It was a cold, windy February night, in 2007. I had just flown from Athens to Thessaloniki, capital of Northern Greece. I walked into my bedroom when i heard a haunting, interesting, enchanting sound emanating from the marble fireplace. I stopped and listened. It felt like this sound was beckoning. The strong wind: singing.. Without a second thought, i prepared my recording apparatus, i placed my SM58 microphone inside the heart of the fireplace and began to record the wind singing. i could literally hear phrases, musical notes and though I wanted to sing with the wind, it sounded so perfect, that i just had to respect this synchronous moment, so i silently recorded. I could not believe this perfect serendipitous moment, so all i did was to exist and to enjoy with all of my senses in tune. Then at some moment i felt i could sing with the wind.. . Most of my life, i would pass by people's houses right at dusk, just when the lights would begin to go on, one by one and i would imagine families eating together round tables, filled with homemade foods: breads and wine, cakes and all kinds of delicious goodies, mostly prepared with love either by a mother or by a grandmother. I'd imagine all the family eating together, singing and talking, listening to each other, really listening to each other, some would eat and draw, others would tell of how their day went, others would laugh in a joyous joyous state and share a joke with the rest.. there' d be flowers in a vase in the middle of the table for all to enjoy. . the tv or the radio would keep patient company to all. Non demanding, just there in the corner, changing colors by themselves and light light light on one side of the room. Like a guard that never goes to sleep. I always observed people's back yards. Their lives and thoughts seemed to be transparent to me after i' ve seen their backyard. I could tell a lot about them just by looking at their back yards. I still do.. Come to think of it, it could mean in a metaphorical, or in a symbolical sort of way: another form of a subconscious mind. As Osho says: "the people's back yards are their real lives and so, i turned to none other than my trusting collaborator and friend of many years and of many albums, Vassilis Stergiou, who always shares my vision and so, Backyards was created.! In the last track, Saint Demetrius, we recorded the back yards of 4 buildings, right behind the Stergiou's own back yard - balcony. i was always fascinated by the view from Vassilis' and Ersi's balcony: it was the perfect setting for a film with an ever changing plot and soundtrack.. I used to love to wait for that time of the afternoon, round about dusk, when all of the lights or sometimes some of them, would begin to appear one by one by one. Venetian blinds, just the ones we had in all the homes of my birthplace Cyprus, before the war. The wooden ones with the 4 parts of horizontal and vertical thin pieces of wood held together dexterously by a tiny piece of metal.. They were really like a film setting, allowing only sections of realities to be seen, mysterious rays would escape as if captives of a one force: people's realities in rooms and kitchens and bedrooms and parentheses, couches and chairs, pots and pans and little tables with cups and plates with crumbs or full, with magazines, clothes hanging from those garlands of optimism or of not, heralds of secrets told-untold - telling, non-telling. And all i would do would be to send to the people of those houses - homes: my best, my gentlest wishes / thoughts, be inspired and then go to my own Venetian blinds and Be. The artwork of Backyards was Inspired and created by Ersi Papadopoulou, Vassilis' wife, a wonderfully talented artist. I dedicate this body of work, to their son Nicolas Vangelis who i have known even before his birth and who i adore! Here's to not keeping secrets from ourselves and here's to Venetian truths and Creative - Inspiring backyards!