About the band

Imam Baildi is a very popular Southeast Mediterranean dish consisting of aubergine stuffed with onion, garlic, and tomatoes simmered in olive oil. It is a similar fine blend that Lysandros and Orestis Falireas do - only in musical terms!

On the one hand the unique sound of rebetiko, a sort of outlaw Greek blues that captivated the country’s music scene from the turn of the century until the early 1950s, and one the other hand a combination of remixing techniques the brothers were subjected to while studying in Europe. Bouzouki meets electro swing and Greek roots meet hip hop and mambo. Just add an MC, a female voice and a fair bit of Balkan flair to the mix and there you have it… It's Imam Baildi's global pop!

Falireas brothers stem from a family with a long connection with rebetiko: their father owned both a record label specialising in the genre and a popular record shop in central Athens with a vast 78rpm vinyl collection. Therefore the idea of mixing rebetiko with different types of music came about naturally to the siblings that grew up in such a rich musical environment.

Their self-tiled debut was released in 2007 on EMI Greece to great critical acclaim, followed by more than 130 live shows in Greece around Europe that included support slots for Massive Attack, Ojos De Brujo and Gogol Bordello and performances at France’s Transmusicales de Rennes and Denmark’s Roskilde Festival.

Imam Baildi have just released their second collective effort bearing the name ‘The Imam Baildi Cookbook’. Along with original compositions and mixes it features collaborations with LA hip-hoppers Delinquent Habits and Maxwell Wright of Ojos de Brujo fame, Barcelona’s flamenco/world/hip-hop darlings.

About the video

This is a video for Logia Adallaxame Varia, track no.5 in The Imam Baildi Cookbook. The vocal samples come from a 1950's rebetiko tune, by Tonys Maroudas, sung by Marika Ninou. The title means 'We exchanged heavy words'. Vocals aside, the rest of the arrangement belongs to Imam Baildi, a typical example of how they can play with a rebetiko tune.

The footage comes from the photo shooting for the new album cover, starts with choosing costumes and continues with the actual shooting at Tasos Vrettos studio. Edited by Vocalize (vocalize.gr).