A timeless song of Sex, Drugs, & SoUL FEBRUARY 2015 | BOROMAG.COM | 37 Story + Image By Lizabeth Nieves Rembetika is the music of the Greek underground. Originating in the hashish dens of Pireaus and Thessaloniki during the 1920s, the music was an urban blues of the subculture. Greek refugees who had lived comfortably in Turkey were forced to leave with whatever they could carry—exiled to live in the mountains. Rembetika was the music of these ‘outcasts’. The lyrics spoke of poverty, pain, drug addiction, police oppression, prison, unrequited love, and hashish. These songs would be written from the 1920s until the 1960s. Mars—the Astoria bar owned by Evan Roumeliotis and George Samios—is now hosting a weekly event that is contributing to the revival of authentic Rembetika music. “Costa was putting together a band specifically to perform Rembetika,” commented Roumeliotis, “and he was asking if I knew any venues that would be interested— and I told him that I was.” “Traditionally, the music is accompanied by food, and so we decided to do it at Mars,” added Samios. “We are mixing up our menu for the night with Greek small plates, and there is Greek wine, ouzo, and Greek drinks.” Every Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., the music of Christos Papadopoulos, Rena Tsapelas, and Costas Baltazanis can be heard. “There are undiscovered gems, which is another thing we are trying to do,” explains Papadopoulos, “to play the music that is not typically played. We are trying to bring out some of the hidden treasures in that style of music that are not the most popular. I have been working on this for years, trying to find the right people to cover this music. It’s the right people and the right setting, and it has all come together.” Of his own experience as a Rembetika musician, Costas Baltazanis says, “I always loved this kind of music. I was playing it when I was a student in Boston. We had a very successful band there, and I was always looking forward to doing this again. It’s a very specific era of music. Not many people know a lot about this. Besides being a very enjoyable thing, it’s a very cultural thing. There is so much to learn about this music and how these guys were living back then in the 1920s and 30s through the 60s.” “This music is not to be played on big stages or in a huge theater,” Baltazanis added. “Intimate is the best venue for it.” Reservations are highly recommended for this cultural excursion, which is open to anyone. “We are exposing the genre beyond the Greek realm,” says Roumeliotis. “In other venues, it’s not accessible to non–Greeks, but our doors are open to everybody.” Mars is located at 34-21 34th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11106. Call (718) 685-2480 for reservations. www.lifeatmars.com
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