Doing things differently – Rising star Della and Louvana Records on Cyprus’s burgeoning indie scene

It's a warm summer’s evening at St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Nicosia, Cyprus. Up-and-coming musician Della is performing tracks from her breakthrough EP, 13, to a packed-out congregation. “It was very special,” the 22-year-old says, reflecting on the experience now at the Cypriot offices of her independent record label, Louvana Records. 

The musician, whose sound spans alt rock and dream pop, says opportunities like this don’t come around often in her home country. “People ask me, ‘why are you playing Cyprus, forget it’, because of its size, but for me, it was very rewarding to have Cypriots come along and say: ‘I’ve never had anything like this before. There might be a lot of opportunities like this in Europe, but you just don’t get them here.”

Della, who recently became the first Cypriot to win the prestigious Music Moves Europe (MME) Award, got to know the “close community” of Louvana Records as a 16-year-old after attending their training workshops for aspiring artists. 

The musician says the workshops – which covered everything from writing songs to vocal coaching – gave her direction when she had none. “Finding music and channelling all of that into music helped me out of a potentially bad road I could have taken,” she explains, saying she was working in nightclubs at the time, directionless.

Andreas Trachonitis, co-founder of Louvana Records alongside Alexandra Astreou-Karides, says they felt a new approach was needed in Cyprus to help nurture home-grown musicians. 

“There are not many opportunities in Cyprus if you’re a musician,” he explains. “I wanted to develop a community, a place for aspiring musicians to come together. We did that by founding our indie label and starting a music festival, Fengaros.”

As well as a festival and label, Louvana also created a grassroots space where they host ‘RAW’ sessions – weekly, stripped-back gigs where artists can showcase their talents and hone their craft. Della says events like these gave her the chance to see live music for the first time.

“We are a country that’s underfunded when it comes to arts,” she explains. “It doesn’t pay any attention to its art workers. To have a label, live shows and a festival like this in Cyprus was a game-changer.” At 42 euros, the festival is relatively cheap to attend too – with over 60 acts performing over three days, presenting an inclusive mix of international and home-grown acts. “Through the years, Fengaros festival has become one of the biggest in Cyprus. It’s incredible to have this here,” Della says.

Trachonitis, who has a background in record production, also built what Della describes as a “state-of-the-art recording studio” in the basement of the record label that local musicians could use to record for the first time. “It could rival a lot of the big studios,” she says. “Many of us never dreamed we could have something like this here. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s probably impossible for an artist to reach outside of Cyprus without Louvana.”

Della’s music has indeed reached far and wide. Following the release of her EP, she is now working on music and live shows. Trachonitis thinks Della is on the cusp of a bigger breakthrough with her haunting new single, ‘Waste’. 

“She’s developing her own path and career which is so amazing and promising,” he says with pride. He says even if Della did leave for a bigger label, they always will stay close to their artists because that’s the key to the “sustainability” of their work. 

“Workshops, the festival, the studio: these things are ways to bring members of our community back together, and people can give back to other generations,” he explains.

Della says she could never imagine not being a part of Louvana in some way. “I’m really content and happy here,” she smiles. “We are like a family.”