Today we’d like to introduce you to Pàppa D.
Hi Pàppa, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Moving out to Los Angeles is an important undertaking to any person to take upon. My decision to move out here was completely coincidental. Opportunities arose, and with a friend and brother, made the decision to move out here. My eagerness and desire to compose, make music, and write songs goes beyond a city or a place and will not change by any circumstance. It only recently got enhanced, being able to start finding my people and being able to make and play music every day. Audiences grew bigger, and the flow started taking me on a journey I have no idea of where it goes to. But it wasn’t like that always.
Coming from a very small place in Greece, the town of Kozani, Los Angeles is a big move. I would still recall being a teenager, writing my first songs, always in English (I seemed to be so much more willing to express myself in that language instead), and imagining how it would feel to be out here, pursuing what I have always been dreaming. But still, even then, the idea of Los Angeles wasn’t on my mind. By the time I moved to America for studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston, I had well over 700 songs and have been convinced to stay here till the end of my days. The eagerness and determination arose, I was motivated, and without knowing anybody, I moved to America. Quite the move, ha?
Anyways, I guess what I’m trying to say is that these thoughts in my mind went through thick and thin-faced all challenges, and most of them esoteric and existential, but I am now at a point in my life where I can realize that as a 16 and 18 years old, these songs were written in a magical way that I cannot explain now, and I surely know that I will not be able to write things like that again. And that’s ok. I am in the most productive time of my life; everything is moving towards the right direction, the pieces are coming together, and I am just tagging along. I’m here for the ride, and oh boy, what a fun one it is.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Anybody telling you that “it’s all good”, and that “everything comes easy to me” etc, is likely hiding something from you. There is a lot of work involved with it, but the real blessing is that it never feels like work. When you are in alignment with that and do what you love, everything is moving towards that direction to help you increase your creativity, productivity, and ability to express yourself.
Surely enough though, it’s the times where that thing is just a little bit harder to occur. Words become a bit constipated to come out, thoughts get clogged and muffled, and you just can’t figure out what to do. Myself, I have been in situations like these before, where all possible scenarios passed through my head. The answer to that I have found is: “Do it anyway”. It’s that first moment of agony, looking at a blank page, not knowing what to write, where words hate you so much they don’t wanna come out that you keep smiling at them and push them gently out of your brain. When the heart joins a little bit as well, you might get a song. I get a lot of these lately. They’re not always good, and certainly not even half of them have any music dressed with yet, but the vision is there: Consistency.
I write for all kinds of reasons: boredom, the bus taking too long to arrive or take me where I need to go (LA people without a car can totally relate), beautiful sunny day in the rooftop, looking at passengers and aggressive immature drivers, rushing to where they gotta be, and other things. I find it all fascinating. The frustration on my end comes from when I am unable to do the things I have to do, to see my plans and schedules take my life to a direction I have no intention of going. That is frustrating and definitely a murderer of creativity, The juices do flow though, from doing it over and over again, and I don’t believe in “hit” songs. I have favorites that I still to this day, have no clue how they came out to be the way they did, but still, every song deserves a chance, and every melody, note, sound, or progression is the beginning of something magical.
Besides that, to the more realistic struggles, I guess one thing I have noticed at this day and age is the difficulty of people to commit to something long-term. Everyone is focused on their own thing, and I get it; I am a victim of that too, but that’s a good thing! It shouldn’t be coming from an egotistical point of view, more from personal growth and caring for your dreaming kind of view. How I have discovered that to work for me is the idea of being there for others, supporting them musically and artistically, and building a community where artists can grow, evolve, express themselves, and be venerable enough to do so. All in good spirits and love, everybody wins in the end.
Hardships are there and always will be, I just personally choose to think that nothing is hard enough to make me stop from what I dream and work very hard towards doing, that’s all…
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
There’s no need to define what makes me more special than others since we fundamentally know that everyone’s special as they are and individual and proficient in their skill/expertise. If I absolutely have to be less modest about it, I can mention a few things that in my opinion are very special to me (not about me) that I have been meticulously working towards.
The ability to write one song or two is a thing, but to be able to write hundreds of songs in a single year, along with composing music, playing classical piano, and at the same time being there for other artists and their creative process, dreams, and goals, is something that I at least, don’t know many people who are doing it. It comes to a point where you live and breathe music, and to me that’s a success already. To be able to wake up where a day in my life would look like Coffee, in the piano within 10 minutes, working on the songs, existing lyrics, producing, to a rehearsal, or “a wandering around LA experience”, for more lyrics and inspiration to come, wrapping the day up with a live performance, sharing my craft with others almost every night, is truly a gift.
When I don’t compose and generate new material, I’m always listening to music, studying, practicing, honing, getting inspired, and revisiting old material, to add a new flair to it, one of the current conditions and not the past ones.
Generally, life becomes tangled with that, and it’s something you don’t wanna untie yourself from. There’s momentum, dynamic, and things just magically happen. When all of these things don’t occupy 30 hours of my everyday life, I love to swim and find time to feel good about my body and my energy. Being known as a vibrant, joyous, and excited person is one way somebody can think of me, but I just am in tune with what I should be doing, despite the hardships, and people are just receiving that.
With taking leadership roles in mentoring songwriters and lifting up my sleeves as an artistic director for many projects, along with teaching students how to sing and play the piano, music is around me on a day-to-day basis, from having students to being one myself.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Staying humble, staying true, staying noble, not being elevated that easily by people’s beautiful comments, and by taking judgment with a grain of salt are essential to perseverance, maintenance, sustainability, and evolution in this field that I chose to embark on my life upon. It’s so very important to not forget where you came from, but be prepared to let go of the past and all the negativity it might be coming with. Never forget those who helped you, and still do help you get there, but also learn from those who didn’t, their setbacks, and failures, so you don’t repeat the same mistakes they made. There’s no such thing as error, as it’s all a learning experience, and if we’re fortunate enough, we’ll get it right by the fifth time! (hahaha)
Such qualities can truly elevate a person, make them impenetrable to the hardships of life, and give him strength to push through things and find sustenance. I am in the process of finding that again and again. It’s a constant battle, primarily with myself. The success in my field cannot come unseparated from personal success in a healthy mental, physical, and livable environment. Only this way true magic can immerse, and miracles can happen.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dimitriopappa.wixsite.com/my-site-2
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pappadmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pappadmusic
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dimitriopappa/?trk=public_profile_browsemap
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/pappadmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Pappadmusic
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/pappadmusic
- Other: https://pappad.bandcamp.com/
Image Credits
https://www.instagram.com/wolfcatmeow/ (Justin Dyer) https://www.instagram.com/christineflowerphotography (Christine Flower) https://www.instagram.com/taylorhollanddd/ (Taylor Holland)
