Paul Lekakis
Yep, Totally 80s is on in earnest and one of the big acts gracing the stage is Paul Lekakis. Actor, model, film maker and artists rose to the top of the charts with 1987 hit single Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back To My Room). Paul speaks to Across The Ocean about the tour.
Totally 80s line-up looks great, are you excited to be heading down under?
It’s really great, I’ve never been to Australia! I’ve always wanted to come but it always fell through three or four times. It has been number one on my bucket list to go to Australia and perform.
Does it surprise you that what is old is actually new again?
No, I think it is just nostalgia. I’m just glad that 80s songs people still enjoy it, I feel like that about other music. In twenty years Boom Boom is still going to be there, people will still be ‘oh my god, that song!’
What do you think it is about nostalgia that attracts people?
I think that it is because music is connected to memories, so it’s only something that you know when you get older. I remember a song from when I was five years old and it takes me back as its mind my mind. Nostalgia is a mind thing, the more you live those songs stick with your memories in our mind in our life. That’s what makes them stay up there because they are part of our history and as long as you can remember they’re always going to be there.
What do you think about modern day pop and nightclub anthems?
It’s different and I’ve seen it change so much and music changes a lot going through these winding roads from dance to hip-hop to R&B back to this BDM which is like the dance music now and all the raves. When that music came back I was thinking that’s just 80s dance music. There were times when some of the phases that came around it’s like that was freestyle! Some of it is like similar and different people are just mashing it up. If there is a popular phase that I don’t like I go ‘oh, in a year or two it will come around and someone else will be singing something that I like’. It’s just like all the big DJ’s now that music to me is like it’s new but kind of old. I remember it when I was twenty in the dance clubs that what is old is new again.
Does it make you feel sad where the music industry is heading?
The internet changed everything and changed a lot of businesses especially the music business. It did make me sad for years because it’s just not the same thing. With that said you have to figure out how to make a living otherwise. I also paint, act, work behind the camera and work on other projects just like a lot of the big stars who have to model and do advertising work now. Even Oscar winners, that’s how they have to get their money. They have to do all this stuff they wouldn’t normally have to do because they wouldn’t have the money. It is interesting because the whole industry is changing. It is sad but is more saturated and it is what it is. It’s like what Madonna says ‘two million songs released last year all over the world over the internet and today is nothing like it was yesterday’. That’s why I’m glad I had that in my resume because I can always do the nostalgia thing because it is fun.
Did you ever think you would have to tour as much as what you do now?
At this point I have been doing other things, personally I have other jobs as you know. For me it is an art form, it is a hobby and I’m glad that I have a hit song that I can go somewhere and tour or decide not to tour. I don’t want to live like a gypsy anymore, that’s my personal choice and I surround myself with different people. The touring part of it is fun and like icing on the cake and I don’t look to it for my total bread and butter.
Does your satisfaction come from these other projects these days?
It is satisfying to explore different things and try on new hats as you get older. As an adult you’re meant to have six careers in your life apparently like a normal person would. For me it is exciting to try on new things and if it doesn’t work out I’ll go to something else, go back to something else or go here or go there then I’ll figure out what I like. It’s like any career, what are the hours, how much will I make, do I like this or not, is it fulfilling enough or do I just go and try something else. The good thing about music is that it is always going to be an art form, always will be a hobby and something that if I want to do it I’ll do it and if I don’t I won’t! I’m not one of those people who will go out there and tour for my bread and butter. It is satisfying because I evolve but I have to say it is all relative, one hundred percent relative.
If I’m going to paint or produce a photo shoot or direct one of my videos where music is involved, the visual art all helps each other, it’s all connected, it helps me be a better artist or a better man. I could take a selfie and crop it a certain way and all that history I have of art and being in Europe and modelling, all that stuff is in my head when I make that decision so it is all relative which is what makes it cool.
Whether it is rummaging through vinyl at record stores such as Clarity and Title finding hidden gems to scouring the internet to find that album by the next big thing or chasing bands to get that elusive autograph and photo his passion is music all the way.
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- Sick Of It All - January 19, 2017
- Refused - January 11, 2017
