December 23, 2011
Zirconia Starfighter perorming for 'Sinners In Heaven' at Seven Sins Club (24.12.2011 Athens GR)
Another year is coming to its end and my December update is here for you. Despite the economic and professional downturn here in Greece life keeps being really interesting and adventurous. It's not that I try to "look at the bright side of life", no. It's a fact that life is interesting, no matter what.
The situation of being on a search for a new morning job made me do really lots of works at home and at other people's places, either that was graphic design (& art) work or teaching. Yes, teaching. Life can also bring unexpected situations up. But I love testing myself, my abilities, my limits -if they do exist- and resistance. In the meantime of course, I have many parties, events and gigs to cope with, which makes things even better. Each Saturday of December (like every month) I was go-go dancing at Seven Sins club with Alexia. I have collected many pics from each Seven Sins Saturdays parties and I always try to chose some memorable ones (like 140 and 141 for example, always from the general pics section).
Tus ft. Eleanna Azouki "Dance my baby" (Official Video Clip out)
At the 9th of December I participated in a new video-clip for the hit of TUS ft. Eleanna Azouki "Dance my baby" (by Spicy Official & Fivos) at Alpha Studios by Manolis Tzirakis. You can see me fire-spitting at 2:49-2:52. At the 11th I was very lucky to attend the live of Death In June (UK) at club PassPort in Piraeus. Douglas Pearce was simply amazing. I was delighted to attend this live because, there won't be more concerts of Death In June anymore in the future as I heard.
At the 13th it was my birthday -which I celebrated at thome this time- with seventeen friends. We had an excellent time, ate & drunk a lot, made some cool party photos & videos. And I am waiting for Dennis to prepare some small "happy birthday" to me and "goodbye" to him videos as souvenirs, as he is leaving for Canada at the 27th of January. In fact I am gonna terribly miss him. I had lots of presents from my beloved friends and yes, many lovely Monster High Dolls for my collection. I don't know if I ever mentioned it but, friendship is probably the most important thing in my life. And real friends are a treasure.
At the 24th of December I will participate at another Sinners in Heaven event at Seven Sins club (Themistokleous & Gamveta 5, Kaningos Square, Athens) as The Grinding Party-Monster. The Dj's who will take place there are No Rabbitz (outofhomegotohouse.com), Panos Argiropoulos (Villa Mercedes Athens), Jojo Rose (D-sher records), Frankie Lluc. Sinners In Heaven is an eshtablished club event/extravaganza formed in Athens, Greece 7 years ago. It was the main idea of George Manos organiser of the famous "Sex Parties" at club "The Hall" (formely known as "Luv"), promoter and co-manager of Erotica Expo in Athens.
The concept of these events is an audiovisual club experience related to the techno - minimal - progressive house music scene combined with the finest shows and live acts of today's entertainment (erotic, strip, grinding, black light/UV, cyber, fetish, BDSM, fantasy, fire and many more).
Featuring an impressive line-up of innovative DJs, the "Sinners In Heaven" distinctive "dark sound" is the imprint of excessive research and development in the field of "electronic dance music" presenting always the best, most forward thinking DJ sets most demanding clubbers crave for.
Press Release in Greek
The parties include the most specialized show-men and show-women in all possible domains and surprising acts. Having the knowledge in combining all these magnificent ideas in order to create extraordinary shows, all the events booked under the name "Sinners In Heaven" are regarded nowadays as the most fabulous parties and I am really glad being a part of them.
The Official "Remember" photo-shooting for Fashion Installation by Athena Kalogirou (25.9.2011 Athens GR) will be very soon ready. My coopareation with her and the photo-shooting by Panayiotis Lamprou for her site was a really cool experience for me. I highly recommend you to visit Remember and admire the extravagant creations of Dimitris Tsouanatos, a unique & talented Greek designer.
I still receive many pictures from people who attended the events I participated in. Soon I will finish uploading the pics of the 1st Erotic Festival at Tae Kwon Do (4-6 November '11) and I already finished uploading pics of the 20th Anniversary WGT 2011 at Leipzig. That was alot of work. Last year's X-Mas Party at Seven Sins club was a blast, as you might have already seen from the video I posted here last time. This year I decided to have a new Zirconia Starfighter Christmas theme photo-shooting, this time by Tassos Oreopoulos which you can view all here. Happily one of the photo-shootings I had in Italy by Jan was announced today at a greek celebrities site, named KanoniTV. You can view & read a short review about it here.
This shooting was made at the famous Seitanidis Collections store in Glyfada few days before Christmas in a sexy Santa suit (19 December 2011, Athens GR). Seitanidis is also known from his TV-sales on air on channel Extra 3. The cooperation was more than fun. Photos will be soon posted on many sites. Thank you all for this last creative cooperation of this month and year. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous New Year. May all (y)our wishes come true!
November 22, 2011
Zirconia Starfighter go-go dancing for Terranoise at Seven Sins Club (12.11.2011 Athens GR)
This month turned to be "adventurous" enough for me. Not only I had to cope with many happenings, but, some personal problems (and people) suddenly appeared which made me lose my appetite at the moment. Fortunately, everything happens for a reason. All those events, gigs, festivals and exhibitions kept me as busy as I needed to surpass most of them and forget about the current situation for now.
November started, as I had mentioned before, with the first Erotic Festival which took place -this time- at Tae Kwon Do (Athens GR) from Friday the 4th till Sunday the 6th of November '11.
I was featured on a huge poster and numerous flyers which were distributed every single day outside of the BDSM Area. I was giving one show per day on the main stage of the festival and one or two shows maximum at the BDSM Area. Photos will be very soon uploaded in this section of my site's gallery. The photographers were too many this year again. I saw for sure Mat Miltiadis, John Tsilidis, Constantinos Vamvakoussis, Costas Lykavvitos, Jim Photoshooter and many-many others. My stage partners were Alexia (GR), Dennis Lunarian (GR) and Anna Dallas (HU). I made numerous pictures with friends, fans and various people from the audience there and gave away numerous autographs as well.
On Saturday the 5th we also celebrated -after midnight- another Sinners In Heaven VIP & BDSM Area Party (always powered by Megadance GR). So, many performers from the Expo, such as Trixie (UK), Lola (GR), Ilektra Galanou (GR), Eny (HU), Anna Dallas (HU), Dennis, Alexia and I moved at Seven sins club to repeat our shows there and spend the whole night partying hard. Of course we were all extremely tired the next day and had to do a lot of work for the festival but, we really enjoyed it.
On Saturday the 12th we had the honour to go-go dance with Alexia for Entheogenics team again, which organizes amazing dark-psy parties. This time they had invited Terranoise from Kiev, Ukraine for an exclusive live gig at Seven Sins club, where we keep our go-go dancing residency. It was a hell of a party, Meon, Pupsidelic and ordo Ab Chao also played nice music and the club was packed with a very positive audience. I loved to see the club like this. I uploaded some pics in the general photo section of my gallery (pics No 125-128). I also started uploading some pics from my shootings in Italy in this section here. Soon I'll finish many sections from my summer and spring photo-shootings for 2011, because I'd been so busy I could not find time to edit & upload them.
The next gigs that follow at Seven Sins club, where I keep my go-go dancing residency, differ a lot from eachother. The point is that I like it like that, as I never get bored (very important for me). So, last Saturday we go-go danced before and after the shows of Lady Afrodyte (fetish kinky act), Rope Shadow & Alice in Bondageland (Shibari-bondage show). On Saturday the 26th I am gonna attend a hip-hop and metal concert -both bands of Dimitris Mentzelos- and later I am gonna dance again with Alexia for another fetish night.
Seven Sins club X-mas Party Video by Spiros K.
December will be better I hope, as we will all be waiting for Christmas and New Year's Eve. I wish you all a happy ending of November and, an amazing new start for the month that follows!
October 21, 2011
Red-Line Official Album presentation & Live at Seven Sins Club (22.10.11 Athens GR)
October found me editing lots of pictures from my 2011 shootings. One of them is by the amazing fetish Greek photographer John Tsilidis who lives in Baltimore/Maryland USA at the moment and he will come back here in Athens soon. The clothing selection this time was an amazing dark green latex dress by Savage Wear (Berlin DE). This is the first pic from the set. There will come a few more. My go-go dancing residency at Seven Sins continues mainly for Seven Sins Saturdays (pictures from Official Mono Inc. EP Release Party at 1/10, 7/10, 15/10). The next party is about Red-Line's Official Album presentation & live act.
It was about time also for some new videos of mine. Mat Miltiadis edited a video of my participation on 19.Wave Gotik Treffen 2010 with Mono No Aware (DE). Once more, Mat's work was brilliant. Special thanks to Jan who had the patience to make the video apart from some amazing pictures those days.
Mono No Aware live on 19.WGT 2010 (Leipzig DE)
Some days before the 17th of October, my best friend and cooperator Derek Liontis published this video teaser for his upcoming video-clip in cooperation with Chris Winters (Chicago US). The song's name is "Save me". Its subject is against racism and represents various faces and dates against racism of all possible kinds. Enjoy my friends and, wish him happy birthday for the 17th of October because, he is an angel on earth and he deserves the best.
Derek Liontis Vs Chris Winters: "SAVE ME" (Official video clip)
Actually I 've found lately many videos of mine on Facebook which I cannot embed in any way but, it's nice to see that people are recording me via cell.phones and cameras. Thank you all!
So, you will mainly find me at Seven Sins club this month and in the beginning of November at Tae Kwon Do from the 4th till the 6th, participating at the BDSM Area (powered by Megadance GR) during the 1st Erotic Festival in Athens. Apart from shows you will see some of my graphic works as well. Check out images from 36 to 44. probably there will be more to add.
For more information and announcements always check out my online calendar, follow me on Twitter or -my brand new account- on Google+.
September 27, 2011
Ambassador 21, Iszoloscope, Shtraf-Bat, Gas Masked Lestat live at Seven Sins club (17 September 2011 - Athens GR)
The new season started for good at Seven Sins with some great parties (known as Seven Sins Saturdays) and many live gigs wich were booked during summertime. We missed the opening as we were in Mykonos for Salvation at Elysium Sunset bar hotel & club but we returned with videos (which I previously posted) and pics (which are all uploaded in this section here). This year's Salvation video is uploaded on my Youtube Channelhere. Feel free to add me as friend on there too or subscribe to my updates to watch first my most recent uploads.
Salvation backstage pics (27.8.2011 Mykonos GR)
The 3rd and 10th of September found me go-going with Alexia at Seven Sins club in the center of Athens (address: Themistokleous & Gamvetta 5, Exarchia). As for the pictures that we take every Saturday night (plus some Fridays as well) during my club dancing residency (and some other events), you can find them all here. I always keep some souvenirs from the last months or weeks. No matter how terrible the things get here with the crisis, this place can really make my night and mood.
Athens Pride with Elias Chatzoudis (4.6.2011)
Burlesque Performance at Seven Sins - Photo by Anthony David (6.8.2011)
At Seven Sins with my friend Tilemachos (3.9.2011)
On September the 17th we attended the amazing live of Ambassador21 (from Belarus), Iszoloscope (Montreal CA) and the Greek support projects of Shtraf-Bat (GR) and Gas Masked Lestat (GR) at Seven Sins club. Ambassador21 play industrial music with strong hardcore and punk influences since the end of 2001. Duo toured a lot over Europe since 2003 and perfomed at many events and I was very happy to see them in Greece together with Iszoloscope who is one of my favorite musicians as well. Just for the record:
Since 1999, Iszoloscope has been pushing the abstract conceptualization of isolation and its induced altered states of consciousness into a powerful, ominous, and immersive world of dark sonic aesthetic that can be called its very own. Seamlessly bending stylistic constraints by creating a fusion of industrial, electro-acoustic, ambient, rhythmic noise, psy-trance and break-core; this artistic endeavor sets an exceptional standard in hybrid electronic music.
Establishing itself as an experimental music project in the late nineties on the radiophonic landscape of Ottawa, Canada; Iszoloscope quickly gathered momentum through weekly broadcasts and renditions at local alternative electronic music events. In 2001, Iszoloscope gained world-wide attention performing at the German underground music festival Maschinenfest and releasing its debut album, "Coagulating Wreckage", on Belgium's Spectre Records. During this live gig, Yann Faussurier arrived in Athens on his own, without any other band members but he played amazingly good. We made some souvenir pics with the bands and I'd like to thank Stavrianna for this.
Go-go dancong for the after-party (Seven Sins club)
On September the 23rd we also go-go danced for a techno party at the same place for a team called Syntek. I remembered at the last moment that I had cooperated with them also in 2008 for a couple of parties.
The party went great and you will find some backstage pictures on my general 2010-2011 Seven Sins club-dancing residency here (pictures from 112 to 114). As for my Saturday night residency (24 September 2011) you will find me on the pictures from No 115 to 117.
On Sunday the 25th I had the honour to cooperate with Fashion Installation (www.fashioninstallation.com) for an official photo-shooting for the editor's website (and owner of it as well). Since I am not allowed to upload any backstage pictures I will only post some pics of a hair-piece I had made for that shooting and/or my future photo-shootings for fashion sites and brands.
I would like to thank Athena Kalogirou for our amazing cooperation, the unique clothes' sponsor Remember Fashion store (Dimitris Tsouanatos, George Vanakos) and Panayiotis Lamprou for his wonderful photos. I hadn't photo-shooted with film for years. Can't wait to see the results on the site. And I can't hide my enthousiasm neither because I always admired Remember Fashion by Dimitris Tsouanatos. He is very special designer who presents every year an original fashion collection of clothes made by odd material combinations such as, straw with Plexiglas, wired brushes, cork, latex pipes, fresh flowers sealed in plastic, painted eel-grass, leather with soundproof styrofoam, aluminum etc. At the same time he likes to spend time with his other loves -as he calls them- painting, sculpting and writing. So, as anyone can understand, his kind of art has something of mine as well.
This month came to its end. 1st of October is my mother's birthday and will find me at Seven Sins club go-go dancing with Alexia for the resident dj's and promoters of the club Antonis Scandalis and George Papanikolaou but also, for the Official Mono Inc. EP Release Party.
Same day, as one of my photographers Martin Black (Heidelberg DE) informed me, takes place an event named Devils Opera - Koerperschall Release party (plus Live act Diodati) in Offenbach (Hessen DE), where they used one of my old fetish pictures. You can see a small preview of it here. I also made a print-screen of the event on their site.
So, if you wanna see me in Athens, you all know the place. For my next appearances, upcoming events etc. you can always take a look on my online calendar, follow me on my Twitter or -my brand new account- on Google+ which seems to attract a lot the audiences lately.
August 31, 2011
Zirconia Starfighter In Mykonos (24-28/8/2011) for Salvation at Elysium (27.8.11 GR)
The first day of August '11 found me at studio Alpha of the famous director Manolis Tzinieris for the video-clip recordings of the new song of TUS feat. Remis Xantos "Mi rotas pos pernao" (the title is in greeklish because my site doesn't support greek characters. The meaning is: "Do not ask how I am going to" in greek language). The fact that this clip is about to get one million views in less than a month is simply outstanding. Here is the result of my third cooperation with TUS; third video-clip cooperation, fourth cooperation in general if we include a party in Crete where I danced and performed with Alexia again.
TUS feat.Remis Xantos - "Don't ask how I'm doing" (SCHAU HIN)
Official Video Clip (HQ)
Probably I've lost account of the parties I participated in this summer. You can always visit my online calendar for detailed info and announcements. After my amazing holidays, festivals and photo-shootings in June (Italy and Germany), July found me mostly in Athens and Crete. I stayed at Chania at my amazing friend Ira's place and had lots of fun. Still uploading pics in this section. At the 13th of August I participated at the annual Beach Party in Kalives (Chania, Crete GR) in Kyani Akti. I uploaded a video of that night, not in the best kind of quality but still I like it.
Beach Party 13 August 2011 (Chania, Crete GR)
Later, at the 17th I returned for few days in Athens to participate at the 22nd of August with my amazing friend Dennis Lunarian at the Kontra Channel TV show of Georgia Sideri. I still remember it was my first TV-moment that I stayed at a telecast for two hours run about; longest telecast of my life. The previous seven I'd been into lasted, usually not more that an hour.
"Man & Sex" (Part 1)
If you check out the related Youtube videos you will easily find the next six parts of the whole telecast. My participation there was nothing I planned to do. Dennis invited me and I (spontaneously) accepted. Finally it led to a really interesting interview. And I trully loved the psychologist Georgia Sideri. I believe she is one of a kind. In the meantime I am still waiting for the pics of our show with him and Alexia at Seven Sins club during the closing party that took place there at the 6th of August.
The show was named "Burlesque Lunatic". I believe it really suited the title. Seven Sins club starts at the 26th & 27th of this month with the New Season Opening parties. But, at the same dates we had to be present in Mykonos with Alexia for our performances for the international Salvation-London Pool Party at Elysium Sunset Bar/Hotel. In the meantime, Alex, a friend of us made a video with his camera from our show at Seven Sins.
Burlesque Lunatic Show at Seven Sins club (6.8.2011 Athens GR)
Our stay in Mykonos started at the 24th. We returned with Alexia in Athens at the 28th, on Sunday. The International Spectacular Party of Salvation (London UK) took place on Saturday the 27th at Elysium Sunset Bar/Club & hotel (Mykonos GR). The place was packed. International Drag Queens such as Yana Int.Showqueen (Belgium), Gloria Darling and Vanessa Dupond made an exciting presentation of the whole festival. Sexy (and themed) male and female go-go dancers (including us) were all set up by Raul Gonzalez (SP) and, Andromeda impressed us with his aerial acrobatics, fire and fantasy acts. All I can say, is that the night was more than fantastic and I would like to thank Werner De Buysere, Steve Elliot and all the crew for their help and support.
On decks: Oliver M & Pier Morocco, performer & singer Tonnic on vocals. Hosted and drag performances by Andromeda, acrobatic aerialists, go-go's by Raul Gonzalez, top class performers from Athens. Grinding shows by Zirconia . High tech production with lasers, CO2 cannons and lighting (e-mail for tickets & accommodation: info@gayholidays.gr, entrance: 30 EUR). Elysium Hotel and Andromeda uploaded some fan videos, so, together with my friend and performer Dennis Lunarian we made a sample video of what happened that spectacular night.
Salvation at Elysium 27.8.2011 (Mykonos GR)
I am the female go-go dancer on the left hand side of the stage at minutes 02:53 to 03:16, later follows the long and amazing aerial acrobatic performance by Andromeda. A small part of my grinding show starts at 08:00 and ends at the 08:22 minute. At the go-go sets which follow I am the female dancer on the right. Some other links you may check out are the pics of WGT 2011 here from Thursday to Friday. Pics from Saturday to Monday will be uploaded later and I will start composing the festival's review. Also a new PW artwork piece by Ellada Luna-Elven, a Greek friend of mine:
And some of my new pictures by Martin Black in AMF Korsets (DE) and Maro Christodoulou's (GR) brand "Darker Than Black". I am preparing my programm at the moment for September and, you will find me mainly at Seven Sins club where I keep my go-go dancing residency with Alexia. Wishing you all a happy new month! Holidays came to an end but I hope we will continue having some fan in autumn and winter as well.
July 19, 2011
Zirconia Starfighter featured on Noize Magazine #15 (July-Sept. 2011 NL) and Sirina Muse Issue #21 (17.7.11 GR)
It gets difficult enough when it comes to an update here but, I try my best to keep track of my news on a monthly basis. My email gets spammed and filled up with useless messages. I am fed up with stupid questions which I don't even answer, except if I occasionally get any feelings of compassion. Some people should definitely understand one day that some emails are for jobs and bookings only. Among hundreds of shallow or annoying curious people I also meet creative, busy and interesting ones. At least I am happy that I still receive some descent and professional messages for magazine and e-zine interviews, modeling, dancing and graphic design requests.
Friday 15/7 I participated at a bikini fashion show with another seven models, plus go-go dancing with Alexia at Arena club, Agrinio. On Saturday 16/7 we traveled in Patras to visit Christian Tete coiffures for a photoshooting and then in Pyrgos Ileias for a fashion show at Morrison Hotel club. Sunday 17/7, Preveza's event got cancelled so, we returned to Athens. It was a tiring trip but we had fun with all the girls and our amazing photographer and camera man Mat.
My impressions on the 20th Anniversary Wave Gotik Treffen for this year were the best. I will start uploading all the pics in this section of my site. I already started with Age of Heaven (DE), one of the bands which played on Thursday. Yes, this year WGT lasted for five days instead of four! Loads of pics to be edited and uploaded. The gig of Soman on Sunday 12/6 at Moritzbastei was the ultimate blast. The place was over-packed and it was not possible to breathe in there. I shared the stage with Kolja, Sandra and Alexia as well this time in Germany.
Many thanks to Dan (USA) for his video. Photos will follow here much later when I find some time for selecting and editing. After WGT I visited Martin Black for two photoshootings in Mannheim (21 June 2011). The outfits were by AMF Korsets (Berlin DE) and Maro Christodoulou (Livadia GR). The result is great. Can't wait to see the pics edited.
At the 24th of June we traveled to Italy with Jan to visit the island of Elba for a special anniversary celebration (well, it seemed special to me at least). For the first time in my life I traveled there by car. That was even more special to me. We passed from Switcherland also. There, in Elba, we had a pin-up photoshooting and probably some of the best time in our holidays history. Thank you! I wish my flight back to Athens was not so suddenly cancelled due to the strikes, caused by demonstrations and riots but anyway, Greece will never change in this kind of situations. I kept the good memories from the trip which were many more of course.
During my stay in Germany and Italy I had some cool surprises by some amazing internet friends. For example, a sweet idea of my Spanish friend Adolfo Rodriguez Taboada who is keeping a blog named 'Planeta inquietante' was to include me in his upcoming comic work with his friend (artist & comic designer) Gustavo Rubio. The image above is his design. Thanks to these amazing friends I became a comic heroine once more. The outfit of the sketch is another creation of Pothoula Douma aka: Desire of Destruction. Hope you like it. Adolfo made a video of this from the shootings I had with Tassos Oreopoulos (Athens GR).
Additionally, you can check out some artists and fans who drew me in the near (and far) past in this section of my gallery. Every time I take a look on it I feel nostalgia and a strange melancholic happiness for these people who spent some time on me. I am deeply grateful to them.
I am featured in Noize Magazine (The Netherlands) in issue #15 for July, August and September 2011. Thanks for getting in touch with me. You can download the issue from their site: www.noizemagazine.nl in PDF form for free.
The interview is in dutch but I thought about copying and pasting it here in english since we are in the middle of July now. Enjoy it!
1. How are you doing?
I try to say I am ok nowadays that the financial crisis increased here in Greece. Honestly, yes, I am doing fine since I work hard and I like what I do.
2. Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Well, my artist's name is Zirconia or Zirconia Starfighter. Most people know me by this modeling persona I represent since a long time ago. My real name is Irene Zilou. I live and work in Athens (Greece) or anywhere else I am booked by promoters, club owners, dj's, companies etc. since I love traveling. For more information you may visit my website.
3. When and how did you get in touch with the dark underground scene in general
Seriously talking now, from the day I was born. I come from a family who is deeply into music. My father was one of the first music journalists and record/CD critics in Greece. I was traveling in Europe first accompanied by him when I was a kid, later alone. My mother was a make-up artist, a person devoted to beauty tips. Obviously, I was not as the other kids of my age according to the "Greek" standards. I used to attend the most extreme experimental, alternative and underground concerts inside and outside of country from a very young age, bought anything unusual, special and "freaky" for my making of, reading anything related to underground music, metaphysical phenomena the supernatural and anything about weird or unique lifestyles. I was getting seriously bored of my classmates at school and all people of the same age as mine, so, I was always trying to improve myself by practicing my hobbies. Sketching, drawing, sculpting, story/article writing, concert reviews, singing and dancing were some of the most characteristic ones of mine. I was a remarkable student, finished my senior high school with high grades, learnt some foreign languages (french, english and italian) and then I received my Bachelor and Master degree in graphic design. I attended vocals' lessons at the Athenaeum (at the age of seven), sang for some bands later and, left vocals for other more important activities. My mini-sculpture and ready-made themes are based on my imagination and sometimes I get influenced by books and mythology. So, all those activities that I followed from my childhood led me to what I am today.
4. What do you like about this scene?
I can't describe what I like exactly in it, as it is my way of life since my birth, so, I would say, absolutely everything and mostly the fact that it is unlimited and touches all possible fields in arts, music, lifestyles.
5. In Holland, Belgium and the UK the underground is full of neon colors and cybergothic. Germany is more black. What about the dark scene in Greece? We never hear news about the scene in Greece here. Could you tell us something more about it?
If anyone mentions dark alternative, fetish, electronic-industrial etc. scene, he would combine the music (and all special stylizations in fashion) with many countries in the world. Greece though, is regarded as a country with a complete absence in that interesting stuff, which is a big mistake of course. Most Greeks you might meet (even in the past) by visiting several European Goth/Fetish/Electronic and so on festivals, may know more things in music than anyone could imagine. Greeks get really obsessed with music, they search, read and explore everything about it. As some fans of the dark alternative scene, either goths or "electro-heads" developed into fetish fans the last fifteen years, they needed to see more. The alternatives were not so many. In fact we had no venues at all, except two great clubs/bars (since 1974-1979, much before my birth) to spend our weekends. The dark alternative nightlife in Athens used to be something too simple and limited in the past. The fact that there weren't many venues was a difficult case because of the lack of space, but the fact that there were too few clubs and bars was making it easier for everyone to know where to go and what to expect. Later in 1996 another club popped out to add quality in the scene, in 2005 another one and the story goes on. The scene here reminds me a lot of Germany's actually. It's mostly "black" with some combinations of it with other -basic or UV- colors. Of course we also have many cyber-gothic types here who are fully and fancy "colorful" when they go out for clubbing and, the last six years we have an explosion of cosplay, j-rock, fetish and japanese fashion in general which means that the scene contains more color than ever recently.
6. What is hot in dark underground Greece?
First I have to mention Bloodcult zine (www.bloodcult.cjb.net), the magazine I cooperate with for more than six years. It contains everything that has to do with dark arts, music, concerts, venues and news on the Greek and international underground scene. Bloodcult is available in: 1) Athens: Darkcell record store, Darkside record store, Bowel of Noise, Black Dragon, and IT xtreme. 2) Thessaloniki: The Nephilim Metal Music Store, Lotos Music Store, Naya/Piu, Musicland Records, Empire DVDs and Accessories. 3) Kerkyra (Corfu): Mario's Corner Records. 4) Rethymno: Vibes Records. 5) Alexandroupolis: Zion (Crossover band). Or you can order it by email at: vampyrcult@gmail.com. As for record stores, I already mentioned many. I should now write about our venues here. Since they are too many I will try to mention the most well known ones.
The oldest club of all is Rebound in Athens (address: 43 Mithimnis Street in Amerikis Square). As a strictly underground dark club, maintains still a very '80s feeling in music and atmosphere. It is open on Saturdays and you can enjoy there Post Punk, New Wave, Minimal Electro, Dark Wave, Punk, New Age, Gothic Rock and some good gothic music in general. For more than 34 years this club remains the same, absolutely underground with a very trashy feeling and attitude (with a good meaning of course). Nothing has changed about it in the passing of the times and still all the devoted and older fans, well known faces visit it very often. It is a club with a big luck of what we call fashion victims in the small dark Greek communities. It doesn't even have a website.
Same counts for Darksun club (address: 42, Thivon Ave, Peristeri), a club founded close to 1996. Situated in the area of Peristeri, Dark Sun is the oldest essentially gothic club in Athens. Cozy and atmospheric, with distinguished decoration, influenced by HR Giger and the owner's George Drivas creativity as well as, he is a musician on his own. Dark Ambient, Neofolk, Darkwave, Gothic on Fridays and EBM, Electro, Industrial, Noise on Saturdays by the resident DJ's Leonidas Skiadas and George Drivas. Open from 00:00 till dawn, this club changed the basic restricted standards besides its small capacity and brought the dark scene of Greece closer to -what we use to call- the European standards.
A very important alternative bar/cafe -which is regarded as pub and club somehow- is Dada. It used to be located in the heart of Exarchia since 1979 (previous address: Arachovis & Benaki Str., Eksarchia, Athens) as this area is the representative of the underground Greek scene. Later, its roof, really, came down. The old location got destroyed and Dada moved to Psyrri area (8, Sarri Str., in Psyrri area, still in Athens). The music during the week covers the dark/goth/neofolk/electronic spectrum and sometimes indie, punk and metal. Very cozy and friendly environment. Open long hours.
Seven Sins club had changed the standards of the usual Dark-Alternative scene. It is the club where I keep my go-go dancing residency for years now and appear live on stage during shows and special events. Located in Eksarchia, where the ex-Next club was located many years ago (address: 5, Themistokleous & Gamvetta Str., Athens). Every week the dance-floor is full and the club filled up with old-school and "fresh" people as well, as it covers all genres of the dark alternative music and more, including gothic, electro, industrial, EBM/TBM, noise, new age, dark wave, minimal electronics, dark trance, gabba, nu-metal, gabber, dubstep, psychedelic. Many concerts and events take place there, including bazaars, musical gigs, freak shows, alternative fashion shows, fetish performances, dj sets and more. It is open every Friday and Saturday (and some additional weekdays), offering a huge variety of events, covering many music genres for all types of people (website: www.sevensinsclub.gr). I'd like to write more about the hot topics of our scene here but it will take me ages...
7. How big is the scene in Greece?
To be honest, I am not so accurate in my calculations but, we have some thousands of devoted fans all over the country, in Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa, Alexandroupolis, Crete etc. and most of those people love to visit huge festivals abroad as much as I do.
8. Are there any great (cyber) gothic bands, well-known underground designers, parties and festivals, and so on?
Yes, many interesting old and new bands, such as South of No North, Virgins O.R. Pigeons, PreEmptive Strike 0.1, Nano Infect, Daemonia Nymphe, Mani Deum, The Illusion Fades, Ding An Sich, Glaufx Garland, Gas Masked Lestat, Strafbat, Astralon, RED-LiNE. Not to mention that Vasi Vallis from Reaper, Frozen Plasma & NamNambulu is Greek. Still there are too many to list so, I will refer to our mostly known Greek fashion designers now who are 4-showgirls company, Maro Christodoulou, Sophia Mattheaki and others. Some brand new ones are Rubberize and Desire of Destruction. We also have many jewellery designers (G-Creations, Nocturne and more). I mentioned those as examples and there are more to list for sure. As for festivals and gigs, there are too many taking place very often here but, we don't name them in any special way in my humble opinion. Excuse me if any name is slipping away from my mind.
9. You started modeling in 2000. Who or what inspired you to get started?
I was always inspired by any kind of nocturnal, mysterious, scary, freaky, futuristic, fantastic or sci-fi stories, sceneries and beauties around me. I loved to get the vibe of a beautiful dark or abandoned place and get it pictured on a paper or composition. I always tend to find beauty in things which others might consider too "dark", forgotten, scary, weird or even dangerous. My biggest inspiration was and will always be music. I am a passionate music lover.
10. Did you learn modeling by doing, or did someone help you?
I would say by doing mostly. Later I learnt through practice and some very experienced people who shared with me their precious knowledge. As a teenager I was not interested in modeling at all but, I was approached too often by photographers and site owners who asked me for it. So, I started by paid assignments and later I took it further.
11. Do you remember your very first (or one of your first) photo-shoot(s)?
Everything started when I was suggested to do some parts modeling for a British webpage (www.lngnails.com), eleven years ago (in year 2000).
12. Could you tell us something more about it?
As I told you, I was an extremely shy young student and not willing at all to show my face in public. I loved to visit forums, dancing at clubs, surfing on the internet, getting updates on music, alternative & fetish fashion and arts, improving myself in general but, I did all that stuff for myself only and I never cared about my outside image. However, some professionals approached me a bit more and insisted that I was talented enough to develop my inspirations in modeling. I got started by paid assignments. Later I couldn't be so active due to my strict studies on graphic design (later Master, languages etc.). I continued some years later building my portfolio. I got more active into modeling the last six years. My graphic design studies, my love for arts and music and my passion for creation inspired me more in adding ideas in stylizations and photo-shooting concepts.
13. Which photo-shoot is your favorite? Why?
I don't think I can distinguish any of them, I love them all and every single one of them offered me experiences. They all had their beauties, difficulties or specialties. I love anything that has to do with shiny latex, PCV, leather and metal wear. Probably the most challenging photo shootings I had were the body painting themes I did. I remember a sea theme; two hours dying my hair turquoise and then adjusting so many shells in them. Seven hours of body & face painting. One or two hours of photo shooting for a calendar (month: August). That was really tiring and exciting for me at the same time. Body painting includes nudity dressed in colours, which is something I rarely do, but, the result is like a full-body suit.
14. Do you have any other ideas in mind for photo-shoots you would definitely like to do in the future?
I always come up with ideas. Inspirations are unlimited and there is no end in my level of creativity. I look forward in working more on photo-shootings to materialize many concepts I already have or pop into my mind in unsuspected times and places.
15. Do you work with different stylists or do you do your make-up and styling yourself?
I do my own styling, MUA/hair, nail art. I have a huge wardrobe full of outfits and shoes, boots, high heels and, of course, I am open to suggestions of other professionals. There had been numerous cases in which I left myself into the hands of some experienced (or even not so much experienced sometimes) professionals during fashion shows or photo-shootings. Besides, as a chameleon I try to be as flexible as possible. I love to give presence to any interesting project and photo-shooting.
16. Where do they/you get their/your inspiration? Is there a certain method?
As I already said before, I get inspired by the beauties around me, by my darkest fantasies or mythology, space, nature, art, fashion and my own imagination. There is no certain method. I just follow my instinct and combine it with creativity when it comes to a concept.
17. Do you see yourself as a living art-piece?
It depends on my mood. Sometimes I too have my female narcissistic tendencies. There are days I wake up more pragmatic, which is not what I actually prefer.
18. Here in Holland seems to be an increasing hype on (alternative) modeling. Do you think everyone could be a model? Why?
I don't believe I am an expert to answer that question. But if you want my opinion as a simple viewer the answer is no. And there are plenty of reasons about that. First of all, there can't be only models on this planet. There are more and more important professions than that. Secondly, it is not a matter of looks but a matter of ability. New pictures are coming every day. There can't be only interesting ones. We have definitely seen the same concepts appearing thousands of times, again and again. Most of them have now been visually saturated. Those repeated images do not offer anything evolutionary. Where is the originality? What is the contribution to the creation in this kind of repetition? At least that's how I see it.
19. Do you have some tips and tricks for new models?
I would advise them to be observant and as open as it gets to some cool challenges and diversity. It's not bad to observe and explore others' works, just don't repeat them. Try to be unique. Your uniqueness will give you identity.
20. Besides modeling, you are a graphic designer, which is actually you main profession. What do you like so much about graphic design?
I love the fact that through graphic design I can call myself a non-artist but a graphic designer. I know it sounds strange but graphic design is what we call "applied art". It can't be regarded as art exactly. It contains something like a more mathematical way of thinking in creating. Although it follows rules it doesn't limit me at all. I love my job because it helps me developing my ideas and creativity through a more logical way of materializing concepts.
21. You've also been studying in the UK. Did you stay in the UK had any effect on your view at the underground culture and you as a person?
I've been several times in the UK (London) for holidays. This misunderstanding of where I studied exists for years now. I say very clearly in my resume that I studied in Athens (and only in Greece for a lifetime). My degree is 100% English by the law. I studied here. After the end of each semester the Dean of the University of Derby arrived in Athens along with the professors from UK to rate us. They had the final word in this. Both my Bachelor and Master Degree(s) for my graphic design studies are from that English University. Yes, I believe this was a very good influence for the underground culture and me as a person.
22. Are you able to mix your love for the dark scene with graphic design? Or do you prefer to keep them separated? Why?
It depends on the case. If a graphic design work I am asked to do is about the dark alternative scene, of course I have to be up-to-date (and love it) for a better result. If the graphics I am asked to do are about something completely irrelevant to it I have to be very observant and keep myself completely separated from what I like to do for my own pleasure. We all get used to it through experience.
23. Have you ever been to Holland? Why? (Vacation, party, modeling, anything else?). Are you planning to visit Holland in the future?
Many close relatives and friends of mine have been there and told me the best things about The Netherlands. I wasn't lucky yet to visit you there and I should definitely have the opportunity to do that one day. I am very curious to see your monuments and to visit all your interesting venues. So, I'll keep my fingers crossed.
24. What would you like to say to the readers of Noize Magazine?
I wish you to -always- get more and more readers and, all the best for you and your progress. Stay unique and keep up the good work!
Hope you liked that huge interview in english this time. I enjoyed the Dutch journalist's questions. During this period of time I also got to know a fabulous person from UK who interviewed me for Sirina newspaper issue #21. Thanks to him and Tassos Oreopoulos I am featured this week as Sirina Muse for that huge company without doing any nudes at all. I have to admit I was quite flattered about it and that I am grateful to these people who believed in me. You can purchase the newspaper this week only till Saturday the 23rd at any kiosk. As for Saturday 23/7, we will perform with Dennis Lunarian as "The Grinding Party-Monster" at Seven Sins club (Themistokleous & Gamvetta 5, Exarchia, Athens GR).
You can always check me out for August events and free dates of mine for bookings on my online calendar, follow me on Twitter, Myspace and Modelmayhem. I recently created a retoucher's profile on the last one for my PW works (Photoshop wizard). Add me on and check out my photo edits. I wish you an adventurous summer!
June 3, 2011
Zirconia Starfighter on the 20th Wave Gotik Treffen (9-13.6.2011, Leipzig DE)
May was a "loud" month finally (and keeps on being busy for me). 20th of May I participated at two events at the same day. One of them was another Entheogenics Music psychedelic party at Seven Sins club for dj's Zik (Echo Vortex), Dark Elf (Discovalley Rec.), Pupsidelic (Entheogenics Music, Control Proccess, Mental Rec.), Meon (Entheogenics Music) and Akbar (Plegma Rec.). You will find all my pics from those events at the general pictures folder of my Seven Sins club participations and dancing residency (same goes for the 13th of May etc.).
Erotic Dream's BDSM Area was the highlight of the whole Expo as expected. I am glad that all my graphic works were accepted there, not only for the BDSM Area but for the VIP Party as well. The poster-model of that poster was me from an old shooting I had in Thessaloniki (November 2009) with Mosses Avramidis.
I should definitely post here the pics from all works, posters & flyers, not only because the performers, models, riggers, Masters/Mistresses, XXX-movie Stars etc. who were on them are famous and amazing, but mostly because they were really worthy as works and I loved this kind of cooperation since it had to do with one of my favorite topics.
These pictures above were the main idea for the flyers of the models, performers & hostesses who participated at the Expo in the BDSM Area. By the way, I was really glad I also cooperated with all that team for the making of the posters and later during the Expo. The dj's George P. (www.electrowelt.com), Miss Tati and Franky (Lime club, Thessaloniki GR) of the BDSM Area (also Tati and Franky played at the main stage as well) and those of the VIP Party later on Saturday were great and I have to admit we made a wonderful team again. The posters were way simplier, of course. You will find all the works in this section here (pictures from 13 to 35). And all my pics from Erotic Dream at this section here. This year I worked there as a hostess/spokersperson too at the main stage. The previous years I only had shows at the BDSM Area and some at the main stage. However, I have to admit that this year the exhibition was a bit poor compared to the previous years and it gets more poor in the passage of time. Hope it will get better next year.
Last Saturday at Seven Sins club we had the Official Warm Up for Amphi Festival (2011, Koeln DE) and I go-go danced with Alexia as usual. You will find my backstage pics here again (78, 79, 80). So, there is one more weekend to go for my Saturday go-go dancing residency at the club and then I travel in Germany for my participation on the 20th Anniversary Wave Gotik Treffen (9th to 13th of June at Leipzig DE). I will be there with Jan to support Bloodcult Zine with bunches of photos and a huge review as every single year. Last year's pics are posted here: 19.Wave Gotik Treffen 2010.
Leipzig, eastern Germany (at about 40 venues, spread all over the city); camping site and main venue at the edge of
town at the "Agra-Messepark" Markkleeberg; for information on the city you may check this link. If you travel to the WGT for the first time, you can find lots of useful information for planning your trip on: this linkwww.sadgoth.com
Music styles: All sub-genres of dark music: Gothic, EBM, Industrial, Ambient, Neofolk, Synthpop, Goth-Metal etc.
Advance ticket sale: 5-day ticket for all events within the 20th Wave-Gotik-Treffen Whitsun 2011 for 81,- Euro in advance ticket sale (including advance sale charges), available via "Ticket Order" at www.wave-gotik-treffen.de.
Currently there are 197 bands and artists confirmed (status of May 1st)
100Blumen (D) - 13th Monkey (D) - 18 Summers (D) - Absurd Minds (D) - Age Of Heaven (D) - Agent Side Grinder (S) - Agrezzior (S) - Alkonost (RUS) - Ally The Fiddle (D) - Alter Der Ruine (USA) - Analog Angel (GB) - Anathema (GB) - Andrew King (GB) - Arian 1 (PE) - Artwork & Gaeste (D) 20th anniversary show - Assemblage 23 (USA) - Aun (CDN) - Backworld (USA) - Balzac (J) - Barren Earth (FIN) - Beati Mortui (FIN) - Black
Tape For A Blue Girl (USA) - Blacklist (USA) - Blind Passenger (D) - Bloodsucking Zombies From Outer Space (A) - C.3.3. (GB) co-founder of TEST DEPT. - Camouflage (D) - Cawatana (H) - Chris & Cosey (GB) - Chthonic (RC) - Cinema Strange (USA) - Clock DVA (GB) first live show since 1994 - Coppelius (D) - Covenant (S) - Crib45 (FIN) - Crimfall (FIN) - Cryo (S) - Culture Kult?r (E) - Curl (F/GB) - Dance Or Die (D) - Das Ich (D) - Das Pr?parat (D) - Deine Lakaien (D) - Destroid (D) - Devil's Whorehouse (S) - Die Braut (RCH) - Die Vorboten (D) - Diorama (D) - Dive (B) - Dornenreich (A) - E.D.O. - Ethereal Dark Orchestra (I) world premiere - EF (S) - Egida Aurea (I) - Eluveitie (CH) - Empyrium (D) world premiere - Eraldo Bernocchi (I) - ESC (P) - Estampie (D) - Eviamara (D) - Eyes Shut Tight (D) - F.O.D. (D) - Faderhead (D) - Faun (D) - Feeding Fingers (USA) - Feindflug (D) - Fields Of The Nephilim (GB) - File Not Found (D) - Finsterforst (D) - Front 242 (B) - Gernotshagen (D) - Giardini
Di Mir? (I) - Girls Under Glass (D) 25th anniversary with special guests - Gothika (J) - Gothminister (N) - Heidevolk (NL) - Helevorn (E) - Helheim (N) - Henke spielt Goethes Erben (D) - Herzfeind (D) - Hocico (MEX) - Homo Futura (D) - House Of Dolls(IRL) - Ikon (AUS) - In The Nursery (GB) - Inade (D) - Inertia (GB) - Infrawarrior feat. Monica Richards (USA) - Jo Quail (GB) - Killing Joke (GB) - Kyoll (D) - Lacrimas Profundere
(D) - Lake Of Tears (S) - Lamia Vox (RUS) - Larrnakh (H) - Las Fuegas (D) fire show - Les Discrets (F) world premiere - Love Is Colder Than Death (D) - Love Like Blood (D) first and only live show since 1999! - Lustmord (USA) - Mani Deum (GR) - Marita Schreck (D) - Mark Benecke (D) - Mediaeval Baebes (GB) - Megaherz (D) - Menschdefekt (S) - Mephisto Walz (USA) - Mercydesign (D) - Midnight Caine (S) - Militia (B) - Mind In A Box (A) - Misfits (USA) - Moctan (D) - Moonsorrow (FIN) - Nachtwindheim (D) - Narsilion (E) - Nehl Alin (F) - Neon Kross (USA) - Neun Welten (D) - Nim Vind (USA) - Nitzer Ebb (GB) - Noisex (D) 20th anniversary show - Nordarr (D) - Northland (E) - Nosferatu (GB) - Obscenity Trial (D) - October Tide (S) - Orchis (GB) - OWLS (GB/I) world premiere - P:HON (D) - Performance (GB) - Plastic Noise Experience (D) - Pouppee Fabrikk (S) - Prager Handgriff (D) - Quellenthal (D) - Rabenschrey (D) - Raggedy Angry (CDN) - Raison D'Etre (S) - Recoil (GB) - Resist (GB) - Rezurex (USA) - Roger O'Donnell (GB) ex-The Cure - Rome (L) - Sarah Jezebel Deva (GB) - She's All That (D) - Sieben (GB) -
Soman (D) - Sophia (S) / Karjalan Sissit (S) - Soul In Isolation (D) - Spiritual Front (I) - Squishy Squid (A) - Substaat (N) - Sweet William (D) - Tactical Sekt (USA) - Temple Of Twilight (D) - Terminal Choice (D) - Terrill (D) -The Anti Group / TAGC (GB) - The Beauty Of Gemina (CH) - The Cemetary Girlz (F) - The Cold (D) - The Damned (GB) - The Eternal Afflict (D) - The Foreshadowing (I) - The Green Man (I) - The Hiram Key (GB) - The Holy Hack Jacks (D) - The Last Days Of Jesus (SK) - The Legendary Pink Dots (NL) - The March Violets (GB) - The Moon And The Nightspirit (H) - The Other (D) - The Pain Machinery (S) - The Storm (DK) - The Twins (D) - Thee Flanders (D) - Theodor Bastard (RUS) - Tiamat (S) - Tides From Nebula (PL) - Tony Wakeford (GB) - Trobar De Morte (E) - Tying Tiffany (I) - Umbra Et Imago (D) - Uni_Form (P) - Vinterland (S) world premiere - Visions (CDN) - Vlad In Tears (I) - Vreid (N) - Vroudenspil (D) - Waves Under Water (S) - Wolfenmond (D) - XDivide (D) - Xabec (D) - XMH (NL) - Zackenflanke (D) - Zero Degree (D) - Zombiesuckers (S) - Zombina And The Skeletons (GB)
This year I perform on stage for Soman (Sunday the 12th June at Moritzbastei) who had been absent from WGT since 2007 and we'll set the stage on fire again! I am so happy I got confirmed again with the rest of his excellent dancers. To view most of my participation on more Soman gigs please check out my youtube channel and subscribe to get more updates of mine. You may also visit my online calendar for more travel plans and bookings. So, my travel in Germany starts from Frankfurt at the 7th of June. I will be at Leipzig close to the 9th. Hope to have some amazing photo-shootings again. "The Grinding Party-Monster" is also booked already for Salvation (26th to 28th of August in Mykonos GR) and there are more to come.
Such a long time passed and, I never wrote on here about my other features on the internet, plus some more which really surprised me in a good way. As you all know, I am featured very often on the Art of Elias Chatzoudis, the top pin-up digital designer of our country, but, this time, he really blew my mind off with his ideas. So, be prepared to buy a Zirconia Starfighter on T-Shirts from now on.
It seems that this design was a real success. Thank you again Elias! You make my day each time you surprise me like that. Not to mention that his newest creation rocks again. This time in my Bordello shoes.
First ink work
Color
More news and updates will be posted when I arrive in Germany. Till then I wish you all a great summer (the time passes so quickly!).
May 9, 2011
Zirconia Starfighter for Entheogenics Music, Athens Erotic Dream and more
April had been a busy month. Some situations annoyed me, some passed me a positive vibe, offered me some lovely memories and some other left me a completely neutral mood. The truth is, I didn't feel the Easter feeling at all during the holidays. This negativity I face on most people, because of the economical crisis in my country, is kinda irritating but, mostly it makes me sad. Greeks lack of optimism and I hope this won't affect my positivity.
Saturday the 30th of April found me at Seven Sins club go-go dancing with my dancing partner Alexia in between some performance acts by Senka Team. You will find some pics of mine dressed as paddock girl located in my general folder for Seven Sins Saturdays, in pink. Same goes for the 7th of April, two days ago.
Meanwhile, Alexia and I are already booked for Athens Erotica, which was renamed as Erotic Dream. It will take place in Athens, at EKEP civilization & cultural center from Friday the 20th till Sunday the 22nd of May 2011, which means that the main location of the previous Erotica Exhibitions remained the same, only the name has changed.
During those three days I will be there working as a go-go dancer, angle-grinder performer and hostess for the BDSM area which will be located -as every year- inside the Expo. Hope they book me for an act at the main stage as well, as they did last year for a Sunday; it was a great experience. The graphic works will be mostly done by me this year, something that made me very happy. Here are some for the BDSM Area and Dungeon:
I thought about using John's pictures of Domina Lola who is amazingly sexy and a very good friend of mine. I am very sad she won't be able to participate due to a terrible accident she had with her leg but, I hope she will get well soon to participate on some other shows planned to take place at Seven Sins club. It's an honour for the world of fetishists to see her on a flyer at least during the Expo. I thought about taking with me Martin Black's book "Fetish & Gothic Obsession" to promote it a bit during the Expo too if possible.
Just for the record, you can buy the book by following these links:
This season you will also find me in some more publications, this time as an editor for the anniversary Issue #10 of Bloodcult Zine, which was published a bit late this time due to some problems with the typographer. However, I am very happy that this time the magazine has an official website. The reviews moved on a blogspot link as there was more space needed in the printed edition of Bloodcult for the rest of its topics (concert & festival reviews, dark arts analysis, abandonned or historical places research, bands & other artists interviews etc.).
In the magazine you will read lots of articles of mine, but I believe the most interesting one for you will be the Wave Gotik Treffen review as always. If you check out the Bloodcult site's link named 'events', you will notice the announcemebt about this year's 20th anniverary of WGT and some important details.
This year's Wave Gotik Treffen at Leipzig (DE) will be its 20th anniversary, so, I believe it's gonna be special. This time I perform on stage for Soman (10th to 13th June) who had been absent from WGT since 2007 and we'll set the stage on fire again!
Bands already announced for this year:
100Blumen (D) - 13th Monkey (D) - 18 Summers (D) - Absurd Minds (D) - Age Of Heaven (D) - Agent Side Grinder (S) - Agrezzior (S) - Alkonost (RUS) - Ally The Fiddle (D) - Alter Der Ruine (USA) - Analog Angel (GB) - Anathema (GB) - Andrew King (GB) - Arian 1 (PE) - Artwork & Gaeste (D) Schau zum 20igsten Jubil?um - Assemblage 23 (USA) - Aun (CDN) - Backworld (USA) - Balzac (J) - Barren Earth (FIN) - Beati Mortui (FIN) - Black Tape For A Blue Girl (USA) - Blacklist (USA) - Blind Passenger (D) - Bloodsucking Zombies From Outer Space (A) - C.3.3. (GB) Gr?ndungsmitglied von TEST DEPT. - Camouflage (D) - Cawatana (H) - Chris & Cosey (GB) - Chthonic (RC) - Cinema Strange (USA) - Clock DVA (GB) erste Buehnenpraesenz nach dem Jahre 1994 - Coppelius (D) - Covenant (S) - Crib45 (FIN) - Crimfall (FIN) - Cryo (S) - Culture Kultuer (E) - Curl (F/GB) - Dance Or Die (D) - Das Ich (D) - Das Praeparat (D) - Deine Lakaien (D) - Destroid (D) - Devil's Whorehouse (S) - Die Braut (RCH) - Die Vorboten (D) - Diorama (D) - Dive (B) - Dornenreich (A) - E.D.O. - Ethereal Dark Orchestra (I) Weltpremiere - EF (S) - Egida Aurea (I) - Eluveitie (CH) - Empyrium (D) Weltpremiere - Eraldo Bernocchi (I) - ESC (P) - Estampie (D) - Eviamara (D) - Eyes Shut Tight (D) - F.O.D. (D) - Faderhead (D) - Faun (D) - Feeding Fingers (USA) - Feindflug (D) - Fields Of The Nephilim (GB) - File Not Found (D) - Finsterforst (D) - Front 242 (B) - Gernotshagen (D) - Giardini Di Mir? (I) - Girls Under Glass (D) 25. Jubilaeum mit Gaesten - Gothika (J) - Gothminister (N) - Heidevolk (NL) - Helevorn (E) - Helheim (N) - Henke spielt Goethes Erben (D) - Herzfeind (D) - Hocico (MEX) - Homo Futura (D) - House Of Dolls(IRL) - Ikon (AUS) - In The Nursery (GB) - Inade (D) - Inertia (GB) - Infrawarrior feat. Monica Richards (USA) - Jo Quail (GB) - Killing Joke (GB) - Kyoll (D) - Lacrimas Profundere (D) - Lake Of Tears (S) - Lamia Vox (RUS) - Larrnakh (H) - Las Fuegas (D) Feuerschau - Les Discrets (F) Weltpremiere - Love Is Colder Than Death (D) - Love Like Blood (D) Einzige Buehnenpraesenz nach dem Jahre 1999! - Lustmord (USA) - Mani Deum (GR) - Marita Schreck (D) - Mark Benecke (D) - Mediaeval Baebes (GB) - Megaherz (D) - Menschdefekt (S) - Mephisto Walz (USA) - Mercydesign (D) - Midnight Caine (S) - Militia (B) - Mind In A Box (A) - Misfits (USA) - Moctan (D) - Moonsorrow (FIN) - Nachtwindheim (D) - Narsilion (E) - Nehl A?lin (F) - Neon Kross (USA) - Neun Welten (D) - Nim Vind (USA) - Nitzer Ebb (GB) - Noisex (D) Schau zum 20. Jubilaeum - Nordarr (D) - Northland (E) - Nosferatu (GB) - Obscenity Trial (D) - October Tide (S) - Orchis (GB) - OWLS (GB/I) Weltpremiere - P:HON (D) - Performance (GB) - Plastic Noise Experience (D) - Pouppee Fabrikk (S) - Prager Handgriff (D) - Quellenthal (D) - Rabenschrey (D) - Raggedy Angry (CDN) - Raison D' Etre (S) - Recoil (GB) - Resist (GB) - Rezurex (USA) - Roger O'Donnell (GB) ehemals The Cure - Rome (L) - Sarah Jezebel Deva (GB) - She's All That (D) - Sieben (GB) - Soman (D) - Sophia (S) / Karjalan Sissit (S) - Soul In Isolation (D) - Spiritual Front (I) - Squishy Squid (A) - Substaat (N) - Sweet William (D) - Tactical Sekt (USA) - Temple Of Twilight (D) - Terminal Choice (D) - Terrill (D) - The Anti Group / TAGC (GB) - The Beauty Of Gemina (CH) - The Cemetary Girlz (F) - The Cold (D) - The Damned (GB) - The Eternal Afflict (D) - The Foreshadowing (I) - The Green Man (I) - The Hiram Key (GB) - The Holy Hack Jacks (D) - The Last Days Of Jesus (SK) - The Legendary Pink Dots (NL) - The March Violets (GB) - The Moon And The Nightspirit (H) - The Other (D) - The Pain Machinery (S) - The Storm (DK) - The Twins (D) - Thee Flanders (D) - Theodor Bastard (RUS) - Tiamat (S) - Tides From Nebula (PL) - Tony Wakeford (GB) - Trobar De Morte (E) - Tying Tiffany (I) - Umbra Et Imago (D) - Uni_Form (P) - Vinterland (S) Weltpremiere - Visions (CDN) - Vlad In Tears (I) - Vreid (N) - Vroudenspil (D) - Waves Under Water (S) - Wolfenmond (D) - X-Divide (D) - Xabec (D) - XMH (NL) - Zackenflanke (D) - Zero Degree (D) - Zombiesuckers (S) - Zombina And The Skeletons (GB).
"The Grinding Party-Monster" is also booked already for Salvation (26th to 28th of August in Mykonos GR) and there are more to come. I wish you all a wonderful spring!
April 7, 2011
Zirconia go-go dancing for Darkpsy Revolution 8/4 at Seven Sins (Athens GR)
March was a month full of events and references for me. It included absolutely everything, from fetish gigs and fantasy performances to concerts and guest dj's participations. Early in March now, Martin Black (DE), probably one of the best photographers I ever had, had his book "Fetish & Gothic Obsession" out on stores. For once more I am deeply grateful of him and very happy from the result of his work from 2007 till present. You can purchase the book by following those links:
Photos from the 1st Erotic Dream Expo in Thessaloniki at the 13th of March are here. Of course there had been more with me signing autographs but I never regarded people as my "fans", I love to make friends and get to know people all over the world in general. Legion Fest pics are located in the general folder of Seven Sins club (numbers from 27 to 37, February the 2nd). Soman's (Dresden DE) Noistyle dj-set pics are located here, thanks to Anthony David and Stavriana Rosevyonne and same goes for Alien Vampires live at the 12th of March. After the dj-set of Vasi Vallis (Reaper, Frozen Plasma, NamNambulu & more projects - DE) we made some backstage pics with Alexia and it was pretty cool as well.
At the 8th of April we go-go dance for Darkpsy Revolution, a night full of Night Psytrance vibes. Including 8 artists performing for their precious audience and we are honoured to participate there again as go-go dancers, same place and favorite club. The names of the dj's are written on the poster and you can also visit www.psychedelic.gr to get the latest updates.
In the meantime I mostly go-go dance with Alexia at Seven Sins club as a resident dancer for "Seven Sins club Saturdays" (spinning electro, industrial, EBM/TBM, gabber, synth-pop, gothic, dark wave etc. by the resident dj's) but some few times there are other events coming up. On Friday the 15th I will attend the live of TUS (and some more artists with him) at Bat City club as a guest with some friends of mine and later we are gonna video-shoot for his upcoming video-clip again. It won't be the first time since I already appear in another two clips of him and it's always a pleasure to attend his concerts; that guy rocks!
Latest news about Black N' Rose shop: The place we all love to buy stuff from is moving to another location and preparing its new website. Can't wait to see this! Till then, at the 16th of April we have another Black N' Rose party, named "A New Era" and I will be there go-go dancing again as usual. More parties are about to be announced till the end of April, mostly at the club I keep my dancing residency on Saturdays.
The 4th Athens Erotica Expo will take place in May (20th to 22nd of May '11 at E.K.E.P.), 20. As I noticed, they moved the site to another location and renamed the exhibition as Erotic Dream (like in Thessaloniki). There you will find a lot of info on dates, tickets, shows etc., locations remained the same.
This year's Wave Gotik Treffen at Leipzig (DE) will be its 20th anniversary, so, I believe it's gonna be special. This time I perform on stage for Soman (10th to 13th June). He had been absent from WGT since 2007 and we'll set the stage on fire again! "The Grinding Party-Monster" is also booked already for Salvation (26th to 28th of August in Mykonos GR) and there are more to come.
March 1, 2011
Zirconia go-go dancing for Soman 5/3 at Seven Sins (Athens GR)
Happy new month to everyone, as we use to say in Greece for every new month, week, etc., with lots of parties and works. Although the crisis is getting worse here, the works I get keep me on a satisfactory level. Although I had announced my latest gigs here twenty days ago, some more event dates were added to my schedule.
At the 19th of February, a greek black metal band, Diablery, invited Alexia and me for another 'Grinding Party-Monster' show at Seven Sins club. This time Alexia was trained enough to get the new keyboards grinding device in her hands and use it properly. I am glad she made it so well. Same night we were go-go dancing at the same club of course. Most pics are already uploaded at the general section of my dancing residency there (19th, 26th and more dates). Special thanks to Deni Damianova for the amazing pictures and to Diablery for suggesting us.
Photos from Patras & Y.M.C.A. II Dancefloor during my show at the 18th of February are uploaded here. Also, Eisenfunk (DE), guest deejaying with Catherine B. at Dada Bar and more. The event we participated as "The Grinding Party-Monster" at Why club (24.2.2011 Heraklion, Crete GR) for TUS, Eisvoleas, Charmanis & Taki Tsan was trully a blast with run about 1500 entries. Those pictures are a great souvenir! This Saturday 5th of March I will go-go dance again for Kolja Trelle, aka: Soman (Dresden DE), this time for his Noistyle dj-set tour. I gotta declare here that I am really happy I am in his show again, as Soman is not just one of my favorite arists but also, the one I appreciate most, because he was the first who included me in some of his most important stage shows in Germany.
Another dates which are added to our schedule at our favorite dark alternative club is the 12th of March for the famous Alien Vampires (UK), 19/3 for Vassi Vallis dj-set (Reaper, Frozen Plasma, NamNambulu & more projects - DE), 26/3 right after the live of Hocico (MEX). For those gigs I won't need to get my angle-grinder with. But, I am happily surprised lately that so many clubs and artists (even some very popular ones from the Greek Hip-Hop scene) are interested in my "Grinding Party-Monster" show. In addition to these events, the 1st Erotic Dream Expo (yes, it has to do with the same Athens Erotica Expo, here) will be taking place in Thessaloniki these days between the 11th and the 13th of March at Porto Palace Hotel (Grand Pietra Hall). My manager has booked most of the shows of the main stage again and the whole BDSM stage. I will be there on Sunday the 13th for my "Grinding Party-Monster" show and hope to meet many people there.
To be honest, I had formely seen this show a long time ago from various performances abroad at the festivals I was going from my childhood. Also from Eny (HU), a very well known show-woman here in Greece at some popular clubs. We have been together on shows with her under the same booking agency and events (Sinners In Heaven, Athens Erotica, Lovers In Hell). I do it in a different styling and technique and, many wannabes copied it as expected but, anyway. At least some aim has been achieved: a) to encourage creativity and b) to get "followers" in what I do here. This is the positive part of the case.
The negative side of this case is that, whenever I leave Athens for work, on islands and so on, after giving my show, some desperate copycats run after the promoters and clubs who find me. I have been tired of hearing around that some bad copies of me beg to give their shows in much lower prices than me in order to get them. This kind of 'hunting game' is ridiculous. Not to mention that some even copy the way I update my site. This is lame. As I always said, it's not bad to get jobs in this bad period of time. It's also good for me to be an example, being copied by others, even fakers. However, it would be more descent if the promoters, agents and clubs discover you, not if you go hunting for some attention. Finally, it's a pity to live in such a small country and learn everything that happens around you. Anyway, peace my friends. And try to be original, as much as possible.
Although my monthly agenda is already packed with shows, stay tuned for more announcements because my phone hasn't stopped ringing during these months. All weekends of March are fully booked, not to mention that I am already booked for the first Erotica Expo ever in Thessaloniki at the 13th of March and Salvation (London's greatest gay festival) in Mykonos at the 27th of August. I am arranging May, June etc. and hope to meet many of you and have lots of fun!
February 10, 2011
Zirconia go-go dancing for Eisenfunk 12/2 at Seven Sins club (Athens GR)
Thursday the 10th today, getting ready to start loading even more events in my monthly agenda. February is a shorter month than the rest of them and I still add gigs and events. Tonight I am going to support my main manager George Manos and Megadance as a guest at the Live Pornstar Nights vol.1 which will take place tonight at Athens Moulin Bleu (250, Athinon Avenue).
These days (Monday the 7th of February and Saturday the 29th) I was photoshooting with my main photographer Tassos Oreopoulos who recently created his official website www.go-art.gr and I am thankful to him since he uploaded so many works with me on there. Tassos is a main cooperator of Out Of Limits, Penthouse, Max Power, Lipstick Magazine(s) and many more. I am proud that I was chosen by him to be one of his talented models. I won't reveal the theme(s) of the shootings yet because some of them are made to be published at some specific publications. I will reveal though the designer of the clothes because she is one of the new breed here in Athens. Her name is Pothoula Douma and you can search for her on Facebook with the name 'Desire of Destruction'.
The first poster I posted before is Virginia's (Turpentine) Kakava (aka: "Art Of Sin" - GR) artwork and graphic design by me. It was based on a picture of mine by the photographer Areti Stavropoulou, wearing a silver Cyberesque corset. It was the poster we used together with my friend and Dj Catherine when we arranged together a small dj-set event at Dada bar. Probably the oldest gothic/rock bar in Athens and Greece, since 1979. I was happily asked by the owner and we had a great time (or as I call them "family moments" such nights as these). Unfortunately I missed a huge gig at Seven Sins club: Cookie Monsta Dub-Step party/live gig, which was a blast. The club was overcrowded by 580 people (not to mention the guestlisted ones). On Saturday I was dancing again at Seven Sins club. You can always check out this section for my Saturday residencies there.
Obviously I go-go dance at the same place this Saturday the 12th too, this time for the german band Eisenfunk which has some fabulous club hits in its short career till now. It's admirable how famous they've become. I will also dance for the after party there at the club and next Saturday the 19th too. Before this, on Friday the 18th I will travel to Patras at Y.M.C.A. II Dancefloor club to give a "Grinding Party-Monster" performance along with my crazy friend Dennis Lunarian who recently had his first TV appearance on Star channel on the telecast of Tatiana Stefanidou"Worth living it".
During this month we expect the new issue of Bloodcult Zine magazine to be out on stores. I have written lots of articles again as always, mainly related to concerts and festivals reviews. On Thursday the 24th I'll be traveling to Crete (Heraklion) for a hip-hop festival with my show and dancing partner Alexia, for TUS, Eisvoleas, Charmanis & Taki Tsan.
On Saturday the 26th I gotta be back in Athens for Street Demons magazine Halloween Party, together with some cool friends, like Derek Liontis for example. Then I gotta run for Seven Sins club and my dancing Saturday residency there. The truth is, I still add events on my agenda. Not to mention the March gigs which are so many again.
After this huge February update there will be more to come, no matter how big is the economical crisis here in Greece and Athens. I am always on the run for new gigs, available for useful photo-shootings and photoshop wizard works and full of energy, so, I believe I am on a good way. During this strange time period I'm very grateful to my family who supported me a lot in absolutely everything I did.
January 20, 2011
Zirconia go-go dancing for Entheogenics - Dark Psytrance Ultimate Vol.3
Although the event with Daniel Graves from Aesthetic Perfection was so nice (and you can find some pictures uploaded here by Anthony David) at Seven Sins club, my week started with some small health problems because of the strange weather here. I got otitis, which is not so serious of course, but I have to use antibiotics and antihistamines for ten days minimum, which I don't like.
However, I am always on the run for booking events and jobs. At the 21st of this month (which means tomorrow) I go-go dance for a second time with Alexia for Entheogenics: "Dark Psytrance Ultimate Vol.3", this time. It seems to me that this team likes the club and the dancing duo I make with Alexia. That's quite cool. I uploaded pics from their previous event at the general section of my dancing residency at the club. I added also some other dates I had danced there (1 January 2011 with Eleanna & 8 January 2011 with Alexia).
Although I am very-very against this Facebook trend, since I got deleted 7 times there (6 profiles + 1 fan page), I am also very happy that I am always tagged & selected as a model by Elias Chatzoudis (Athens GR). This time he surprised me with the toon I posted above, isn't it fabulous? It is based on a photo shooting I had with John Tsilidis (Baltimore - NY/US). The metallic blue latex suit is a creation of HayDee Sparks and her latex clothing company Savage Wear (Berlin DE). You can always view the daily deviations which are added to my portfolio here. I have added more than 25 lately.
As for Seven Sins club, the event announcements don't stop at all. Antonis Scandalis, the main promoter and resident Dj of the club already informed me that I dance for Soman's "Noistyle" dj-set at the 5th of March. I know March is too far and many news will occur till then but I am supposed to announce anything interesting here.
I perform also at the 19th of March for Vasi Vallis (www.magmormusic.com DE) from Reaper, Frozen Plasma, X-Divide and (past) NamNamBulu. Will announce later the rest. Have a nice weekend folks!
January 14, 2011
Zirconia go-go dancing for Dj Daniel Graves (Aesthetic Perfection USA)
The New Year found me facing many difficutlies with work as the crisis is rising here in Greece. In my opinion, the main problem of the people in this country is that they don't know what positive thinking means at all and they luck of organization and sense of responsibility in everything they do. No matter what the future is keeping for us, we should never give up.
The point in my story is to notice the positive facts. At the close end of this year, that my main work stopped at 4-showgirls store, since it has to open somewhere else and this will need time, I found plenty of days and precious hours to arrange other things, refresh my freelance graphic design clientele. And the entertainment domain works don't stop coming at all, so yes, I see the positive aspects of life as well.
At the 15th of January I go-go dance with Alexia for DJ Daniel Graves for the very well known Aesthetic Perfection from USA at Seven Sins club. I also gave lots of interviews on e-zines and magazines some months ago. You can visit www.sigouro-bet.com and download my interview in greek here.
Funky Junction ft. Derek Liontis - "Take me to space"
My new video-clip participation for Costantino Padovano aka: Funky Junction (Florida US) is ready and on its way to Florida (US), thanks to my friend Derek Liontis, artist, graphic designer and singer, who made this cooperation become true. Learn more about Funky Junction here. The track's name is "Take me to Space" (feat.Derek Liontis).
For November & December 2010 I had the pleasure to get my first cover done for Street-Demons Magazine (printed car magazine and online zine as well) with many photos and an interview of mine. Thank you for dedicating so many pages to me, I appreciate it.
And there are more publications, events -especially at Seven Sins club- and news to come the next months so, stay tuned for the best.
