Meet Kostas Siozos

We were lucky to catch up with Kostas Siozos recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kostas, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?

People often say be realistic. I don’t want to be realistic, I like to say I am a dreamer. But I am a dreamer who makes his dreams come true. I really believe our world is a great place and it’s not how the media presents it. I know that there are a lot of things going on right now, but I always like to see the good stuff that are also happening. To answer your questions where my optimism comes from, I think is what I said. Try to find and see all the good stuff are happening. Meditation and journaling help a lot. When you have the option of having positive thoughts, why I should have negative ones.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My journey started back in Greece in 2002 when I bought my first bass. After the first jam with some of my classmates in high school, I decided this is what I wanted to do for a living and this is playing music. I was part in some bands back then and in 2006 I started my own band “Heritage”. We were touring & recording music for 10 years, but for some personal reasons we decided to split the band.

I was also the owner of a coffee shop/bar called “Old Post Cafe” and later “Miles Cafe Bar” in my hometown in Greece. I was really proud of it and starting a business at the age of 23, gave me the experience of how to run a business and I gained personal development and self-improvement to personal growth.

In the meantime I was also going to a music school and I studied music theory, jazz harmony and bass performance with my amazing teacher Vangelis Boulouhtsis. This helped me to receive a scholarship from California College of Music in Pasadena, CA. There I studied bass with some incredible bass players, which one of them is Anthony Crawford.

Right now I am working on my 1st album “Aelkīmiyā” from my new band Black Kaiser. We are about to start the drums recording this month with a special guest. Hopefully the album will be ready around Autumn. After that the plan is to take the band on the road as soon as possible and spread the word around the world.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

As Jaco Pastorius said “All you’ve got to do is keep your ears open.” and I will also add to this “and your eyes open”. Everything around you is an inspiration. Believe it or not you will be inspired from people without knowing it. Be careful with who you are hanging out. There’s this saying in Greece “Show me your friend and I’ll tell you who you are”. If you want to be a better musician, just go play with better musicians than you. Expose your self and don’t be scared if you’re going to be judged. I am gonna tell you this, yes they will say you’re not good. Stop what you’re doing. But you know what, these are the people with no dreams, that they gave up life. You’re not one of them. So please don’t give up. Maybe some days will be hard, others will be easier, others will be amazing, but at the end of the day what matters the most is the journey and not the destination. Keep practicing and love what you do. Then you’ll be unstoppable!!!

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

The book that changed my life was “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne. It gave me the blueprint and understood the law of attraction. After that it was Robin Sharma’s book “Discover your Destiny”. These 2 books changed me so much and how to see life in a different way.

What I learned is be thankful of everything you have, be grateful for your life, stay positive, through imagination and visualization you can achieve anything you want.

One more book I just finished and I highly recommend is “The Game of Life & How to Play It” by Florence Scovel Shinn.

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Image Credits

Mathias Fau

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