Nick and Sue. This edition of the Chatterbox
Redux podcast is brought to you in association
with the Old Glory Iconic Music and Sports Superstore.
More from them in a bit. Chatterbox. When the
stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue. Welcome
back to the Chatterbox Redux Podcast and today
our special guest is Delta. this is nick and
sue with chatterbox giving you all you need to
know about music entertainment oh yeah chatterbox
the best interviews with nick and sue the best
news And now in Chatterbox, we're just lucky
enough to welcome Greek singer -songwriter, mega
artist Delta. Welcome. How are you? Hi. Hello,
Nick. I'm well. How are you? Great. Yes. And
it's great to meet you. I was aware of you before,
but in Greece, you seem to be quite a superstar.
And even in recent times, you did the Eurovision
thing. Tell us a bit about that and the way you
got selected. the whole voting thing, how it
works in, because obviously it's a closed shop
in the UK, which is how we get such bad entries
that do so badly, but it sounds exciting in Greece,
so tell us all about it. Yes, so Eurovision in
Greece is quite of a big cultural phenomenon
because everyone just rallies around the contestant
and loves Eurovision. So people are very much
invested as to who goes and then support them
full on. This year, the government actually launched
a website where you could go online, submit a
song on your profile. And it doesn't matter if
you're like completely unknown or the biggest
artist in Greece, they're all evaluated by an
independent panel who just listen to the songs
and select the top 28 songs to compete on live
TV. And this year, 280 artists applied, which
when I heard the number, it was very daunting.
So I thought, OK, there is no way my song is
making it to the final. But I'm very glad that
it did. And it was quite an experience. Yeah,
I came out third in the public vote. So people
seem to really enjoy the track and the performance,
hopefully. So yeah, it's very good. Is it something
you could build on? Would you do it again? Because
that's not bad out of 280 for a first time. You're
getting yourself known in Greece. I'm listening
to your staff. It sounds really good. I think
you've had hits in Greece. So you're going to
do it again next year? I mean, I don't know.
I don't know if it's going to be next year because
I would do it again only if I felt that I had
a song that would do really, really well. Sure.
Because also Eurovision can be a tremendous thing.
but also it can be sort of a trap as well. So
if you don't do well in the actual competition,
I'm not sure how it helps your career. As you
reference the British now act this year, I'm
not, you know, even though it was a model computer,
is that the name? So, so he, I think, you know,
he got through, but I'm, but because the song,
I don't think it was the right one and didn't
really connect. I'm not sure it gave, you know,
him a sort of big aftermath in terms of like
a career. Yeah. And then took it on his own back
to sing in German, which nothing goes, but you
know, I thought when there was a little point
where he goes, oh yeah, I thought that might
be a bit offensive to Germans. I heard him, but
then when he sang in German, I thought, no, we've
gone very wrong. It's not good. You know what,
like what was very funny is that like I watched
an interview of his. I was embarrassed. Yeah.
I mean, it's the same, same in a way. I'm half
English, so my mom is from Manchester. So I,
when I saw him, so they asked him, so why do
you prefer ein zwei drei? Because it's called
drei in German, it's like a different pronunciation.
And he said, oh, we Brits aren't very good at
pronouncing other people's languages. And I thought,
oh my God, that's a horrible thing to say, you
know. I think, yeah, anyway. But. Yeah, I think,
yeah. I think maybe people would sing in English
in the Eurovision because If there is a language
that somebody else speaks, it tends to be that
in Europe. So why you want to sing in German,
I don't know. It doesn't quite, but that's his
choice. I will say that a few artists try to
like sing in different languages because the
idea is that you become more appealing to that
nationality. But then again, if you do that,
you better pronounce the words at least. That's
what I'll say. I mean, French sounds beautiful,
whatever you're singing, Italian sounds beautiful.
Anyway, let's talk about you. Very exciting.
It's great to speak to you as you went through
that this year. Great experience for you. Let's
talk about you in Greece and the releases you've
had in Greece before we talk about this first
album here. What sort of releases have you done
in Greece so far? So I've released a few songs,
I mean... globally like on Spotify, which is
like available everywhere. I used to be signed
to Universal Greece for a couple of years back
in 2021, 2023. So that helped a bit, you know,
sort of have a somewhat sort of known, I was
sort of known in this sort of very cult English
speaking, you know, sort of audience like in
Athens. But then it is very different to where
I'm at now where like I I think through the Eurovision
Song Contest, like even if you intend to or not,
you sort of are exposed to the mainstream. So
Man About It was a song that became a top 10
hit in Greece. So that is really amazing to see
and how people resonate with the track. So yeah,
I'll say it. Yeah, I have been releasing music
for a while, but now it has started in the past,
I say six to 12 months to really pick up. Sure.
I mean, it's a great song anyway. I've listened
to it quite a bit. Yeah, but it's an amazing
song. I enjoy it. It is good. I like it. We'll
be playing a few of your songs when the interview
goes out. And also, when you're in Greece, I
mean, what sort of venues do you play and do
you do festivals in Greece? Yes. So actually,
I'm playing a festival this Sunday. I'm headlining.
It's a festival with a big radio station in Athens.
And I mean, I used to do like 150 to 200 cap
venues before Eurovision. Now we're playing 700
cap in November in Athens, which is fantastic.
But also to be honest, you know, I am again a
bit daunted when I like, you know, sort of. Google
the venue and saw the size of the room or like
wow like I can't believe that that many people
are gonna buy a ticket to watch me perform you
know it feels very surreal and I'm also glad
to say that also in the UK like London got sold
out 150 cap back in May so things have been going
really well and also the album is just coming
out now so which we'll talk about in just a moment.
So let's talk about in the UK. You've just been
on tour. Tell us about the whole tour and the
support thing. Tell us about that, what you've
been up to. Yes, of course. So I've been touring
with the Marmosets around the UK, which was fantastic.
They have a new album just out, which is unbelievable.
And they're also really nice people backstage
as well. So it was very nice to hang out and
feel like you're on tour with friends. Yeah,
so we went all the way from Sheffield to Oxford,
Brighton, so like all over really. Great cities.
Brighton's the nearest city you came to and it's
a great city. If you had the chance to see Brighton,
it's so lively and vibrant. It's got everything.
Yeah, yeah. It's great. If you had the chance
to feel Brighton... I played The Great Escape
as well. Oh, yes, brilliant. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
it's amazing. And I love how, you know, as a
sort of growing up in Athens, being close to
the sea, sort of this familiar territory for
me. Yeah, I felt like home. Yes, it's 30. Well,
the football grounds, because I go and watch
the football, Brighton, who are in the Premiership.
They are 35 miles from my front door, so it's
close. OK, yeah. And of course, we go there to
go shopping. We go to... shows, cinema and especially
concerts. It's got it all. Okay, so how did you
get the gig? Did they ask you or how did it work
out for you? So my manager knew their agent and
because I have an album coming out and we're
really looking for someone to support to help
sort of promote the album as well. Yeah, they
like the music and I found that once I met them
over a pint that they told me that they had over
60 people who wanted to be on the tour. But they
are quite selective as to who they want on. So
yeah. What I find is people that have done sort
of support like that in the UK quite often end
up supporting other people and other people and
other people it probably lead to something and
I mean what's interesting about the music industry
is that everyone you know sort of knows each
other so you know so If you say that you threw
the marmoset, it's not only good for your CV,
but maybe they're mates with someone else that
you want to tour and then they lost them. So
how is Delta? They're like, oh, hopefully they'll
say, oh, he's great. So, you know, it's easier
to sort of go on more support tours and yeah.
Yeah. And of course, if they come to Greece,
it's obvious who they're going to ring up, isn't
it? Yeah, exactly should be should be right.
Let's talk about this album. What I heard of
it. It sounds really good. So Mad about it. So
yeah, let's let's go through some of the track.
It's my debut album Yeah, obviously the title
track is mad about it. So yeah It sounds wonderful.
Tell us a bit about the track. Anyway, just tell
us the story behind it so this song is the last
song that I wrote for the album and it's very
interesting because it felt very much like the
final imprint that was required, you know, to
finish this body of work. So the story is, it's
December 2024, I'll say, yes, oh my God, like
a year and a half ago, and I was, the album was
supposed to be done, we had arranged like a recording
session, and how these things happened, I did
like one last go, knowing that the album was
done, to really push myself and experiment into
a different sound. and I went to a friend's place
in Lisbon to his flat and I remember as soon
as I arrived at his place I guess I want to write
this song where I want an analog synthesizer
with the predominant sort of sound and for it
to be like an intro that sounds a bit weird,
but has a pattern. Yes, I mean, I don't know
if I can have any of that, but I have an old
Moog synthesizer in my living room that we can
experiment with. And because I don't know how
to use a Moog, that really helped, because I
was essentially trying to create an arpeggiator
sound. the Moog doesn't have an arpeggiator built
in, we just turned a knob that changed the octaves,
which ended up producing the sound in the intro
that's sort of quite binary and sounds like quite
electronic. And then the song was written over
like a couple of hours. As soon as that sound
came on, I just, yeah, immediately viably pressed
record and a couple of hours later we had the
song. Usually I don't know if a song is good
or not, because they're all sort of my children
in a way. What I remember distinctly is that
when I wrote that song, I listened to the demo
on my phone about 20 times that day. That same
night and the next morning. I was just vibing
on my own, which is always a very good sign.
And if it sounds good on the phone, it's got
to sound really good, isn't it? Yeah, exactly.
And we have a saying in the UK, I don't know
if it's the same in Greece and other countries,
I think in America as well, but maybe, especially
with television, we say, but you should never
work with children or animals. But I see track
two is called Kids and track three is called
Animals. Now, what's the story behind them? Is
there anything wrong? So, essentially, so Kids
is a political song, actually. And it's my sort
of perspective of watching, you know, myself
and the world around me sort of passively observe
what's happening around us. And a lot of times
I think, you know, we just scroll through and
you watch headlines, you know, what's happening
in the Middle East or what's happening in America
or what's happening all over the world. And,
you know, it's just... that and then a funny
video of a cat dancing or whatever, you know,
like something just very different. And we just
sort of don't pay enough attention to the things
that we shouldn't be paying attention to. And
that's why this song is called Kids because the
chorus ends with a British phrase that I actually
heard from a friend of mine, which I found very
interesting, is the kids will be all right. And
that's the first time I heard it. I'm like, what
do you mean? And I loved it. You know, I loved
how, I don't know, sort of... You know, using
different contexts can sound quite dystopian.
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Animals again was written actually in Athens
and I was after a night out and I came back and
I wrote that guitar riff. When I came back home
and and like most of the song that night and
I remember just you know observing sort of people
around me and how You know if we abstract things
a bit like we do have like super animalistic
Behaviors like if you go out in a club you see
the boys all together walking around, you know
It's like it's crazy and and that's how the idea
came about Yeah Are you, would you say when it
comes to songwriting, would you say you're a
people watcher and maybe if you run out of ideas,
do you jump on the metro if you need an idea
of a song and just people watch? Does it work
like that? I think people watching and observing
is a very big part of it. A second big part is
me, you know, sort of watching something and
creating a story in my head as to like what this
person's story might be. But also at the same
time very often I'll go through something on
my own and try to write something about like
my own experience of a situation so I think all
three are important because If you just rely
I think on your own experiences then you need
to go through things all the time yourself and
that can be quite dangerous because If you go
through a happy period then there is nothing
to write about, you know Daydream's already been
released as a single, I believe. Yes, exactly.
Daydream. Who was having the daydream? You or
somebody else on this occasion? So another sort
of interesting fact, Daydream was written, I
was in LA at the time and I was single, I wasn't
seeing anyone and I was actually bummed out of
a previous relationship and I wrote the song
thinking what it must feel like to be in that
situation of daydreaming about someone. So that's
something that my producer also picked up on
when we were recording the song because he told
me, it's interesting because the song has very
happy lyrics and the music is uplifting, but
the delivery is a bit nostalgic and slightly
sad. And I think that's the reason because it's
not as if I was in a relationship being happy
saying, you know, when you look at me i started
daydream that's what i thought i would feel like
if i was in that situation okay yeah okay yeah
i've got some great titles here to be honest
with you uh minor detail yeah what can that one
mean what does it mean so it's got to be important
enough to write a song about yes i mean it's
a funny story because we were with some friends
at a greek island called hydra And I met this
tourist one night and we started having a conversation.
And at some point after a couple of drinks, I
saw on her phone that she had a picture with
someone that didn't look like it was her brother.
And I asked her, so what's going on? I thought
she was single. And she said, yes, I'm sort of
open. She said, it's just a minor detail. it
doesn't matter and I thought that's brilliant
and the next day I wrote I wrote a song and it's
and it's one of these songs where I actually
didn't need to be creative at all I just said
things exactly as they happened you know wonderful
uh then we got uh two great ones strange and
blabbermouth what can they yeah so strange was
written uh about a relationship like uh that
ended like three years ago. It's the oldest song
that I've written for the album. And it's interesting
because the different sections of the song were
written at different times. So I wrote the verses
when I was in the relationship. I wrote the chorus
as soon as we broke up. So that's why I sing
out like, I want to call your number. Are you
up for it? Because she started seeing someone
else and I just wanted to win her back. And then
six months after the relationship had ended,
I wrote The Middle Age, which is, you know, realizing
what this was. So having some perspective. So
that's strange and a blabbermouth. Yeah. So blabbermouth,
I was with a person when I was in Athens and
I was about to move to England and I wasn't.
gonna, you know, be here for a few months. It
was very much a conscious life decision. I want
to move to the UK sort of permanently for now.
So she wasn't going to move. So we had to break
up and it was this song expressing how I felt
about that situation at that time. Then we got
Lonely Together and Clouds. Tell us about those.
Yeah, I mean, yes. I mean, Clouds I wrote for
a friend of mine who I mean, although it's quite
dark, it's quite an uplifting song because Clouds
is reassuring someone that things are going to
be OK. Like even though you go through a tough
spot, things are like there is life at the end
of the tunnel. And Lonely Together was written
about like alienation and a bit like of, you
know, being lonely. And when I moved to London,
actually, I wrote that one and I felt like I
didn't have that many friends. And like, you
know, I was seeing a girl that I wasn't feeling
very connected to. And I was just felt like I
was Yeah, quite lonely, and that's why the song
came about. And I love the title because I love
the contrast, lonely together, that doesn't really...
It's almost like a clickbait title, you know?
That's good. Well, the last one, this is track
10. We've got Midnight, so tell us about Midnight.
Yeah, so I live in East London, and the Overground
train passes by. And as we were saying before,
I'm always people -watching, so... Only one night
I was sad. by the window having a cigarette and
watching the train go by and I was watching the
people on the train and I could see them essentially
you know and like and their facial expressions
and trying to create stories as to who they were
and I find very interesting you know the fact
that you in the same way that you're in the same
sort of train with someone for some time and
you hop off and then you got go in the central
line or whatever that is In the same way like
in life if you have a destination that you want
to go to and sometimes people are with you for
specific moments in time and then you have to
let them go and you jump on the next train and
that's what Midnight Passenger is about. Interesting.
I like it. I like it. Think about especially
the London Underground or the Overground or whichever
one you're on. If you're on a carriage with 200
people they all look so miserable. and unhappy
and i've wondered now if i was a songwriter this
would be a great one i'd write a song about all
200 of them having just been dumped because they
just looked so unhappy all of them don't they
yeah i agree i agree i agree and it's the last
place in the world where you want to be nice
and pleasant and speak to someone because if
you do speak to somebody you don't know on the
underground they're very very wary they wonder
oh is he trying to rob me is he trying you don't
do it do you it's really weird exactly That's
my observation. I'm not making you say things.
That's my observation Before we do the social
media Let me ask you so these ten songs. They're
all great great stories Do the people they're
about I know some of these people watching people
you don't know but say the people you did know
that you've written about Do they know those
songs about them do you think? So I think a few
of them do. And it's interesting because I played
this, you know, I played this song Clouds to
the friend, I had played to a friend of mine
and he absolutely loved it. And he's like, wow,
that's like one of your best songs ever. And
then I played it for my friend who I wrote it
about without telling him that this is, you know,
I was inspired by him. I played him the song
and he's like, yeah, it's okay. You know, I'm
not the biggest fan. I'm like, okay. Yeah, that
is so funny. But usually they don't know unless
I tell them. And I have told a couple because,
yeah. Brilliant. I love it. I love it. Let's
do your social media. So yeah, websites, platforms,
YouTube channels. Take as long as you need to
tell our listeners where they can find you. Yes,
so it's Delta, but it's spelled with a 3 instead
of an E. So if they want to find me on Spotify,
it's D3LTA. And it's the same on Instagram and
TikTok. It's ThisIsD3LTA to find all upcoming
gigs, concerts, song releases and whatnot. Fantastic.
Delta, it's been fantastic meeting you. I've
enjoyed it and I know the listeners on all the
stations are going to enjoy it as well. Wish
you every success and hopefully we can do it
again sometime. Yes, definitely. Thank you very
much for having me, Nicholas. Thank you. Take
care. Bye -bye now. Thank you. listening to the
Chatterbox Redux podcast and today our special
guest was Delta. If you're interested in becoming
a future guest on the Chatterbox Redux podcast
or the radio show Chatterbox UK you're welcome
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Thank you very much for your company and we look
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another Chatterbox Redux podcast. In the meantime,
take care, we thank you for your company and
we catch you then. Bye bye. This is Nick and
Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need to
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