The rest of the EP features an orchestral remix of “The Universe Expands” called “The Big Bang” and was a huge undertaking with tons of sounds (yes there are whale sounds inside of course) and alternative melodies to our “classic” Dol Theeta song. I am grateful to my good friend Manolis Gerempakanis who helped me with the orchestral arrangements of this beast!

Finally the EP ends with a cover version of the song “Flow My Tears” by John Downland. It was Kortessa’s idea to do this track which is a beautiful dark poem originally composed back in the English Renaissance period of 1596.

Released in 2009, I’m still trying to explain myself how "The Universe Expands" came to be. Not having a clear or finalized picture of what I was seeking to create, I put down various ideas, dressed them with sounds and improvised on top of them. In fact improvisation was key also in the way we recorded the vocals with Kortessa who would zone out listening to the instrumentals and come up with all sorts of strange phrases and emotions. For a control-freak like me, this composition approach was novel.

The theme behind "The Universe Expands" is that of the manifestation of the soul, the expansion of our inner cosmos and the evolution of our self-awareness. I wrote all the lyrics in my loneliest moments while serving my army time in the island of Lemnos and I feel the final product is one of the deepest I have yet produced.

A highlight of the album was my cooperation with the phenomenal artist Werner Hornung for the artwork and photo-manipulations. His quote “The better you look, the more you see” fits perfectly both the music, art and my philosophy behind Dol Theeta.

Released in 2008, the “Goddess” EP was a “testing the waters” type of release. The same-titled song started life as an outsider but ended being one of the most important ones for the album. In “Goddess” and the upcoming full album "The Universe Expands" I did my first experiments with world instruments.

Bagpipes, flutes, violins and other ethnic sounds were a refreshing break from the electronic sounds I was more used to by then. I believe the third track “Deathstars” is a hidden diamond, one of my favorite Dol Theeta songs.

A highlight of this EP is our first attempt into the world of music videos. Developer Harry Kalogirou did a great job creating all the visuals and editing our raw footage into a highly respectable result using the open source 3D graphics software Blender.

I remember tearing down my flat to install the green screen and lights while taking my first awkward steps into video-making. The "Goddess" music video was the first video I uploaded on my YouTube channel on the 30th of June 2008.