As the echo of the last steps is fading away in the art gallery, we can already hear hums and noises coming from the music hall.
Over the years, Raul had set up a small recording studio in the attic of his home in Corfu. He used the room to compose – with the help of computers and synthesizers – and play guitar and keyboards; with a strong dedication, he struggled with bars, phrases and sequences which would eventually become the melodic lines and rhythmic patterns of his future songs. In his studio he received singers, collaborators, friends, musicians and sound technicians to listen, sing, discuss, review and incessantly rehearse.
Raul, Peter e Jim
"My friend Raul was a true artist, so modest and amateurish was the technical equipment he used to compose his music"
This is what Peter Papaiorghiou, who played with Raul in several bands on the island, said when he helped inventorying Raul’s equipment, after realising how simple and basic were the instruments used by his friend to compose and orchestrate his music and record the vocals of his songs.
Raul e Jim
In his attic – the highest part of our house accessed by a narrow, steep wooden stair – under the sloping roof in front of a round window resembling a porthole, Raul spent many hours surrounded by his scanty, imperfect equipment, often in the middle of the night, alone and concentrated in the process of artistic creation.
Those nurturing talent through the uncomfortable gift of self-expression, no matter in which form, know well the spiritual nourishment originating from such an activity; how happy and satisfied you can be, before and beside public recognition, when spending your time this way.
After playing in many pop-rock bands, making a name for himself in the varied map of the music groups of the island, between the end of 2005 and the spring of 2014, Raul started composing musics and lyrics for his albums. He also created the graphic layout of every project.
This two expressive means, music and painting, characterised Raul’s entire life, starting from his youth. He alternatively dedicated himself to them, and when he passed from one to the other he never completely lost contact with the expressive form temporarily neglected.
Thus – when he worked in Milan for the “Laboratorio Copiatura Musica” with two other associated, both well-experienced musicians that like him worked on the delicate transcriptions of handwritten scores – Raul went on producing sketches, drawings, outlines and watercolours.
I keep two albums full of illustrations, lyrics and chords of a hundred pieces for guitar. Raul taught me the basics of the instrument, and I used to strum it in a rather amateurish way when singing.
Sometimes, when spending evenings with our friends – certainly less often than I would have liked to – we sang and played together, and with his skills he greatly improved our performance, making me truly happy.
