Based in the beautiful island of Santorini, away from the burdens of everyday
life, the Caldera team provide you with the time and space to explore your
creativity and songwriting passion, so you can finally make yourself your
priority!
I met up with one of the founders of Caldera, Io – a session bass player and music professional from Greece based in Brighton – to discuss the vision behind Caldera and the benefits it can offer to songwriters. Io is also the owner of the promotions company “Beluga Promotions” which runs acclaimed open mic nights in Brighton, helping local artists showcase their music.
What is Caldera and what inspired this vision?
Caldera is a songwriting retreat which was mainly inspired by the open mics that we run in Brighton. Through these open mics, we get a lot of people who come in and they all have a story to tell. You don’t really know the people who come to these open mics until they get on stage to perform, so you can actually learn a lot about those people through the songs they play. The open mics have become sort of like a community and for a lot of artists, performing there provides a sense of ‘therapy’.
Both myself and Erini (the co-founder of Caldera) believe that writing songs is truly a form of therapy; there are things that you can’t really express with just words and for some people, songwriting is something much deeper that they can express and share with the world in a much more creative way. Also looking at my own lifestyle, how busy it is and how pressuring the music industry can be, we wanted to create a space where songwriters can come and be free. They can be in an environment where there are no external pressures or life responsibilities, and they can just explore their creativity and be completely free. So Caldera is basically a space for artists to experience that therapeutic moment and make themselves a priority.
What does the name Caldera mean?
Caldera is actually the most common word you will find in Santorini! It is what remains of the volcano after the explosion and has made Santorini famous for that. In 1600 B.C. there was a huge explosion of the volcano that destroyed half the island and the civilisation on it, but it has made Santorini very unique and now one of the most popular destinations in the world. For our retreat, caldera stands as a metaphor; because Santorini has this history of destruction and rebirth, we thought that doing the retreat here could resonate with the creative songwriting process of many artists. Musicians and songwriters have all these things they want to express but it sometimes can be too difficult and can’t find the words for it. At Caldera retreat, they can take something difficult or ‘painful’ and make something beautiful through music.
What makes Caldera unique and stand out from other songwriting retreats?
Definitely the location! It’s hard to describe it without seeing it; for me, it’s one of my favourite places on earth. Also, the way we run the retreat doesn’t only focus on the songwriting but on the well-being of the artist too. So we have a lot of things incorporated within the schedule of the retreat which promote well-being, both physical and mental, and also promote the ancient Greek saying “a healthy mind is a healthy body”. So Caldera aims to inspire people to write their songs and also to nourish their spirit; to make themselves a priority. That is why, you don’t have to come to the retreat and leave with a finished song. Even if you come and get inspired and you get a million ideas, but you don’t finish a song that’s fine, because the goal is to get inspired and relax and come up with something that you can then use to inspire yourself in your creative journey.
What does a day in the retreat look like?
We would start with mindfulness. So, the first thing in the morning would be going down to the beach, which is literally at our doorstep(!) and do a bit of meditation and mindful movement like stretching or a light version of yoga to connect your mind and body, and really focus for the day. After that, we can have a small break for everyone to have breakfast or a shower if they want, and then we start with the songwriting workshops which will be run by a professional songwriter. We will be running a lot of classes and workshops that people can attend, as well as a lot of inspirational activities where we’ll be talking about lyrics and melodies.
Then we have a lunchbreak prepared by our private chef, so everything will be prepared for you and you won’t have to worry about food. All recipes will be plant-based and inspired by the Mediterranean cuisine, to experience a complete detox for your mind and body. During the day, people will also have a lot of downtime to relax and spend some alone time if they need it, to write songs and collaborate with other artists. And eventually, in the evening, we’ll have jam nights, gatherings at the beach and group dinners!
On some days we’re also planning on doing some inspirational activities, one of which is both mine and Erini’s favourite! We’ll take the guests to the Symposion Cultural Centre, which is the music cultural centre of the island, and the owners, who are amazing people, have devoted their whole lives to basically studying and creating ancient Greek music. So, we’ll take our guests to a presentation there, which is a collective jam that they call the ‘mythical jam’ and it’s incredible! There will also be a flute workshop, where participants can handmake their own flute instrument from local cane that grows on the island and take home with them as a little souvenir from the experience. So yeah, quite a lot of exciting things going on at our retreat!
The world seems to be moving very fast these days and time feels very short and stressful, which has affected artists’ creativity and songwriting process. How do you think Caldera can help with that?
A retreat in its nature is exactly that, to escape and allow yourself to have that time and space to not rush. The world is indeed very fast-paced now and I think the music industry is about ten times faster. From my own experience, there’s always that feeling that you constantly have to be moving and always catch up with someone else in the industry; there’s always a lot of pressure around it. And, I think in general, nowadays there’s never enough time in the day to put aside and say “Now I’m going to be creative”. Even if you do, most likely you will feel like that time hasn’t been productive enough or that you’ve done something useful.
So, the core value of Caldera retreat is exactly to get people to make themselves and their art a priority. The reason why we decided to do the retreat in Santorini and provide all these wellbeing activities, including the plant-based meals, is because we want to benefit that. The artists can come and not have to worry about anything, it’s a completely stress-free environment, and all they need to do is be with themselves, explore their creativity and create, which is something you don’t get to do much nowadays. I believe that everyone needs that kind of space, to be able to unload and let new ideas come in.
When is the retreat and how long does it last?
So, the retreat is going to be from the 2nd to the 7th of June 2025 and will last five days. The first day is when everyone arrives, so we’ll have prepared a little opening ceremony for everyone to get comfortable and settle in, and once the retreat is completed on the last day (the 7th), everyone can then leave on the 8th.
Where can people find more information about Caldera Songwriting Retreat and how can they book their spot?
You can find all the necessary information about the retreat and directly book your spot on our website. You can also book a free call with us in case you have any questions or concerns about the retreat or if you just want to meet us beforehand!
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Is there anything the guests need to prepare before their arrival at the retreat?
Swimming costume, notepad and passport! That’s all you need! Oh and of course, to keep an open mind and be prepared to relax. To find more information about Caldera Songwriting Retreat and book your spot, visit their website here: https://www.calderasongwritingretreat.com/
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