I know Joe since I was 18 years old. From the the first time I met him I realized that he was one of the most alternative people I’ve had the chance to meet and it also got me wondering how he was able to “stick” with Greece. It was not that long later growing up that I discovered that he managed to channel his alternative side, creatively in his music.
Ever since then he hasn’t stopped creating music, traveling and sharing the sounds he loves on various stages across the world.
Now, 14 years later, I am sure that he made the right choice to go into music, with his latest alternative creation, Psy Hop. Joe, you ware blowing our minds away!
Who is the real Joey “Oxya”? Does anyone know your real name? We asked around but didn’t get any answer yet!
Thankfully, everyone you asked has been discrete. Happy about that, but real name is no secret; you could have just asked me instead. My full name is Panagiotis-Joseph Dianos. Everyone including myself is calling me Joey since the very early years of my life and it’s also my real name. (Actually I’m a robot but it’s more preferable for all of us to follow the above scenario.)
Where have we heard you up to today? Everywhere?
Everywhere is a big place. It’s a goal, alright, but it takes time and hard work. So far my music travels through the globe yes, building crowds little by little. All these years release after release and gig after gig, I gain the trust of listeners while maintaining my own unique elements in every style of music I produce. Heavy supporters are Australia, Latin America and North Europe from where most of my releases come from. Still, my live activity lies within Europe so far. I’ve had continuous support from many countries, especially from Switzerland, Romania and Russia whose crowd and organizers I consider as family.
Nature or city? Where do the best parties take place?
I prefer the comparison of indoor or outdoor parties. Even in nature, a festival with more than 15-20k people is already an urban environment with all these people, sound, installations, electricity, stalls and other facilities. So, I’d say: Outdoors of course. Indoor entertainment has many great values still, but in outdoor events you can combine of sorts of pleasure/vacation missing from your weekly urban lifestyle. In my head, urban environments are as natural as forests, mountains and sea; that being said I think everybody should explore all natural environments, react, study and enjoy them. Fresh clean air, plant life, clear view of the sky is only a few of the extra benefits of outdoor entertainment. Plus most people in a festival are switched to ‘relaxation mode’ being more open minded, friendly, fun!
We saw you at Legalize Salonica. Whats your opinion on the legalization of marijuana and please keep in mind that this article is intended for the Netherlands, they already have nice opinions for Marijuana here :P
Who said marijuana is illegal? There has always been massive global production and consumption bypassing irrational and strict laws that were originally created to only make business competition harder. In many countries, although illegal, possession for personal use only is already tolerated by laws. And just like all global food, health, electronics companies, once the main distributors are decided, marijuana becomes legal again one country at a time (already happening). Recreational, Pharmaceutical, Clothing and Energy interests were on the market table and I think we’re pretty lucky it took us (humanity) only 80 years to settle the ‘marijuana’ issue! Of course bypassing your country’s current laws (even the irrational ones) is not suggested. Laws change. Be a part of that change. Until then either be legal, or move to a country that you are already considered one.
What kind of music do you like to write, play and move with? What kind of you music do you listen to chill out after? Any secret band or artist that we would never believe that you would listen to?
That’s a huge topic. As an artist I run 3 main solo projects: Oxya (psytrance, downtempo), Genuss (dubstep, breaks, electronica) and Special Blend (suomi, freestyle psy) and 2 collabs: Elsewhere (psy-progressive side by side with DJ Doc) and Captain Capcom (psy-breaks, tech-breaks alongside Deeply Unexpected). Remixing and other type of collaborations are in my recipe as well. Links provided at the end of the interview. As a producer there’s a wide variety of music genres I can either compose, record, mix or master (whatever is it I’m needed for). Main reason I’m able to do that is because I enjoy any kind of music and I have no real dislikes. My taste though resides in two factors: innovation and/or coherence. I embrace the ‘new’ and the ‘well-produced’. I don’t refer to the ‘polished’ or ‘quality’; quality is standard with nowadays equipment and all this knowledge lying around for you to get (obtained with study, production and experimentation). That’s why I think we all live in a perfect period to be more creative.
Psy hop in Greece. Others talked about it, you did it. Can you tell a few things about it and what do you think that other people will say about it?
We’re sorry; we didn’t do it on purpose, hehe. We have a unique style, certainly influenced by our taste in music, but that’s just that. We don’t follow any standards while being expressive, away from creating meaningless fuss or trying to impress. We just print our sincere thoughts in lyrics and sound (and picture). The rest is up for the listener/viewer to judge and criticize.
What have you gotten out there lately and where can we get to listen more of you?
There’s been actually a steady flow of releases of my music but things are getting even kinkier by the year. In 2014 I’m presenting an updated approach in all my projects. EPs from Oxya, Elsewhere and Genuss, and the debut album of Special Blend are already scheduled for coming out there. Many collaborations, videos and other projects, for which you’ll find out about very soon. I think you can easily find online information about my releases or even listen to an extended number of tracks online. YouTube and Last.fm already host works of mine. Also there are my soundcloud accounts, in which you will probably find unreleased work as well.
soundcloud.com/oxya,elsewhere-psy, soundcloud.com/genuss, soundcloud.com/oxya-chill-area, soundcloud.com/special-blend, soundcloud.com/captaincapcom
One of our readers and friend of yours that resides in Amsterdam has politely asked us to ask you the following question. “Why do you never shave and do dinosaurs fly?”
I do shave. It’s the media that created this image with the use of misleading stereotypes. But also I shave once per month. Hmm. Also, birds derive from species that lived during the dinosaur era. I’m not sure if we can classify them as dinosaurs. If that’s the case yes, dinosaurs do fly.
What are our chances of seeing you live in Amsterdam?
There’s a 2-track Oxya EP soon to be released in Psyde Effect records located in Amsterdam. So, chances are you’ll get to see me someday (party-night) soon I guess…
For a more detailed list containing all of my releases (including scheduled ones) you can directly contact me on facebook at facebook.com/oxya.psy or by email: [email protected]
