Doris will tell you, and I’m not ashamed to admit, I have a few man-crushes. There are the standard ones, like Clint Eastwood and Daniel Day Lewis, but at the top of that list (tied with Clint of course) is Demis Roussos. I first saw Demis in a YouTube clip from 1970 with his now legendary psychedelic-rock band, Aphrodite’s Child. Back then, he was a clean-shaven mod and I only noticed the amazing music that, somehow, I had never heard before. But, after a few clicks on related videos, onto my screen came a vision of awesomeness: Demis, now a solo act, hippier, happier, wearing a colorful caftan, with long unkempt hair, beard, with some sort of giant necklace made of animal teeth, and singing what sounded like happy Greek songs in English. I was smitten.

Demis is very well-known throughout the world for his career of making and performing great pop music (and singing them in an impressive number of languages). He was born in Alexandria, Egypt and moved to Greece as a boy, where he would eventually join a number of rock bands including Aphrodite’s Child. He is more known in younger circles for the incredible records he made with Aphrodite’s Child, and in particular bandmate Vangelis (who went on to score films such as Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner). Their final album, 666, released in 1972 was obviously controversial, sold over 20 million copies, and is now a psychedelic-rock classic.

Today, Demis is still making music and touring regularly. I was so excited when Demis answered several of my questions from his home in Paris. I hope you’re as smitten with him (and his use of smiley faces) as I am after reading this! Thank you, Mr. Roussos.

Mark: What is a typical day in the life of Demis Roussos these days?

Demis: I’m on tour in France right now, so basically, performing, eating and sleeping ;-)