Musician: Songs for a living
Monika, as she is known, is 22 and was born in Athens but raised in Karpenisi. She studies math but in her spare time she plays piano and writes music. In May she presented her songs (for which she also wrote the lyrics) at the Small Music Theater, to great success. The critically acclaimed indie group Calexico asked her to back them at concerts in Thessaloniki and Iraklion. In a few weeks she’s going to a studio to record her first album. «The truth is that I wasn’t aiming at anything,» she said. «I feel very lucky because I know musicians and groups who are much better than I am, who are sweating blood trying to make records.» Monika started writing her own songs «for fun,» she says. She was in her brother’s band; when it broke up, she started recording at home. People who heard her work encouraged her to keep at it. Her first live performance was in May. A month later she appeared in Klafthmonos Square and got proposals from major labels. How does she feel to see her dreams come true? «The thing is not to make records for ourselves or to satisfy some dream. I want to make a record that will sell every copy,» she said. You can hear her songs on myspace (www.myspace.com/monikarides).
