Banned In Sparta From Singer Songwriter Robin Batteau 3,000 Year Old Songs Set Inside Right Now

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Hey, there's something I want you to check out. It's arrow.net. Not just one podcast,

it's 20 different explorations. One of them being foodie paradise. I am talking to the big name

chefs, and even those that are at home creating their own cookbooks. See, there is hope for you,

because the love for cooking is amazing. Share it. Foodie paradise on arrow.net,

arro.net. Enjoy your exploration. I'll tell you what I'm so amazed about here is how I just

feel something with your music. And it's not every day that people can say that about what,

you know, like when you go back and you hear a song and you're going, God, I really got something

out of that. Wow. And so, but then I start thinking about people like yourself going,

it had to move through you first. And a song doesn't just happen. So therefore, I mean,

so you had several moments to bring a song together, such as stolen in love. There's no way it happened

inside 15 or 20 minutes or watch. You'll probably tell me. Well, well, there was first reading the

coming of Helen that Gorgius wrote, and I want to play those parties. He spoke it when I played

those parties. And the, which was the defense of Helen's innocence in the tragedies of the Trojan

War. She gets blamed by pretty much everybody for all the death and destruction. But she's,

but Gorgius said, no, it's, it's, it's a paradise fault. It's love. It's love that caused all this

disaster. I was moved by that. And then, you know, took a paper and tried to make things rhyme and

looked at different translations. And I just tried to make it into a contemporary song. And

whatever I wrote these songs, I felt like I was channeling ghosts. And it was really kind of a

poet's deciding moment, you know, that these guys were writing. And I was channeling them and

channeling the mues at the same time, because of course, they all credited the mues as the one

who actually wrote the poetry there. They're really the vehicle. Wow. See, and I've always believed

in that. It's like the force that I live in here in South Charlotte. My writing isn't me. I

just happen to be the receiver. The writer is somewhere out there in those trees. I'm just here.

And I feel the same way with you is the fact that it's like, I'm just the one that's holding the

pan. That's right. The one holding the pen is the greatest description. Wow. So now when you make

that transition to say, okay, I'm going to put together a brand new collection of music. I'm going

to call it band in sparta. Now you've got to live up to it because you're doing something that we

used to do back in the 70s and 80s and even earlier, which was creating that concept album. Instead

of just throwing a bunch of stuff on there, you came into this thing with a purpose and a plan.

Yeah, and it all happened, but serendipitously, the things would occur. I went back to during the pandemic.

If it wasn't for the whole of the universe that was the pandemic, this wouldn't have happened.

And because of that, I had time on my hands and I thought about what was some

unfinished business that I could take care of in this pause in the usual traffic

and I thought, well, I've never finished Harvard. I've got a tester to go. So I've called him up

and said, hey, can I come back and finish? And I said, sure. Why don't you take a summer school

course online to just to make sure that you still have the kind of brain that a student needs.

I was a sharp student back in the 60s. You know, this is a 73 year old brain. It's very different

from an 18 year old brain. And so I said, that sounds good. So I looked at what I had to accomplish.

I didn't need to take any requirements because I've done my requirements back in the 60s,

so I could take anything I wanted. And I'd always had an interest in ancient Athens, the cradle

of civilization, theater, and almost everything else. And I said, well, let's take a look at that.

And so there was happen to be a course called Introduction to the Ancient Beep World,

taught by the wonderful Natasha Poshansky. And so I signed up for this course. And we're doing

on Zoom, you know, me and a dozen other students. And just had a blast. And within like a couple

weeks in the summer school online, of course, we stumbled on a guy named Archivicus,

who was kind of the Bob Dylan of the 7th century. Interesting guy. And he was not only

revered as a poet, but he's so irreverent about his side gig, which was a mercenary.

Well, this is what people's side gigs was. There was a lot of work going on all the time.

That he was, you know, he would say things that were just being the Spartans found offensive,

because they felt that you should be, you know, you should always hold your warcraft in

higher regard. And, you know, he was like a regular guy. Sometimes, you know, it was worked

fighting. And sometimes it wasn't. And I think it was the line about throwing his shield into

the grass and the woods and just picking up on there when he needed one, which was truly

wrangled the Spartans. So he was, you know, he was the Bob Dylan of the day. He was banned in

Sparta. They would not have him. And when I saw banned in Sparta, I said, well, that's going

to be the title of my next album that you would have next. And the, I read, I, let's take a

look at what Archivicus actually says. I just read red stories. Well, it turns out that there

aren't any complete poems. I have to interject at the, it's not poems in the way that we think

of poems in songs. They played the lyre and danced around the stage like Taylor Swift and Bob Dylan

and Bruce Springsteen and entertained audiences. And the lyre was the car of the day. I don't know

if there were, you know, guys who were, you know, monster lyre players and famous

and, you know, just funny to think about who would be the Jimmy Hendrix of the line. But we'll

talk about that another time. And so I said, you know, these, this, this guy has written these

songs, none of which are still extra, still around. But the bits and pieces are on shards,

a pot, a shreds of parchment. And so I said, let's, I know, assemble a bunch of these things and

see what happens. So I looked at like, you know, 100 translations and kind of do some cherry picking

about what I thought were the coolest, the most provocative. And then, and then I started putting

them together and making it rhyme and coming up with lines of my own to kind of fill in the blanks.

You know, the way a dinosaur hunter fills in the, the blanks in a T-Rex skeleton by

fashioning a rib bone in the, in the last, that was the kind of writing that I added to our

killicuses. And when I put this together, I made it rhyme, I picked up the guitar,

still feeling like I'm channeling the guy, channeling the music. And I showed her writing the song,

and I just, I, I felt more moved every verse. And the, at the end of it, I was, I said, wow,

this is, this is an amazing feeling. And I, and I have always felt that when you write a song,

moves you, there's, you've got something, you know, it's, it's a lot of likelihood going to move

enough people in the audience that it will be worth playing more than once. And the, so I played

it for the, the teacher and she said, that's cool. Played for the class. I played it for the class

and they said, that's cool. So I, so, and this is all on Zoom. So I, I finished the, the summer course.

Um, um, and then now I thought, uh, oh, and, and then I, I, uh, also in the summer course,

I stumbled on Gorgas from, uh, from Plato's, right, with the Incomium of Helen. So, so, so wrote, um,

uh, uh, uh, stole it in love. Um, and the, uh, uh, and come in the fall. I thought, I, I, I think I

want to continue doing this. So I signed up for all courses that reflected my interest. Yeah,

and, and, and ancient Greece and ancient mythology. I even took courses in the ancient Greek language,

which was tough because when you're 73, it's not as easy to pick up a language. So I, I, I have, but,

but I, you know, I was happy to grind away in a way that I wasn't when I was a kid.

You know, uh, so, um, I, I managed to, to learn a lot of stuff, but you know, one of the great

things about going back to college and I, I say, sometimes it makes me think not only as you

waste it on the on, but college is wasted on the on. Yes. You get so much more. I, I got so much

more out of it because I wasn't distracted by the need to, to get loaded and laid or to go to

protests and things like that. And, and it was just, um, a remarkable experience and kind of an

immersion. And, uh, in, in the, in the ancient Greek culture, especially ancient Athens. And,

and so I've signed up for courses that were, uh, um, all about this in the fall and, um,

kept stumbling on other poets who were, uh, who had, who were weird, but they only had like

bits and pieces left of them. Almost, almost all the ancient Greek poets only have bits and

pieces in Sappho, who was the best of them all. The most uploaded of them all. There's only one

complete poem that we know about, um, possibly two, but it's, uh, uh, you know, she, she's, uh, um,

she was more influential than anyone. And the, uh, I, I was, she, she was, uh, um, she appears

on more, more pottery on more Greek and earns than, than anyone, but, uh, uh, uh, the gods.

So I called the song that I wrote from, from, from Sappho's Bits and Pieces, uh, Terracotta Heart.

Um, some by the wonderful Robin Land, who's the, uh, uh, who's a rock singer,

friend of mine, um, who sang duets with Million back in the 60s. And the singers for, on, on the record,

that were, um, it's, it's kind of historical. It's, it's a, uh, uh, it's a past lives thing.

The, uh, most of the singers are people. I, I thought, so who'd be the right people

to voice these, uh, at these works? And I thought, well, our golden age of singer songwriting

was the 1960s. Uh, we have some great singer songwriters, um, uh, uh, no one press,

but there's something about the 1960s songwriting. And so I thought, let's get some voices,

some old pals. I'd call them up and come around. And the, uh, so I called, uh, Tom Paxton and,

yeah, Carol, Carol and Hester and, uh, um, uh, uh, Robin, I first heard sings, uh,

sitting on a beach in California in the summer of 69 and walking up to the, uh, uh, you know,

to the beach, to the beach, to our beach blanket and hearing this voice, you know, with the guitar.

And I said, that's the best voice I've ever heard. So she's singing, she's singing, um,

Terracotta Heart, uh, Winston Taylor's, um, Taylor, there's these wonderful voices, um, uh, Tom Paxton,

Eric Anderson, who was so excited about the song that he sang, Cross of Gold,

on this album, that's Bandits But Out, and they asked if he could put it on his own,

new, new album. Matt said, well, of course, you know, because it looks great, you know, he,

I'm great. And, um, I also included some friends who have, uh, one foot in theater as well as

in, uh, a foot in music. I can see that. I can see that. Yeah. Yeah. They're sort of family

friends. James not who won a couple of Tony's and his best actors got a wonderful voice. He's

the one who sings Archylika's song, which I call Archylika's Redeemed, and, um, son Greg

Norton sings stolen in love with the, um, the appetite, uh, explanation for, for Helen's behavior.

And the, um, his daughter sings, uh, uh, uh, and, and, and Kira, Kira Norton is the most beautiful

thing in the world, which I think is probably the most beautiful thing in the world.

She just sings it great. And the, uh, the three of them being, you know, uh, theater people, um,

it's, uh, I think that the right way to put this project to proceed is eventually to get it

on stage as a review. Yeah. A bunch of different singers all doing these things. And my, uh, my dream

is that it would recapitulate the evolution of Western theater from, which began, you know, with,

who's housed from a Greek chorus, um, and to, uh, a Greek chorus plus one step-out actor,

the guy who invented that was named Pespis, from whom we get the word Pespine. And then,

then the next innovation was a Greek chorus with two step-out actors that was Escalus Society.

And then the next step was a Greek chorus with three step-out actors that suffocates, um, as the

world got more complicated and, and, of course, it's pretty complicated today, on the other hand,

it's difficult today. But the, uh, it's, uh, and I thought from there, you know, go to, uh, to Italy,

to the theaters in Rome, and Comedia del Arte, and, uh, Shakespeare, and, uh, Berlin, and

Maria, France, and, uh, and to Broadway. And I thought, yeah, it should be lined up as a, on Broadway,

with, uh, the, uh, reflecting all of the, uh, characteristics of the, of the age. And I just thought,

well, this would be a lot fun to do. So that's my, that's my hope. And, uh, you know, if I can't get

on stage this year, and I'm hoping to do it in, uh, um, to do it at, at Ford's Theater in, uh,

in DC. That's the, the theater that, uh, uh, uh, uh, Lincoln was shot at. And the, uh, by, uh,

by a disgruntled actor. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, um, um, the Tom Paxman who lives in the DC area,

it doesn't like to travel anymore. He's, he's 89. And, uh, I'd love to make sure that he,

you get, uh, in this, the, uh, where it seems like a good choice. Now, uh, if we, uh, uh, uh, uh, make a

note to my proposals that all the actors are unlike in, uh, the 60s will be fully medicated. So don't

worry about it. Yeah. Please do not move. There's more with Robin Beto coming up next.

Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well, trying to find a needle in a haystack. Sure,

you can post your job to some job board, but then all you can do is hope the right person comes

along, which is why you should try Zippercrooter for free at zippercrooter.com slash zip. Zippercrooter

doesn't depend on candidates finding you. It finds them for you. It's powerful technology identifies

people with the right experience and actively invites them to apply to your job. You get qualified

candidates fast. So while other companies might deliver a lot of, hey, Zippercrooter finds you what

you're looking for. The needle in the haystack. See why four out of five employers who post a job

on Zippercrooter get a quality candidate within the first day. Zippercrooter, the smartest way to

hire. And right now you can try Zippercrooter for free. That's right. Free at zippercrooter.com slash

zip. That zippercrooter.com slash zip zippercrooter.com slash zip. Finding great candidates to hire can

be like, well, trying to find a needle in a haystack. Sure, you can post your job to some job board,

but then all you can do is hope the right person comes along, which is why you should try Zippercrooter

for free at zippercrooter.com slash zip. Zippercrooter doesn't depend on candidates finding you. It finds

them for you. It's powerful technology identifies people with the right experience and actively invites

them to apply to your job. You get qualified candidates fast. So while other companies might

deliver a lot of hay, Zippercrooter finds you what you're looking for. The needle in the haystack.

See why four out of five employers who post a job on Zippercrooter get a quality candidate within

the first day. Zippercrooter, the smartest way to hire. And right now you can try Zippercrooter for

free. That's right. Free at zippercrooter.com slash zip. That zippercrooter.com slash zip zippercrooter.com slash zip.

The name of the album is banned in sparta. We are back with Robin Beto.

I've got so many questions in the way. It's going to take us into so many different angles. For

instance, I went when you're talking about Arkelicus and Bob Dylan was inspired by that. But see

what where my heart goes. And it's just a creative person in me. Well, who was there for Arkelicus?

I mean, who was there for him? We are all inspired by. We became because of other people. But in the

beginning, oh my god, they didn't have the seeds of inspiration that we have today. Yeah, sure.

But they didn't have a million things that go that come across the transform every day. And

that we that we include in every sentence. Every sentence that we say is a question of what we

heard in the equal days. And we put together in our own way. It's like a refraction. It's like I

have a, you know, like a prism. Wow. What's come through to shine our rainbow? You know, as a result of

light coming somewhere else. Wow. And that's what we're trying to do here. Wow. So were you

channeling Natalie merchant when you did in her loving arms? Because I feel an open road of

exploration in this song. I mean, that's one of those songs I can't stop listening to.

Cool. The inner loving arms is sung by the great Carolyn Hester, who was the first beautiful voice.

It was the Carolyn. It was beautiful voice. And her her record was the first record Bob Dylan ever appeared on.

Sure. Playing harmonica on one of her tunes. Wow. And yeah, it's it really takes us back. And I

think it was 1960. And she's great. And of course, Natalie merchant would be fantastic too. Wow.

Wow. You know, it's it's just an exploration. I tell you where I'm chuckling on the inside like a

child. I'm getting ready for a gigantic Greek festival this weekend. And so I surrounded this week

with all Greek music. And then to check in with band in Sparta, you have no idea how it's opening

up my heart because I have to go back to the old songs. And then I hear your songs. I'm going,

oh my god. There is such a connection here. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. It's a connection and right in front of

us. And there's all these kinds of deep connections that are coming through here. And it's all coming

together. Pretty great. Wow. Wow. Where can people go to find out more about you in this project?

Because I just envisioned this live performance. And it being like it's like a community coming

together. And everybody is bringing their songs. And we learn about them through communication.

I mean, that that to me is the key word there. These aren't just songs. This is communication.

The communication is what it's all about. And of course, ancient Greek lyric poets felt that they

were communicating what the what the other guides, their inspirators were communicating to them.

So they would they had the mues. They were speaking for the mues. And so are we still.

And if you want to check out a little bit more about this, it's go to robbato.com and bandage

and in Sparta and read the liner notes. The liner notes are basically my thesis from my

semester at Harvard and goes into and depth a little bit on each of these each of these songs.

God, I'm just so proud of you for taking on this project. And another reason why I'm so proud

of you is the fact that I was that guy during the lockdown where it started happening where the

musicians did not want to talk to me. They were upset, which I understood. And then to hear great

stories from you saying, but look, look what grew from that place of silence. And it's just,

it's just a, you know, I hope that there is a time in history where all of these music historians

go, but you know what, during the lockdown, look at how music changed and your project is change.

You are bringing something forward that was lost long ago, but through that silence, you were able

to explore. That's a wonderful phrase through that silence. That's that's very deep through that

silence comes sounds from thousands of years ago. We're talking three thousand years. Yeah,

yeah, almost. And there was some scientists that tried to discover what the sounds of

ancient Greece were like by running us dial us across the pot, like an ancient Greek pot,

thinking, well, when they were talking, when they were, you know, carving things with a pen,

into the, into the clays it was spinning. They're creating a groove just like an LP.

And making we can get sound out of that, which we can hear that talking. It didn't work,

but hopefully still we, we find and someone make it work because I, that would just be an amazing

thing. Oh my God. You've got to come back to this show any time in the future. And I know that

if you guys get on the road, you've got to come to Charlotte so we can have some face to face time

and really get into each other's souls on the purpose of your music. Great. Okay. Cool. I'm

there. Excellent. Will you be brilliant today? Okay. Thanks you too. I'll talk to you and everybody

who's listening, enjoying, I enjoy because that's why we're here. What the hell else could we

possibly do? But enjoy. And every time you do, you add a little joy to the world. And that's

good. I love your soul. Thank you so much, sir.

Warning, the following Zippercruder radio spot you are about to hear is going to be filled

with F words. When you're hiring, we at Zippercruder know you can feel frustrated for Lauren

even. Like your efforts are futile and you can spend a fortune trying to find fabulous people

only to get flooded with candidates who are just fine. Fortunately, Zippercruder figured out how

to fix all that. And right now, you can try Zippercruder for free at zippercruder.com slash zip.

With Zippercruder, you can forget your frustrations because we find the right people for your roles

fast, which is our absolute favorite F word. In fact, four out of five employers who post on Zippercruder

get a quality candidate within the first day. Fantastic. So whether you need to hire four,

40 or 400 people, get ready to meet first rate talent. Just go to zippercruder.com slash zip

to try Zippercruder for free. Don't forget that zippercruder.com slash zip. Finally that zippercruder.com

slash zip. Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well, trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Sure, you can post your job to some job board, but then all you can do is hope the right person

comes along, which is why you should try Zippercruder for free at zippercruder.com slash zip.

Zippercruder doesn't depend on candidates finding you. It finds them for you.

It's powerful technology identifies people with the right experience and actively invites them

to apply to your job. You get qualified candidates fast. So while other companies might deliver a lot

of, hey, Zippercruder, find you what you're looking for. The needle in the haystack.

See why four out of five employers who post a job on Zippercruder get a quality candidate within

the first day. Zippercruder, the smartest way to hire. And right now you can try Zippercruder for

free. That's right. Free at zippercruder.com slash zip. That zippercruder.com slash zip. Zippercruder.com slash zip.