As in most Polioudis’ songs, an intriguing balance sets the tone. His lyrics are pessimistic as a general rule, whereas his music usually emits happy vibes.
Jimmy Polioudis
Massive popularity is not an end in itself
Text: Dimitra Kehagia
It’s the year 2020 and the planet is immersed into an unprecedented quarantine. Up until April of that year, nearly half of the world’s population was under some form of reclusion. Scenes from hospitals and images of hundreds of coffins piled up travel around the world, escalating the fear towards the new – and still unknown – disease. It was during those days that Jimmy Polioudis released a song titled “Einai orea na pethainoume parea” (It’s nice to die together). Bingo!
On one hand the fear of death and on the other hand the feeling of togetherness, which we all missed so dearly at that time, ignite the song’s take-off and mark the songwriter’s transition to a different level. As in most Polioudis’ songs, an intriguing balance sets the tone. His lyrics are pessimistic as a general rule – “my salvation is my disaster” is heard in another song – whereas his music usually emits happy vibes. His lyrics convey his far from optimistic thoughts, while his music aims to offer an exaltation or a dreamlike ambiance. “Loutrino”, one of his most popular songs, serves as the ideal example of the above: “Even though a song in key minor, that is sad by definition one might say, its chorus goes: ‘its heart keeps beating’, providing a glimpse of hope,” he comments.
Ever since a highschool student, coming from Giannitsa to Thessaloniki to do recordings in the legendary Rover studio, at Navarinou square, he was in search of an electrifying ambiance that fuels him and has become a trademark of his live shows. Later on he joined Psychedelic Trips to Death, a band where he played the guitar, before teaming up with other bands and music ensembles. He had his debut album released in 2012 but it wasn’t until 2016 that he discovered his own path in music, after deciding to take matters into his own hands. At that point, he turned his attention to live shows with pre-recorded songs, at first within the context of Vagina Lips, “a truly feminist title for a music project”, as he mentions, which concluded its music journey in 2023. He is currently focused on the project Mazoha, featuring Greek lyrics, which had already kicked off back in 2017.
At a younger age he studied tourist professions, but never pictured himself in this line of work. He lives with and off music, that’s where he chose to be, that’s where he wanted to get ever since a child and that’s where he still wishes to belong, at least until he senses that he has nothing more to say or write; that’s when he will wave goodbye to music. Up until recently he recorded three albums per year and he would still be tuned to these hyperproductive rhythms, if he was given the green light by his record label. He humorously admits that he found himself apologizing for his industriousness, even though he never saw work as anything else but fun.
Your overall course in life should be consistent with what you are bringing forth as an artist. You can’t fool people. For something to become a hit, it means that somehow, in some way, it got through to the audience.
A few months ago the end titles fell for Vagina Lips, as Greek lyrics are constantly gaining ground among the audiences. “From hip-hop to trap and rap, anything that comes with Greek lyrics, from the top-shelf to the rock bottom, is helpful for us as well,” he explains. He feels satisfied to have released his debut album featuring Greek lyrics in 2017, “long before becoming a trend”, as nowadays everyone would instantly label the choice of Greek lyrics as a hype-oriented and record-selling technique and not as the fulfillment of a genuine need for expression. He is not a firm believer in the power of inspiration, “you need to work your way through” he stresses, while he experiences every recording as a transcendental process: “You are no longer yourself, you turn into something else, something different.” He is convinced that his instinct has never failed him and does not think that success can simply occur by chance. “You can’t fool people. For something to become a hit, it means that somehow, in some way, it got through to the audience.”
Even though he is over forty – feeling grateful for belonging to one of the last generations that grew up without a cell phone and in the company of books – the vast majority of his fans can be found in the 17-25 age frame. He is passionate about live shows – as one can tell by the countless concerts he has given over the years – and takes delight in performing for a vibrant audience. In his concerts he uses a series of monitors and screens, loud speakers and anything else that could pump things up. From his standpoint, massive popularity is not an end in itself. He performs his indie repertoire with Greek lyrics anywhere he’s invited, from Stavros Niarchos Foundation to squatted buildings and venues, as long as the audience is fully conscient as to why attending this particular concert.
One of his most treasured moments throughout his music career so far came at Plissken Festival, in Athens, last fall, when he joined the stage alongside his favorite band, IDLES, whom he went on to appreciate even more after meeting them in person. In any case, the artists he’s fond of should prove their value off stage as well, in the field of life, as “your overall course in life should be consistent with what you are bringing forth as an artist.”
Nowadays he is no longer so much into songs’ covers, a habit of his back in the Vagina Lips days. Nevertheless, he would love to give it a go with some songs written and performed by Tzimis Panousis and Pavlos Sidiropoulos. He also aspires to create a record label of his own to host his personal projects, even though he speaks volumes of the record label he is currently teaming up, praising it as “independent, of high quality, true to its word and consistent.” As to what he would have done differently over the years, he considers it a mistake not to have introduced technology earlier on in his music. However, he finds no meaning in regretting things of the past.”
His definition of artistic failure is not other than straying away from what you really want and resorting to compromise. “Maybe I would do it too if a lot of money was at stake, but I would be frank and straightforward about it, admitting that this is my only reason for doing it,” he points out, adding that he would appear on TV just for his mother’s sake. “I had made a TV appearance some years ago and she was really happy to see me,” he explains.
His lyrics spring from personal experiences and recounts of friends and acquaintances, whereas he confesses that everyday worries and concerns wear him down, describing his personality as a mix of antisocial and social features. “I can become really cranky at times, but that’s because I have no sense of hope for the future. However, I draw courage from the fact that every morning I wake up, a new day is ahead of me,” he concludes.
Photos
