Occasioned by our dearest late friend’s birthday we are putting a single out for fundraising.

You can make Amethyst (Resurfaced), mixed and mastered by Tasos Karapapazoglou yours by following the steps below:

1) You first go to https://giftofhope.bhf.org.uk/In-Memory/Labros-Vasilos and make a donation of any amount that will go directly to the British Heart Foundation.

2) You then send us an email on info@phase.gr with ‘Labros Vasilos’ on the subject, and your address on the body, and we will send you a copy via post, with the p&p on us.

You can literally donate anyting from 1p to anything at all, and the money will be used for the important work BHF is doing in researching cures and treatments, so they can beat heartbreak forever.

£12 could pay for one of BHF’s early stage specialists to conduct one hour of research   £30 could pay for test tubes, flasks, dishes and gloves used by a team of researchers £50 could pay for equipment that analyses the makeup of heart tissue   £100 could pay for specialist measuring equipment used to investigate heart disease diagnostics and treatment

Amethyst means sober and the literal meaning of the adjective describes someone that can’t be intoxicated; from the Greek αμέθυστος (amethystos). The word’s connotation with the semi-precious stone stems from a myth in which the god of ebriety and excess, Dionysus (Bacchus), wanted to ravish a young virgin, so goddess Artemis (Diana) in an attempt to save the innocent girl crystallized her, while the wine drops from Dionysus‘ cup mixed with his tears, gave the crystal its purple-ish colour. As tradition has it, the gem can protect its bearer from intoxication.

The song is about the intoxication from toxic love, hoping for the proverbial amethyst key, to metaphorically unlock the story’s heroes’ hearts and break the vicious toxic cycle of their emotional roller coaster. It was the risk of this drunkedness that perhaps was putting off, and kept Labros away from immersing himself into romantic love. Fear of love isn’t a choice, and it indeed results to loneliness. By being afraid of being heartbroken you can actually invite a risk factor for exactly that.

In memory of the eternal Amethyst, may you do nothing in excess!

Asklipeiadis of Samos’ Cleopatra’s Ring

Drunkenness am I— a gem worked by a subtle hand.
I am graven in amethyst, and the subject and the stone are ill- assorted.
But I am the precious property of Cleopatra, and on the finger of a Queen even “drunkenness” should be sober.*

*A play on the words methe, drunkenness, and a-methe, not drunkenness, and amethyst.