Colombia, Mexico) as well as in Italy and Spain – Die Arkitekt remix of Lena Platonos’s song “Sanctuary in Ionian Rhythm” was in the top ten of the WFMU in New York for 8 consecutive weeks. – His core audience is in Germany, America, England, Spain and Greece. * Data sources: Spotify analytics, Songstats and Soundcharts