Two festivals coming our way on Saturday that bring music centre stage.
The first is the second Summer Hop (Hip Hop) Festival that will see hip hop, DJs, MCs, breaking and graffiti artists take on the Exandas Music Stage in Nicosia from 5pm until midnight.
The festival will include on the mike MC Iratus and rapper Mikros Kleftis from Greece, and the decks will be ruled by CrimeControllers and DJ Mike Wildcut.
Iratus is a rapper, songwriter and music producer. His first real contact with music was in 2002 when he started to write lyrics. That same year he met Tom Dzik and they created their own band Niraya. In just two years the duo manged to release a ten track CD. A year passed and the group from two became three and together they worked on over 60 songs that never reached the light of day, as they were never satisfied with the result. The three became two once more in 2009 and the result was the release of their second album. Fast-forward to today and the MC has a total of five CDs under his belt and a string of successful appearances.
Rapper Mikros Kleftis has been mesmerising Greece with his lyrics since 1999. He believes that his music is a “sweet prison that has no key,” and if you like lyrics that have a lot to say, then you won’t be looking for a key either.
CrimeControllers are local DJs BadHooligano and Parasite, who love to make a beat go a long, long way. Also, local DJ Mike Wildcut will take us back to the 80s and 90s with his musical skills and spinning wisdom, and the help of some funk grooves.
The second festival on Saturday is also in Nicosia. The Into the Limbo festival will be celebrating its sixth instalment from 6pm until 3am at the abandoned village of Ayios Sozomenos in the Nicosia district.
The line-up includes Samsara Blues Experiment from Germany, The Great Machine from Israel, Naxatras from Greece and local bands Abettor and The Low Spark.
Samsara Blues Experiment is a psychedelic, heavy blues, rock, three-piece band. The band, which is now made-up of Christian Peters, Hans Eiselt and Thomas Vedder, was formed in 2007 by guitarist Peters. All band members have previously been active in different underground bands. The band has released seven albums and has performed in America, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium.
The Great Machine is a stoner, psychedelic band that was formed in 2011 with Aviran Haviv, Omer Haviv and Michael Izaky. In their seven-year existence, the band has released four albums and toured anywhere they have fans.
Adding to the hard-psychedelic rock vibe will be the Greek three-member band Naxatras. The three musicians have been playing together since 2012, developing their sound and finally recording their first full-length album, where their original dreamy melodies and heavy riffs were set free.
Abettor, a five-member band from Larnaca, are known for mixing things up as the musicians marry the sounds of older, heavy music with non-stereotypical music genres such as progressive, grunge, stoner and trip hop.
The Low Spark, a three-member band from Nicosia, came together in 2009 as a cover band but quickly moved towards creating their own vibes. Their first album A Few But Many was released earlier this year and contains eight original compositions. The band’s melodies are considered to be progressive-psychedelic rock, with some soul and blues rhythms mixed in.
Second Summer Hop (Hip Hop Festival)
Hip hop festival. July 22. Exandas Music Stage, 11 Themistokli Petridi Street, Nicosia. 5pm. €10. Tel: 99-174746
Into the Limbo 2017
Sixth music festival with a number of live performances. July 22. Agios Sozomenos, Nicosia. 6pm-3am. €18/15. https://www.facebook.com/events/187137245095368/
