I Invite you to listen to this preview of my live set at Plex Athens on June 19th, presenting the "We Carry Eden" album. 

It starts with a loop from my Sakamoto Tribute live set at Mostra Barcelona (2023). You will hear samples from “Do not Stand at my Grave and Weep” (Mary Elizabeth Frye), read by Tom O'Bedlam. I added  vocal samples by Dunya Yunis. You might know her from the “My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts” album by Brian Eno and David Byrne. The fieldrecordings are from the Kallikatsou (Patmos) by Ioannis Nikolaou.

As always when i prepare a live set i make loops and collect samples. This time i sampled from some artists i connected to on instagram. The basic scape for the 2nd movement (3.00 min) comes from Eirini Zacharaki from Athens who sent me her 1st ever electronic noise experiment. I also added a rhythm loop from a track by an artist called Zebra (Alexis Georgopoulos). 

The direction and theme for this live set came (as usual) unexpected when i saw a post on instagram where Richard Gere reads the poem “Think Of Others” by the great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (scroll down for the complete text). These dark days we live in you wonder what you could actually do. The answer comes with this poem (taken from a live poetry reading of Darwish:

“As you think of others far away, think of yourself and say: If only I were a candle in the dark”.

At 5.30 min Omar Ka joins this preview. He does the Fulani storytelling (and chanting) on the We Carry Eden album. He also introduces the next piece (6.30 min). The music comes from a bonus track of the “Seven Years At The Chi Factory” CD i recently released. The vocal is by the American poet Robert Lax, who lived the 2nd part of his life on Patmos, Greece. He also opens the We Carry Eden album saying:

“You have to have the habit of working on the project all the time and then the good moments come along  by themselves, as happy surprises and as graces, but eh, so you put yourself in a eh, in a place where grace can flow to you”.

At 08.20 min we move into a preview of a new album i’m working on with Radboud Mens (to be released by Music From Memory in 2026 TBA). First Mahmoud Darwish returns with: “Say: If only I were a candle in the dark”.

Then ( at 9.20 min) you hear the voice of Richard Gere (who also used to live on Patmos) reciting an English translation of “Think Of Others”. 

Finally (at 10.40 min) we return to the Kallikatsou. The music comes from my album “The Kallikatsou Recordings”. The vocals are taken from a Youtube video by a young Palestinian girl Rahaf Nasser, using her passion for music to comfort the traumatized children on the streets of Gaza. 

It's all about being a "Candle In The Dark". The preview closes (again) with field recordings from The Kallikatsou, Patmos by Ioannis Nikolaou who run the Underflow Record Store in Athens the last years. Recently he sadly passed away, so this mix is also a tribute to him. The spoken word in the outro is by his good friend Spyro Papanastassiou.

All we can do is keep spreading love, peace, hope and comfort. To respect, protect and preserve truth and stand strong in unity. One love!

"Think of Others" by Mahmoud Darwish, translated by Mohammed Shaheen

As you prepare your breakfast, think of others
Do not forget the pigeon's food
As you conduct your wars, think of others
Do not forget those who seek peace
As you pay your water bill, think of others
Those who are nursed by clouds
As you return home, to your home, think of others
Do not forget the people of the camps
As you sleep and count the stars, think of others
Those who have nowhere to sleep
As you liberate yourself in metaphor, think of others
those who have lost the right to speak
As you think of others far away, think of yourself and say: 
If only I were a candle in the dark

Join us in Athens:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1813791775862552/
Listen to 'We Carry Eden'
https://chifactory.bandcamp.com/album/we-carry-eden-feat-omar-ka

A Candle In The Dark (preview of a live set)

Founder of CHI (1984) and the Chi Factory (2016). Member of Soundcloud since August 2023. Performing, recording, producing 
as Son Of Chi since 2020.

Find out more on future Son Of Chi releases on instagram and Astral Industries.

The Chi Factory has performed live at festivals like Signal Russia, Rewire The Hague, Intrinsic France, Berlin Atonal, Astral Industries Weekender, Off Sonar, La Nature, Mostra Barcelona and more. Hope to see you soon live.

For special Chi Factory live events, licensing, remixes etc you can contact: hanyo@ziggo.nl