Revisiting Mariano Club in Antiparos, where -almost- all about lighting begun.

I have spent my short holidays in my homeland, the island of Antiparos. After two years and because of Covid, the visit was very emotional for me, as I have missed my relatives, my grandparents and the energy the island has. This place played a major role on how my life would be evolved. Visiting as a kid, since I got born, every summer for three months, I have seen this place changing and evolving, but always has that positive and healing energy. Antiparos made me love and appreciate myself, made me discover my talents and desires, made me love the sea and nature, and it was always a place of inspiration and the start of major changes and decision in my life.

Regarding my love about entertainment lighting, as well as music, Antiparos had marked my life constantly. I was very lucky as a kid, to be able to visit most of the discos of the island on the late 80s / beginning of 90s. Amazing places, each having a unique personality, with the architecture and decoration, combining the island elements and the disco era.

I remember so vividly the Tropical disco, which was the first I have ever been. It was a classic disco, with the dancefloor in the middle, surrounded by four columns, with neon parallel lines. On the center, of course was the disco ball and the ceiling had arrays of the classic pinspot lights, those which had an extra 'beam reducer' cover on them. On the corners where four UV sodium lights and the only moving fixtures, were the classic single pinspot fixtures, which rotated left and right fast. Tropical was totally painted in black, so when you entered the disco, it seemed that was under the stars, with an infinity ceiling and walls. You couldn't determined the limits of the place. Before the entrance, were a beautiful garden, with palm trees and a small fountain. Tropical disco now has been transformed to 'rooms to let' by it's owner. Some very dark pictures from Halloween parties have been left in my family's photo books, to remind me how this place was! But as a kid then, I was so thrilled to be there, that the memories in my mind are still vivid.

Then, it was the Disco Mill, which was another unique masterpiece of a place. The disco was build around a classic Greek wind Mill, in a circular shape. The mills were used in the past for flour production for the islanders. On the east side of the MIll, there was a cone shaped roof made of wood and bamboo stables, the main bar and dj booth was on the mill's half side, while on the ground floor of the mill's interior, were the huge collection of Dj's vinyl disks. Around, were small tables and the walls decoration was the classic, island made with various colored fabrics patchworks. Outside of that area were a porch with tables and small stools and a wall with curved windows, which offered view on the Antiparos town, as the mill was on a hill, on the southern part of Antiparos town. That disco had so simple lighting, but it was extremely atmospheric and cool. The place was filled with many 60cm black light fluorescent fixtures and many of the very popular of that time, 'turtle' type fixtures, the same as many of the old ships had on their decks. These turtle fixtures had those classic colored E27 tungsten lamps, creating pale and faded color atmosphere. The fabrics and patterns on the classic patchworks on the walls glowed, making the place looked like it was from another world. As about the dancefloor, there was only the Disco Ball on the top of the cone shaped ceiling and few pinspots pointing at it. Disco Mill was totally renovated back on 2013 I think. The owners of the place made a great job in keeping the main concept of the disco untouched. It just got more modernized, while keeping the island's architecture. The lighting equipment had a major update, including LED pars, strobe bars, scanners, as well as architectural lights for properly lighting the Mill's surroundings.

Antiparos had various places for entertaining it's residents on the winter time, like Orama, Asteria, Paradeisos and another live music place which I do not recall the name. Still, there is the oldest disco still active on the island, in which I have never been yet -shame on me- and that disco is the "La Luna",

Disco La Luna still remains the same, since the late 70s - beginning of 80s- which were constructed. This is the main reason which makes it legendary, as it keeps that open-air style, build among trees, out of the main town of Antiparos. You can read more details for La Luna here, the article is in Greek.

And for last, I left the Mariano Club, that place that I consider the beginning of the love and passion I have for moving mirror lights. In that place, I've seen for the very first time, when I was 8 years old, the scanner lights.

I still remember that the scanners was the 'talk of the town' when Mariano opened it's doors on 1991, as the people have never seen such robotic lights back then. Some older cousins / relatives have already been there, describing the lights to me and I was already so excited and curious to see what do they mean with their descriptions. So I was telling my mom and her sisters, who were very young at that time, that they have to take me one night there! On the island, things were different on the nightlife, it wasn't like Athens, were as a kid, I couldn't even enter a place like that.

So I have been there on 1991 for the first time, and as you can imagine, I was left stunned both by the place and the two big, scanners. The place was called 'club' but it wasn't with the meaning of modern clubs of the cities. It was built with the style and architecture of the Greek islands of the Aegean. Made of stone, having as contrast white walls, the floor outside also had the classic 'fish plates', a classic way to cover the porches or streets on the islands. There were seats, both indoors and outdoors. The garden was beautiful, with big trees and two big palm trees on the center of it. Internally, the simple architecture and design continued, with the walls of stone and some covered in plaster. There ceiling had two levels, with the highest above the dancefloor. The wall between the two level ceiling, as well the top ceiling were painted black, creating a roofless impression when you entered Mariano Club. In the beginning of it's carrier, Mariano club had only the two big scanners, the first generation Euroscans and the ceiling had embedded spot lights, with blue filters. Those spotlights were connected to a classic chaser, adding to the lighting effects of the place. Later, black lights, smoke machine and more spots with sealed lamps were added around the dancefloor.

The scanner model, which took me 25 years to find and this was one of my biggest childhood dreams, was the Greek made Euroscan. Those scanners were extremely simple, with only five colors and five gobos. They used the HTI 400 watt lamp, which made them the brightest light effect I have ever saw. The big area of Mariano's dancefloor, the walls made of stone and the height were Euroscans installed, made them look so imposing and impressive. Euroscans had a small console, with pre-programmed effects and their sound-to-light program, was so awesome for the 90s era of music. It was just perfect. You didn't have to do anything else back then, as the show was already impressive. The lights were working with the same way, there was no possible to address them back then, but because they were installed against each other, they were scanning the place in the opposite direction. I cannot forget how vivid the colors were, the blue was so deep, the magenta shade was something I have never seen in my life, the red was deep, green and yellow the brightest ever. Just five colors seemed so perfect for that era and place. The gobos were so characteristic, a full star, a heart, the classic laser cone, flowers and a kind of a break up gobo with circles and dots.

That was it. An eight year old boy, have just met the passion of it's life, a feeling and a desire that haven't faded a single day since then. From that age, I knew that I wanted to involved to such things. Control install, program, fixing them, assemble, maintain them, I wanted to do any work related to such impressive things.

Time went by, summers came again, I was going back to Antiparos after school, celebrating my birthday on the island, and the scanners were there and me, waiting impatiently for the day my older cousins or young aunts, or parents would take me again a Friday night to see these lights again. I remember many times I was staying up until late, cycling around the town, going to the road that Mariano club were and I was trying to have a look, which was impossible of course due to the trees and flowers around the place. But those moments were marked from songs, a dj played, when they prepared the place before opening it's doors for the night. Simply Red's - Holding Back The Years was one of the songs I heard for the first time in my life, when I was on the road outside of the club, with my bike and it has been connected with that moment.

Generally Antiparos was always a place were I could listen to music new to me. Many places introduced many new songs of that time and many more that I have never heard before on the radio. I always loved music and I had my radio tuned even when I studied, but many of the songs Mariano club introduced me, were like hidden songs. It was very rare to listen to them on the radio stations, even though on 90s, the stations in Athens were so many, so much variety, so many good radio producers. It was an amazing era for the music as well, the 90s.

So Mariano Club had a unique music personality, which lasted for about 10 years. That place was the temple of Acid Jazz, Dub, Trip Hop, Hip Hop, Deep House... Every song played was a diamond. So many of the songs are 'connected' with that place, it's atmosphere and for my case, the lights. It was there when I listened for the first time Leftfield, Night Trains, Kruder and Dorfmeister, Saint Etienne, Zero Gravity, Big Light and others.

The image will lead you to a collection in MixCloud were you can here some of the songs I was introduced, or played in to Mariano Club.

2004 was the last time I have seen my favorite scanners in that place. Which means they operated every summer for everyday for more than 10 years. The place is still the same after so many years with few changes internally, which unfortunately have spoiled that roofless effect above the dancefloors and the two big palm tress are not there anymore. The stage lights were never installed properly after that kind of alteration on the tall section of the place. After 2005, it was rented to various people and it has changed name and musical personality, with no big success. Nothing reminded of the crowds during the 90s, filing the place and dancing with their soul and minds. Personally, I have the most vivid memories of Mariano from the summer of 1998, as I was much older and I have visit it many times. After 2005, I have never seen and feel that kind of energy that place had.

On 2015, was a special time for me, as I had the opportunity to program two scanners there. A simple job, but very emotional for me. The nightlife in Antiparos had already changed and people were having fun until late in the small bars, so the clubs and discos were popular after 3 o'clock in the morning. The owner at that time, is a person who had for years a very successful and legendary pub, named Remember, which was in the square of the town, playing mostly rock music. That place was very characteristic for our island and it was also the same for many years, I think, more than 30. For three years, he had moved that spirit, in some way, in to the Mariano club, but unfortunately, that place could not work as a pub.

Nowadays, and due to Covid restrictions for the nightlife, Mariano Club is silent, waiting for the times to change again and a new owner, to give a new life and musical personality. In my last visit, I wanted so much to sneak in to the garden and the outdoor bar, just to sense again that feeling, and even if it is nostalgic and depressing sometimes to me, it thrills me and I seek for it. That place seems still in time, as it has changed only a little and makes me loose my life's sense of time. I cannot realize that I was just 8 years old when I first passed through it's entrance and it was that place where I saw those lights, which literally, put my life on a path so early. I have done various -but not many different- jobs in my life, but the love and excitement about entertainment lighting remains the same since then. That place is always igniting my memories, bringing them to the surface. Memories of my childhood summers in Antiparos, my homeland, memories of designing the scanners on a paper and try to make them with LEGO, memories of staying up until late, with the radio on and a tape on a pause, listening to the radio stations from Mykonos, which helped me record some of the hits that were played in Mariano Club, memories of how the island changed every summer or Easter time I was being there. Memories of how aware of my self I was even back then, aware of who I am and what I wanted to do with my life.

It sad that times like the 90s will never come back, the world is evolving and changing. But I am so happy that I experienced so many unique - for a child - moments, and my homeland played a major role on who I became, who I am today. Apart, from the start of this unique trip for me, in entertainment lighting exploration, that place and in generally, spending so much time on that island, have taught me, that everyone should do and create with love, whatever they choose to do with their lives. Only then they will leave their mark in history and in others. No matter what you do, if you do it with love and passion, is like an everlasting piece of Art.