on his bouzoukis:

"I currently have 3 bouzoukia made by:

1) Moratidis (the older one of the two who has now passed away), made in Omonoia, Athens in 1974. It has a small bowl and a tough neck with very sweet highs. The woods he used must have been very old. He used karidia.

2) Kaziakouras, made in Nea Ionia, Athens in 1990. This one has a big bowl made of Polisandro - the red type of wood. It's very loud and the mids cut through well in recordings.

3) Antonis, made in Larissa in 1995. This one is made of karidia. It rings better than any bouzouki I've ever played. The highs are sweet and the lows are never boomy. This one would have to be my favourite. Manissalis likes the Kaziakoura bouzouki. Of course I like all 3 and I would never part with them."

on the Rock Tsifteteli solo:

"Here's a bit of history of how the Rock Tsifteteli was made:
I first wrote a similar solo to the Rock Tsifteteli in 1990 in Greece while making a demo CD in Thessaloniki. When I returned to Melbourne, I was playing it at gigs, making it up as I was going along - changing, adding a few ideas here and there. Eventually that solo ended up in the Melas Live in Melbourne 1995 CD which spread around the internet. It wasn't until 1999 when I refined it to the way it has become now since it was released on CD in 2000.
The new upcoming CD includes a new version of it. I'll let you all know as soon as it's released."

on Peter Mountzouris:

"Peismatakia is sung by Peter Mountzouris from Adelaide. (For those of you who haven't heard the song, it is track no. 3 from the CD "Terma Oi Thisies" by Bouzouki Fever, recorded in 2000). Peter Mountzouris is a natural laiko singer. He is the youngest of the 3 Mountzouris brothers and they're all Manolis Aggelopoulos freaks! Peter and I first worked together at Posidonio, Melbourne in 1997. He is currently singing in Adelaide with Kivotos Band."

on Mary Linda:

"I was about to play with Mary Linda. It was all organized, but you know how things go in Greece... always "xalane oi douleies". How it started - I bumped into her when I visited Antoni in Larisa and she was doing a show there with Gerolimatos. I already knew the bouzouki player for Gerolimatos, so that's how I got to meet her too. I was in the kamarini playing with Vasilas (her bouzouki player at the time).. we were playing one Hiotis song after another in perfect harmony! A truly memorable moment. I later visited her house in Kalamaki, Athens and that's when she really got to know me and hear me play. She even asked me "posa theleis?" Well.. the rest is history..."

on savvas pickups:

"1) The regular white savvas has low gain with a sweet, crystal type of sound in the highs.
2) The black savvas has high gain and the highs are not as sharp - so it's kind of in between a white savvas and an old 60s ideal.
3) The not as popular SMALL white savvas has a higher gain than the regular white savvas and sounds in between the white and black savvas. The gain is not quite as high as the black savvas.

What does gain have to do with the quality of sound?

With the low gain pickups you won't get sustain unless you really crank up the volume. Perfect for clubs and barakia. But for more quieter venues like restaurants and some taverns, the regular white savvas might not "skai" as much, compared with other higher gain pickups.
The black savvas is probably the easiest to play with at lower volumes. The sustain is there - you can hear it at almost any volume. It does however distort a little, so it won't be as clean as the white savvas.

So the difference between the main two savvas pickups: low gain Vs high gain = clarity Vs sustain."

on P.A. equipment:

"This is the setup that I prefer with my band:

* Mackie or Soundcraft mixer (or equivalent)
* minimum 1000W power amp (at least double that for outdoor gigs)
* JBL or Peavey speakers
* monitors on stage - JBL, Peavey or EV
* subwoofers are a MUST!
* Lexicon or Alesis reverb unit
* EVERYONE goes through the P.A. - definitely including the drums!
* Vocal mics: usually cordless systems, such as Shure or Sennheiser
* Bouzouki: I always use my cordless either plugged into the Solitaire with a line-out, or directly into the P.A. If I use a speaker with the solitaire, I usually mic it up with a Shure SM-57."

on general background and theory knowledge:

"I started out playing drums at the age of 5. I started learning bouzouki at the age of 8. My bouzouki teacher gave me the start I needed, incorporating theory and practical.
A few years later I left my teacher and continued practising on my own. I also started learning more advanced theory and harmony at Melba Music Conservatorium. The training there was based on classical music way back from Bach and Mozart, and this even helped me with Greek music, as it helped me understand composition, not just melody. It wasn't just a matter of learning which chord this is or what this scale is called. I was learning all about what the master classical composers had created and why they chose certain notes/parts/chords for a different sound or mood.
Advanced harmony and composition also included later composers and even modern harmony. This gave me some insight into a bit of jazz too. All this knowledge that I had acquired through years of study helped me understand even little things like how Hiotis made up his famous diminished run and where it is derived from, theoretically.

So I spent more lessons on theory rather than practical. There was a whole lot to learn plus I enjoyed it anyway.

As far as practical goes, how I started out and how I progressed to my current level, of course I learned a lot on my own. But here's one thing that's for certain:

ON STAGE IS WHERE YOU LEARN THE MOST!

I used to record myself at live gigs all the time. I have recordings dating way back to my early teens. Recording yourself and listening to how you sound with the whole band is definitely one of the best ways you can improve once you're out there playing in front of an audience. By carefully listening to your timing, the clarity of your notes, your note selections, etc.. you can quickly improve by correcting your mistakes.
Of course you still need to be at that level where you're ready enough to play with a live band. Here are what I consider the most important foundations every musician must work on in the early stages of learning their instrument:

1) Timing - the most important element in music.
2) Slow, clean pennies - NOT concentrating on speed. Speed will come later, naturally on it's own.
3) Scales/modes - they must be studied and understood to avoid playing blindly up and down the fretboard.

Without those 3 basic foundations, the player will always be lacking something, and it will show."