Indie Playground Festival
Hellenic Cosmos Cultural Centre
Pireos 254, Tavros

The Indie Playground Festival, organised last year by the Athens Epidaurus Festival in collaboration with the Hellenic Cosmos Cultural Centre Pireos 254, Tavros and United We Fly for the first time, returns this year at the industrial space Playground 260. For two nights, the open-air space behind Peiraios 260 is transformed into a stage and invites us to discover the new blood of contemporary independent Greek music.

The line-up includes well-known and up-and-coming names of the Greek indie and alternative music scene: Larry Gus, Deaf Radio, AMKA, Whereswilder, Prompt, Kooba Tercu, Metaman, Vassilina.

 

1 June
Whereswilder – AMKA – Kooba Tercu – Deaf Radio

 

Whereswilder (Giannis Rallis: vocals/electric guitar, Alekos Voulgarakis: electric guitar, Vassilis Nissopoulos: vocals/bass, Manolis Giannikios: drums) is a band from Athens, which kicked off in 2014 with the psychedelic album Yearling. The album was recognized by critics as one of the first efforts in neo-psychedelic rock in Europe. Their follow-up album Hotshot (2016) maintained a similar approach using influences from 1970s classic rock, while their latest album Movement in Place is mostly influenced by pop music genres of the 1970s, such as soft rock, soul and funk. Currently they are working on their next musical venture.

AMKA consists of 4 musicians who have been performing all over Europe for 20 years. They meet up at the Dudu Loft studio in Athens creating a unique dance sound, on the border of punk, kraut, noise, disco, jazz, and pop. AMKA’s two founding members, Dimitris Koulentianos (bass) and Dimitris Kalamaras (guitar), first met at the Prins Claus Conservatoire in the Netherlands. On their return to Athens, they joined improviser Chris Scott (vocals, guitar), as well as many talented drummers who gave shape to their sound, which culminated in their second album On Patrol (Pestus Studio Records, 2023). This year they are gearing up for their first European tour, with Jason Wastor on drums.

Kooba Tercu is an Athenian ensemble of six musicians who play loud, noisy, dancy, and exotic futuristic psychedelia. Their live shows are a game of play between compositions and improvisation. They have shared the stage with artists such as Acid Mothers Temple, Circle, Goat, Follakzoid, and more. Their latest album Proto Tekno (Rocket Recordings, 2020) was described as a powerful cyberpunk statement that has something to teach us about the confluence between the sublime and the ridiculous.

Straddling the line between hard sound and melody, Athens-based Deaf Radio came into being in 2015. With their first two albums (Alarm, 2017 and Modern Panic, 2019) they emerged as one of the most interesting Greek rock bands of the past decade. In November 2022, they released Arsenal of Hope, marking a shift in their style, bringing electronic elements such as synths and samples into their compositions, adding a fresher edge to their guitar-driven rock sound. Having performed over a hundred concerts in Greece and Europe, their powerful shows are now a trademark. They have shared the stage with famous names such as The Killers, Kills, Black Angers, All Them Witches.