Thanasis Gaifilias of Komotini (Αθανάσιος Γκαϊφύλλιας) | Recording Earth

Greece was the twelfth country I cycled through on my ride from London to Delhi. Having recorded such abundant and unique music in Albania, the auspicious days of meeting and filming musicians kept rolling in. The plethora of gaida players, singers, saxophonists, guitarists and bouzouki players lead me to my last connection before entering Turkey, Thanasis Gaifilias. Everyone in Komotini knows Thanasis, so he wasn't challenging to track down. The woman you hear in the video was hosting me and, upon mentioning my search for Gaifilias, she said she could take me to him. "You know him?" I asked. "Everyone knows him!" Someone described him as Greece's Cat Stevens, and I can hear the similarity, but Thanasis is a political singer-songwriter. He sings about liberty and freedom of expression, having grown up in a time where both were scarce. Throughout the afternoon, he told me about his families history and fed me lunch with his wife, although he wouldn't play for me until I could prove to him first that I was a musician. So I played a Bowie song for him, and after that, he allowed me to record him. Situated so close to the Turkish border, these days Gaifilias collaborates with Greek and Turkish musicians alike, using his local fame to bring support for upcoming artists. Like all the artists I met in Greece, his hospitality was limitless and his music awe-inspiring.