Biography
Nassos is a guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, analyst and music theory nerd.
He studied electric guitar and music theory with Pantelis Gertsos (GuitarFor → MusicFor) until he passed the ALCM in Music Teaching (Upper Level). He also studied music harmony & modern composition with Nikos Panagiotakis, vocals & piano with Lia Hide, and jazz harmony with George Argyropoulos at the Musical Praxis Conservatoire where he successfuly completed his Degree in Music Harmony. Occasionally, he had acoustic guitar and songwriting lessons with Max Milligan. He holds a Master's Degree – MMus in Songwriting – from Bath Spa University, under the tuition of Davey Ray Moor, as well as a doctorate – PhD in Music – under the supervision of Professor Amanda Bayley and Dr Matthew Sergeant.
In 2011, having already passed his grade 8 in Electric Guitar and Popular Muisc Theory, Nassos became accepted for music studies by several Universities in London, but he had to decline all the offers. Thus, he attended the Trinity College of Music Jazz Summer School where he enjoyed Pete Churchill's classes. Other tutors included Dave Cliff and Nikki Iles.
At the same time, Nassos started working as an administrative assistant in the LCM and RGT examinations representative office in Greece, as well as for GuitarFor. He has undertaken the promotion, online publishing, photo shooting, web design and he has contributed in organising concerts and seminars with musicians like Larry Goldings Trio, Kurt Rosenwinkel New Quartet, Larry Carlton, Adam Levy, Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet, Paul Gilbert, Al Di Meola, and Andy McKee.
In addition, he has studied Computer Science at the University of Athens, which is a four-year B.Sc. (Hons) Degree, and his thesis was "An iOS App for Improving the Auditory Perception". Between 2008 and 2009 he studied Telecommunications Engineering at the Aalto University in Helsinki as an Erasmus student.
In 2014, he was accepted to do postgraduate studies in Songwriting at Bath Spa University. The MMus Course Director was Davey Ray Moor (CousteauX), but other lecturers also included Joe Bennett PhD, Richard J. Parfitt, Emma Hooper PhD, Cliff Jones, Nigel Clark (Dodgy), Jez Ashurst, Julianne Regan (All About Eve), Lucy Ray, Fran Smith and Simon Drake.
In 2015, he was selected to participate in Global Academy of Liberal Arts Conferences in Beijing. During his stay, he studied New Media & Communication and Chinese Culture at the Communication University of China. Subsequently, he also started teaching Songwriting in MusicFor, electric & acoustic guitar at the National Conservatoire of Athens - Annex of Dionysos and songwriting & ukulele in Diesi Music School.
In November of 2015, he co-found the DIY project Sakké ConQuéso with Ioannis Sakketos. They have released 6 singles: Dark to Bright (2017), I Love Austerity (2018), Uncannily Alike (2018), Healing Without You (2019), Left | Right (2023), and I Lost Her. All musical compositions, lyrics, performances, recording, production, mixing, and even the artwork are made by the 2 musicians.
In May of 2016, Nassos received an Offer of Admission for a PhD Fee Waiver Studentship, which is given to the maximum of 10 applicants, regardless their field of study. He aquired his Doctor of Philosophy at the Bath School of Music & Performing Arts, and his disseration title is "Blending rebetiko, with blues, jazz, and rock: intercultural songwriting and analysis".
In January 2017, Nassos released his first single Under the Endless Sky, under the pseudonym Nassos Conqueso. In March 2017, he released his album Love in Crisis, which is also available in Compact Disc. He then released the double-track single A Moveable Feast (2022), as well as the singles 9 + 7 = 8 (2023) and Σουρουκλεμές & Γιαβουκλού (2024). He's responsible for music, lyrics, arrangement, production, and programming, as well as vocals, (electric, acoustic, 12-string, and resonator) guitars, piano, ukulele, baglamás, tzourás, harmonica, mando-cümbüş, monochord canjo, banjo, potirokombolói and stylophone. At the same time, he became the 6th member of Bound Affairs as a guitarist and keyboardist, until September of 2018. Since October of 2022 he got the same role with Ela Mwre
He attended the 4th (2019) and 5th (2021) international PhD Summer Schools by Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania), achieving the 1st place in of poster presentation “Speak Your Science”, in the Social Sciences and Humanities category.
Between 2019 and 2021, he represented Greece, along with two other artists, in the European Union's Introspection Music Experience project. His contribution involved the production of the song 'A Moveable Feast', as well as recording various instruments for the song 'Collateral'. Based on this experience he released the double-track single A Moveable Feast in October 2022, in the International Mental Health Day.
In 2021, he passed the PhD module Music Technology and Production, which is part of the PhD Specialisation in Popular Music Performance offered by the University of Agder (Norway), with Prof Michael Rauhut as course leader.
He has presented different parts of his research at international conferences, including the: Southampton Music Analysis Conference (SotonMAC 2019) by the Society for Music Analysis (SMA), London Calling - IASPM UK & Ireland Biennial Conference, "Keep It Simple, Make It Fast! DIY cultures and global challenges" by KISMIF, Birmingham Music Analysis Conference (BrumMAC 2021) by SMA, 57th Annual Conference by the Royal Musical Association (RMA), 10th European Congress of Music Analysis (EuroMAC-10) by Moscow P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Russian Society for Theory of Music (OTM), 7th Rhythm Changes Conference: Jazz Then & Now (2022), and the "Music in the Mediterranean: East and West, Traditions and Modernities" - AVAMUS 2024.
He has published articles in the musicological journal Quadrívium, as well as the Keep it Simple, Make it Fast! An approach to underground music scenes (vol. 5).
He has attended over 100 seminars of great musicians, such as John Scofield, Jonathan Kreisberg, Guthrie Govan, Theodore Antoniou, Larry Carlton, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Pete Churchill, Greg Howe, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart, Paul Gilbert, Adam Levy, and Dave Cliff.
He is an official member of IASMP (International Association for the Study of Popular Music), RMA (Royal Musical Association), SMA (Society for Music Analysis), BFE (British Forum for Ethnomusicology), ICTM (International Council for Traditional Music) ISM (Incorporated Society of Musicians), IMS (International Musicological Society), PMU (Panhellenic Musical Union), PRS (Performing Right Society), PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited), EDEM (Rightholders' Cooperative EDEM), and RGT (Registered Guitar Tutor).
